World

PORTLAND, Maine— Maine’s top election official could face an impeachment attempt in the state Legislature over her decision to keep former President Donald Trump off the Republican primary ballot. At least one Republican lawmaker has vowed to pursue impeachment against Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows despite long odds in the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Bellows said Friday that she had no comment on …

Israeli military acknowledges destroying Ottoman-era bathhouse while targeting Hamas in Gaza The Israel Defense Forces struck a centuries-old Ottoman-era bathhouse when it targeted a claimed “Hamas terrorist squad” in mid-December, the IDF confirmed Sunday.  The Hamam al-Samra, in the Al-Zeitoun neighborhood of northern Gaza, was said to have been built in the 14th century and was the only public bathhouse in the Gaza …

DENVER — The Colorado Republican Party on Wednesday appealed that state’s supreme court decision that found former President Donald Trump is ineligible for the presidency, the potential first step to a showdown at the nation’s highest court over the meaning of a 155-year-old constitutional provision that bans from office those who “engaged in insurrection.” The first impact of the appeal is to extend the stay of …

CY’s phone lit up with a Whatsapp message. It was Jessica, a beautiful Chinese-American woman who introduced herself as an old colleague. CY didn’t remember meeting her but she seemed kind and he responded anyway. They began chatting in October 2021 and over the next few weeks built a close friendship. Jessica shared photos of her luxurious lifestyle in New …

LONDON — For holding a sign outside a courthouse reminding jurors of their right to acquit defendants, a retiree faces up to two years in prison. For hanging a banner reading “Just Stop Oil” off a bridge, an engineer got a three-year prison sentence. Just for walking slowly down the street, scores of people have been arrested. They are among …

Most global political, spiritual and national leaders mark Christmas with a plea for peace, or by stressing the virtues of family and unity. That’s not Donald Trump’s style. The ex-president unleashed an online torrent of fury and bitterness, largely over his legal plights, spanning Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, previewing the discord and personal obsessions he will inflict on the nation in a pivotal election year in …

King Charles III recorded his Christmas message from a room in Buckingham Palace that leads out on its famous balcony on December 7.Jonathan Brady/WPA/Getty ImagesLondonCNN —  Britain’s King Charles III has used his second Christmas broadcast as monarch to call for compassion in the face of world conflict, as the war between Israel and Hamas rages in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues. The …

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — The normally bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town on Sunday, as Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off due to the Israel-Hamas war. The festive lights and Christmas tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists and jubilant youth marching bands that gather in the West …

CONCORD, N.H. — Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer may have millions of carrots set out for him on Christmas Eve, but what about the rest of the year? Finding food in a cold, barren landscape is challenging, but researchers from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland report that reindeer eyes may have evolved to …

Donald Trump’s request to the Supreme Court on Wednesday was perhaps his most brazen delay tactic yet. He urged the high court not to get involved right now in the question of whether he is immune from federal prosecution for alleged crimes committed while in office – his latest attempt to ask the legal system to effectively bend to his political will. The …