U of Illinois won’t be designated ‘sanctuary’ for immigrants

The University of Illinois will not label its three campuses as sanctuaries for immigrant students illegally living in the U.S., school leaders said Tuesday as they pushed aside pressure from faculty and others to make the designation. Petitions from students and faculty at campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield were among efforts by students and others at more than 100 colleges and universities around the country to make the schools sanctuaries for immigrants following President-elect Donald Trump 's promises to crack down on illegal immigration.

How much clout will Chicago lose with Trump administration?

Nowhere will political power evaporate more dramatically at noon on Jan. 20 than in the third-largest U.S. city, a bastion of Democratic power that's enjoyed special access to Washington during President Barack Obama's eight years in the White House. When Donald Trump becomes the 45th president, Chicago will trade a first family and top advisers with deep ties to the city for a chief executive who has repeatedly called it a violent mess embodying the failed policies of his predecessor and the Democratic Party.

Peter Lucas: Romney couldn’t read us. How will he read the world?

U.S. foreign-policy sage Henry Kissinger used to tell Harvard students that the test of a good statesman was his ability to sense the evolution of an event before it happened. What President Richard Nixon's secretary of state meant was that a successful diplomat had to be able to read the character of his foreign counterpart as well as have the ability to take the pulse of the country he was dealing with.

Iranian President Threatens US Over Sanctions Extension

In this photo released by official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani, center, Science Minister Mohammad Farhadi, right, and head of the President's office Mohammad Nahavandian, left, listen to the national anthem at the start of a ceremony marking Student Day at Tehran University in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani is threatening the United States with a "harsh reaction", after Congress voted last week to renew sanctions against the country for an additional 10 years.

Obama’s UN envoy refers to Armenian genocide

Has the Obama administration quietly recognized the World War I-era killings of Armenians as genocide? The ... The term has long been taboo for U.S. officials, including President Barack Obama, who have instead talked of mass atrocity and historical tragedy. But Obama's U.N. ambassador last week went further than her boss by describing the event as genocide.

Trump won’t tip hand on pipeline

Industry leaders on Monday urged President-elect Donald Trump to make approval of the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline a "top priority" when he takes office next month, while opponents who have protested the project for months vowed to stay put on their North Dakota encampment despite harsh wintry weather and a tribal leader's call to leave. The moves come after the Army Corps of Engineers declined to issue a permit for the $3.8 billion pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Senate advances bill to speed drug OKs

A bipartisan bill to speed government drug approvals and bolster biomedical research cleared its last procedural hurdle in the Senate on Monday. The 85-13 vote for cloture, or closing debate and preventing a filibuster on the bill, puts the measure on track for final legislative approval by the Senate as early as today.

Shutdown averted, Senate backs stop-gap spending bill

With less than hour to spare, the Senate late Friday backed legislation averting a government shutdown as coal-state Democrats retreated on long-term health care benefits for retired miners and promised a renewed fight for the working class next year. The 63-36 vote sent the stop-gap spending bill to President Barack Obama, who signed the measure early Saturday morning.

New York Asks US Government for $35M in Trump Security Costs

New York City asked the U.S. government for up to $35 million to cover security costs for protecting President-elect Donald Trump in his home atop a Manhattan skyscraper, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday. Trump, a Republican, has spent most of his time since Election Day in his apartment at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, forcing police to work with the U.S. Secret Service to provide intensified security measures in one of the city's busiest neighborhoods.

Trump not saying what hea ll do about Dakota Access pipeline

Industry leaders are urging President-elect Donald Trump to make approval of the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline a "top priority" when he takes office next month, while opponents who have protested the project for months are vowing to stay put on their sprawling North Dakota encampment despite harsh winter weather and a tribal leaders' call to leave. The moves come after the Army declined to issue a permit for the $3.8 billion pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Obama’s lame-duck red tape

The bowels of the federal bureaucracy aren't exactly Santa's workshop, but legions of Barack Obama's elves are working 24/7 to leave behind large lumps of coal in the Christmas stocking of Donald Trump. Which is odd, because the president's loathing of all things anthracite and bituminous is well known.

The Latest: Biden warns fiscal plans reminiscent of 2008

Vice-President Joe Biden says that some of the economic proposals under discussion as a new administration prepares to enter the White House are the same ones that led to "this God-awful recession of eight years ago." Speaking at Georgetown University on financial regulation, Biden says banks and other financial institutions knew they had a backstop in the form of the American taxpayer, so they took excessive risks.

By accident or design, Trump signals tougher China policy

Whether by accident or design, President-elect Donald Trump is signaling a tougher American policy toward China, sparking warnings from both the outgoing Obama administration and Beijing. On Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said progress with the Chinese could be "undermined" by a flare-up over the sovereignty of Taiwan, the self-governing island the U.S. broke diplomatic ties with in 1979.

De Blasio Admits Protecting Trump Costs Drastically Less Than Previous Estimate

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at a news conference at City Hall in the Manhattan borough of New York City. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo Protecting President-elect Donald Trump and his family will cost around $500,000 per day, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is asking for $35 million from the federal government to cover cost.

North Dakota Pipeline Protesters Vow To Staya

Protesters celebrated a major victory in their push to reroute the Dakota Access oil pipeline away from a tribal water source but pledged to remain camped on federal land in North Dakota anyway, despite Monday's government deadline to leave. Hundreds of people at the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires, encampment cheered and chanted "mni wichoni" - "water is life" in Lakota Sioux - after the Army Corps of Engineers refused Sunday to grant the company permission to extend the pipeline beneath a Missouri River reservoir.

Dakota Access Pipeline: What happens next?

The fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline -- the $3.8 billion project expected to move 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day across the Midwest -- lasted long enough for the summer heat to give way to thick, white snow. For months, Standing Rock Sioux tribe members and their allies battled the energy project they referred to as a "black snake."

Japanese leader Abe won’t apologize at Pearl Harbor

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won't apologize for Japan's attack when he visits the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor later this month, the government spokesman said Tuesday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that "the purpose of the upcoming visit is to pay respects for the war dead and not to offer an apology."

Japanese PM to visit Pearl Harbor to strengthen Japan-US alliance

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Monday that he will visit the Pearl Harbor later this month to mourn the victims of Japanese surprise attack 75 years ago. Abe will be the first incumbent Japanese prime minister to visit Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, which was attacked by the Japanese military on Dec. 7, 1941, killing more than 2,400 people and leading Washington's entry into World War Two .