Author: Reporter

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He chose that location in part to honor President Abraham Lincoln as “a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today.” Now, millions of people honor King in the same way. On the third Monday of January — close to King’s January 15 birthday, federal, state, and local governments, institutions, and various industries recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For some, the holiday is just that — time off from work or school. But, King’s...

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are eager to leave miserable tent camps and return to their homes after the long-awaited ceasefire agreement halted the Israel-Hamas war, but many will find there is nothing left and no way to rebuild. Israeli bombardment and ground operations have transformed entire neighborhoods in several cities into rubble-strewn wastelands, with blackened shells of buildings and mounds of debris stretching away in all directions. Major roads have been plowed up. Critical water and electricity infrastructure is in ruins. Most hospitals no longer function. And it is unclear when, or even if, much will be rebuilt....

Yotam Vilk said the image of Israeli soldiers killing an unarmed Palestinian teenager in the Gaza Strip is seared in his mind. An officer in the armored corps, Vilk said the instructions were to shoot any unauthorized person who entered an Israeli-controlled buffer zone in Gaza. He saw at least 12 people killed, he said, but it is the shooting of the teen that he cannot shake. “He died as part of a bigger story. As part of the policy of staying there and not seeing Palestinians as people,” said Vilk, 28. Vilk is among a growing number of...

Leaving Israel is easier, Shira Z. Carmel thinks, by saying it is just for now. But she knows better. For the Israeli-born singer and an increasing number of relatively well-off Israelis, the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack shattered any sense of safety and along with it, Israel’s founding promise: to be the world’s safe haven for Jews. That day, thousands of Hamas militants blew past the country’s border defenses, killed 1,200 people and dragged 250 more into Gaza in a siege that caught the Israeli army by surprise and stunned a nation that prides itself on military prowess. This...

Republicans made claims about illegal voting by noncitizens a centerpiece of their 2024 campaign messaging and plan to push legislation in the new Congress requiring voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. Yet there is one place with a GOP supermajority where linking voting to citizenship appears to be a nonstarter: Kаnsаs. That is because the state has been there, done that, and all but a few Republicans would prefer not to go there again. Kаnsаs imposed a proof-of-citizenship requirement over a decade ago that grew into one of the biggest political fiascos in the state in recent memory....

Republicans plan to move quickly in their effort to overhaul the nation’s voting procedures, seeing an opportunity with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress to push through long-sought changes that include voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements. They say the measures are needed to restore public confidence in elections, an erosion of trust that Democrats note has been fueled by false claims from President-elect Donald Trump and his allies of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. In the new year, Republicans will be under pressure to address Trump’s desires to change how elections are run in...