ROME — Mayor Brandon Johnson invited Pope Leo XIV to Grant Park next year and delivered him a key to the city during their much-awaited meeting Thursday afternoon in Vatican City, where the son of a pastor and chief executive of the pope’s hometown was surely eager to play up their shared roots.

After emerging from the historic Vatican ...Read more

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya is in talks with the U.S. on Ebola-related health cooperation after media reports that the Trump administration is planning to send Americans exposed to the virus to a quarantine facility in the East African nation being built by the U.S. military.

Any such arrangement would be guided by Kenya’s national laws, public-...Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. JB Pritzker says he intends to sign legislation that would give Illinois a regulatory framework for artificial intelligence developers after a measure sailed through the General Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support and the backing of AI companies.

The bill, which passed 110-0 in the House on Wednesday and 52-...Read more

CHICAGO — More than a month after the parents of Adam Toledo strategically dismissed a lawsuit over the killing of their 13-year-old son, the family has refiled a new complaint against the city and the police officer who shot him, alleging wrongdoing in the boy’s death.

The complaint, filed this time in federal court rather than in Cook ...Read more

Iran and the U.S. have reached a deal to extend a truce and work toward an agreement to end the war, Axios reported, sending oil prices lower on hopes the three-month conflict could be nearing a resolution.

The agreement is for a 60-day extension of the ceasefire and for negotiations to start on Iran’s nuclear program, Axios said, citing two...Read more

A federal grand jury in April 2026 charged James Comey with making a threat against President Donald Trump and transmitting a crime across state lines.

The charges came after Comey, the former FBI director, posted an image of seashells on a North Carolina beach, arranged in the form of the numerals “86” and “47.” Forty-seven ...Read more

Imagine you have heartburn. For years you’ve managed with antacids, but one day you’re struggling to swallow steak without vomiting. Your gastroenterologist finds a large hiatal hernia, an enlarged opening of the diaphragm trapping part of your stomach. She sends you to a surgeon, who says a surgical procedure will correct the problem but...Read more

The U.S. struck Iranian military targets for the second time this week and Kuwait said it responded to missile and drone threats, highlighting the fragility of the ceasefire and the challenge of forging a peace accord that would restore global energy flows.

U.S. forces shot down four Iranian drones fired at a commercial ship and hit a launch ...Read more

Kenya is in talks with the U.S. on Ebola-related health cooperation after media reports that the Trump administration is planning to send Americans exposed to the virus to a quarantine facility in the East African nation being built by the U.S. military.

Any such arrangement would be guided by Kenya’s national laws, public-health regulations,...Read more

There’s a very good chance that you’ll encounter a bat at some point in your life.

There are more than 1,500 species of these fascinating flying mammals, found in almost all habitats outside the polar regions, and many of them have adapted to living around humans.

The big brown bat, a common species in the United States, ...Read more

Mexicans’ concern about corruption is at the highest level of Claudia Sheinbaum’s presidency, as U.S. accusations against a governor add to scandals hitting high-ranking figures and institutions.

Some 62% ranked corruption as the biggest problem facing the country in May, up 3 points from a month prior and 16 from February, according to ...Read more

SANDPOINT, Idaho — An anti-abortion pregnancy center on the outskirts of this Idaho Panhandle town greets visitors with an abridged Bible verse painted on the wall of its waiting area: "Come to me & I will give you rest."

7B Care Clinic has been operating in Sandpoint since 2001 and was previously called Life Choices Pregnancy Center and ...Read more

In response to abrupt and politicized changes to federal vaccine policy, concerned Coloradans have taken several steps to shore up support for vaccine science.

A bill passed by the state legislature in March then signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis allows Colorado to further uncouple itself from federal guidance.

The law allows ...Read more

WILLIAMSTON, N.C. — Two years after her brother's death, Debra Pierce still wonders whether the 50-year-old would have survived his heart attack if her local hospital hadn't closed.

"The sad thing is we'll never know if he could have been saved that night or not, because we don't have a higher level of care in this county," Pierce said as she...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A sweeping new review of prenatal antidepressant use underscores a finding that has surfaced repeatedly throughout the last decade: While parental depression is strongly linked to child neurodevelopmental disorders, taking antidepressants during pregnancy does not appear to significantly increase a child's risk of autism.

In an ...Read more

An anti-abortion group last month sued seven Utah fertility clinics, claiming their disposal of embryos as part of the in vitro fertilization process violates the state’s wrongful death law.

The ministry Voice for the Voiceless believes it has a strong case because Utah is one of four states — Alabama, Louisiana and Missouri are the others ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — After their work permits expired, an immigration attorney near San Diego was fired and a nurse in California's East Bay area was placed on unpaid leave.

Both depend on work permits and legal protection afforded under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program created by President Barack Obama in 2012 for immigrants who ...Read more

A political dinner that had been scheduled for Thursday in the northwest suburbs to benefit Republican governor candidate Darren Bailey was postponed after the Tribune raised questions about whether the event complied with a 4-year-old Illinois law prohibiting candidates from holding fundraisers anywhere in the state when the legislature is in ...Read more