US says 2nd Guatemalan child has died in immigration custody  —  HOUSTON (AP) — An 8-year-old boy from Guatemala died in government custody in New Mexico early Tuesday, U.S. immigration authorities said, marking the second death of an immigrant child in detention this month.

Do a ‘marginal’ number of 7-year-olds believe in Santa?  That's what Trump told a SC girl.  —  Collman Lloyd, 7, talks to President Donald Trump on Christmas Eve inside her Lexington kitchen.  Trump asked Lloyd if she still believed in Santa.  “Yes, sir,” she replied.  Erica Lloyd/Provided

Trump becomes first president since 2002 not to visit troops at Christmastime  —  Though he called military personnel on Tuesday, Trump did not visit a hospital or a military base.  —  On Christmas Day, President Donald Trump took part in a long-running practice of presidents …

Why the Trump presidency will end poorly  —  As we celebrate Christmastime amid an unnecessary and indefinite government shutdown and the worst December for the stock market since 1931, I'm reminded once again of my longstanding prediction: The Trump presidency will end poorly because character is destiny.

Queen's speech in front of lavish gold piano blasted for being ‘out of touch’  —  Queen Elizabeth referred to Brexit in her Christmas day message as she sat beside a golden piano  —  The Queen's Christmas Day speech has been slammed on social media for being “out of touch” and disrespectful to families “struggling to make ends meet”.

Richland native Jim Mattis has ‘no anger’ after Trump forces him out early, brother says  —  In the aftermath of Trump's decision to remove Mattis Jan. 1 — rather than let him resign Feb. 28 — the defense secretary “was very calm.., Very matter of fact.  No anger ” in a phone call to his brother …

Black Voters, a Force in Democratic Politics, Are Ready to Make Themselves Heard  —  BALTIMORE — The first “Amen!” rang out after a couple of minutes, as Senator Elizabeth Warren, speaking to an almost all-black audience at Morgan State University's winter commencement, described how America has …

I thought fraud in reporting was done for.  I was wrong.  —  Nearly 30 years ago, the Cold War's end opened Germany's border to the formerly Soviet-dominated east.  Asylum seekers from poor and war-torn nations poured across it.  A violent backlash from ultra-right-wing Germans ensued.

Hezbollah leaders targeted, reportedly hit in Israeli airstrike, U.S. official says  —  Several leaders of Hezbollah have reportedly been hit by an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian capital of Damascus.  —  The information was given to Newsweek from a Department of Defense source with access …

Christmas in Lebanon: 'Jesus Isn't Only for the Christians'  —  BEIRUT — The Iranian cultural attaché stepped up to the microphone on a stage flanked by banners bearing the faces of Iran's two foremost religious authorities: Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, and Ayatollah Khamenei, the current supreme leader.

Trump is incompetent, impulsive and amoral.  Heaven help us all.  —  The chaos all around us is what happens when the nation elects an incompetent, narcissistic, impulsive and amoral man as president.  This Christmas, heaven help us all.  —  Much of the government is shut down over symbolic funding …

Arms Sales to Saudis Leave American Fingerprints on Yemen's Carnage  —  CAIRO — When a Saudi F-15 warplane takes off from King Khalid air base in southern Saudi Arabia for a bombing run over Yemen, it is not just the plane and the bombs that are American.  —  American mechanics service the jet and carry out repairs on the ground.

ICE dumps hundreds of migrants with nowhere to go at a bus station on eve of Christmas without warning shelters  —  Lawmakers and immigrant rights groups scramble after ICE releases hundreds of migrants without alerting local shelters. … EL PASO - Hundreds of asylum-seekers spent part …

Anti-Semitism is not just another opinion.  The New York Times should know better.  —  Over the centuries, anti-Semitism has been many things — a religious conviction, an ideology, a national ethic, an unadorned expression of hate and, in more recent times, evidence of sturdy insanity.

Dutch church clocks up 1,400 hours to prevent family being deported  —  Non-stop service held to prevent deportation  —  (CNN)A non-stop church service in the Netherlands — aimed at stopping an Armenian family from being deported — has become so popular it has issued tickets for the Christmas period to control numbers.