The Subtext of a Trump Official’s Letter to the M.T.A.

Sean Duffy, secretary of transportation, demanded information about crime in the subway system. But transit watchers saw a different agenda.

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Meet Steve Davis, Elon Musk’s Top Lieutenant Who Oversees DOGE

Steve Davis, a longtime Musk loyalist, is effectively the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency. Mr. Musk has likened him to chemotherapy.

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Trump’s Battles With Colleges Could Change American Culture for a Generation

Many in higher education worry Trump’s efforts to bend academia to his will could end American leadership in research and science. Universities are not finding many allies to defend them.

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How Trump Is Trying to Consolidate Power Over Courts, Congress and More

President Trump’s expansive interpretation of presidential power has become the defining characteristic of his second term.

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Netanyahu Expected to Fire Shin Bet Chief Despite Protests

Israelis have been demonstrating against the move, which many see as part of an effort to reduce checks on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

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Iran Releases French Citizen After 2 Years in Detention, Officials Say

Olivier Grondeau had been accused of spying while visiting Iran on a tourist visa. President Emmanuel Macron of France had denounced his detention as “disgraceful and arbitrary.”

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Indonesian Parliament Passes Bill That Critics Say Evokes Authoritarian Past

Legislators revised a law to allocate more civilian posts for military officers, a move that harked back to the era of the dictator Suharto.

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Doug Ford Defends Canada as He Steps Up to Take On Trump

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, is reinventing himself as one of Canada’s staunchest defenders against President Trump’s economic and sovereignty threats.

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In Syria, Being Wanted Went From Something to Fear to a Badge of Honor

The ousted Assad dictatorship kept lists of millions of wanted people. Now, Syrians are openly asking whether they “have a name” on any of those lists and are sharing the news proudly.

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Mexico Sent Cartel Bosses to U.S. Knowing They Could Face Execution

Rafael Caro Quintero, who faces trial in Brooklyn, and at least four other drug cartel figures are vulnerable to the death penalty because they were expelled from Mexico rather than extradited.

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