Author: chicagoinquirer

by Sara Cline Louisiana lawmakers are being told to keep their calendars open in the weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments over the state’s embattled congressional map. Legislators say they have received texts and emails from House Speaker Phillip DeVillier telling them to keep their schedules flexible between Oct. 23 and Nov. 13. While the communications did not specify the reasoning, multiple lawmakers have told The Associated Press that it is assumed to be for a possible special legislative session for congressional redistricting. DeVillier could not immediately be reached for comment. Rep. Edmond Jordan,…

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda has agreed to a deal with the United States to take deported migrants as long as they don’t have criminal records and are not unaccompanied minors, the foreign ministry said Thursday. The ministry said in a statement that the agreement had been concluded but that terms were still being worked out. It added that Uganda prefers that the migrants sent there be of African nationalities, but did not elaborate on what Uganda might get in return for accepting deportees. The U.S. embassy in Uganda declined to comment on what it called “diplomatic negotiations,” but said…

by Nicholas Riccardi The Democratic-controlled legislature on Thursday started debate on a package of bills that would put a new, pro-Democratic congressional map on the November ballot. The move is an explicit response to Texas Republicans’ push to redraw their own map to add up to five winnable House seats before the 2026 midterms. Voters will have to approve the California action because, unlike Texas, the state has a nonpartisan commission that normally draws lines. “We don’t want this fight and we didn’t choose this fight, but with our democracy on the line we will not run away from this…

by Curtis Yee and Michael Warren With nearly 2,000 National Guard troops expected to be deployed in Washington as part of President Donald Trump’s law-enforcement crackdown, parts of the nation’s capital have started to look like occupied territory with massive miliary transport vehicles dotting the city. The average number of people arrested each day in Washington during the first 10 days of Trump’s federal takeover increased by about 20%. Those totals include arrests by both local police and federal officers, but not immigration arrests, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss data…

by John Hanna, Sara Cline and Jim Vertuno AUSTIN, Texas  — Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier refused to come to the Texas state Capitol for two weeks. Now she won’t leave, and fellow Democrats are joining her protest. Collier was among dozens of Democrats who left the state for the Democratic havens of California, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York to delay the Republican-controlled Legislature’s approval of redrawn congressional districts sought by President Donald Trump. When they returned Monday, Republicans insisted that Democrats have around-the-clock police escorts to ensure they wouldn’t leave again and scuttle Wednesday’s planned House vote on a…

by Gene Chamberlain CHICAGO (AP) — Caleb Williams’ rocky training camp now seems to be on the upswing. Williams took advantage of his first preseason playing time, connecting with Olamide Zaccheaus for a 36-yard touchdown on the opening drive as the Chicago Bears cruised to 38-0 preseason victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night. “I think it sets the tone for how we expect ourselves to go out there and play, and go out there and perform,” Williams said. “It was extremely important.” After sitting out a 24-24 tie with Miami last week, Williams came out firing against Buffalo…

by Joey Cappelletti and Mary Clare Jalonick WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday that he believes President Donald Trump is prepared to “crush” Russia’s economy with a new wave of sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the coming weeks. Graham, who spoke with Trump on Tuesday morning, has pushed the president for months to support his sweeping bipartisan sanctions bill that would impose steep tariffs on countries that are fueling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by buying its oil, gas, uranium, and other exports. The legislation has the backing…

by Emeka Obasi The uninformed may be wondering why Senator Ibikunle Amosun stayed put participating in the very last funeral rites that took General Muhammadu Buhari to the unknown world of the dead. Friendship without inhibitions played out. Of all the people who shouted Sai Buhari between 2015 and 2023, you could count the true friends of the former president. And they were quite few. Forget the noise makers and politicians who rode on the name to become emergency billionaires. Amosun stayed with Buhari all through the years of presidential election failure. We know those who began making pilgrimage…

by Terry Tang As President Donald Trump declared Washington, D.C., a crime-ridden wasteland in need of federal intervention this week and threatened similar federal interventions in other Black-led cities, several mayors compared notes. The president’s characterization of their cities contradicts what they began noticing last year: that they were seeing a drop in violent crime after a pandemic-era spike. In some cases the declines were monumental, due in large part to more youth engagement, gun buyback programs and community partnerships. Now members of the African American Mayors Association are determined to stop Trump from burying accomplishments that they already felt…

by Christina Larson WASHINGTON — Early human ancestors during the Old Stone Age were more picky about the rocks they used for making tools than previously known, according to research published Friday. Not only did these early people make tools, they had a mental picture of where suitable raw materials were located and planned ahead to use them, traveling long distances. By around 2.6 million years ago, early humans had developed a method of pounding rocks together to chip off sharp flakes that could be used as blades for butchering meat. This allowed them to feast on large animals like…