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Israel Releases Prisoners After Chaotic Hostage Handover

After Maha Kumbh Mela Stampede, Concerns of Cover-Up

A woman standing among the debris from the stampede.

Who Is Syria’s New Interim President?

Ahmed al-Shara, center, in Damascus in December. Under his stewardship, Syria’s interim government will now face a delicate political balancing act.

Salwan Momika, Man Behind Quran Burning in Sweden, Is Killed

Salwan Momika protesting outside a mosque in Stockholm in 2023.

Pause on U.S. Funding Spreads Fear of H.I.V. Spike Across Africa

The Engage Men’s Health clinic in Johannesburg has been temporarily closed after the Trump administration ordered health organizations to stop distributing H.I.V. medications purchased through a U.S. funding program.

Syria’s New President Pledges Unity in First Address

People celebrating in the streets of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Wednesday after rebel leader Ahmed al-Shara was named president.

Kyiv’s Mayor Feuds With President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine

Mayor Vitali Klitschko of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in front of the city administration building last year. He has engaged in a low-boil feud with the president for several years.

Security at ISIS Camps in Syria Threatened by U.S. Funding Freeze

Al Hol detention camp in Syria in 2019. It houses some 39,000 Islamic State members, their families and refugees.

The Southport Killer Was Fixated on Extreme Violence. But Was it Terrorism?

Flowers and memorials were left near where Axel Rudakubana killed three girls and attempted to kill 10 others, in Southport, England, in August.

Father Slays New York Girl, 14, in TikTok ‘Honor Killing’

A protest against honor killings in Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2016.

Rescuers in Japan Try to Reach Driver Trapped in Sinkhole For Days

A sinkhole that swallowed a truck near Tokyo has grown in size as rescuers try to reach the trapped driver buried inside.

Migrants at Paris Theater Hope to Prove They’re Just Kids

For weeks, immigrants have taken refuge in the Gaîté Lyrique, a Paris theater. In France, experts say, unaccompanied young immigrants who cannot prove they are minors often end up on the street.

Trump Calls Canada a Big Player in the Fentanyl Trade. Is It?

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police displaying seized firearms and illicit drugs.

What Israel’s UNRWA Ban Could Mean for Palestinians

An UNRWA training center.

3 Are Arrested in Theft of Gold Helmet From Dutch Museum

The helmet of Cotofenesti, an elaborately decorated solid-gold headpiece from the fifth century B.C., was among the items stolen from the Drents Museum in Assen, the Netherlands, over the weekend.

Israel Frees Palestinian Prisoners After Chaotic Hostage Handover

Palestinian militants escorting one of the freed Israeli hostages, Arbel Yehud, to Red Cross officials in Gaza on Thursday.

Palestinians Gather in West Bank to Welcome Prisoners Released by Israel

Freed Palestinian prisoners in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Thursday.

Friday Briefing: 67 Dead in Washington Air Collision

Search crews on the Potomac River near Washington, yesterday.

Married Russian Figure-Skating Stars Are Among Victims of Plane Crash Near Washington, D.C.

Yevgeniya Shishkova and Vadim Naumov skating in Paris in 1996. They won a world championship and competed in the Winter Olympics.

Zakaria Zubeidi, Militant Who Briefly Escaped Israeli Prison, Is Among Released Palestinians

Zakaria Zubeidi, at center right, arrived in city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Thursday.

In Thailand, Faraway Vigil for Hostages Ends in Happy Tears

Wiwwaeo Sriaoun, the mother of Watchara Sriaoun, who was released after 15 months of captivity in Gaza, at her house with another relative in Thailand’s Udon Thani Province on Thursday.

Who Are the 3 Israeli Hostages Released Thursday?

Israelis gathered to watch the release of the hostages from what is known as “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

Thursday Briefing

President Trump reversed an order to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans.

Tesla’s Fourth-Quarter Earnings Report Sharp Drop in Profit

Tesla has cut prices and offered low-interest financing to prop up sales, but the measures have hurt profits.

Thursday Briefing: Trump Reverses Spending Freeze

President Trump speaking at the White House, yesterday.

Syria’s Ahmed al-Shara Named as President During Transitional Period

Ahmed al-Shara, the leader of the rebel coalition that toppled Bashar al-Assad in Syria, appeared on TV at a Damascus cafe on Wednesday.

Farage Says He Talked to Musk Last Week. Relationship Is ‘Fine.’

Nigel Farage, center, arriving on Tuesday for a fund-raiser at an exclusive members-only club in London.

Hamas Is Expected to Release 8 Israeli and Thai Hostages

A demonstration calling for the release of hostages on Saturday.

