Author: chicagoinquirer

by Chinedu Asadu ABUJA, Nigeria — West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS approved Sunday an exit timeline for three coup-hit nations after a nearly yearlong process of mediation to avert the unprecedented disintegration of the grouping. In a first in the 15-nation bloc’s nearly 50 years of existence, the military juntas of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announced in January that they decided to leave ECOWAS, accusing it of “inhumane and irresponsible” coup-related sanctions and of failing to help them solve their internal security crises. “The authority decides to set the period from 29 January, 2025 to 29 July 2025 as…

by Michelle L. Price NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump rang the opening bell Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange after being recognized for the second time by Time magazine as its person of the year. The honors for the businessman-turned-politician are a measure of Trump’s remarkable comeback from an ostracized former president who refused to accept his election loss four years ago to a president-elect who won the White House decisively in November. Before he rang the opening bell at 9:30 a.m., a first for him, Trump spoke at the exchange and called it “a tremendous honor.” “Time…

by Colleen Long WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released. Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had…

by Cedar Attanasio, Michael R. Sisak and Mark Scolforo ALTOONA, Pa. — A man suspected in the brazen Manhattan killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was arrested and charged with murder Monday after a quick-thinking McDonald’s customer in Pennsylvania recognized him from a surveillance photo and police officers found a gun, mask and writings linking him to the ambush. The chance sighting at the restaurant in Altoona led to a dramatic break in a challenging but fast-moving investigation that captivated the public in the five days since the shooting that shook the business world. Luigi Nicholas Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate…

by Roland Blum DALLAS — Having waited for the call from Cooperstown for nearly three decades, Dave Parker burst into tears Sunday when he was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame along with the late Dick Allen. “Yeah, I cried,” Parker said after receiving the news from Hall chair Jane Forbes Clark. “It only took a few minutes, because I don’t cry.” Parker received 14 of 16 votes from the classic era committee at the winter meetings, and Allen got 13. A vote of 75% or more was needed for election. They will be inducted into the Hall in Cooperstown,…

by Joanna Kozlowska snd Ellen Knickmeyer WASHINGTON — Donald Trump on Sunday pushed Russian leader Vladimir Putin to act to reach an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine, describing it as part of his active efforts as president-elect to end the war despite being weeks from taking office. “Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness,” Trump wrote on social media, referring to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In a television interview that aired Sunday, Trump also said he would be open to reducing military aid to Ukraine and pulling the United States out of NATO. Those are…

by Roland Blum DALLAS (AP) — Star outfielder Juan Soto and the New York Mets agreed Sunday to a record $765 million, 15-year contract, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press, a deal that could escalate to $805 million and is believed to be the largest pact in team sports history. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement, first reported by the New York Post, was subject to a successful physical. While there are no definitive records in sports beyond the United States, Soto’s deal is thought to eclipse those in all other team…

by Josh Dubow SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Chicago Bears responded to the first in-season coach firing in franchise history with a dud. Instead of getting an emotional bump from changing coaches, the Bears went into free fall against the San Francisco 49ers with a non-competitive performance that led to their most lopsided loss of the season with a 38-13 loss on Sunday. “We got our butts kicked,” interim coach Thomas Brown said in his first game in place of the fired Matt Eberflus. “There’s no other way to say it.” Eberflus was fired on Nov. 29 after a string…

by Francis Kokutse and Chinedu Asadu ACCRA, Ghana — Ghana’s vice president and ruling party candidate, Mahamudu Bawumia, conceded defeat Sunday to opposition candidate and former President John Dramani Mahama in the West African nation’s presidential election seen as a vote of no-confidence in the current government’s handling of an ailing economy. Ahead of the official announcement, Bawumia told reporters that he respects the decision of Ghanaians to vote for change. “I’ve just called His Excellency John Mahama to congratulate him as president-elect of the Republic of Ghana,” he said at his residence in the capital, Accra. Previously president of…

by Abdulrahman Shaeen and Abby Sewell DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire on Sunday after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, ending the Assad family’s 50 years of iron rule but raising questions about the future of the country and the wider region. Joyful crowds gathered in central squares in Damascus, waving the Syrian revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising, before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war. Others gleefully ransacked the presidential palace and…