WASHINGTON — President Biden says WNBA star Brittney Griner has been freed from a Russian prison. “Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” he wrote on Twitter. Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the swap in a press release to agencies that Griner
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden says Democrats should give up “restrictive” caucuses and move to champion diversity in the order of their presidential primary calendar. His recommendation deals a major blow to Iowa’s decadeslong status as the state that leads off the process. In a letter to the rule-making arm of the Democratic National Committee,
President Biden will host a joint press conference with Emmanuel Macron on Thursday as a part of the French president’s three-day state visit. The joint press conference is set to begin at 11:45 a.m. ET. Watch it live: Traditionally leaders have answered two questions each at joint press conferences; topics that could come up include
President Biden is set to hold a press conference at the White House following Democrats’ better-than-expected performance in the 2022 midterms. Though Democrats are expected to lose control of the House of Representatives, control of the Senate is still up in the air. Several key Senate races, including those in Nevada and Arizona, remain too
Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker stirred political intrigue this summer with signals he was mulling a run for president in 2024, but Illinois voters appear to have some free, blunt advice for him: Don’t do it. That’s the unmistakable takeaway from a new WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times Poll that asked if the first-term billionaire chief executive ought to consider
Queen Elizabeth’s funeral service is taking place at Westminster Abbey in London, with President Biden and other world leaders attending. The queen died on Sept. 8 at age 96. She had served as queen since 1952. Watch the events honoring her reign live.
A strike that could have halted both freight and passenger trains across the country seems to have been averted. After a marathon negotiating session lasting 20 hours, the White House announced early Thursday that a tentative agreement had been reached between rail companies and the unions representing conductors and engineers. “This agreement is validation –
WASHINGTON — President Biden’s announcement of a sweeping effort to forgive federal student loan debt – up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients, and up to $10,000 for others who qualify – leaves millions of borrowers with unanswered questions, and some of the details won’t be clear for weeks or months. Here are three big
The Illinois governor said he wouldn’t oppose President Joe Biden, and he lacks the name recognition of other potential candidates. But he’s hitting the national circuits. It’s the summer of 2024. The Democratic National Convention is in Chicago. President Joe Biden, after vowing to seek a second term, dropped his re-election plans because voters turned
WASHINGTON — The White House is unveiling a new roadmap for the COVID-19 pandemic, one that envisions life going back to normal after two years of crisis, providing for people to get tested and treat the disease, while staying vigilant for new variants and outbreaks. “We are no longer going to let COVID-19 dictate how
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s decision during the COVID-19 pandemic to conduct many inspections virtually — instead of onsite — risked worker safety, the U.S. Department of Labor’s inspector general concluded in an audit report released Tuesday. The report does not specifically mention OSHA’s enforcement at meatpacking plants, which quickly became COVID-19 hotspots last year, but
WASHINGTON – Presidential inaugurations are by definition historic events. Joe Biden officially become the 46th president of the United States on January 20, 2021 just before noon Wednesday during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. The inauguration came two weeks after a violent mob of white nationalists brawled with police and smashed their way into the Capitol building,
URBANA – A University of Illinois professor helped the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) transition from the Trump to the new Biden-Harris administration. Jonathan Coppess is one of hundreds of people — including researchers, professors and scientists — who volunteered their time on the effort. Coppess, an assistant professor within the U of I’s agriculture
A group of senators is pushing the incoming Biden-Harris administration to “restore” the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) — a program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by requiring oil refineries to blend in a minimum volume of biofuels. Under the Trump administration, oil refineries were granted numerous waivers for meeting that requirement. Critics argue the
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Dr. Ngozi Ezike held a COVID-19 press briefing today as cases and hospitalizations in Illinois reach record highs. Read and listen to the latest update from the governor’s office on new cases, phased re-opening and closings of different regions and the state’s ongoing pandemic response. You can watch the most recent