TOPSHAM — The Board of Selectmen will meet tonight to review six fireworks-related draft ballot questions that will go to Topsham voters at the polls June 12. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. at the municipal building, 100 Main St. A new state law legalized the sale and use of consumer fireworks as of Jan. […]

WOOLWICH — A Maine Revenue Services representative told Woolwich selectmen on Monday that there was no mistake in state valuation figures used to calculate the town’s share of the Regional School Unit 1 budget. With Woolwich slated to see a nearly 10 percent increase in its share of the RSU 1 budget next year, Board of […]

BRUNSWICK — In one of Hungarian mathematician Eva Szillery’s early junior engineering classes in Maine, the gears weren’t turning. Instead, the small plastic gears were attached to the sides of students’ Lego robots. “They used (the gears) for decorations,” Szillery said, “to make them look like some things they had seen about robots on the television […]

NEW YORK ( AP) — YouTube and Paramount Pictures have reached a deal to make nearly 500 films available to rent online, even while their parent companies continue to feud over a $1.76 billion lawsuit. The agreement announced today makes Paramount the fifth major Hollywood studio to join YouTube’s online video store, a growing rental […]

PARIS (AP) — Police today arrested 10 people in raids across France as part of a crackdown on radical Islamists in the wake of attacks on soldiers and a Jewish school, officials said. The arrests were carried out as part of a preliminary investigation opened Monday into terror-linked activity in France, a judicial official said. […]

BEIRUT ( AP) — Syrian troops clashed with army defectors and shelled rebellious districts in the central city of Homs today, killing at least 11 civilians a day after the government claimed it had begun a troop withdrawal ahead of the deadline to implement an international truce plan. Activists said the latest deaths included a […]

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up at a park today in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 10 people, including three NATO service members, officials said, the latest in a string of attacks as spring fighting season gets under way. Afghan and NATO security forces have frequently been targeted in the surge […]

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low 1 percent today while it assesses prospects for the region’s debt-laden economy. Investors waited for ECB President Mario Draghi’s outlook at his post-decision news conference. He has said the bank expects a gradual recovery this year in […]

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister David Cameron today launched his Big Society Bank — a 600 million pound ($953 million) fund to support charities and social enterprises in the same way that venture capitalists back entrepreneurs. The bank, also known as Big Society Capital, is financed with 400 million pounds from unclaimed bank accounts […]

NEW YORK ( AP) — Authorities today were focusing on what caused a construction boom crane to crash to the ground at a Manhattan work site, killing one construction worker and seriously injuring another. The dead worker was identified by police as Michael Simmermeyer, 30, of Burlington, N.J. He was pronounced dead following Tuesday’s accident […]