By JUDSON JONES, NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHS, DANI BLUM and SALLY GOLDENBERG A plume of dense smoke from scores of raging wildfires stretched across much of the northeastern United States and southern Canada on Thursday, prompting officials and health experts in some of the region’s most populated cities to urge residents to avoid spending too much time in the polluted air. Air quality readings in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis and Toronto surged to levels so dangerous

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and family members of Epstein victims embrace after the second day of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in Washington, on Thursday, July 16, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times) By DEVLIN BARRETT A Republican lawmaker whose vote will be crucial in advancing Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general demanded that the nominee meet with survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epst

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting at the White House in Washington on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. Trump on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, criticized his administration’s directive to halt Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from conducting most vehicle stops after two fatal shootings, immediately throwing the policy into question a day after it went into effect. (Doug Mills/The New York Times) By MADELEINE NGO and ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS President Donald Trump earlier

A counter protester, center, shouts at demonstrators gathered outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Scarborough, Maine, on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. The protesters gathered in reaction to the killing of a man in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday morning by a federal immigration agent. (Christopher Capozziello/The New York Times) By CHRISTINA MORALES, JENNA RUSSELL and JACEY FORTIN The father of a Colombian immigrant shot and killed by a federal agent in Maine

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul during a news conference in Albany on Jan. 20, 2026. Hochul signed an executive order on July 14 pausing the construction of the largest data centers for one year while the state assesses their effects on the environment and energy use. (Cindy Schultz/The New York Times) By GRACE ASHFORD New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order earlier this week placing a one-year pause on the construction of the largest data centers, putting the state a

An American flag flies at half-staff outside of the Capitol after the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who died on Saturday, in Washington, on Monday, July 13, 2026. Still shaken from the sudden death of Graham, Senate Republicans returned to Washington on Monday and were immediately forced to confront the policy and political complications caused by his absence. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times) By MICHAEL GOLD and CARL HULSE Still shaken from the sudden death of Sen.

By ED SHANAHAN and JONAH E. BROMWICH President Donald Trump has paid writer E. Jean Carroll $5.6 million he owed her after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing her in a New York City department store in the 1990s and then defaming her, federal court records show. The money, which had been held in escrow while Trump appealed the jury’s 2023 award, was disbursed to Carroll last week, according to a note added Tuesday to the online court docket in the case. The payment c

Family members embrace next to a makeshift memorial for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo at the location where he was shot by an ICE agent in Houston, July 8, 2026. The Trump administration has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to halt most vehicle stops while carrying out operations across the country, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly about the directive. (Meridith Kohut/The New York Times) By MADELEINE NGO, HAME

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) speaks at the BMW manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, S.C., June 30, 2026. Graham likely died on Saturday night, July 11, 2026, from a tear in his aorta, officials said, hours after returning to the United States from Ukraine and months before he was to face re-election. (Will Crooks/The New York Times) By OLIVIA DÍAZ Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., likely died on Saturday from a tear in his aorta, officials said, hours after returning to the Unit

A group of federal immigration officers walk through O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on March 23, 2026. A federal immigration agent shot and killed an individual in a vehicle on Monday in the coastal city of Biddeford, Maine, according to the state attorney general’s office. (Jamie Kelter Davis/The New York Times) By JACEY FORTIN, HEATHER BEASLEY DOYLE and MIRIAM JORDAN A federal immigration agent shot and killed an individual in a vehicle on Monday in the coastal cit