Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens as President Donald Trump speaks at an event with renderings labeled as a “Trump Class” ship for the Navy at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Dec. 22, 2025. (Eric Lee/The New York Times) By EDWARD WONG & MICHAEL CROWLEY The Trump administration’s diplomacy with Iran to avert a war appeared to be on a near-certain path to failure even before it reached a critical point last week. The giveaway came in a fiery phrase that Secretary of State

President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, as Vice President JD Vance, left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) look on. (Kenny Holston/TheNew York Times) By JULIAN E. BARNES and HELENE COOPER The targeted strikes on Iran being considered by the Trump administration would probably be aimed at nuclear and missile sites in the country. But the president has yet to spe

A DJ plays at Dos Puntos, a trendy listening bar in Caracas, Venezuela, on Feb. 12, 2026. Much of the budding optimism in Caracas is grounded in hopes that Venezuela’s moribund oil industry could show growth this year. (Adriana Loureiro Fernández/The New York Times) By MATINA STEVIS-GRIDNEFF and VJOSA ISAI At the 360 rooftop bar, in the heart of Caracas, Venezuela, all the tables were taken, even though drinks can cost more than several months of base wages for many. Sitting

A burned car sits beside a damaged business, one day after the Mexican military killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, the leader of one of the world’s largest drug cartels, in Guadalajara, Mexico, Feb. 23, 2026. President Donald Trump has demanded President Claudia Sheinbaum confront the cartels. The killing of “El Mencho” suggests it might be working — but could come at a cost.(Cesar Rodríguez/The New York Times) By JACK NICAS El Mencho was the biggest kingp

By FRANCES ROBLES The Cuban government said it exchanged gunfire with a Florida-based speedboat that had entered its territorial waters Wednesday, killing at least four people and wounding six others. The vessel approached within one nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel north of Corralillo, a town in the central Cuban province of Villa Clara, according to a statement on the Facebook page of Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior. Cuban border-guard troops on a government b

Pope Leo XIV on his first trip abroad as pontiff in Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 26, 2025. The Vatican announced on Wednesday that Pope Leo XIV would make a 10-day trip to Africa in April, traveling to Algeria, Angola, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, less than a year after he was elected to the papacy. (Diego Ibarra Sanchez/The New York Times) By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope Leo XIV would make a 10-day trip to Africa in April, traveling to Algeria, An

A forest fire started by rival cartels to block access to a road used as an escape route into the mountains in Uruapan, Mexico, on March 7, 2022. The death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes dealt a major blow to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, but few believe it spells the end for the powerful group. (Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times) By MARIA AL-HABIB Drug lords have been killed or captured, and cartels have splintered or collapsed, only to see more violent ones replace th

People watch a building that was hit after Israel’s attack in Tehran, Iran. June 13, 2025. For days, the fate of roughly 90 million Iranians has appeared to swing between war and peace as American and Iranian officials traded threats of attack and calls for diplomacy. (Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times) By ERIKA SOLOMON and FARNAZ FASSIHI For days, the fate of roughly 90 million Iranians has appeared to swing between war and peace as U.S. and Iranian officials traded threats

President Donald Trump disembarks Air Force One in Richard B. Russell Regional Airport in Rome, Ga., on Feb. 19, 2026. The top negotiators plan to meet in Geneva on Thursday for last-ditch talks, debating a new proposal that could create an off-ramp as two carrier groups massed within striking distance of Iran (Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times) By JULIAN E. BARNES, DAVID E. SANGER, TYLER PAGER and ERIC SCHMITT President Donald Trump has told advisers that if diplomacy or a

Police officers passing through a Mexican military checkpoint in Naranjo De Chila, Mexico, the hometown of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, on Feb. 24, 2022. Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” was the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and widely regarded as one of the country’s most violent criminal figures. (Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times) By JACK NICAS and JAMES WAGNER Authorities in Mexico said Monday they were restoring order to a country on ed