How Marco Rubio Is Running Venezuela From Afar

The secretary of state effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its government. His grip on the country is a vivid manifestation of American power in the Trump era.

T Tyler Pager and Anatoly Kurmanaev

Trump’s Posts on Singing Somali Schoolchildren Stir Anger in Minnesota

The state’s large Muslim and Somali communities expressed indignation after the president reposted a video of a kindergarten promotion ceremony, including comments noting the girls were in hijabs.President Trump at the White House on Monday, the day he posted about the children in Minnesota.

E Erica L. Green and Dylan Freedman

Whistle-Blowers Accuse Kennedy Center of Contracting Flaws Under Trump

Documents submitted to Congress detailed concerns about competitive bidding processes and a White House order to tear up new bathroom tile because of its color.Since President Trump took over the Kennedy Center, he helped secure $257 million from Congress to fund building renovation and maintenance.

J Julia Jacobs and Zach Montague

Videos Shed Light on Pursuit Before ICE Killing in Houston

Surveillance footage obtained by The Times shows ICE agents driving aggressively in unmarked vehicles, but the moment of the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo remains murky.

R Robin Stein, Devon Lum, Sam Lerma, Mimi Dwyer, Alexander Cardia, Aric Toler, Dmitriy Khavin, Charlie Smart and Allison McCann

Mojtaba Khamenei Vows Revenge as Iran’s Top Diplomat Is in Oman For Talks

Recent clashes between the U.S. and Iran, and a vow by the ayatollah to avenge his father’s death, further eroded a shaky cease-fire signed last month.The Strait of Hormuz seen from Musandam, Oman, this month. While the Trump administration has said that a cease-fire would fully lift Iran’s blockade

A Aaron Boxerman

Platner’s Rise and Fall Revives Old Questions About ‘Bernie Bros’ and Women

The collapse of Graham Platner’s Senate bid in Maine after a rape allegation renewed attention to a movement built by Senator Bernie Sanders that some say is too forgiving of male misconduct.Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has been widely seen as attempting to burnish his legacy this year by anoin

P Patricia Mazzei and Kellen Browning

How The Times Reported on Graham Platner

Two senior editors discuss the difficult effort to track down allegations against the leading Democrat for Senate in Maine and the questions that soon followed.Graham Platner, once a top Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, is now out of the race.

P Patrick Healy

Kansans Will Vote on an Elected Supreme Court. The Target: Abortion.

Frustrated by the appointed court’s support of abortion rights, which has been affirmed resoundingly by voters, Republicans are pushing an Aug. 4 referendum to elect Kansas justices.A doctor entering an exam room to consult with a patient at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Kansas City, Kan., in 2022.

K Kate Zernike

In Sudan, a Preventable Atrocity

Hundreds of thousands of people in Sudan are bracing for their city to be overrun by a militia notorious for committing atrocities.

N Nicholas Kristof

Non-Disclosure: In Roswell, New U.F.O. Docs Are a Declassified Bummer

Roswell’s annual U.F.O. festival was supposed to be full of triumphant “told you so’s” after the Trump administration declassified its alien files. Instead, apparently, the coverup continues.Attendees wait for a parade to start during the Roswell U.F.O. Festival in Roswell, N.M.

R Reis Thebault and Paul Ratje