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Whistle-Blower Says Trump Officials Are Defying Court Orders on Voting by Mail

A report detailed “grave concerns” that a new system being rushed into use by the U.S. Postal Service could imperil millions of mail ballots ahead of the midterm elections.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

The office of Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, published the whistle-blower report on voting by mail.
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China or the U.S.? Two Meetings Offer Competing Showcases of Global Power.

As Xi Jinping gathered with the leaders of Russia and Iran, Europe challenged the Trump administration at the G20, offering a split-screen view of a changing world.

© Vyacheslav Oseledko/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Sam Wolfe/Reuters

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How the Pentagon Is Getting Into the Venezuelan Oil Business Under Trump

The Defense Department’s Office of Strategic Capital, founded by the Biden administration to give loans to bolster the U.S. defense industry, is helping lead President Trump’s oil deal.

© Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times

President Trump said his defense secretary and secretary of state reached an agreement with the Venezuelan government on securing billions of barrels of oil reserves “through a partnership with private business.”
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Supreme Court Allows Trump’s White House Ballroom Construction

Lower-court rulings would have blocked construction of the 90,000-square-foot ballroom after finding that the Trump administration should have first sought approval from Congress.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

The order from the Supreme Court was the second time in less than two weeks that the court weighed in on the project.
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Pennsylvania’s A.I. Gold Rush Meets Second Thoughts

Amid a backlash, Gov. Josh Shapiro is pumping the brakes on enormous data centers. But in a region scarred by the collapse of the steel industry, some welcome billions in construction.

© Kristian Thacker for The New York Times

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DOJ Issues Grand Jury Subpoena to James Comey Confidant Daniel Richman

The subpoena of Daniel C. Richman is the latest move in a persistent campaign to go after James B. Comey, one of President Trump’s most reviled political adversaries who has already been indicted twice.

© Jared Soares for The New York Times

James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, has been indicted twice by the Justice Department under President Trump.
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Pennsylvania’s A.I. Gold Rush Meets Second Thoughts

Amid a backlash, Gov. Josh Shapiro is pumping the brakes on enormous data centers. But in a region scarred by the collapse of the steel industry, some welcome billions in construction.

© Kristian Thacker for The New York Times

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Summit With Russia, India and Iran Shows Leverage Wars Have Given Xi of China

A two-day conference of the 10-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Kyrgyzstan shows the limits of U.S. economic warfare.

© Pavel Mikheyev/Reuters

Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, center, and the Kyrgyz president, Sadyr Japarov, left, during a welcoming ceremony in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Monday.
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U.S. and Iran Exchange Strikes Overnight After Monthlong Calm

The renewed attacks were the latest sign that the war that began six months ago appears far from over.

© Reuters

The Strait of Hormuz, the waterway in the Persian Gulf that has been at the heart of the conflict between the United States and Iran, on Monday.
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Europe Protests as U.S. Invites Russian Minister to G20 Finance Meeting

The meeting, which China and Russia are attending, is focused on the ongoing economic shock from the war in Iran, which has driven up oil prices globally.

© Melissa S. Gerrits/Reuters

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Federal Reserve chairman, Kevin Warsh, in Asheville, N.C., before the summit. The International Monetary Fund has projected that global growth will slow this year and that inflation will rise.
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More Mail Ballots Are Arriving Late This Year, and They’re Getting Tossed

State officials say they worry about the Postal Service’s ability to deliver votes this fall. They are urging voters to mail their ballots early or use drop boxes so their votes count.

© Rebecca Cook/Reuters

Nearly twice as many mail ballots were rejected for arriving late in Michigan’s primaries this year when compared to 2024.
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Do D.E.I. Bike Paths Exist? The Trump Administration Says Yes.

The administration has revoked funding for bike paths, and encouraged removing some. A cycling advocate said it is playing on the idea of “that dork on a bike.”
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He Warned That the End of History Could Be Rough. Maybe Now People Will Listen.

Francis Fukuyama’s famous take on the post-Cold War world was widely misunderstood. In a new memoir, he tries to set the record straight.

© Cayce Clifford for The New York Times

Francis Fukuyama sees the current plight of liberal democracy not as a rebuke to his earlier work but as a vindication.
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Why the United States Can’t Quit Its Wars

The country’s longest war came to an end exactly five years ago. Today it offers lessons for policymakers seeking to avoid an endless war in Iran.

© Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times

A U.S. military helicopter over Kabul, Afghanistan, in May 2021.
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Deportees Sent to Liberia Recount Harrowing Details of U.S. Expulsion and Treatment by ICE

Ten deportees said they experienced or witnessed what they called abusive or violent treatment by ICE. They spent months in detention, they said, before being sent to nations where they had no ties.

© Matthew Jacobs/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A plane carrying deportees from the United States at the international airport outside of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, on Aug. 20.
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