BOSTON Thomas Finneran was once the most powerful politician in Massachusetts, ruling the state House of Representatives with an authoritarian style that earned him the nickname “King Tom” from some critics. Finneran’s fall from grace began in 2003 when he lied about his role in a legislative redistricting plan that was later thrown out because […]

SALT LAKE CITY Authorities say two people are dead after gunfire erupted Sunday evening near Salt Lake City. The Utah County Sheriff ’s Office says the violence flared as a woman called police to say a man was shooting at her vehicle. In a series of events still being untangled, KSL-TV reports that officers rushed […]

WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump, moving to complete formation of his Cabinet and decide other key administration posts, chose former campaign rival Ben Carson today to be secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Trump’s decision, announced by his transition office, comes as the real estate mogul continues a series of interviews, meetings with […]

MILAN Italian voters dealt Premier Matteo Renzi a resounding rebuke by rejecting his proposed constitutional reforms, plunging Europe’s fourth-largest economy into political and economic uncertainty today. Renzi announced he would quit following Sunday’s referendum vote, in which 60 percent of voters rejected his proposals and signaled they wanted a change in political direction. Renzi, who […]

KHAZIR, Iraq The U.N. refugee agency distributed aid today to dozens of Iraqi families uprooted from their homes in and around the city of Mosul, reiterating its dire need for funds to offer winter assistance in an area that sees temperatures fall below zero. UNHCR aid workers handed out kerosene heaters, jerry cans, big sheets […]

ALEPPO, SYRIA Amina Hamawy burst into tears and then fainted when she returned to eastern Aleppo to find that looters had ransacked her home. “Where am I? What happened?” she asked after her husband and daughter revived her. “We have lost everything.” They were among a few hundred residents who fled fighting in the Hanano […]

LONDON Britain’s Supreme Court began hearing a landmark case today that will decide who has the power to trigger the U.K.’s exit from the European Union — the government or Parliament. The legal battle has major constitutional implications for the balance of power between the legislature and the executive, and has inflamed Britain’s already raw […]