Author: chicagoinquirer

by James Oliphant NEW YORK – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump tried to poke fun at his opponent Democrat Kamala Harris and embattled New York Mayor Eric Adams while touching upon his own legal troubles in a somewhat light-hearted speech at a charity gala on Thursday. “It’s really a pleasure (to be) anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my appearance,” Trump told the gathering at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. The annual Al Smith dinner, which benefits Catholic charities, is a New York bipartisan tradition that attracts the city’s elite and extends back almost 80 years.…

By Jeff Mason and Sarah Marsh BERLIN -President Joe Biden urged the West on Friday to sustain its support for Ukraine against Russia’s full-scale invasion as Kyiv faces a bleak winter and a looming U.S. presidential election raises worries about the strength of Washington’s own resolve. Biden was speaking to reporters before holding closed-door talks with ally German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a swansong one-day trip to Berlin to discuss matters ranging from Ukraine to the expanding conflict in the Middle East. “As Ukraine faces a tough winter, we must, we must sustain our resolve,” Biden said in a statement.…

by Jarrett Renshaw CHICAGO – Democrat Kamala Harris will campaign for the first time with Barack and Michelle Obama in separate events next week, hoping to inject some political star power in the final dash to election day in November, a senior campaign official said. The former president and his wife remain immensely popular with the Democratic base and are expected to be effective closers in the final stretch of a campaign relying on turnout from loyal Democrats in states where victory margins are thin. Polls show the presidential race between Harris and Republican rival Donald Trump remains extremely close.…

by Rory Carroll LOS ANGELES – Preparations to host the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are underway and the city welcomed officials from Paris this week to find out what the “secret sauce” is for delivering a successful Games, LA Mayor Karen Bass told Reuters. The Paris Games were widely seen as a triumph of planning and execution and set a high bar for LA when it lights the Olympic flame in Southern California in four years’ time. “What we want to do is dissect what we saw,” Bass said in an interview at City Hall during the second day of…

By Aaron Ross NAIROBI – If Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s removal on charges of stirring ethnic hatred and undermining judicial independence was unprecedented, aspects of the Senate’s verdict late Thursday were very familiar to close watchers of the country’s politics. On the charge of corruption – which included allegations he had embezzled tens of millions of dollars to buy real estate properties – Gachagua was overwhelmingly acquitted, with 13 senators voting in favour and 53 against. In all, he was convicted of five charges and acquitted of six others after allies of President William Ruto turned against him in…

MOSCOW – The BRICS group will generate most of the global economic growth in the coming years thanks to its size and relatively fast growth compared with that of developed Western nations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. Putin hopes to build up BRICS – which has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates as well as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – as a powerful counterweight to the West in global politics and trade. The Kremlin leader is due to host a BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan on Oct.…

by Camillus Eboh ABUJA – A Nigerian court on Friday adjourned the trial of detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan after it was stalled because he could not appear in court due to illness. Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and head of financial crime compliance at Binance, has been in detention in Nigeria since late February and has been charged with laundering more than $35 million. Gambaryan and Binance deny the charges. Federal High Court judge Emeka Nwite in the capital Abuja postponed the trial to Oct. 25 to allow him get medical attention. Judge Nwite denied Gambaryan bail a second-time last…

LONDON – The NFL has continued its push into international markets this year with regular season games in Brazil and London and one set for Germany next month but on Thursday said it has no near-term plans to hold a Super Bowl outside the United States. The host cities for the next four Super Bowl games have already been selected and NFL Executive Vice President Peter O’Reilly said there was no current focus on bringing the league’s biggest annual event outside U.S. borders. “That’s not necessarily something we are focused on in the near term,” O’Reilly told reporters on a…

CHICAGO – The Chicago White Sox are exploring avenues for a possible sale of the franchise, according to multiple reports, after just completing a 121-loss season that was the worst in the modern era. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, chairman Jerry Reinsdorf is “open” to finding a buyer for the club and one group showing considerable interest is being led by former major league pitcher Dave Stewart. A club spokesperson declined to comment on a potential sale. Reinsdorf, who reportedly owns a 19 percent stake in the White Sox, has been the club’s principal owner since 1981, when the franchise…

By Camillus Eboh ABUJA – Nigeria launched a new malaria vaccine on Thursday that will be freely administered to recipients, its health minister said, marking a significant milestone in its fight against the deadly disease. The launch makes the country one of the first in the world to back the new R21 vaccine, developed by scientists at Oxford University and made by the Serum Institute of India and Novavax. The vaccine was provisionally approved by Nigeria’s medicines regulator in April last year. Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said Nigeria had received 846,200 doses of the vaccine, procured in partnership with…