Author: chicagoinquirer

by Jake Offenhartz, Larry Neumeister and Anthony Izaguirre NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a grand jury on federal criminal charges, according to two people familiar with the matter. The indictment detailing the charges against Adams, a Democrat, was still sealed late Wednesday, according to the people, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment. The indictment was first reported by The New York Times. “I always knew that If I stood…

WASHINGTON – Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee in November’s presidential election, on Tuesday said she backed ending a procedural tool that currently requires a supermajority in the Senate to pass legislation to protect the right to an abortion nationally. Since a 2022 Supreme Court decision overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion, about a dozen U.S. states have passed laws banning or severely limiting abortion rights, which has become a key issue in the 2024 election. Harris wants Congress to pass a national law codifying access to a safe abortion. The support of 60 senators is required to pass…

by Timothy Aeppel CHICAGO – Drew Greenblatt loves that the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates. But the half-point reduction, the first in what is expected to be a series of cuts, won’t help him win what he calls the “trench warfare” he’s fighting with one of his big customers. That buyer moved work out of China during the COVID-19 pandemic – placing about $800,000 in orders at Greenblatt’s small U.S. factory last year. Greenblatt bought robots and hired more workers to meet the new demand. Then orders stopped earlier this year. “When I asked why, they said they’d gone…

by David Shepardson, Nora Eckert and Abhirup Roy WASHINGTON/DETROIT -The Biden administration’s proposed ban on Chinese connected-car technology could prove its strongest weapon yet to fend off an onslaught of cheap Chinese electric vehicles that has upended the global auto industry. The ban on hardware and software, announced Monday by the U.S. Commerce Department, is the administration’s latest salvo after imposing 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs and denying a $7,500 consumer EV subsidy to any vehicle with made-in-China components. Unlike those measures, the connected-car tech prohibition would apply even to cars built by Chinese firms outside China – such as…

by Jaspreet Kalra MUMBAI – India is in talks with countries in Africa and South America to help them build a digital payments system using its homegrown Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as a blueprint and expects two launches by early 2027, a senior official said on Tuesday. The overseas arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is in talks with “several countries” and is closing in on an agreement with one of them, said Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL). The NPCI, a quasi-regulator under the central bank, is a public non-profit organisation for retail…

by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo and Camillus Eboh ABUJA -Nigeria’s central bank unexpectedly raised its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to 27.25% on Tuesday in a unanimous decision to tame persistent inflationary pressures, bank governor Olayemi Cardoso said. The move wrongfooted analysts who had expected rates to stay on hold and indicates the bank is prioritizing inflation control over economic growth amid the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. It is the fifth rate hike this year, after increases of 50 basis points (bps) in July, 150 bps in May, 200 bps in March and 400 bps in February which…

Vince Carter will become the first Toronto Raptors player to have his number retired on Nov. 2, multiple outlets reported Monday. Carter, 47, and his No. 15 jersey will be honored when the Raptors face the Sacramento Kings at Scotiabank Arena, according to reports from TSN and ESPN. Nicknamed “Air Canada” during his time north of the border, Carter was the 1998-99 NBA Rookie of the Year with Toronto and averaged 23.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists over six-plus seasons with the Raptors. Carter, who will be inducted with the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 next month, will…

NAIROBI – A group of South Sudanese lawyers filed a case to the country’s top court on Monday challenging the president’s postponement of elections and extension of the transitional government’s term for two years. Ten days ago, President Salva Kiir’s office announced an extension of the transitional period by two years and postponed elections for a second time following a delay in 2022. Late last week, parliament ratified the decision without changes after the cabinet endorsed it. Elections were due to be held in December. On Monday, the lawyers challenging the action went to the Supreme Court, asking it to…

by Daniel Trotta ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA – Four top aides to North Carolina’s Republican candidate for governor resigned on Sunday, three days after CNN reported that he once called himself a “black NAZI!” and proposed bringing back slavery in comments posted on a pornography website. Mark Robinson, an African American who denied making the comments, announced that his campaign manager, finance director, deputy campaign manager and senior advisor had stepped down from their roles with the campaign without saying why. Robinson currently serves as North Carolina’s lieutenant governor. North Carolina’s gubernatorial campaign has implications for the presidential contest on the…

by Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON – Enhanced background checks have blocked thousands of gun sales to people under the age of 21 and those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes in the past year, the White House said on Sunday, a year after President Joe Biden set up a new office to accelerate work on preventing gun violence. Homicides have dropped 17% in the period, building on the largest-ever drop in homicides in 2023, the White House said. It said data from the Gun Violence Archive showed that mass shootings were also down 20% to date in 2024 compared to a…