Jessica Stern, soon to become the State Department’s special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, sees a mix of promising news and worrisome developments almost everywhere she looks, both at home and abroad.

Tyson Foods Inc. is recalling nearly 8.5 million pounds of ready-to-eat chicken products because they may be contaminated with Listeria, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Saturday.

Chicago’s “challenging” holiday weekend turned more violent overnight after four people were shot in a drive-by shooting.

A recent South Side Weekly report used city data to show that Chicago’s vaccine disparity is widening between wealthier parts of the city, like the Loop, and areas on the South and West sides with a majority of Black and brown residents.

How some Latino Chicagoans view their own patriotism. Chicago’s vaccine disparity and the delta variant. And “¡Viva la Libertad!” at the Newberry Library.

A new exhibit and programming series at the Newberry Library looks at the ties between the revolutionary histories of the U.S. and countries across Latin America.

For many Latinos, both American-born and immigrants, feelings of pride and patriotism for the U.S. are complicated by history, racial injustice and cultural erasure, leading to questions of what it truly means to be an American patriot.

The Biden administration on Friday gave a rare look inside an emergency shelter it opened to house migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone, calling the California facility a model among its large-scale sites.

With Tropical Storm Elsa looming in the Caribbean and forecast to move toward the state in the coming days, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the building in Surfside is “tottering” and “structurally unsound” and demolishing it is the prudent thing to do.

After decades of organizing by parents, activists and unions, Chicago is on the verge of having a fully elected school board for the first time in its history.

Another day, another aldermanic federal indictment. The mayor coins the name “Burger King Ed,” and battles City Council over summer crime. Trump’s company gets indicted.

AAA forecasts that more than 47 million people will travel by car or plane this weekend in the U.S., a return to 2019 levels and 40% higher than last year. That includes 3.5 million airline passengers.

Friday’s report from the Labor Department was the latest evidence that the reopening of the economy is propelling a powerful rebound from the pandemic recession. Restaurant traffic across the country is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, and more people are shopping, traveling and attending sports and entertainment events.

The Fourth of July holiday weekend will kick off Saturday with fireworks along the lakefront starting at 9:30 p.m. The display should be visible from Grand Avenue to at least 55th Street, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Friday.

The withdrawal from Bagram Airfield is the clearest indication that the last of the 2,500-3,500 U.S. troops have left Afghanistan or are nearing a departure, months ahead of President Joe Biden’s promise that they would be gone by Sept. 11.