News

France 24 reports: Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared victory in a leadership primary in his right-wing Likud party Friday, ensuring he will lead it into March elections. “A huge win! Thank you to Likud members for their trust, support and love,” Netanyahu tweeted. Initial results showed Netanyahu comfortably beating rival Gideon Saar, though a final tally was expected …

Haaretz reports: The Israeli military said it struck in the Gaza Strip early Thursday morning, targeting Hamas military posts in the coastal enclave in retaliation for a rocket that was launched at Israel’s south earlier on Wednesday, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was attending an election campaign event there. Netanyahu, who had been making an address at a gathering in …

The BBC reports: Ari Behn, the former son-in-law of Norway’s king, has died aged 47, his spokesman has said. Behn, the author of several novels and plays, married Princess Martha Louise in 2002 but the couple divorced two years ago. His spokesman told Norway’s NTB agency that Behn had taken his own life. In December 2017, Behn accused the disgraced …

USA Today reports: France’s Notre Dame Cathedral, which failed to host Christmas services Wednesday for the first time in more than 200 years, may never recover from the devastating fire that collapsed the roof and an iconic spire, its rector said. Monsignor Patrick Chauvet said the church, which dates back more than 800 years, has been left so fragile that …

Reuters reports: For the first time in more than 200 years, worshippers will not be able to attend Christmas mass at Notre-Dame cathedral, still being restored after a devastating fire. “There won’t be a midnight mass at Notre-Dame. The last time this happened was during the French Revolution. Since 1803, there have always been Christmas masses at Notre-Dame,” a Paris …

The New York Times reports: Boeing on Monday fired its chief executive, Dennis A. Muilenburg. It said Dave Calhoun, the chairman, would replace Mr. Muilenburg, on Jan. 13. Until then, Boeing’s chief financial officer, Greg Smith, will serve as interim chief executive, the company said. Boeing said in a statement that its board of directors “decided that a change in …

Politico reports: A court in Saudi Arabia on Monday sentenced five people to death for the killing of Washington Post columnist and royal family critic Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last year by a team of Saudi agents. Saudi Arabia’s state-run Al-Ekhbariya TV channel reported that three others were sentenced to prison. All can …

The Des Moines Register reports: The Clive police chief said hate crime charges are being considered after a woman admitted she hit a 14-year-old girl with her car because the girl is Hispanic. Nicole Marie Poole Franklin, 42, is charged with attempted murder for allegedly running down a 14-year-old on Dec. 9 as the girl walked to Indian Hills Junior …

The Christian Post reports: Christian children around the world are about twice as likely to live in a single-parent home, according to a recent report by the Pew Research Center. In a report released last week by Pew’s Religion & Public Life, the research organization found that 23 percent of children under 18 in the U.S. lived in a single-parent …

There’s a sweet symmetry to this story: While President Trump was hunkered down in the White House monitoring impeachment proceedings Wednesday, his predecessor in the Oval Office was hitting the links in Hawaii. Photos show Barack Obama — a native of Honolulu — on the course at the Mid-Pacific Country Club in Lanikai, O’ahu, playing a round of golf under …

CNN reports: A Chinese woman was arrested Wednesday and charged with trespassing on President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property, according to Palm Beach Police, in the second time this year that a Chinese national been arrested for intruding on the premises. Jing Lu, 56, allegedly trespassed on the Palm Beach resort and was asked to leave by security, Palm Beach Police …

The Washington Post reports: Facebook will remove posts, photos and other content that mislead people about the U.S. census starting next year, aiming to prevent malicious actors from interfering in a critical, once-in-a-decade process that determines political representation, the social media company announced Thursday. The new policies come as civil rights leaders urge Facebook to act more aggressively against content …

Reuters reports: Australia’s most populous state declared its second emergency in as many months on Thursday as extreme heat and strong winds stoked more than 100 bushfires, including three major blazes on Sydney’s doorstep. A day after Australia recorded its hottest day on record, thick smoke blanketed the harbor city, shrouded the Opera House and brought many outdoor activities to …

The BBC reports: General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s former military leader, has been sentenced to death at a special court hearing in Islamabad. The three-member court sentenced him over a high treason charge that has been pending since 2013. Gen Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999 and served as the country’s president from 2001 to 2008. He is …

The Washington Post reports: A former investment manager alleges in a whistleblower complaint to the Internal Revenue Service that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has amassed about $100 billion in accounts intended for charitable purposes, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Washington Post. The confidential document, received by the IRS on Nov. 21, …

The Associated Press reports: Upstart Israeli politician Gideon Saar officially launched his bid to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as head of the ruling Likud party. Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving leader, but he’s been weakened by a corruption indictment that may force him out of office, as well as back-to-back failures to form a government this year. Saar’s leadership bid …

The Los Angeles Times reports: The Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a major case on homelessness, letting stand a ruling that protects homeless people’s right to sleep on the sidewalk or in public parks if no other shelter is available. The justices without comment or a dissent said that they would not hear the case from Boise, Idaho, which …

The New York Times reports: Furious protests against a new citizenship law continued to erupt across India on Monday, provoking a harsh security response and presenting the most widespread challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he came to power five years ago. On Sunday, police officers stormed a predominantly Muslim university in New Delhi, the capital, firing tear gas …

The Associated Press reports: Lebanese security forces fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons Sunday to disperse hundreds of protesters for a second straight day, ending what started as a peaceful rally in defiance of the toughest crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in two months. The violence comes on the eve of a meeting between the president and parliamentary blocs …

Reuters reports: Demonstrators in eastern India set fire to more than a dozen buses and vandalized at least six railway stations on Saturday, as violent protests against a new citizenship law continued for a fourth straight day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government says the new law will save religious minorities such as Hindus and Christians from persecution in neighboring Bangladesh, …