Author: chicagoinquirer

by Agency reports CHICAGO  — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Sunday stayed within the ranks and named Larry Snelling, the police department’s counterterrorism head, as his choice for police superintendent of the nation’s third-largest city. The announcement comes after a monthslong search led by the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability. The selection of Snelling, 54, to head the department is subject to City Council approval. Snelling will succeed David Brown, who in March announced that he would step down the day after Chicago’s mayoral primary election in which crime was a central issue. Then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost that primary, and Johnson went…

by Andrew Seligman CHICAGO  — Justin Fields insisted long completions are coming. For now, he’ll take plays like these. Fields threw touchdown passes to prized newcomer DJ Mooreand Khalil Herbert on Chicago’s first two possessions, then watched as the Bears beat the Tennessee Titans 23-17 in the teams’ preseason opener Saturday. “After a period of time where we keep completing those little short passes,” Fields said, “they start blitzing more, pressuring, playing more man coverage, that’s when those deep shots just naturally happen.” The Bears envisioned big plays in the passing game when they acquired Moore in a blockbuster trade with the Carolina…

by Steve Peoples NEW YORK — As he gears up for reelection, President Joe Biden is already facing questions about his ability to convince voters that the economy is performing well. There’s skepticism about the 80-year-old president’s ability to manage a second term. And on Friday, Biden faced a fresh setback when Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to probe his son, Hunter. Biden’s challenges pale in comparison with his predecessor and possible future rival, Donald Trump, who is facing three criminal indictments, with additional charges expected soon. But the appointment of the special counsel was nonetheless a reminder of the vulnerabilities facing Biden as he wages…

by Ellen Knickmeyer and Tracy Brown WASHINGTON  — After nearly three weeks of appealing to the United States and other allies for help restoring Niger’s president to power, friends and supporters of the democratically elected leader are making a simpler plea: Save his life. President Mohamed Bazoum, leader of the last remaining Western-allied democracy across a vast stretch of Africa’s Sahara and Sahel, sits confined with his family in an unlit basement of his presidential compound, cut off from resupplies of food and from electricity and cooking gas by the junta that overthrew him, Niger’s ambassador to the United States told The…

by Sam Mednick NIAMEY, Niger  — Tensions are escalating between Niger’s new military regime and the West African regional bloc that has ordered the deployment of troops to restore Niger’s flailing democracy. The ECOWAS bloc said on Thursday it had directed a “standby force” to restore constitutional order in Niger after its Sunday deadline to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum expired. Hours earlier, two Western officials told The Associated Press that Niger’s junta had told a top U.S. diplomat they would kill Bazoum if neighboring countries attempted any military intervention to restore his rule. It’s unclear when or where the…

by Bianca Vazquez Toness SPRINGFIELD, Mass.  — When in-person school resumed after pandemic closures, Rousmery Negrón and her 11-year-old son both noticed a change: School seemed less welcoming. Parents were no longer allowed in the building without appointments, she said, and punishments were more severe. Everyone seemed less tolerant, more angry. Negrón’s son told her he overheard a teacher mocking his learning disabilities, calling him an ugly name. Her son didn’t want to go to school anymore. And she didn’t feel he was safe there. He would end up missing more than five months of sixth grade. Across the country, students have…

by Emeka Obasi LAGOS, NIGERIA -Fifty seven years after his assassination, the departure of General Johnson Aguiyi – Ironsi continues to be engulfed in mystery. Even those closest to him came out with different versions of what transpired in Ibadan, on July 29, 1966. In all accounts, it is impossible to name who really shot the first African to command United Nations forces and the first Nigerian general. What is certain is that the trigger was pulled by a Non Commissioned Officer ( NCO) after commissioned officers lost control of the rabid situation. Recently, Col. Sani Bello, then a…

by Joseph Omoremi CHICAGO, IL The discovery hearing to authenticate the certificate of Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was yesterday assigned to U.S District Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert and a directive to Chicago State University (CSU) to respond by August 23, 2023 to the application filed by former Nigeria’s vice president Alhaji Abubakar Atiku. Atiku is seeking all records of Tinubu at the university along with CSU’s responses to the various subpoenas, academic and attendance records of Tinubu at the university. The university had urged Atiku to secure  a release from appropriate federal and state authorities before such documents could be released…

by Josh Boak WASHINGTON  — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday to block and regulate high-tech U.S.-based investments going toward China — a move the administration said was targeted but it also reflected an intensifying competition between the world’s two biggest powers. The order covers advanced computer chips, micro electronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence. Senior administration officials said that the effort stemmed from national security goals rather than economic interests, and that the categories it covered were intentionally narrow in scope. The order seeks to blunt China’s ability to use U.S. investments in its technology companies…

by Kyle Hightower and Alanis Thames From his booth at the corner of the court, Miami Heat disc jockey M Dot has a front-row look at the harmonious fusion of basketball and music. M Dot — real name Michael Hankerson — has watched LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to Jimmy Butler nod their heads in pregame layup lines to songs from artists like Drake and Jeezy. He’s seen fans mumble song lyrics between cheers, and rap artists hype up the crowd during timeouts. It’s a relationship that began in the late 1970s, early ’80s as hip-hop was taking flight, and…