Iconic Star Wars Actress Carrie Fisher Dies at 60: ‘She Was Loved by the World and She Will Be Missed Profoundly’  —  Carrie Fisher, the actress best known as Star Wars' Princess Leia Organa, has died after suffering a heart attack.  She was 60.  —  Family spokesman Simon Halls released …

Defying U.N., Israel Prepares to Build More Settlements  —  JERUSALEM — Undeterred by a resounding defeat at the United Nations, Israel's government said Monday that it would move ahead with thousands of new homes in disputed areas and warned nations against further action, declaring that Israel does not “turn the other cheek.”

Who Will Do What Harry Reid Did Now That Harry Reid Is Gone?  —  Nevada's departing senator would have fought Trump with a ruthlessness perhaps no other Democratic leader has.  —  Harry Reid was searching for someone to take a stand.  It was a Tuesday morning in early December …

Farewell for 12/27/2016  —  Even the best things come to an end.  After enjoying a quarter of a century of writing this column for Creators Syndicate, I have decided to stop.  Age 86 is well past the usual retirement age, so the question is not why I am quitting, but why I kept at it so long.

Sorry, Liberals.  Bigotry Didn't Elect Donald Trump.  —  Donald J. Trump won the white working-class vote over Hillary Clinton by a larger margin than any major-party nominee since World War II.  Instead of this considerable achievement inspiring introspection, figures from the heights of journalism …

Full interview: Incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer  —  PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Last week it was announced that Barrington native Sean Spicer was tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to be the new White House press secretary and communications director.

Trump picks Tom Bossert as homeland security adviser  —  President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Tom Bossert, a former national security aide to President George W. Bush, will serve as his homeland security adviser in the White House.  —  Bossert, currently a fellow …

Trump adviser on lack of star power at inauguration: ‘This is not Woodstock’  —  Donald Trump's inaugural committee is having no problems finding celebrities to attend his inauguration because that's not who the committee is looking for, Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn said Tuesday.

These coal country voters backed Trump.  Now they're worried about losing Obamacare.  —  Last night, CNN aired a terrific segment on people from coal country who voted for Donald Trump — but are now worried that his vow to repeal Obamacare will deprive them of crucial protections that enable them to stay afloat financially.

‘Abandoned’ in New Jersey, Chris Christie Returns to a Changed Landscape  —  Chris Christie's job approval is at a career low.  —  Nearly three-quarters of New Jersey voters, and half his fellow Republicans, said in a recent poll that he should have been a defendant in the trial …

In North Carolina, Some Democrats See Their Grim Future  —  In the end, even Phil Berger, the powerful Republican leader of North Carolina's Senate, couldn't stop the debacle.  A state law that effectively banned legal protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people …

How Analytical Models Failed Clinton  —  Her campaign was so confident in its data that it opted not to do tracking polls in states that decided the election.  —  The Novem­ber elec­tions pit­ted Demo­crats against Re­pub­lic­ans, con­ser­vat­ives …

Trump rewards big donors with jobs and access  —  More than a third of the almost 200 people who have met with President-elect Donald Trump since his election last month, including those interviewing for administration jobs, gave large amounts of money to support his campaign and other Republicans this election cycle.

Thanks to no-drama Obama, American leadership is gone  —  If Dec. 7, 1941, is the day that Franklin D. Roosevelt said “will live in infamy,” then Dec. 20, 2016, has got to be a close second.  No Americans died that day as they did at Pearl Harbor, but the American Century …

Obama labor chief: Trump team's agency inquiries ‘illegal’  —  Labor Secretary Tom Perez says President-elect Donald Trump  —  's transition team's inquiries into government agencies are against the law.  —  “Those questions have no place in a transition.

SWAT teams dispatched, families flee from ‘gunfire’ and dozens are arrested... all for the sake of a few holiday bargains: Massive brawls break out as shoppers descend on malls across the country  — Incidents all occurred later afternoon and evening Monday in at least a dozen malls, with police called in

GOP eyes 2018 Senate race against Tammy Baldwin  —  Emboldened by last month's triumphs in Wisconsin, Republicans are already sizing up their next big target, taking on Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin in 2018.  —  The race against Baldwin is expected to be among the fiercest in the next election cycle.