Vue lecture

Rubio and Chinese Diplomat Vie for Influence in Asia Over Trump’s Tariffs

Marco Rubio wants to bolster ties with Asia to counter China’s sway, but President Trump’s tariff threats have nations asking why they should align with Washington.

© Pool photo by Mandel Ngan

Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, at the 58th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Trump Threatens 35 Percent Tariffs on Canada in the Middle of Trade Talks

The president revived his discredited claims about fentanyl entering the U.S. from Canada to justify his latest proposed rate of 35 percent.

© Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

The border crossing to Canada from Point Roberts, Wash. Tariffs of 35 percent on Canadian goods, if applied widely, could cause serious harm to Canada’s export-dependent economy.

In South Carolina, Newsom Tests the Presidential Waters (Without Saying So)

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California met with Democratic voters in an early primary state that has become pivotal in presidential races.

© Will Crooks for The New York Times

In Laurens County, S.C., Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke to about 300 people at a church.

In South Carolina, Newsom Tests the Presidential Waters (Without Saying So)

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California met with Democratic voters in an early primary state that has become pivotal in presidential races.

© Will Crooks for The New York Times

In Laurens County, S.C., Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke to about 300 people at a church.

The Trump administration expands its crackdown on undocumented immigrants’ access to federal benefits.

© Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press

Children play during aftercare for the Head Start program, an early education program for low-income children, in Miami, earlier this year. The Department of Health and Human Services said it would no longer allow unauthorized immigrants to enroll in Head Start.

Trump Nominates Nick Adams, ‘Alpha Male’ Influencer, for Ambassador to Malaysia

Nick Adams rose to prominence with a hypermasculine identity and crass jokes about Hooters. President Trump named him ambassador to a country of 35 million people.

© Omar Vega/Getty Images

The incendiary online history of Nick Adams, who has been picked to represent the United States before a majority-Muslim nation, includes Islamophobic comments.

State Department to Soon Begin Mass Layoffs

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s plan to downsize a “bloated” department had been on hold after a court ruling.

©

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the changes would better align the department with core American values and root out pockets of “radical political ideology.”

Justice Dept. Promised to Prosecute Abrego Garcia. Now It’s Not So Clear.

In the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the administration appears primarily concerned with ensuring that a man it has described as a “dangerous illegal alien” never walks free on U.S. soil.

© Alex Wong/Getty Images

Supporters of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia rallying outside the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., during a hearing on his case on Thursday.

Four Ex-Jail Officers Are Sentenced in Death of West Virginia Inmate

The former officers, who brutally beat a 37-year-old man, received prison terms ranging from three years to more than two decades.

© Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald, via Associated Press

The Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, W.Va., where Quantez Burks, 37, died in March 2022 after being brutally beaten by corrections officers.

Secret Service Suspends Six Agents Over Trump Assassination Attempt

The announcement comes near the anniversary of the shooting at Donald J. Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pa.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

Secret Service agents protecting Donald J. Trump after the shooting in Butler, Pa., in 2024.

Angela Paxton Files for Divorce From Ken Paxton, Texas’ Attorney General

The announcement could have a significant impact on the race for U.S. Senate in Texas. Mr. Paxton is challenging Senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary.

© Desiree Rios for The New York Times

State Senator Angela Paxton in her office at the Texas State Capitol in Austin.

Wife of Ken Paxton Files for Divorce, Citing ‘Recent Discoveries’

The announcement could have a significant impact on the race for U.S. Senate in Texas. Mr. Paxton is challenging Senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary.

© Desiree Rios for The New York Times

State Sen. Angela Paxton in her office at the Texas State Capitol in Austin.

The F.B.I. Is Using Polygraphs to Test Officials’ Loyalty

Some senior officials who have taken the test have been asked whether they said anything negative about the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel.

© Susan Harris for The New York Times

The use of the polygraph, and the nature of the questioning, is part of the F.B.I.’s broader crackdown on news leaks, reflecting, to a degree, the director's acute awareness of how he is publicly portrayed.

Targeting Brazil, Trump Tests Legal Limit of His Tariff Powers

The president signaled he would seek to use the threat of steep levies to reorient trade and protect his political allies.

© Victor Moriyama for The New York Times

President Trump linked his threat of a 50 percent tariff on Brazil this week to that country’s treatment of its former president Jair Bolsonaro, above.

Justice Jackson Says ‘the State of Our Democracy’ Keeps Her Up at Night

At a bar association event in Indiana, the justice told those gathered that she is focused on drawing attention to what is happening to the government.

© Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, photographed last year, is the Supreme Court’s most junior member, but she wrote an unusually large number of concurring and dissenting opinions during the court’s most recent term.

Schumer Says Trump Bill Boosts Democrats’ Hopes in 2026 Midterm Elections

The top Senate Democrat said the law would lead to widespread pain for voters, imperiling Republicans who supported it and allowing his party more openings to contest control of the Senate.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, on Capitol Hill this week. “The three issues we’re going to most campaign on: costs, jobs, and health care,” he said in an interview on Thursday.

Some of Iran’s Enriched Uranium Survived Attacks, Israeli Official Says

The assessment came as experts are trying to determine how long it would take Iran to rebuild its nuclear program in the aftermath of U.S. and Israeli strikes.

© Reuters

A uranium processing site in Isfahan, which hosts Iran’s nuclear laboratory, seen in 2005.

Texas City Racked by Floods Becomes a Hub for Search and Recovery

Most summers, Kerrville, Texas, draws crowds for its July 4 celebration. This year, the streets are filled with emergency responders.

© Loren Elliott for The New York Times

Judge Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order in Class-Action Challenge

The federal judge reignited the legal standoff over President Trump’s efforts to deny citizenship to children born to undocumented parents.

© Nate Raymond/Reuters

The federal courthouse in Concord, N.H. Judge Joseph N. Laplante allowed the case to proceed as a class action.

Trump Administration Is Forcing Prosecutors to Ignore Law, Whistle-Blower Says

In an interview with The New York Times, a former Justice Department lawyer, Erez Reuveni, said officials pressed subordinates to mislead judges, and dared the courts to stop it.

© Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

At his confirmation hearing for a judgeship, Senate Democrats asked Emil Bove III about a claim that he and Trump administration officials were willing to defy rulings regarding deportation.

L.A.-Area Bishop Excuses Faithful From Mass Over Fear of Immigration Raids

Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino lifted the obligation for members to celebrate Mass if they had a “genuine fear of immigration enforcement actions.”

© Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, via Getty

Bishop Alberto Rojas leading Mass at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Chino Hills, Calif., in 2023.

Trump Says Bolsonaro, Like Other Allies Under Pressure, Faces a ‘Witch Hunt’

President Trump’s defense of the former president of Brazil was the latest example of him invoking a term he has frequently used while describing himself as a victim.

© Arthur Menescal/Getty Images

Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, leaving a courthouse in Brasília last month.

As Israel and Ukraine Advance Drone Warfare, U.S. Sees Its Own Vulnerabilities

Israel and Ukraine have used drones against their adversaries in audacious ways that have helped the Pentagon see the need for new technology.

© Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Ukrainian soldiers at an air defense position, where they monitor for, and shoot down armed Russian drones in May.

Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts Are Hurting Rural, White Americans, Too

The N.I.H. has terminated hundreds of diversity grants awarded to young researchers, many of whom come from the very places that supported Trump.

© KT Kanazawich for The New York Times

Lucas Dillard at Johns Hopkins.

Discovery of Texas Flood Victims Slows After Nearly a Week of Searching

In Kerr County, the hardest-hit region, officials said the number of missing remained unchanged, at 161, since Tuesday. The floods have killed at least 121 people statewide.

© Desiree Rios for The New York Times

Volunteers cleared up debris as they searched along the Guadalupe River in Center Point, Texas, on Wednesday.

New Democratic Group Says Answer to the Party’s Woes Lies With the States

The founders of the initiative, the States Forum, say they hope to extend successful Democratic policies across states and even to the national level.

© Michelle Gustafson for The New York Times

As Texas Flood Raged, Camp Mystic Was Left to Fend for Itself

Flash floods surged through in the middle of the night, but many local officials appeared unaware of the unfolding catastrophe, initially leaving people near the river on their own.

© Callaghan O'Hare for The New York Times

The belongings of campers were piled outside a pair of cabins at Camp Mystic.

These Younger Democrats Are Sick of Their Party’s Status Quo

Majority Democrats, a new group of elected officials from all levels of government, has outsized ambitions to challenge political orthodoxies and remake the party.

© Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

“We’ve got to lay out the case for what we’re for as a party,” said Representative Angie Craig, a Democrat from Minnesota and a leader of the initiative.

Signs of Violence in Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office Dated Back Years

The F.B.I. and a Mississippi sheriff investigated complaints about brutal assaults, but the deputies accused remained on the force and never faced charges.

