New York Times - Top Stories

Almost 6,000 Dead in 6 Years: How Baltimore Became the U.S. Overdose Capital

The city was once hailed for its response to addiction. But as fentanyl flooded the streets and officials shifted priorities, deaths hit unprecedented heights.

17 min read

Stories From Baltimore’s Overdose Crisis

“I love you in the sky, Daddy.”
Cassidy Fredrick’s father, Devon Wellington, died in his truck of an overdose on July 24, 2021, at age 32.
Jessica Gallagher/The Baltimore Banner, for The New York Times
“Mama, everybody gonna know Ferg, everybody gonna know my name.”
Jaylon Ferguson’s mother, Jackie, said her son, who played for the Baltimore Ravens, had started talking about his legacy early.
Jessica Gallagher/The Baltimore Banner, for The New York Times
William Miller Jr.’s father was a leader in overdose prevention before he died of overdose himself.
Jessica Gallagher/The Baltimore Banner, for The New York Times
“My last wish is that when you do remember, you smile and if you can laugh, always laugh.”
Bruce Setherley’s mother, Mona, has had difficulty processing his death.
Jessica Gallagher/The Baltimore Banner, for The New York Times
Lisa Filer has assembled a picture of the day her 22-year-old son Aidan died. She has collected thousands of pages detailing his life in binders.
Jessica Gallagher/The Baltimore Banner, for The New York Times
“I lost my baby.”
Yvonne Holden had her son, Al, when she was 14. She thought he looked like Charlie Brown.
Jessica Gallagher/The Baltimore Banner, for The New York Times

Here are 5 takeaways from the reporting.

4 min read

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Three military jets sit in front of a camouflage arch, with high-rise buildings in the background.

The HeadlinesAudio

Chinese military drills surround Taiwan, Justice Alito faces another flag controversy and more.

8 min listen

Another Provocative Flag Was Flown at Another Alito Home

Last year, Justice Samuel Alito’s beach house displayed a flag with a symbol carried on Jan. 6 and associated with a push for a more Christian-minded government.

6 min read

A flagpole displaying a white flag with a pine tree and the phrase “An Appeal to Heaven,” a blue “2022” flag and a multicolored flag with a yellow sun in the center.

Rioters outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, waving several flags including American flags, MAGA and Trump flags, and the “Appeal to Heaven” flag.

Analysis

Can European Recognition Bring Palestinian Statehood Any Closer?

Not on its own, in all likelihood. But it reflects a growing exasperation with Israel that might eventually lend momentum to a two-state solution.

5 min read

A tank maneuvers along elevated mounds of dirt, with buildings in the background. — Amir Cohen/Reuters

Families of Hostages Release Video of Abductions to Push for More Talks

Some Israeli politicians seized on the images to try to rebuff the decision by three European countries to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Israel against cutting off Palestinian banks.

3 min read

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Stage Collapses at Campaign Rally in Mexico, Killing at Least 9

Strong winds caused the collapse in northern Mexico as a presidential hopeful campaigned for a local candidate, officials said. Dozens were injured.

3 min read

New ‘Richard III’ Raises an Old Question: Who Should Wear the Crown?

A production in London faces criticism because a nondisabled actor plays the scheming king. But disputes like these miss the point, a critic writes.

4 min read

A woman in a black leather jacket and black pants sits on a stage, with her hands folded, and looks into the distance. — Marc Brenner

3 More College Leaders to Face Congress Over Antisemitism Claims

The heads of Rutgers, Northwestern and U.C.L.A., who handled protests at their universities in different ways, will testify today.

6 min read

A protester walks with a Palestinian flag among a group of students on a campus sidewalk. — Anne-Marie Caruso/Usa Today Network

Here’s what to expect from the latest hearing on campus protests.

3 min read

Harvard is bracing for protests at its commencement today, with 13 seniors barred from graduation.

3 min read

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Biden Officials Debate Letting Ukraine Shoot U.S. Weapons Into Russia

After a sobering trip to Kyiv, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is urging President Biden to lift restrictions on how Ukraine can use American arms.

5 min read

Smoke rising from a partially collapsed apartment building. — Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the West to do more to support Ukraine, in an interview with The Times.

6 min read

America’s Monster: Who Was Abdul Raziq?

A Times investigation uncovered the brutal career of a crucial American ally and the hidden truths of the war in Afghanistan.

31 min read

General Abdul Raziq in his office in Kandahar, Afghanistan. — Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

We documented the disappearances of more than 300 Afghans under Abdul Raziq.

21 min read

Biden Plans to Designate Kenya as a Crucial Ally During Its Leader’s Visit

President Biden hosts President William Ruto with a state dinner at the White House today. Kenya will become a “major non-NATO ally,” an official said.

