Thursday Briefing: More Signal Texts Released

Newly released Signal texts showed what was at stake More messages were released yesterday from a Signal group chat between President Trump’s top security officials laying out plans to strike Houthi targets in Yemen. The Atlantic — whose editor in chief had been inadvertently added to the group, and who first wrote about the leak … Read more

Turkey’s Opposition Calls for Boycott and Mass Protests After Arrest of Istanbul Mayor

One week after the Turkish government arrested the mayor of Istanbul, who is the top rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the political opposition on Wednesday pressed new tactics to fight what it called an assault on the country’s democracy. The arrest has set off nightly demonstrations that have drawn hundreds of thousands of antigovernment … Read more

U.S. to End Vaccine Funds for Poor Countries

The Trump administration intends to terminate the United States’ financial support for Gavi, the organization that has helped purchase critical vaccines for children in developing countries, saving millions of lives over the past quarter century, and to significantly scale back support for efforts to combat malaria, one of the biggest killers globally. The administration has … Read more

Masaki Kashiwara, Japanese Mathematician, Wins 2025 Abel Prize

Masaki Kashiwara, a Japanese mathematician, received this year’s Abel Prize, which aspires to be the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in math. Dr. Kashiwara’s highly abstract work combined algebra, geometry and differential equations in surprising ways. The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, which manages the Abel Prize, announced the honor on Wednesday morning. “First … Read more

South Korea, World’s Largest ‘Baby Exporter,’ Admits to Adoption Fraud

South Korea on Wednesday admitted for the first time that in its rush to send children to American and European homes decades ago, its adoption agencies committed widespread malpractices, including falsifying documents​, to make them more adoptable​. The findings by South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a government agency,​ which said children were sent away … Read more

South Korea Fires Kill At Least 18 People

South Korean fire crews battled what the acting president said on Wednesday were some of the worst wildfires ever in the country. At least 18 people have died, according to the authorities, as strong winds and dry conditions helped fuel the fires. Two ancient Buddhist temples were among the more than 200 buildings damaged or … Read more

India Is on a Hiring Binge That Trump’s Tariffs Can’t Stop

In India’s most advanced cities, American companies are racing to set up more and bigger offshore campuses: fully staffed offices with high-skilled Indian professionals, performing functions vital to global business. The concentration is most stark in bits of Bengaluru. Apul Nahata of RapidAI, a Silicon Valley-based medical technology company that uses artificial intelligence to interpret … Read more

Why These Islanders Hunt Dolphins

The call of a conch shell roused the dolphin hunters from their beds. Under moonlight, the six men shuffled to the village church. There a priest led them in a whispered prayer, his voice barely audible over the sound of crashing waves; the tide was high that day. Saltwater pooled in parts of the village, … Read more