© Rory Doyle for The New York Times

Department records and interviews with a former F.B.I. agent show that the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department had evidence of deputies’ violent acts long before the abuses of the “Goon Squad” came to light in 2023.

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese

Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced Francesca Albanese, a special rapporteur, for calling for international investigations of Americans and Israelis over the war in the enclave.

© Ida Marie Odgaard/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, in Copenhagen in February.

Trump Names Sean Duffy as Interim Head of NASA

President Trump had pulled the nomination of a close associate of Elon Musk to lead the agency in May. The decision fueled a public breakdown of their alliance.

© Eric Lee/The New York Times

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at the White House in May.

27 Workers Make Improbable Escape from Collapsed L.A. Tunnel

They climbed over a mound of loose soil and emerged at the tunnel’s only entrance five miles away, officials said.

© Patrick T. Fallon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The Los Angeles Fire Department rescued dozens of workers trapped inside an industrial tunnel that collapsed on Wednesday.

Trump Administration Sues California Over Transgender Athletes

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against two California agencies, accusing them of violating Title IX by allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.

© Adam Perez for The New York Times

The Trump administration’s lawsuit aims to overturn state policies allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls’ high school sports.

Immigration Officials Used Shadowy Pro-Israel Group to Target Student Activists

A senior Homeland Security official testified in court on Wednesday that his department had relied in part on an anonymously compiled list to identify foreign academics for investigation.

© Valerie Plesch for The New York Times

Peter Hatch, the assistant director of the Homeland Security Investigations department within ICE, testified that a team he oversaw had been directed to pore over the thousands of individuals profiled by the Canary Mission, an anonymous group that has been accused of doxxing individuals engaged in anti-Israeli activism.

Tillis Suggests He Regrets Vote to Confirm Hegseth, Calling Him ‘Out of His Depth’

The North Carolina senator, who recently said he did not plan to run for re-election, said the defense secretary’s decisions had been amateurish and showed he was unfit to lead a large organization.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Senator Thom Tillis, right, the North Carolina Republican, listening to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a rally last month at Fort Bragg.

Abbott Asks Lawmakers to Redraw Texas’ Congressional Maps in Special Session

Democrats criticized Gov. Greg Abbott for seeking a redistricting, favored by President Trump’s political team, just days after devastating floods in Texas.

© Loren Elliott for The New York Times

Gov. Greg Abbott added redistricting to a special session set to start later this month. The session was already going to consider new legislation to improve how the state prepares for floods.

Maine Paddleboarder’s Death Is Investigated as a Homicide, Police Say

Sunshine Stewart, 48, disappeared on the night of July 2 during an outing on Crawford Pond in Union, Maine. Her body was found hours later near an island preserve.

© Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press

Crawford Pond in Union, Maine. The police are investigating the killing of a woman last seen paddle boarding on the pond.

Trump Asks Liberian President Where He Learned English, the Country’s Official Language

English is the official language of the West African country, which was founded in part by freed American slaves.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

President Trump in the state dining room at the White House with the leaders of five African nations on Wednesday.

Is Trump Actually Making the U.S. Economy More Competitive?

Experts fear that the president’s economic policies could increase costs and stifle innovation.

© Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

Shipping terminals in Miami last month.

Boy, 13, Started California Wildfire With Illegal Fireworks, Police Say

The Rancho fire, which burned nearly five acres in Laguna Beach, prompted evacuations and caused power outages.

© Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register, via Associated Press

The Rancho fire burned 4.6 acres in Laguna Beach, Calif., before it was fully contained early Wednesday morning, officials said.

Mexican Firefighters Join Search for the Missing in Texas

The day after a deadly flood killed more than 100 people in Central Texas, firefighters from the Mexican nonprofit Fundación 911 crossed the border to help search for survivors. They described the difficulty of the mission and what it means to them.

© Sam Lerma for The New York Times

Discovery of 178-Year-Old Baptist Antislavery Document Elates Faith Leaders

The handwritten resolution, signed by 116 Baptist ministers from Massachusetts who called slavery “repugnant,” was thought to have been lost.

© Charles Krupa/Associated Press

The Rev. Diane Badger unfurls a recently found, 178-year-old antislavery scroll at Grotonwood, the home mission of the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts, in Groton, Mass.

New U.S. Army Shaving Rule Could Affect Many Black Soldiers

Soldiers with skin conditions like razor bumps will no longer be granted permanent medical waivers that allow them to grow beards and could be kicked out of the Army if they are not clean shaven.

© Johannes Eisele/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A U.S. soldier shaving while deployed in Afghanistan in 2011.
❌