In the hours following Pope Francis’ death Monday, leaders from Illinois — including former President Barack Obama and Gov. JB Pritzker — offered their condolences and urged the world to embrace the 88-year-old pontiff’s legacy of humility and compassion.

Here’s what they had to say:

“Pope Francis was the rare leader who made us ...Read more

Pope Francis, the 266th pope of the Catholic Church and the first pontiff from Latin America, died Monday morning at 88, the Vatican announced.

The Vatican said Francis died of a cerebral stroke that put him into a coma and led to heart failure. Francis is weeks removed from a lengthy hospital stay to treat pneumonia and a complex lung ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Thousands of documents that could contain key details about rampant sexual abuse inside a defunct Santa Clarita detention camp — including so-called "grooming drawings" — were left scattered inside the facility and never turned over to attorneys for those who alleged they had been abused as children, according to a firm suing...Read more

The wife of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil gave birth Monday to the couple’s son after federal immigration authorities denied the family’s request for a temporary release for Khalil to meet their first child.

“I welcomed our son into the world earlier today without Mahmoud by my side,” his wife, Noor Abdalla, wrote in a statement ...Read more

Out of work with USAID as a result of a mass overhaul of federal agencies, a former contractor in the Philadelphia area recently applied to a job with the state of Pennsylvania, eager to use their government work experience as Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration encouraged laid-off federal workers to apply.

This month, however, the worker said ...Read more

Months after the most destructive wildfire in modern Los Angeles history, Mayor Karen Bass is seeking to add scores of new employees to the Fire Department, even as an array of other agencies face layoffs.

The mayor, who has been working to close a nearly $1-billion budget gap, called for adding 227 positions to the Fire Department in her ...Read more

Harvard University sued several U.S. government agencies and top officials for freezing billions of dollars in federal funding, significantly ratcheting up a high-stakes showdown with the Trump administration.

The Trump administration unlawfully suspended Harvard’s funding after it refused to comply with “unconstitutional demands” to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump would attend the funeral of Pope Francis, embarking on the first foreign trip of his second term to honor the late spiritual leader.

“Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome. We look forward to being there!” Trump said Monday in a post to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The fundraising committee for GOP President Donald Trump's inauguration reported accepting $1 million from Gotion Inc., a China-connected battery manufacturer that Michigan Republicans repeatedly attacked Democrats for being tied to during the 2024 campaign.

Trump's inaugural committee released a list of $239 million in accepted ...Read more

Maria-Elena Giner, an appointee of former President Joe Biden who is credited with overhauling the underfunded and mismanaged U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission, has been replaced with a President Donald Trump appointee.

William “Chad” McIntosh, who was serving as the Environmental Protection Agency’s acting deputy ...Read more

NEW YORK — Nadine Menendez was found guilty on Monday of acting as the partner in crime of her convicted husband, ex-Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, by brokering backdoor bribery deals that saw the couple showered in gold bullion bars, wads of cash, and a Mercedes-Benz convertible.

Jurors, who got the case Friday, convicted Nadine of...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A University of Kentucky fraternity will host its own inclusive graduation after the university confirmed last week it will cancel several programs that celebrate underrepresented graduates.

Once he realized the university would start cutting programs that celebrate minority students, Kristopher Washington told his fraternity...Read more

LOS ANGELES — With Los Angeles battered by multiple crises, Mayor Karen Bass vowed Monday in her State of the City address to rebuild at a record clip in the wake of the Palisades fire while also overcoming dire financial woes.

Bass, appearing at City Hall before an audience of about 250, struck a hopeful tone, even as she acknowledged that ...Read more

Four Democratic U.S. House members, in El Salvador to push for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, said they met with officials in the U.S. Embassy and got no indication that it is working to return the mistakenly deported man to Maryland.

“We just had a meeting earlier today with the embassy,” Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat, said ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After attending Monday afternoon’s service at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Veronica Dilao walked out of the downtown Sacramento church still overwhelmed with emotion over the death of Pope Francis.

“I’m so sad,” Dilao said. “It’s kind of like mixed emotions, sad and happy. Happy because he is with ...Read more

It’s Earth Day on Tuesday. But for the first time in four years, California’s environmental groups and state agencies are playing defense.

After working closely with President Biden, who supported spending billions for renewable energy, established new national monuments and filled his administration with conservation leaders, California ...Read more

DETROIT — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said communities still are recovering from a devastating ice storm, with some residents still without power, that blew into northern Michigan three weeks ago, so the state needs more time to determine how much federal aid it might request for restoration.

On Monday, Whitmer sent a letter to the Federal ...Read more