True-blue California predictably delivered its 54 electoral votes to Vice President Kamala Harris this week. But farther down the ballot, Democratic voters struck a blow at a key progressive policy – and candidates – aimed at criminal justice reform.

For most people, a fork is just a fork. But when Olivia Schneider spears a stalk of asparagus, she prefers the plastic-handled type dating back to the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR). It’s the kind of cutlery her East German grandparents e

After 13 months of mass destruction, the war in Gaza has taken an unexpected turn for peace. In a religious ruling, the most prominent Islamic scholar in the Palestinian enclave says Hamas failed to keep its fighters “away from the homes of defencele

The economic agenda of once and future President Donald Trump runs along two tracks: What he can accomplish quickly on his own and what he’ll have to work out with Congress. Those wanting dramatic change won’t have long to wait. The most radical part

Krissy Fraelich was “shocked” by the election results. Not only that Donald Trump won, but that he won so decisively. She saw it as a strike against women’s rights, particularly reproductive rights, and as a blow to her hope to see a woman in the Ova

It’s the inflation, stupid. As divided and demoralized Democrats sift through the ashes of the 2024 election map, most agree on two points: Vice President Kamala Harris was fighting strong headwinds when it came to how voters felt about the cost of l

For people who rank climate change high on their list of societal concerns, the Nov. 5 election result was a sobering one: The next U.S. president will be someone who campaigned on relying more on fossil fuels, not less.  That result may seem counter

On Tuesday night, American voters handed Republicans the White House, the Senate, and – it looks likely – the House. That tilt toward one-party rule in Washington hides another political realignment that may be just as consequential. According to Edi

President-elect Donald Trump made history on election night. He is not only the second president ever elected to nonsequential terms in the White House but also the first American president ever elected with a felony conviction. Legal troubles hung o

One of the first things you learn in Sy Montgomery’s latest book is that roosters respond well to cuddling. Pick them up, talk to them, wrap their feet in a towel – to protect from their sharp spurs – and put them on your hip during chores. And, voil

Certain movies are sometimes referred to as genre-breaking but “Emilia Pérez” carries this designation to the wildest extreme. It’s a feminist musical crime thriller about a transgender cartel boss. Doubly surprising is that, for all its strangeness

Ivan Maschenko kneels down to brush two fingers across the framed portrait of his son Oleksii, who died in battle last year defending Ukraine against Russia’s invasion force. “Of course we all want this war to end, but when [former President Donald]

Former President Donald Trump’s sweeping electoral victory extended to downballot Republicans, who wrested control of the U.S. Senate away from Democrats. The GOP flipped two Senate seats in Ohio and West Virginia, and as of Wednesday afternoon seeme

America’s presidential elections are a great survey of public opinion as well as a call to action. Yet while Donald Trump won both the popular vote and the Electoral College on Nov. 5, it could be that the exit polls will drive the course of his seco

“I came to Comala because I was told my father lived here” is one of the most famous first lines in Mexican literature. It comes from the 1955 novel “Pedro Páramo” by Juan Rulfo, an author who inspired Latin American writers such as Gabriel García Má

Four years after he was rebuked by voters and then fought until the bitter end to try to overturn his loss, former President Donald Trump is on his way back to the White House. Mr. Trump was projected the winner in the key swing states of Pennsylvani

The American people have spoken, and the message in Tuesday’s historic victory by once-and-now-future President Donald Trump came through loud and clear: A majority of voters wanted change – sort of. That sounds contradictory, but here’s the logic: A

A disaster of a debate. A party in panic. A nearly successful assassination attempt of a former president on the eve of his party convention. A candidate switcheroo. Another assassination attempt. A hurricane that devastated swaths of two key swing s

Americans’ trust in the electoral process has fallen steeply in recent years, fueled in part by the fact that many don’t have a clear understanding of the steps involved in mailing, tracking, securing, and counting ballots.  To that end, the Monitor

A nation polarized by politics is having a clarifying moment. A week after an intense storm battered its eastern coast, Spain has seen thousands of volunteers come from all directions to help towns devastated by floods. Many traveled miles by bicycle

Voting rights access has been quietly, steadily expanding for one particular population in recent years: those with felony convictions. Now, that population includes one of the two major party candidates: former President Donald Trump. For much of Am

Tens of millions of Americans turned out for a mostly calm Election Day, after a surge of early voting that could point to another high-turnout presidential race. Some states reported technical problems and bomb threats to polling stations, spurring

In a campaign marked by high interest – and anxiety – millions of Americans cast their ballots before Election Day. And a majority of those early voters, at least in states that track by gender, were women. In the states that report gender data for v

My wife and I have made hundreds of trips to various garden centers over the years without marital incident – until the birch tree trouble of 2024.   We had agreed to replace two birch trees we’d lost over the last few years. And we had also agreed (

Editor’s note: This story will be updated throughout the night as results come in. Former President Donald Trump has been projected as the winner in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina, and is ahead in a number of other crucial swing states as

In speeches, social media posts, and interviews, former President Donald Trump has been signaling that he is highly likely to challenge the election results should he lose on Tuesday. The big question is what may happen next. Mr. Trump never conceded