4 min read

President Biden and President William Ruto of Kenya shake hands while standing on a red carpet in front of the White House. Two uniformed military officers salute while standing behind them. — Anna Rose Layden for The New York Times

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What Trump 2.0 Could Mean for the Federal Reserve

A second Donald Trump presidency could shake up personnel and financial regulation at America’s central bank, people close to his campaign said.

6 min read

President Donald J. Trump with Jerome Powell next to a lectern outside the White House. — Tom Brenner/The New York Times

They’re Ignoring MrBeast’s Rules of YouTube, and Thriving

Many creators bend over backward to optimize videos for the algorithm, but some are experimenting with another concept: trusting their audience.

5 min read

A.I. Promised to Upend the 2024 Campaign. It Hasn’t Yet.

The political uses of A.I. appear to be more theoretical than transformational. “This is the dog that didn’t bark,” a political adviser said.

7 min read

Paul Carpenter, a New Orleans magician, sitting in front of an open laptop. — Matthew Hinton/Associated Press

The Increasing Trumpification of TikTok

An internal analysis found nearly twice as many pro-Trump posts as pro-Biden ones since November, a sign of the right’s use of the platform.

6 min read

TikTok moved to limit Russian and Chinese media’s reach on the platform in a big election year.

2 min read

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Opinion

Pamela Paul

When Representation Forgets to Include the Jews

4 min read

Kristen Soltis Anderson

The ‘Trump-Oprah’ Voter

5 min read

An old photo of Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey embracing. Oprah is smiling at the camera; Trump is staring off ahead. — Jeffrey Asher/Getty Images

John Ghazvinian

The Death of Iran’s President Could Change the World

5 min read

Sophie Pinkham

A Giant Crater in Siberia Is Belching Up Russia’s Past

4 min read

Neel V. Patel

Does New York City Really Need More Smoke Shops?

2 min read

Rachel L. Harris and Lisa Tarchak

Forget the Polls, President Biden. Our Readers Have Some Strategy Ideas.

5 min read

An illustration of President Biden putting on sunglasses, with one lens blue and the other lens red. Behind him, the background is also half blue and half red. — Photo illustration by Rachel Stern for The New York Times

Joshua Mendelsohn

Pay Caitlin Clark What She’s Worth

4 min read

Thomas L. Friedman

Bibi Is Choosing Stefanik and Trump. President Biden, Don’t Be Fooled.

7 min read

W.J. Hennigan

The Future of These Nuclear Testing Victims Is in Mike Johnson’s Hands

6 min read

Jessica Grose

The Gender Pay Gap Is a Culture Problem

6 min read

Thomas B. Edsall

What Trump Looks Like to Historians

11 min read

Richard Conniff

The End of Polio Is in Sight. What Have We Learned?

5 min read

David Wallace-Wells

America Is Losing the Green Tech Race to China

6 min read

Letters From Our Readers

Justice Alito’s Blame-the-Wife Defense

5 min read

Thomas L. Friedman

Western Europe Is Starting to Send a Vital Warning to Israel

2 min read

Samer Attar

I Spent Two Weeks Inside Gaza’s Hospitals. This Is What I Saw.

The MorningNewsletter

Addressing Immigration

David Leonhardt explains how the White House has been slow to tackle one of the president’s biggest vulnerabilities.

8 min read

A dark yellow circle against a light yellow background with the words "The Morning" written in black on the top left.

The DailyAudio

The I.C.C.’s arrest warrants for the leaders of Israel and of Hamas may set up a possible showdown.

34 min listen

More News

Train Service Is Suspended South of New York, Stranding Thousands

Some traffic resumed late Wednesday, but it was unclear when full service would be restored or if all trains would be running before the morning rush.

3 min read

Analysis

With Troubles in France, Emmanuel Macron Pops Up 10,000 Miles From Home

New Caledonia, a French territory in the Pacific, is on the brink of civil war as pro-independence activists protest a law that would expand voting rights.

4 min read

A Billionaire Gave Graduates $1,000 in Cash, With One Request

Rob Hale, a part owner of the Boston Celtics, gave the 1,200 graduates of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth a gift. He asked them to give, too.

4 min read

A young person on the left wearing a rain poncho over a cap and gown shakes the hand of a man in a dark suit who is holding envelopes. — Karl Christoff Dominey/University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, via Associated Press

N.Y.C. Public Schools Will Send 8th Graders to Visit Holocaust Museum

New York City plans to send students from across the city on field trips to the Museum of Jewish Heritage as part of an effort to address antisemitism.

3 min read