State

• LaHood Introduces Bills to Bolster TANF

Illinois Congressmen agree more UFO research needed

Separately, Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, and U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, talk about the need for more investigation of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena 

• Legislation would require some landlords to accept more pets

• Pass rates of teacher licensure tests show significant gaps

• Illinois tops nation in state, local sales taxes

• Illinois ranked 21st in latest U.S. Prosperity Index

Nation

Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty ahead of rape trial in Los Angeles

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of rape and sexual assault involving five women in Los Angeles ahead of a second trial. 

• U.S. retailers scramble to stock shelves as kids head back to school

Government, Politics, Campaigns  & Elections

Pandemic goes on for the unvaccinated, Biden tells Trump-area town hall

President Joe Biden participates in a town hall-style interview at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. July 21, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

• Biden says CDC will advise unvaccinated kids to mask up in school this fall

• Republicans nix U.S. infrastructure debate, which could resume next week

• Republicans abandon Capitol riot probe after Pelosi rejects Jordan, Banks

  • McCarthy says Republicans will pull out of Jan. 6 committee unless Pelosi reverses decision

Top U.S. senator demands inquiry into Justice Dept grants system

U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) attends the second day of her confirmation hearing of Judge Amy Coney Barrett before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 13, 2020. Drew Angerer/Pool via REUTERS

• Partisan fight brews as forecaster warns U.S. could hit debt limit by fall

  • White House says it expects Congress to raise U.S. debt ceiling

• U.S. Justice Dept issues new policy on communications with White House

• U.S. Justice Department to launch new crackdown on firearms trafficking

• Pennsylvania decertifies county's voting machines after 2020 audit

International

Children's tales of sheep and wolves incite sedition, HK police say

Senior Superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah, of the police’s National Security Department, speaks during a news conference after five people were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to publish "seditious material" with the intent of inciting public hatred towards the government among children, in Hong Kong, China, July 22, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

• UK should be concerned at Chinese gene data harvesting, lawmaker says

• Myanmar military accused of arresting doctors while COVID-19 infections rise

• 'Pingdemic' grips Britain as fears of food shortages grow

• Ireland to wait a few weeks before reopening economy further

Briton held over 2020 Twitter hack to appear in court in Spain, source says

The Twitter app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

• Israel eyes spyware export curbs; Macron, Merkel troubled by abuse reports

• Russia rejects aspects of Germany-U.S. accord on Nord Stream 2 pipeline

• Opening ceremony director dismissed after past comments on Holocaust, Tokyo 2020 says

• Coastal erosion threatens Senegal's rock climbing clique

ODD & Extraordinary

• Olympics-Softball-Olympic softballers hunt roaming bear, no luck finding it so far

Science, Medicine, Technology & Environment

The leader's brain: Neuroscience in the workplace

A worker arrives at his office in the Canary Wharf business district in London February 26, 2014./File Photo