The action follows pleas by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to U.S. and Western officials to cut off the imports, which had been a glaring omission in the massive sanctions put in place on Russia over the invasion.

Anyone in line to file their petitions by the time election authorities opened their doors has a chance to be listed first on the ballot for their race, a position that could make a difference by attracting voters’ eyeballs in a close contest.

Chicago Tribune investigative reporter Ray Long began covering the statehouse at the beginning of Madigan’s historic reign as speaker of the House, and has unique insight into how he operated. Long joins Paris Schutz to discuss his new book on Madigan’s career. 

Years in the making, the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act is among some 200 bills that have been introduced over the past century that have tried to ban lynching in America. It is named for the Black teenager from Chicago whose brutal killing in Mississippi in 1955 became a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights era.

Chicago police officers were more likely to stop and use force against Black Chicagoans than other racial groups, according to a new report from the Office of the Inspector General.

A third round of talks between the two sides ended with a top Ukrainian official saying there had been minor, unspecified progress toward establishing safe corridors that would allow civilians to escape the fighting. Russia’s top negotiator said he expects those corridors to start functioning Tuesday.

Republican candidates in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada are struggling to keep pace with Democratic fundraising. Recruiting failures have dashed GOP hopes in reach states like Maryland and threaten a prime pickup opportunity in New Hampshire. 

Food, water, medicine and almost all other supplies were in desperately short supply in the port city of Mariupol, where Russian and Ukrainian forces had agreed to an 11-hour cease-fire that would allow civilians and the wounded to be evacuated. But Russian attacks quickly closed the humanitarian corridor, Ukrainian officials said.

Maria and her fiancé, David, married Saturday before about 20 people in the backyard of an Oak Park home. On Monday, she plans to fly to Poland, then make her way to the Ukrainian border, ultimately aiming to volunteer to fight for her home country.

The Associated Press got exclusive access over two days to the first 12 inmates enrolled in the largely privately funded gang-cessation and jobs program at the DuPage County Jail and to their cellblock. For their safety, they’re isolated from the jail’s 500 other inmates, half of whom are in gangs.

New York City, which has long prided itself as having the nation’s toughest COVID-19 safety protocols, will do away with several of its mandates next week, including required masking in public schools and vaccination requirements at restaurants, entertainment and cultural venues, the mayor announced Friday.

Even though the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is of a different design than Chernobyl and is protected from fire, nuclear safety experts and the International Atomic Energy Agency warn that waging war in and around such facilities presents extreme risks.

The feds nab Madigan on 22 corruption counts. Lightfoot's provocative statements. Arne Duncan says no to mayoral bid. And President Biden gives State of the Union amid Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russian troops Friday seized the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe after a middle-of-the-night attack that set it on fire and briefly raised worldwide fears of a catastrophe in the most chilling turn in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine yet.

For nearly 40 years, former Illinois House Speaker and state Democratic Party chairman Michael Madigan was at the epicenter of politics in Chicago and Illinois. Now, he’s at the epicenter of a corruption investigation. The news has Springfield reeling.

Moscow’s advance on Ukraine’s capital in the north has apparently stalled, with a huge armored column outside Kyiv at a standstill. And stiffer than expected resistance from the outmanned, outgunned Ukrainians has staved off the swift victory that Russia may have expected.