More than 900 dead: The government says hundreds of people remain trapped and missing after the tremors rocked the area west of Caracas on Wednesday. Residents in the hardest-hit areas pulled the living and the dead from the rubble.
Leadership: The earthquake presents a challenge to Delcy Rodriguez as U.S. government data models suggested that the death toll ultimately could exceed 10,000.
Familiar accusations: The U.S. military attacked Iran after an Iranian drone struck a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said it struck targets linked to U.S. forces in response to U.S. airstrikes on its southern coast, as each side accused the other of violating last week's agreement meant to end their four-month-old war.
Lebanon: Israel signed a framework peace deal with its northern neighbor to end fighting with Hezbollah that began after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. Details were unavailable and it is unclear how this deal differs from one they reached in April.
Challenger: Gadi Eisenkot, Israel’s former military chief, boasts of a doctrine calling for smashing foes with disproportionate force. The son of Moroccan immigrants is surging in polls and his party is making inroads among the Mizrahi, people of Middle Eastern and North African descent. Polls show many voters turning against the incumbents ahead of the first elections since the Oct. 7 attacks.
Occupation: Gazans flocked from their suffocating tents to the polluted shores of the Mediterranean Sea to bathe and wash their clothes as temperatures rose and fresh water remained hard to come by. Palestinian and Israeli civil-rights groups say an Israeli bill to extend control over ancient sites in the West Bank amounts to annexation of occupied land.
18 dead in five months: The Department of Homeland Security says there has been no spike in deaths since Trump began his mass-deportation campaign in January 2025. The Supreme Court has allowed the administration to deploy these policies in case after case, targeting legal and illegal immigrants with few exceptions.
Vacation recrimination: The Senate left for a two-week break without acting on national voting restrictions that the president sees as his top legislative priority. Hardline Trump supporters shut down action on bills in the House and said they wouldn’t reopen the floor until the Senate returns.
