Ukrainian firefighters work at the scene of a Russian drone strike on a military vehicle in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, May 22, 2026. While there are some bright spots in Kyiv’s war fortunes of late, Moscow’s forces are successfully raining bombs and drones on coveted “fortress belt” cities in the Donbas region. (Finbarr O’Reilly/The New York Times) By VALERIE HOPKINS The war in Ukraine is a “Special Military Operation,” even though it’s the biggest conflict in Eur

By SÉGOLÉNE LE STRADIC Roughly 1,000 excess deaths were reported in France between Wednesday and Saturday as temperatures in the country rose to their highest recorded levels, according to Santé Publique France, the national public health agency. Excess deaths were particularly high in the west and center of the country, according to the agency, which compared the average daily death toll with that of the previous two months. Eighty-five percent of the dead were aged 65 or ol

Relatives and friends mourn at a funeral in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sunday, June 28, 2026. (Fabiola Ferrero/The New York Times) By TIBISAY ROMERO, FABIOLA FERREO and LUIS FERRÉ SADURNÍ A young beauty pageant queen whose dream of becoming Miss Venezuela was cut short at 26 years old. A mother whose body was discovered in the rubble, covering the bodies of her two boys, ages 6 and 12. A man who had been deported to Venezuela from the United States just hours before the earthquak

A view of central Astana, Kazakhstan, featuring the Abu Dhabi Plaza tower, center, April 23, 2026. The Central Asian nation is aggressively courting President Trump’s Washington to counterbalance its powerful neighbors, Russia and China. (Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times) By PAUL SONNE The skyline of Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, is a physical reflection of the Central Asian nation’s approach to foreign affairs. A sign reading “Moscow” sits atop a Kazakh-Russian busin

By AARON BOXERMAN, EUAN WARD, YAN ZHUANG and JOHN ISMAY Iran and the United States traded new attacks and threats Sunday, the fourth straight day of hostilities, with little sign of a de-escalation that would get their 2-week-old ceasefire back on track. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said in a statement carried by Iranian state media that it had targeted a U.S. naval base in Bahrain and the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait in retaliation for American attacks. The governments of K

By TYLER PAGER U.S. officials say they are frustrated with María Corina Machado, the exiled Venezuelan opposition leader, for requesting help facilitating her return to Venezuela in the aftermath of two devastating earthquakes, according to two White House officials. They said Machado’s multiple requests were ill-timed, and one official called them a “political stunt.” The United States, as well as dozens of other countries, had been focused on giving aid to Venezuela on Satu

A group of civilian volunteers searches for survivors in a collapsed building in La Guaira, Venezuela, June 27, 2026. More than three days after twin earthquakes devastated the Venezuelan coast, the rescue effort faced chaos and delays as the chances of finding survivors diminished. (Adriana Loureiro Fernandez/The New York Times) By ISAYEN HERRERA, MARÍA VICTORIA FERMIN, JULIE TURKEWITZ, GENIEVE GLATSKY, FABIOLA FERRERO and YAN ZHUANG Emergency responders struggled to navigat

Supporters of Abelardo de la Espriella celebrate presidential election results in Barranquilla, Colombia, on Sunday night, June 21, 2026. De La Espriella won Colombia’s presidential vote by a razor-thin margin — helped by ballots cast outside the country — and will take office in August. Experts say that the Trump administration’s interference in his favor has been heavy-handed. (Federico Rios/The New York Times) By ANNIE CORREAL and JULIE TURKEWITZ First came President Donal

Iraq’s new prime minister Ali al-Zaidi (FB Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office) By RAJA ABDULRAHIM and FALIH HASSAN Iraq’s new prime minister has met with significant resistance as he attempts to bring the Iran-backed militias in his country under state control, after intense pressure from the Trump administration to rein in the armed groups. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi came to power in late April, shortly after the United States suspended shipments of dollars to Iraq that it h

Members of the Bolivarian National Guard search the rubble of a residential building in Caracas, Venezuela, after twin earthquakes on Wednesday night, June 24, 2026. Rescue crews intensified their search for survivors on Thursday as Venezuelans began to grapple with the scale of the devastation caused by the worst earthquakes to hit the country in nearly six decades. (Adriana Loureiro Fernandez/The New York Times) By AMY GRAFF The magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Venezuela on Wed