By ABDI LATIF DAHIR and ERIC SCHMITT The barrage of airstrikes launched by the United States across Syria late Friday underscored the challenges facing the country’s president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, as he struggles to assert control over the nation and navigate a nascent relationship with President Donald Trump. U.S. fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery struck more than 70 suspected Islamic State positions across central Syria, targeting the group’s infrastructure and we

A member of Venezuela’s security forces on the tarmac at Maiquetia International Airport in Caracas, Venezuela, on Dec. 3, 2025. An escalating standoff between the United States and Venezuela has led both countries’ militaries to jam satellite navigation signals in the Caribbean to guard against a potential attack, data show, putting air and sea traffic in the region at greater risk of a collision or accident. (Alejandro Cegarra/The New York Times) By RILEY MELLEN and ANATOLY

Anthony Albanese, Australia’s prime minister, attends a funeral for the victims of the shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. The father-and-son attackers accused of carrying out the deadly shooting on Australia’s famous Bondi Beach appeared to have met with local Muslim religious leaders during their sojourn to the Philippines last month, intelligence authorities said on Sunday. (Matthew Abbott/The New York Times) By JASON GUTIÉRREZ The father

The sun rises over an oil tanker anchored at the docks of the Cardon Refinery in Punto Fijo, Venezuela, Dec. 30, 2021. (Adriana Loureiro Fernández/The New York Times) By EDWARD WONG, ANATOLY KURMANAEV and ERIC SCHMITT Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, ordered his navy to escort ships carrying petroleum products from port, risking a confrontation with the United States on the high seas as he defied President Donald Trump’s declaration of a “blockade” aimed at the countr

A mourner carries a balloon bearing Matilda’s name and a bee, an insect she was known to love, before her funeral in Sydney, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. Sydney’s devastated Jewish community gathered for the funeral of “Matilda Bee,” an ebullient, smiling 10-year-old girl. (Matthew Abbott/The New York Times) By DAMIEN CAVE Every mourner entering the funeral home in one of Sydney’s oldest Jewish neighborhoods received a sticker that said “Matilda” in purple script, above a smiling

The sun sets near Camp Justice at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, Sept. 21, 2021. The United States has transferred 22 Cuban migrants to its Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, people familiar with the matter said, repopulating its detention site with men it intends to deport for the first time in two months. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times) By CAROL ROSENBERG The United States has transferred 22 Cuban migrants to its Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, people familiar with the matter

By VICTORIA KIM The surviving suspect in the mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney was charged Wednesday with murder, grievous bodily harm and terrorism, police said. The shooting at a beachside Hanukkah celebration Sunday left 15 people dead, including a 10-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor who was a grandfather of 11. Two gunmen, who the police said were father and son, were shot by officers; one died at the scene, and the other was taken to a hospital. Authorities sa

Tankers at the refinery near Punto Fijo, Venezuela, Dec. 30, 2021. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, that the United States would impose a blockade on all “sanctioned oil tankers” going to and from Venezuela, in an escalation of the administration’s monthslong pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela. (Adriana Loureiro Fernández/The New York Times) By EDWARD WONG, SIMON ROMERO, CHARLIE SAVAGE and JULIAN E. BARNES President Do