Saudi Arabia’s Strikes in Iraq Mark Entry Into U.S.-Iran War.

The kingdom’s defense ministry said airstrikes in Iraq targeting Iran-backed militias were in retaliation for attacks on Saudi oil facilities this week.Security forces and emergency personnel work at the site of U.S.-Saudi strikes in Iraq’s Diyala province on Wednesday

V Vivian Nereim and Ismaeel Naar

Families Face Anxiety, Angst as Loved Ones Are Deployed to Fight Iran

As the war with Iran has continued, some are finding that the stress is bringing back old anxieties.Mental health counselors say they are attending to more military families who are reporting stress and anxiety about a conflict that has taken the lives of at least 18 service members and wounded more

B Bernard Mokam and Georgia Gee

With Blanche Nomination at Stake, Payouts to Trump Allies Continue

A seven-figure settlement is announced two days before a scheduled Senate committee vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general.Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, has said the Justice Department dropped its plan for a $1.8 billion fund to pay purported victims of government weap

D Devlin Barrett and Alan Feuer

Trump Demanded Details of Agents’ Interview of Comey, New Filing Says

The request suggests the intense personal involvement of President Trump in investigating one of his longtime critics, the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey.James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, was interviewed by the Secret Service after posting a photo of seashells on Instagram.

D Devlin Barrett and Alan Feuer

Microsoft Increases Spending on A.I. as Profit Jumps 31.6%

Like other big technology companies, Microsoft is hoping its aggressive spending on artificial intelligence is starting to translate into revenue.The Microsoft Experience Center in Manhattan on Wednesday, when Microsoft reported quarterly capital expenditures of $41 billion.

E Emmy Martin

Trump Administration Is Repurposing Federal Land for A.I. Data Centers

In the latest example, the Energy Department will convert a shuttered Cold War-era uranium enrichment facility into a data center campus and gas plants.President Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright during a White House event last week in which 200 companies vowed to prevent A.I. data centers fro

B Brad Plumer

Why Republicans Aren’t Funding the Texas Senate Race Yet

The peculiar dynamic is playing out in Texas, where the fate of the Republican nominee, Ken Paxton, will help decide which party controls the U.S. Senate.Ken Paxton, attorney general of Texas, is the Republican nominee for Senate there but has struggled to raise money.

T Theodore Schleifer

Obama Endorses Josh Turek in Iowa Senate Race With Basketball Video

The former president is trying to help Josh Turek net a Senate seat in Iowa, which Democrats see as one of their best pickup opportunities of the midterms.Former President Barack Obama made one of his first endorsements of the midterm elections, backing Josh Turek, a centrist state lawmaker in Iowa

T Tim Balk

European Wildfires Amplified by Emptying Countryside and Fewer Farms

A warming planet and a shift away from farming have set the stage for larger fires on the continent. “We must learn to coexist with them,” one report said.Wildfire smoke from a fire burning west of Bordeaux, France, on Tuesday. The giant blazes in France and Spain are their largest on record.

R Raymond Zhong

Summer of Heat, Fires and Storms Is a Reckoning for Europe on Climate

The continent is experiencing some of its biggest fires and highest temperatures ever. Residents are fleeing, leaders are struggling to respond and “it will get worse,” one climate expert said.Firefighters using controlled burns to stop the spread of wildfires near Madrid on Tuesday.

M Mark Landler and Chico Harlan

What Our Epstein Outrage Has Obscured

It’s easy to shake our fists at a monster. It would be more effective to actually help exploited girls.A woman showing the tattoo of one of her traffickers.

N Nicholas Kristof