The F.D.A. Upgraded a Recall of Some Lay’s Potato Chips. Here’s What to Know.

Frito-Lay issued a recall last month of some of its 13-ounce bags of Lay’s Classic Potato Chips in Washington and Oregon.

How Dozens Fled an Inferno on a South Korean Plane

14 Convicted in Death of Girl for Depriving Her of Insulin

Steven Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East Envoy, Makes Rare Trip to Gaza

Gaza City on Tuesday. Under the terms of the cease-fire agreement, Israeli troops have withdrawn from a central corridor in the territory, allowing Gazans to return to the north.

After a Wave of Coups, 3 African Nations Leave Decades-old Alliance

Supporters of Niger’s military junta taking part in a demonstration in Niamey, the capital, on Tuesday to celebrate the country’s withdrawal from the ECOWAS regional alliance.

Catholic Church in the Philippines Accused of Impunity Over Priest Abuse

An accusation of unpunished sex abuse in Catholic churches in the Philippines was the latest sign that the Church’s global abuse scandal is still ricocheting, this time in Asia, a region that the Vatican is relying on for growth.

Russia Seizes Another Town in Ukraine in Push to Take All of Donetsk

A Ukrainian soldier speaking to a civilian in March 2023 while patrolling Velyka Novosilka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.

Citizenship by Birthright? By Bloodline? Migration Is Complicating Both.

Noura Ghazoui, 34, in Genoa, Italy, this month. “I feel Italian, I think in Italian, I dream in Italian,” Ms. Ghazoui said. “But I am not recognized in my country.”

He Survived 15 Months of War in Gaza, Then Died as Cease-Fire Neared

The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on the day of the cease-fire, before it came into effect.

Leaving the W.H.O. Could Hurt Americans on a Range of Health Matters

For all its scope, the World Health Organization has a relatively modest budget — $6.8 billion for 2024 and 2025, comparable to that of the health department of Rhode Island.

In Photos: The Aftermath of the Maha Kumbh Mela Stampede

Pilgrims searched for their family members after a stampede broke out at the Maha Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj, India.

DeepSeek’s A.I. Chatbot Awkwardly Navigates China’s Censors

Wednesday Briefing

The White House budget office said federal funds shouldn’t be used to “advance Marxist equity” or “transgenderism.”

The Citizen Scientists of Fukushima

Lunar New Year 2025 Photos: See Year of the Snake Celebrations Across Asia

A traditional lion dance performance in Beijing on Wednesday.

Stampede at India’s Maha Kumbh Mela Hindu Festival: Many Feared Dead

The aftermath of a deadly stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, India, on Wednesday morning. The festival is one of the world’s biggest religious gatherings.

State Department Permits Distribution of H.I.V. Medications to Resume — for Now

Every day, more than 220,000 people pick up H.I.V. medications at clinics funded by PEPFAR.

Typhoon Yagi Scrambles Vietnam’s Lunar New Year Tradition

Israel Urged to Reverse UNRWA Ban

A health center run by the Palestinian refugee aid agency in Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday.

U.S. Halt to Foreign Aid Cripples Programs Worldwide

U.S.A.I.D. has a large footprint around the world.

Inside a Chaotic U.S. Deportation Flight to Brazil

Doomsday Clock Moves One Second Closer to Catastrophe

Juan Manuel Santos, left, the former president of Colombia, and Robert Socolow, a professor emeritus in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University, revealed the location of the minute hand on the Doomsday Clock at a news conference in Washington on Tuesday.

Wednesday Briefing: Trump’s Funding Freeze

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, defended the order to pause spending yesterday.

Trudeau Government Left Canada Vulnerable to Foreign Interference

Flags for Khalistan, a hoped-for Sikh homeland, outside the temple in Surrey, British Columbia, where Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian leader of the Sikh independence movement, was assassinated in 2023. Canada has accused the Indian government of orchestrating the killing.

Reform U.K. Is Said to Land Over $1 Million in Populist Show of Force

Nigel Farage, second from left, arriving on Tuesday at Oswald’s, an exclusive members-only club in London’s Mayfair neighborhood.

How Elon Musk is Using Start-Up Tactics to Disrupt European Politics

Elon Musk is seen on-screen at a campaign event for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, in Halle, Germany, on Saturday.

Mauricio Funes, Salvadoran President Who Fled to Nicaragua, Dies at 65

Mauricio Funes greeted a group of Salvadoran students in 2011. His election two years earlier was considered a fresh start for a country battered by civil war.

France, Finally, Wins the World’s Top Food Award Again

The chef Paul Marcon, center with trophy, was hoisted in celebration after his French team won the Bocuse d’Or cooking competition, near Lyon, France, on Monday.

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