PARIS — As the world watched American institutions shaken to the core by an angry mob, officials and ordinary citizens wondered: How fragile is democracy, and how much stress could their own political systems withstand? “If it can happen in the U.S., it can happen anywhere,” said Gunjan Chhibber, a...
Lines Spotted at Fresno Voting Center, But Moving Quickly
Before polls opened in Fresno County today, more than 236,000 returned ballots. That is about 46% of the nearly 500,000 registered voters in the county. From now until 8 p.m., the remaining voters can vote in person at 53 voting centers or drop completed ballots there or 64 drop boxes....
Global Stocks Slide on Growing Concern About China Virus
BEIJING — Stock and oil prices fell Tuesday as concern about the potential impact of a Chinese disease outbreak increased and a rating agency cut Hong Kong's credit rating for official borrowing due to political tension. Indexes in London and Frankfurt declined and Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong closed sharply...
House Heads Toward Trump Impeachment Vote as GOP Stalls
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House pressed toward its historic votes to impeach President Donald Trump on Wednesday, arguing over the charges he faces and the legitimacy of the probe that brought Congress and the day that will leave a lasting mark on his tenure at the White House. Speaker Nancy...
Dictionary.com Chooses 'Existential' as Word of the Year
NEW YORK — Climate change, gun violence, the very nature of democracy and an angsty little movie star called Forky helped propel “existential” to Dictionary.com’s word of the year. The choice reflects months of high-stakes threats and crises, real and pondered, across the news, the world and throughout 2019. “In...
Poll: Facts Not Major Driver of American Democracy
WASHINGTON — At a time when many Americans say they're struggling to distinguish between fact and fiction, the country is broadly skeptical that facts underlie some of the basic mechanisms of democracy in the United States — from political campaigns to voting choices to the policy decisions made by elected...
Bolivia in Power Void as Morales, Would-Be Successors Resign
LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivia entered a sudden era of political uncertainty on Monday as President Evo Morales, pushed by the military and weeks of massive protests, resigned after nearly 14 years in power and seemingly every person constitutionally in line for the job quit as well. Crowds of jubilant...
UK's Johnson Moves to Suspend Parliament Ahead of Brexit
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson maneuvered Wednesday to give his political opponents even less time to block a no-deal Brexit before the Oct. 31 withdrawal deadline, winning Queen Elizabeth II's approval to suspend Parliament. His critics were outraged. Though Johnson previously had refused to rule out such a...
Hundreds of Black Deaths in 1919 Are Being Remembered
America in the summer of 1919 ran red with blood from racial violence, and yet today, 100 years later, not many people know it even happened. It flowed in small towns like Elaine, Arkansas, in medium-size places such as Annapolis, Maryland, and Syracuse, New York, and in big cities like...
Germany Honors Resisters Who Tried to Assassinate Hitler
BERLIN — Germany is marking the 75th anniversary of the most famous plot to kill Adolf Hitler, honoring those who resisted the Nazis — who were stigmatized for decades as traitors — as pillars of the country's modern democracy amid growing concerns about the resurgence of the far-right. Chancellor Angela...