New York Times - Top Stories

Big Businesses Are Cashing In on Trump’s Tax Cuts

Corporate tax revenue has quickly dipped since Republicans passed tax cuts this summer. But economists think these tax breaks might be worth it.

5 min read

LIVE

Trump Expected to Speak to Thai Leader Over Conflict With Cambodia

Ann E. Marimow, Claire Hogan, Stephanie Swart and Pierre Kattar

Fraudster’s Victims Are Seething After Trump Commuted His Sentence

David Gentile spent just days in prison for his conviction in what prosecutors described as a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of investors.

5 min read

A Seized Oil Tanker and the Big Business of Dark Fleet Smuggling

The U.S. seizure of a vessel off Venezuela will probably do little to counter the tankers that secretively move oil from sanctioned countries.

4 min read

What to Know About Trump’s Seizure of an Oil Tanker Near Venezuela

The tanker had recently carried Iranian oil. The seizure is an escalation in Trump’s military pressure campaign against Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro.

4 min read

Troops Involved in Boat Strikes Face a ‘Moral Injury’ Risk, Experts Say

6 min read

Ships docked in front of industrial tanks and other equipment. — Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times

From Chips to Security, China Is Getting Much of What It Wants From the U.S.

For China, President Trump’s moves to loosen chip controls, soften U.S. rhetoric and stay silent on tensions with Japan amount to a rare string of gains.

5 min read

Historic Shift Is Underway in China’s Economy as Investment Slump Deepens

Investment in manufacturing, infrastructure and property is expected to fall this year, a remarkable turn for an economy whose growth reshaped the world.

5 min read

A worker wearing a dark jacket and blue cap standing at an electric vehicle assembly line. — Qilai Shen for The New York Times

House Democrats Release Epstein Photos Documenting Ties to Powerful Men

The images, released without context by Democrats on the Oversight Committee, reveal little new about the deceased sex offender’s ties to prominent men.

3 min read

Jeffrey Epstein, center, in court in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 2008. Wealthy and famous men once in his orbit have faced questions about what they knew about the accusations that he was trafficking girls. — Uma Sanghvi/The Palm Beach Post via AP

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Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore, Even in English Class

7 min read

Dana Goldstein

For years, I heard grumbling from professors, teachers and parents that public schools were pushing an English curriculum based on reading excerpts instead of whole books. The issue had started to get a lot of attention.

Dana Goldstein

After all, with the temptations of TikTok and A.I., adults are worried about teenagers’ attention spans. Students themselves have expressed the desire to log off and get better at engaging with meaningful literature.

Dana Goldstein

Still, I was eager to find real data. So we asked teachers, parents and students to write in to tell us about their experiences with high school reading assignments. I also spoke to scholars who are studying this trend.

Dana Goldstein

The results are notable — many American teenagers are assigned to read only one or two whole books or plays each year, often from a stagnant list of classics that has barely changed in decades.

A student sits at a desk holding a pen in her hand and reading text on a sheet of paper. Two markers, a highlighter and other papers are on the desk. — Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times

The Great Read

Gonzo Fans Have Made ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ Into a Global Blockbuster

Matt Dinniman introduced his series about an alien reality TV show free on the web. But readers ate up the goofy humor, now to the tune of 6 million books sold.

7 min read

This is a photograph of a smiling man wearing a black AC/DC band T-shirt. He is holding a book that he is about to sign for an unseen fan. — Dolly Faibyshev for The New York Times

Focused More on Power Outages, Many Ukrainians Shrug Off Trump’s Talk of Peace

Many understand the dance their leaders must perform to appease President Trump. But that doesn’t make them any less weary of the rounds and rounds of talks.

5 min read

Russia Sues Holder of Frozen Assets Europe Wants for Ukraine Loan

3 min read

Kim Barker, Oleksandra Mykolyshyn, Stanislav Kozliuk, Rebecca Suner and Leila Medina

Trump Wanted Ukraine to Cede Land to Russia. Ukraine Has Another Offer.

3 min read

What Happens When an N.F.L. Ball Goes Into the Stands? In This Case, a Lawsuit.

An Eagles fan celebrated with Jalen Hurts after he scored a touchdown. It marked the beginning of the end of his fandom.

From The Athletic

Elon Musk Taunts Europe and Tests Willingness to Enforce Online Laws

Backed by White House officials, the tech billionaire has lashed out at the European Union after his social media platform X was fined last week.

4 min read

Elon Musk has grown increasingly confrontational toward Europe over the past year. — Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Paramount Says It Has a Billionaire’s Backing, but Warner Bros. Isn’t So Sure

Larry Ellison is backstopping Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, but Warner Bros. is concerned that he hasn’t provided a personal guarantee to pay.

5 min read

Larry Ellison, in a dark suit, white shirt and dark red tie, looks to the side. — Evan Vucci/Associated Press

Record Flooding Forces Rescues Across Western Washington

A major river in the region was set to crest on Friday morning, with more rain on the way.

2 min read

Two people dressed for rain stand with leashed dogs near a flooded area. — Grant Hindsley for The New York Times

Weather

The Oilman Who Pushed Trump to Go All In on Fossil Fuels

Harold Hamm, an Oklahoma oil tycoon, has played a central role in transforming energy policy by allying himself with President Trump.

10 min read

Al Drago and Loren Elliott for The New York Times

Soon He’ll Be Mayor Mamdani. To His Soccer Teammates, He Was Just Z.

Zohran Mamdani isn’t just a superfan. Until recently, he was a key player on the Talking Headers, a rec-league team in Brooklyn.

8 min read

Zohran Mamdani poses with members of the Talking Headers, a coed rec-league soccer team. — Patrick Kargol

Review of Medical Cannabis Use Finds Little Evidence of Benefit

Researchers found a chasm between the health reasons for which the public sought out cannabis and what science actually showed about its effectiveness.

5 min read

A blue-gloved hand holds a chunk of cannabis flower. — Mohamed Sadek for The New York Times

I Think This Poem Is Kind of Into You

Our critic A.O. Scott feels the heat of a wintry lyric by the Nobel laureate Louise Glück.

Opinion

The Editorial Board

America’s Military Needs a Culture Shift. It Starts With Them.

Steven Zeitchik

David Ellison Is Playing a Dangerous Game

7 min read

An illustration shows two men in suits with rotten apples for heads. They are high-fiving each other.

J.P. Cooney and Molly Gaston

The Pardon That Represents the New Era of Corruption

4 min read

The Opinions

Thomas L. Friedman Says We’re in a New Epoch. David Brooks Has Questions.

23 min read

The Morning

Why Is It So Hard to Build Big Things?

Today we look at the state of American inertia.

8 min read

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

Late Night: Jimmy Kimmel Takes a Swipe at Trump’s ‘Gold Card’

The new visa for rich foreigners had Kimmel rethinking the Statue of Liberty’s inscription: “Never mind your poor and tired. Give us a million bucks — you’re in.”

2 min read