President Biden and his aides viewed Israel’s strike on Iran on Friday as a relatively measured response to the barrage of missiles and drones Tehran launched toward Israel last weekend, and they are increasingly hopeful that the confrontation between the…

A simple request — for a glass of water — strikes a note of shivery menace in the world premiere of “A Jumping-Off Point.” It’s early in Inda Craig-Galván’s engrossing and funny, if issue-packed, play, and we’re at the home of Leslie (Nikkole Salter), a Black…

Taylor Swift loves to fill each album with clues and puzzles — “Easter eggs,” as she and her fans call them — for her die-hard followers to decode over the ensuing weeks, months and (let’s be honest) years. Already, her new heartbreak-steeped album “The Tortured…

The frenzy surrounding Taylor Swift’s new album “The Tortured Poets Department” kicked off a day early, as the singer became one of the most recent victims of a song leak. What was purported to be the entire album spread online Thursday, origin unknown. Some…

RICHMOND — After pulling back from a risky game of chicken this week, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and leading Virginia Democrats are heading into the unknown territory of a state budget do-over. Youngkin and the Democratic-controlled legislature struck…

After he surfaced on a British Columbia beach this month, Emerson the elephant seal became a local celebrity. Fans petted the 2-year-old, posed with him for selfies and tried to rub noses with him. Emerson didn’t seem to mind the attention, but Canadian wildlife…

NEW YORK — A jury is set to hear opening statements Monday on whether Donald Trump falsified bank records in connection with his effort to hide an alleged affair from voters in the 2016 election. The historic trial began this week with a speedy but emotional…

NEW YORK — Tali Kobrin, a Barnard College student, was deeply uneasy Thursday as she listened to pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia yelling, “We don’t want no Zionists here!” “That means you don’t want me, as a Jew, on campus,” said Kobrin, a freshman…

The skies seemed completely gray, and the landscape seemed substantially green on Friday in Washington, an uncommonly cool day but one that obviously represented springtime. Perhaps a slightly damp and humid springtime. It was the 110th day of the year, and…

NAPLES, Italy — The United States informed the government of Niger on Friday that it agreed to its request to withdraw U.S. troops from the West African country, said three U.S. officials, a move the Biden administration had long resisted and one that will…

U.S. government officials were scrambling Friday night to prevent what they fear could be a significant loss of access to critical national security information, after two major U.S. communications providers said they would stop complying with orders under…

Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., passed a historic vote to join the United Auto Workers, the union said Friday, becoming the first Southern auto factory to approve a union with an election since the 1940s. The union’s unofficial vote count, which…

The Washington Nationals’ frustration — with themselves, with the umpires, with their general predicament — had been bubbling for a few innings. When it finally boiled over in the bottom of the eighth inning of a 5-3 loss to the Houston Astros, Manager Dave…

Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: I’m working up my nerve to seek therapy. Your “What is therapy like?” column really helped. I would like a reality check on one thing. I’m lucky enough to have insurance. The last time I sought therapy, I did…

Dear Amy: Some of my family members are going to have a mini family reunion in Paris in a few months — the city where my brother lives. My brother’s son, wife and their two young children will be flying to Paris from Istanbul, and I will be flying in from…

Dear Miss Manners: In January, I had the pleasure of attending two holiday parties. Both events were potlucks, to which I gladly contributed dishes. The hosts provided beverages like water, tea and coffee. The parties were well-attended, and everyone seemed…

Writers for the widely acclaimed children’s program “Sesame Street” reached a tentative agreement Friday on a new contract with its nonprofit producer Sesame Workshop, narrowly averting a strike that could have upended the show’s 56th season. In a statement…

Laboring into the early hours of Saturday morning, Congress in a 60-34 vote squeaked through the renewal of a surveillance program that U.S. spy agencies regard as one of their most valuable tools and that critics on the left and the right say intrudes on…

JERUSALEM — As Israel mulled a response to Iran’s massive drone and missile attack, the decision to strike with a carefully calibrated limited strike early Friday was made by just five men. They are the sole members of Israel fractious “war cabinet,” a pop…

Iran’s foreign minister brushed off Israel’s limited military attack Friday, saying it “was not a strike” and refusing to acknowledge Israeli involvement. “It has not been proven to us that there is a connection between this and Israel,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian…