Author: chicagoinquirer

by Joseph Omoremi CHICAGO, IL – Fifteen exhibits have been submitted to the U.S District Court of Northern Districts of Illinois in Chicago by erstwhile Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the February 25th, 2023 Nigeria’s Presidential election,  Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who also subpoenaed the Chicago State University (CSU) for a discovery hearing to authenticate the certificate of President Bola Tinubu who graduated at the school in 1979.  The exhibits includes testimonies, motions, two versions of President Bola Tinubu’s certificates and the disparities between the various evidences Tinubu, PDP, INEC and APC presented at the Nigeria’s…

by Will Graves HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.  — Simone Biles is well aware of how the drill goes. She’s lived it. Multiple times at this point. Whenever the gymnastics star goes to work, the questions about the Olympics come, no matter where the Games fall on the calendar. “It’s just like when you get married (and) they ask when you’re having a baby,” said Biles, who married Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens in April. So it’s telling that while Biles talked for a good 15 minutes on Saturday night after her electric victory at the U.S. Classic — the 26-year-old’s first meet…

by David Klepper WASHINGTON  — Donald Trump’s defense attorney says the former president never asked Mike Pence to overturn the will of the voters in the 2020 election, but only wanted the former vice president to “pause” the certification of votes to allow states to investigate his claims of election fraud. Those baseless claims had already been rejected by numerous courts. Speaking on several Sunday morning news shows, Trump attorney John Lauro said Trump was within his First Amendment rights when he petitioned Pence to delay the certification on Jan. 6, 2021. “The ultimate ask of Vice President Pence was to pause the counts…

by Emeka ObasiLAGOS, NIGERIA -Those who use politics to confuse Nigerians must see the bond created by soccer in the last Naija Super8 Championships. At a time the polity was smeared with bloody interventions, Chief Adewunmi Ogunsanya made a bold statement.His Flykite Promotions is piloted by Jenkins Alumona. Naija Super8 brought compatriots together in Lagos. There was no ethnic colouration to the entertainment offered at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena. Football brought relief to citizens who have been pauperized these past eight years by inept leadership.Ogunsanya, the Odofin Erujaje of Ikorodu, pumped in money to bring back our football. I thought…

by Bruce Schreiner MAYFIELD, Ky.  — U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell received a rousing welcome from the party faithful Saturday at a high-profile home-state political gathering amid renewed scrutiny of his health after the 81-year-old lawmaker froze up midsentence during a recent Capitol Hill news conference. “This is my 28th Fancy Farm, and I want to assure you it’s not my last,” McConnell said at the top of his breakfast speech before the annual picnic that is the traditional jumping off point for the fall campaign season in Kentucky. It was his only reference, however vague, to his health. McConnell, who…

by Sam Mednick NIAMEY, Niger  — The deadline arrived Sunday for Niger’s military junta to reinstate the country’s ousted president, but the West Africa regional bloc that has threatened a military intervention faces prominent appeals to pursue more peaceful means. In the capital, coup leaders appeared at a stadium rally where a chicken decorated in the colors of former colonizer France was beheaded, to cheers. Neighboring Nigeria’s Senate has pushed back against the plan by the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, urging Nigeria’s president, the bloc’s current chair, on Saturday to explore options other than the use of force. ECOWAS…

by Anne M. Peterson MELBOURNE, Australia  — The United States played its best game of this Women’s World Cup and it wasn’t good enough to stop the two-time reigning champions from being eliminated in the round of 16. The Americans’ bid to win an unprecedented third consecutive title ended Sunday on penalty kicks. Megan Rapinoe, Sophia Smith and Kelly O’Hara missed with kicks from the penalty spot before Lina Hurtig converted to clinch the shootout 5-4 on Sunday as Sweden knocked the United States out of the World Cup after a scoreless draw in regulation and extra time. The Americans controlled the…

by Chinedu Asadu ABUJA, Nigeria  — Regional mediation efforts to reverse the coup in Niger and restore its democracy collapsed as soon as they started. Tensions have escalated as the Sunday deadline nears for possible military intervention by other West African countries. As its meeting ended Friday in neighboring Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, the region’s defense chiefs finalized a plan to use force against the Niger junta — needing approval by their political leaders — if Mohamed Bazoum is not reinstated as Niger’s president. An Economic Community of West African States delegation to Niger, led by Nigeria’s former head of state…

by Jill Colvin NEW YORK  — As Donald Trump was being arraigned in Washington on yet another round of criminal charges, his running mate-turned-rival Mike Pence hurried to capitalize on the news. Pence’s campaign unveiled new T-shirts and baseball caps for sale featuring the phrase “Too Honest” in big red letters — a reference to an episode in the indictment in which the former president called Pence to berate him over his refusal to go along with Trump’s scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election. “You’re too honest,” Trump allegedly scoffed at his second-in-command on New Year’s Day. Pence’s decision to seize on the…

by Ellen Knicmeyer and Sam Mednick WASHINGTON  — Ten days into a coup in Niger, life has become more challenging for U.S. forces at a counterterrorism base in a region of West Africa known as the world’s epicenter of terrorism. Flights in and out of the country have been curtailed as coup leaders require Americans to seek permission for each flight. Fuel shortages mean the U.S. commander must sign off whenever an aircraft is refueled. And yet, as several European countries evacuate Niger, the Biden administration is showing itself intent on staying. It sees Niger as the United States’ last, best counterterrorism…