WORLD NEWS

In Finland, Blinken Calls Russia’s War ‘Strategic Failure’

As War Persists in Ukraine, Doctors Warn of Rise in Premature Births

Even in Prison, She’s ‘an Indomitable Voice’ for Freedom in Iran

Narges Mohammadi at her home in Tehran last year during a medical furlough from prison.

After Mass Shootings in Serbia, Few Want to Give Up Their Guns

A vigil in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, after a deadly school shooting in May. Patchy enforcement of gun laws has left a large number of weapons illegally in private hands.

Senegal Blocks Some Social Media After Ousmane Sonko Is Sentenced

Protesters in Dakar, Senegal, on Thursday. Some social media were cut off in the country on Friday because it was circulating violence and hatred, the government said.

Spy Deaths on Boat in Italy Ignite Conspiracy Theories

Recovery operations on Lake Maggiore, Italy, on Monday for the sunken boat, which officials said had been hired to celebrate a birthday.

Russian Missiles Kill 3 in Kyiv, Including Mother and 9-Year-Old Girl

Emergency workers and the mother of a woman killed in an overnight missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, stand near the body on Thursday.

U.K. Government Refuses to Give Boris Johnson’s Texts to Covid Inquiry

Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, leaving home in London in March.

Conflict With the Far Right Shrouds Jerusalem’s Pride Parade

Participants dancing at the Pride parade in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Ukraine’s Future Ties to NATO Are Main Topic as Western Nations Meet

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken speaking in Oslo on Thursday.

What It Takes to Protect Kyiv From Russian Bombardment

Ukrainian servicemen demonstrated working on a mobile air defense system responsible for protecting a patch of sky just outside Kyiv.

Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s Most Decorated Soldier, Loses Defamation Case

Ben Roberts-Smith in Sydney last year.

China Wants to Set the Terms of Any ‘Thaw’ With the U.S.

Beijing rejected an invitation for China’s defense minister, Li Shangfu, to meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III at a security meeting this weekend in Singapore.

China Investing in Open-Source Intelligence Collection on the U.S.

American service members flying a Navy reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea in 2018.

The Three Other Trump Investigations

Former President Donald Trump raises his fists to supporters after a rally campaigning for GOP presidential nomination in Manchester, NH on April 27, 2023.

Sparrows Are the Main Suspects in a Bird-Nest Murder

Alli Smith, of the Cornell Ornithology Laboratory, offers beginner tips for exploring the wide world of birds.

Indigo Goodson took up birding during the pandemic and now goes everywhere with “binoculars in tow,” she said. “My friends get annoyed.”

Big, Incredible Journeys in an Incredibly Big Country

Your Friday Briefing

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that his country was “ready to join NATO.”

Eusebius McKaiser, Acerbic South African Political Analyst, Dies at 44

Eusebius McKaiser traced many of South Africa’s social problems to the apartheid era, and wrote about them for South Africans and a broader Western audience.

With a New, Improved ‘Einstein,’ Puzzlers Settle a Math Problem

Arizona Limits Construction Around Phoenix as Its Water Supply Dwindles

Queen Creek, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix, is projected to grow to 175,000 people from its current 75,000 — if it can find enough water.

Biden Makes Case for Global Alliances at Air Force Academy Commencement

“You are the very embodiment of American military excellence,” President Biden told Air Force Academy graduates on Thursday. “You are ready for anything — anything.”

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Warring Sudanese Factions

Smoke rising in Khartoum in May, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army.

Protests Erupt in Senegal After Opposition Leader Is Sentenced to Prison

Protests broke out across Senegal after an opposition leader was convicted and sentenced in a trial that some Senegalese considered politically motivated.

The House Passed the Debt Limit Bill. Who Won?

Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden.

Zelensky Pushes for EU and NATO Membership at Meeting in Moldova

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and President Maia Sandu of Moldova arriving at the European Political Community summit in Bulboaca, Moldova, on Thursday.

Iceland Is a Magnet for Tourists. Its First Lady Has Some Advice for Them.

Your Thursday Briefing

Some of the apartment buildings damaged after a drone attack in Moscow.

Russia Strikes Kyiv, Killing 3 in Another Early Morning Attack

Emergency personnel at a clinic compound in Kyiv, Ukraine, after a Russian attack on Thursday.

Individual Canadian Cigarettes to Be Labeled With Health Warnings

Russia Denounces West Over Drone Strike on Moscow

Police officers stood outside several apartment buildings damaged after a drone attack in Moscow on Tuesday.

