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Nation and World

Poll shows Americans optimistic about 2017

Emotionally wrenching politics, foreign conflicts and shootings at home took a toll on Americans in 2016, but they are entering 2017 on an optimistic note.

Trump says UN just a club for people to ‘have a good time’

Donald Trump is questioning the effectiveness of the United Nations, saying it’s just a club for people to “have a good time,” after the U.N. Security Council voted last week to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

 
Fights mar post-holiday shopping at malls across US

Police evacuated a suburban Denver mall Monday after an arrest led to hundreds of young people converging on the site, with several fights breaking out, authorities said.

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New subway station has public art rarely seen: A gay couple

The sight of two men holding hands is far from uncommon, but a mural of two men doing just that is showing up in an unusual place — on the walls of a new subway station in New York City.

Dark matter pioneer, Vera Rubin, dies

Vera Rubin, a pioneering astronomer who helped find powerful evidence of dark matter, has died, her son said Monday.

Trump sends strong message with pick for ambassador to Israel

If President-elect Donald Trump wanted to show he planned to obliterate President Barack Obama’s approach to Israel, he might have found his man to deliver that message in David Friedman, his pick for U.S. ambassador.

Israel plans more settlements; Abbas looks to Paris summit

The Palestinian President said Tuesday that he hopes the upcoming Mideast conference in France will set a timetable to end settlements, as Israel advances plans for thousands of new homes in parts of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinians.

Black box from crashed Russian plane found

Rescue workers on Tuesday found a flight recorder from the Russian plane that crashed into the Black Sea over the weekend, the defense ministry said.

Viral invite draws thousands to girl’s party in rural Mexico

Looking overwhelmed by the attention, yet resplendent in an elaborate fuchsia dress and gleaming tiara, Rubi Ibarra celebrated her 15th birthday on Monday in a rural Mexican village after the invitation to the event by her father went viral and made her the toast of the country.

Obama confident he would have won 2016 election if eligible

In an alternate universe in which President Barack Obama ran for a third term against Donald Trump, who would have won? No surprise: The president and the president-elect disagree.

Russia focuses on pilot error, not terror, as cause of plane crash

The Kremlin on Monday played down the possibility that a terror attack might have downed a Syria-bound Russian plane, killing all 92 people on board, as the nation observed a day of mourning for the victims, including most members of a world famous military choir.

Japanese prime minister visits Hawaii cemeteries

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid wreaths at various cemeteries and memorials Monday ahead of a visit to the site of the 1941 bombing that plunged the United States into World War II.