Stories by Associated Press

Pope Leo XIV met with members of the Vatican’s child protection advisory commission on Thursday for the first time amid questions about his past handling of clergy sex abuse cases and demands from survivors that he enact a true policy of zero tolerance for abuse across the Catholic Church.

The justices’ decision affects lawsuits in 20 states and the District of Columbia where, until now, courts had set a higher bar when members of a majority group, including those who are white and heterosexual, sue for discrimination under federal law.

Whether it’s a musical on the “Queen of Rock’n’Roll,” an esoteric screening of VHS oddities, or two imaginative plays, you have a lot of stellar options to explore Chicago’s thriving cultural scene.

A new path toward building wealth in Chicago’s Black communities. And Chicago State University is adding a football team to its roster.

Chicago State University hired its first-ever head football coach, Bobby Rome II. Rome is tasked with building the school’s new Division I football program from the ground up. The university doesn’t have a stadium, equipment or players just yet.

The report draws from research from the New School’s Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, which found that in 2024 the median net worth for Black Chicago-area households was zero dollars — compared to $210,000 for White households.

Lawyer Ebony Lucas sued Ald. Lamont Robinson’s campaign and the 4th Ward Democratic Organization for launching what she called a “coordinated smear campaign.”

Senate Bill 1181 explicitly adds news media as an entity protected under the state’s Citizen Participation Act, which prohibits “strategic lawsuits against public participation.”

Lawmakers voted along party lines Saturday to pass House Bill 3363, which would create the “Office of State Public Defender” that would primarily be responsible for providing public defender offices around the state with more resources.

Foreign-made steel and aluminum is used in household products like soup cans and paper clips, as well as big-ticket items like a stainless-steel refrigerators and cars.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois on Wednesday announced the expansion of its Project Safe Neighborhoods program, which combines the efforts of federal, state and local authorities to help stem violent crime.

The ban was supposed to take effect on July 1, but lawmakers voted with strong bipartisan majorities Sunday morning to pass House Bill 742 to push the ban back until July 2026.

An Aurora resident who staunchly maintained his innocence on a charge of alleged battery against a member of former Mayor Richard Irvin’s campaign team had his case dismissed by a Kane County judge on Wednesday.

The Congressional Budget Office has projected that President Donald Trump’s “one big beautiful bill” would increase federal deficits by about $2.4 trillion over 10 years.

Graceland Cemetery's newest residents — a litter of coyote pups — are causing a stir.

According to Chicago Police Department data, there were 36 homicides recorded throughout May 2025, a total that’s down 38% compared to the same month last year and down nearly 50% compared to May 2023.

President Donald Trump’s big bill making its way through Congress will cut taxes by $3.75 trillion but also increase deficits by $2.4 trillion over the next decade, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires carried another day of poor air quality south of the border to the Midwest, where conditions in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan were rated “very unhealthy” Tuesday.

Edmund White, the groundbreaking man of letters who documented and imagined the gay revolution through journalism, essays, plays and such novels as “A Boy’s Own Story” and “The Beautiful Room is Empty,” has died. He was 85.

Each Wednesday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry presents must-see live music shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more.

The mayor reacts as state lawmakers fail to fund public transit. And the latest on COVID-19 vaccine guidelines.

At issue is a lower court ruling that found the Republican and two presidential elector nominees did not have standing to sue. The Supreme Court will likely hear arguments in the case in the fall.

Federal health officials issued new guidance last week on who should have the COVID-19 vaccine, and it no longer includes healthy children and healthy pregnant women.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration sent Congress a long-awaited request for lawmakers to cancel more than $1 billion in federal funds earmarked for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the entity that disburses taxpayer funds to local NPR and PBS stations across the country.

In all, Chicago taxpayers spent $120.3 million since January 2019 to resolve 31 lawsuits filed by Chicagoans injured during police pursuits, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.

Bradley Lund, 8, had been in a Springfield hospital since the collision at YNOT Outdoors five weeks ago, according to the Sangamon County coroner.