Rishi Sunak Is Still Haunted by Boris Johnson and Liz Truss

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain leaving 10 Downing Street this month.

U.S. Adds Aid to Ukraine to Deliver Ammunition for Drones and Artillery

Ukrainian soldiers with a Stinger anti-aircraft missile near a frontline position in Donetsk last year.

As Iran Seizes Tankers, UAE Pulls Back From US-Led Maritime Force

Aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln in the northern Arabian Sea, in 2019.

Readers in Asia: What Does L.G.B.T.Q. Life Look Like Where You Live?

Pride in Chennai, India, last June.

Fear Sets In Among Turkey’s L.G.B.T. Community After Erdogan’s Attacks

Drag artists applying makeup before a performance in a club in Istanbul in May.

Climate Change and Russia Spell Trouble for NATO Up North

The missile cruiser Peter the Great, part of the Russian Navy’s northern fleet, at its Arctic base in Severomorsk in 2021. Russia, China and the West are all seeking to expand their military presence in the Arctic.

How to Lower Deaths Among Women? Give Away Cash.

A mother and her 1-year-old son in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The new analysis collected information on cash transfer programs and death rates in 37 countries.

Germany Closes Four of Its Five Russian Consulates After Moscow Dispute

The Russian Embassy in Berlin will remain open, while four of its five consulates in Germany will be forced to close.

Sudan’s Army Withdraws From Cease-Fire Talks

Yemenis who fled Sudan disembarked from the Saudi ship Abha at Jeddah port in May.

Female Wrestlers in India Threaten to Toss Olympic Medals in Protest

Vinesh Phogat, center, and other wrestlers clashed with the police as they tried to march to the new Parliament building on Sunday in New Delhi.

Honeybee Swarms Darken U.K. Skies, Sending Beekeepers Scrambling

A swarm of bees collected at St. Francis church in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

A Big Day for the Debt Ceiling

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Speaks following his meeting with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office early last week.

German Court Convicts 4 Leftists in Attacks Targeting Neo-Nazis

Lina E., second from right, and three co-defendants covered their faces during a court hearing in Dresden, Germany, on Wednesday.

Israel Called Them ‘Precision’ Strikes. But Civilian Homes Were Hit, Too.

A hole left by a bomb that entered the home of the Khoswan family, in a strike on an Islamic Jihad member who lived below, in Gaza City.

Triggered by North Korea, South Korea’s False Evacuation Alert Causes Chaos

Watching a news broadcast with file footage of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul on Wednesday.

India Will Scrap 2,000 Rupee Notes, Echoing 2016 Demonetization

Customers exchanging 2,000-rupee notes at a bank in New Delhi last week.

State Farm Stops Offering Insurance in California

A firefighter tried to save a home in Meyers, Calif., in 2021.

Ireland Worries That Brexit Will Ruin Fishing Industry

A crew member aboard the fishing vessel Aquila in April on its final voyage.

Pakistan Courts Challenge Military With High-Profile Rulings

Paramilitary soldiers in front of the Supreme Court during a ruling on former Prime Minister Imran Khan, in Islamabad, Pakistan, earlier this month.

Your Wednesday Briefing

Inspecting the damaged facade of an apartment building after a drone attack in Moscow on Tuesday.

Drones Strike Moscow Civilian Areas, a First in Russia-Ukraine War

Inspecting the damaged facade of an apartment building after a drone attack in Moscow on Tuesday.

North Korea Says Rocket Launch Failed After It Triggers Alerts in South Korea

Residents in Seoul watched as news of North Korea’s plan to launch a spy satellite was shown on television.

Debt Deal Includes a Green Light for a Contentious Pipeline

Pipes on Brush Mountain in Virginia that have sat for years at a stalled section of the Mountain Valley Pipeline project.

Fluorescein Turned Venice Grand Canal Green, Officials Say

The authorities said that fluorescein, a chemical used in underwater construction, turned part of the Grand Canal in Venice a phosphorescent shade of green in recent days.

Wildfire Near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Leads to Evacuation of More Than 16,000

Thick plumes of smoke rising from an out-of-control fire on Sunday that forced the evacuation of residents in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

NATO Troops and Ethnic Serbs Clash in Kosovo: What to Know

NATO officers and ethnic Serbs clashed in Zvecan, Kosovo, on Monday.

A Plan to Avert a Vast Oil Spill Off Yemen Moves Ahead

The FSO Safer, a supertanker off the coast of Yemen, in an undated image from a video. If all goes as planned, an inspection of the ship will pave the way for an operation to transfer its oil to a seaworthy tanker.