Around 5 in the afternoon on Christmas Day in 2020, as many Americans were celebrating with family, President Donald J. Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Fla., on the phone with a little-known conservative lawyer who was encouraging his attempts to overturn the election, according to a memo the lawyer later wrote documenting the call.The lawyer, William J. Olson, was promoting several extreme ideas to the president. Mr. Olson later conceded that part of his plan could be regarded as tantamount to declaring “martial law” and that another aspect could invite comparisons with Watergate. The plan included…

WASHINGTON — The White House disclosure last week that Russia is seeking hundreds of armed and unarmed surveillance drones from Iran to use in the war in Ukraine reflects Moscow’s need to both fill a critical battlefield gap and find a long-term supplier of a crucial combat technology, U.S. intelligence, military and independent analysts say.Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, offered few details about the intelligence assessment he revealed to reporters last Monday, including whether the shipments had started. But other U.S. officials said Iran was preparing to provide as many as 300 remotely piloted aircraft and would start…

Relatives of people killed on Sept. 11 are urging former President Donald J. Trump to cancel a Saudi-backed golf tournament set to be held this month at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey.In a letter dated Sunday, members of the group 9/11 Justice asked to meet with Mr. Trump and urged him not to host the event, set for July 29 to 31, noting that Mr. Trump has blamed Saudi Arabia for the attack.“We simply cannot understand how you could agree to accept money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s golf league to host their tournament at your…

Less than two hours after the Supreme Court ended a wrenching term last month, it welcomed a new member. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who had been waiting in the wings since she was confirmed by the Senate in April, took two oaths of office — and joined a court in turmoil.“She’s entering the court at a time of just crazy polarization after a very momentous term and after this huge leak from the spring,” said David Lat, a legal commentator, referring to the disclosure in May of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, which closely resembled the decision last…

Last year, a 35-year-old woman named Amanda, who lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, had a miscarriage in the first trimester of her pregnancy. At a large hospital, a doctor performed a surgical procedure often used as a safe and quick method to remove tissue from a failed pregnancy.She awoke from anesthesia to find a card signed by the nurses and a little pink and blue bracelet with a butterfly charm, a gift from the hospital to express compassion for her loss. “It was so sweet because it’s such a hard thing to go through,” Amanda said.Eight months later, in…

Summers in Maricopa County, Ariz., have become at times unbearable, Kyle Hawkinson said on Friday. Smog and haze hung heavily over Phoenix, and residents were bracing for fire season, when the heat and air pollution would only grow worse. Climate change, he said, is at least partly to blame.But when Mr. Hawkinson, a 24-year-old cashier, voted for Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020, climate wasn’t really a factor in his choice, he said. As for voting in November, when the Arizona governor’s mansion and one of the state’s Senate seats are on the line, “that’s going to be a big…

Former Vice President Mike Pence endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson instead of Kari Lake in Arizona’s Republican primary for governor on Aug. 2, pitting him against former President Donald J. Trump in another closely watched race.Mr. Pence’s endorsement, announced by Ms. Taylor Robson’s campaign, came amid pushback from some Republicans against Mr. Trump and the candidates he has endorsed who echo his false claims of widespread election fraud in 2020 — as Ms. Lake has done.Gov. Doug Ducey, who has reached his term limit, has also backed Ms. Taylor Robson, as have other prominent Republicans like Chris Christie of New Jersey.“As…

Nations that have refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine risk accelerating a global food crisis, the United States international aid agency’s chief said on Monday, singling out China for hoarding fertilizer and grain while millions of people in East Africa face starvation.Samantha Power, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, also criticized China for contributing only $3 million to the United Nations’ World Food Program in 2022 — compared with $2.7 billion donated by the United States — despite predictions of an “explosion of child deaths” in the Horn of Africa because of food shortages. The shortages…

WASHINGTON — Aides to eight of the most progressive members of the House filed petitions on Monday to form unions in their offices, the first substantial action by congressional staff to organize collectively to bargain for better work conditions.The move, which has been in the works for more than a year, paves the way for House aides to begin negotiating on working conditions, promotion policies and paid and sick leave without the threat of retaliation — a right that other federal workers already enjoy. It follows a resolution passed in May that granted congressional staff members such labor protections for…