By QASIM NAUMAN and LEO SANDS The United States was waiting Thursday for Iran to convey its response to the latest American proposal to end the war, after public messages from top-ranking officials on both sides suggested a burst of behind-the-scenes diplomatic activity. Business leaders, consumers, politicians, shipping companies and many others around the world have also been watching closely for signs of a breakthrough. The conflict, which has dragged on into a third month

By CLAIRE MOSES, AIMEE ORTIZ and RYLEE KIRK Health officials in a growing list of countries scrambled Thursday to track people connected to a deadly outbreak of the hantavirus on a cruise ship. The World Health Organization also predicted a “limited” spread of the virus if public health measures were implemented. “This is not COVID; this is not influenza,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s head of epidemic and pandemic preparedness, said at a news conference in Geneva on Thur

The Cardón oil refinery in Punta Cardón, Venezuela, Jan. 29, 2026. Trump officials and their Venezuelan allies have promised a new era of accountability to unlock the country’s immense oil wealth, but the oil industry remains a black hole. (Adriana Loureiro Fernández/The New York Times) By ANATOLY KURMANAEV U.S. and Venezuelan officials have promised a new era of accountability for Venezuela’s lucrative oil industry after the downfall of President Nicolás Maduro. President Do

President Donald Trump speaks during a Military Mother’s Day event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. Iran said on Wednesday that it was reviewing an American proposal to end the war, a day after President Trump abruptly paused a new U.S. military effort to protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz, citing “great progress” in talks with Tehran. (Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times) By LEO SANDS, QASIM NAUMAN, MARK LANDLER and MICHAEL LEV

By JOHN YOON The U.S. military said Monday that it had struck another boat in the Caribbean Sea, killing two men as part of a campaign against people the Trump administration accuses of smuggling drugs by sea. The strike was ordered by Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the head of the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees operations in Latin America, Central America and the Caribbean, the command said in a statement. The two deaths raised the overall toll to at least 187 in the U.S. c

President Rodrigo Chaves greets supporters as he walks through a crowd on his way to vote in San José, Costa Rica, Feb. 1, 2026. César Rodríguez/The New York Times) By EMILIANO RODRÍGUEZ MEGA In 2022, La Nación, Costa Rica’s leading newspaper, broke several stories documenting a major sexual harassment investigation involving a presidential candidate, Rodrigo Chaves, who worked at the World Bank at the time. Chaves was eventually elected as the country’s leader even though an

Commuters ride a bus in Tehran, Iran, May 2, 2026. President Donald Trump is trying to ratchet up the economic pressure on Tehran, but Iran’s government is unlikely to make a deal without a big, face-saving compromise. (Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times) By STEVEN ERLANGER President Donald Trump keeps looking for the magic formula that will deliver him victory in Iran. First was the airstrike last June intended, he said, to “obliterate” Iran’s nuclear program. Then came the

A view of Culiacán at sunset in Mexico’s Sinaloa state, Oct. 31, 2025. The U.S. indictment of a Mexican governor has spotlighted cartel corruption, strained cross-border relations and handed President Claudia Sheinbaum a thorny choice. (Paul Ratje/The New York Times) By JACK NICAS If there had been odds on which Mexican politician was colluding with the cartels, the favorite might have been Rubén Rocha Moya. Rocha, the governor of Sinaloa, has long been dogged by accusations

By AARON BOXERMAN, ISMAEEL NAAR and SANAM MAHOOZI Violence flared anew in and around the Persian Gulf on Monday, as the United Arab Emirates said Iran had fired missiles and drones at its territory and the U.S. military said it sunk several Iranian military boats, straining the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East. UAE authorities blamed Iran for attacks on a major oil port and an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, injuring three people in the first such attacks in the UAE s

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the 2027 budget request for the Department of the Treasury on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 22, 2026. The United States on Monday, May 4, 2006, urged China to push Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and said that its purchases of Iranian oil amounted to funding global terrorism, delivering a stern rebuke ahead of President Trump’s meeting in Beijing this month with the Chinese