Charles Dickens had a knack for creating fictional characters, dozens and dozens of them in every book, so vivid and so individualized in personality, with wonderfully distinctive names, that it was hard for much of his huge readership to believe that these larger-than-life heroes, villains, and satiric figures to be loved, hated, or laughed at hadn't actually existed. They were household names in Dickens's day (1812-1870), and many remain so in our own: Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Sam Weller, Little Nell, Mr. Bumble, Miss Havisham, Mrs. Jellyby, Madame Defarge, Uriah Heep, Gradgrind, Fagin. The chief setting of most of the novels was London, where Dickens lived much of his life. He spent hours strolling the streets of the city looking at possible locations for his fiction, so it was to be expected that his readers would engage in elaborate detective work to do so as well.
For Rep. George Santos, the clock is ticking dangerously close to midnight. The House is set to vote Friday on a resolution to expel the embattled New York Republican, marking the third and most serious attempt to boot Santos from Congress amid his mounting legal and ethical troubles. The first-term Long Islander easily survived the...
Lawmakers staring down an end-of-the-year deadline to reauthorize the nation’s warrantless spy powers are grappling with a dizzying number of options for how to tackle needed reforms as well as a chorus of complaints about how to proceed. Congress is weighing everything from a Senate bill that would enact significant reforms to a short-term extension...
This article is the second in The Hill’s three-part “World at War” series this week, which also explores public sentiment around the Russia-Ukraine war and simmering tensions with China. A broad coalition of progressives and minority voters furious about Israel’s war in Gaza have thrust the Democratic party into a bitter fight — spurring an...
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is facing growing divisions within his conference on two thorny issues — Israel and immigration. A number of Democrats want to add conditions to U.S. military aid to Israel, while on immigration, Schumer is dealing with a debate over how far to go in reforming immigration law to get...
As the 28th United Nations climate change conference (COP28) begins in Dubai, the venue itself is facing scrutiny over the influence of the United Arab Emirates's (UAE) oil industry and reported human rights abuses in the country. Critics have pointed out the irony of holding a climate summit in a nation heavily reliant on the production and burning of...
Former President Trump’s latest blast at a news organization is sharpening concerns about a drift toward authoritarianism if he is elected to a second term — even as skeptics wonder how he could make good on his threats. On Tuesday, Trump in a Truth Social post complained that MSNBC was guilty of “election interference” because...
Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other...
The Biden administration was criticized by tribal leaders in Alaska for its restrictions on fossil fuel development which provide a key source of revenue for their communities.
The legacy of esteemed diplomat Henry Kissinger, who died Wednesday at 100, includes praise for negotiation skills amid controversy, with colleagues lauding his brilliance, mentorship.