What Went Wrong Before Hong Kong’s Inferno

Records show how government departments played down residents’ warnings about corrupt practices and substandard materials that fueled the deadly blaze.The Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in Hong Kong days after a fire on Nov. 26 killed 161 people and displaced thousands.

S Selam Gebrekidan and Joy Dong

Russia Attacks Kyiv Ahead of Trump-Zelensky Meeting

The assault began around 1:30 a.m. local time and was continuing into the morning.Firefighters worked at the site of a Russian strike on an apartment building in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday.

C Cassandra Vinograd

Karoline Leavitt Says She’s Expecting Her Second Child

The White House press secretary announced on Instagram that she was pregnant with a daughter who is due in May. She and her husband have a 1-year-old son.Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, this month at the office. She’s the youngest person to hold the job.

T Tim Balk

Before This Physicist Studied the Stars, He Was One

Brian Cox once toured as a keyboardist in major rock and pop bands. Now he’s a particle physicist on a new world tour with a dazzling show he designed in an era of science disinformation and denial.Professor Brian Cox backstage before a show. He is renowned for his adroitness in explaining the intri

S Stefano Montali

Why Sears’s Last Great Hope Was a Promise That Never Materialized

Only five Sears stores remain in the country, with the end likely near for what was once the mightiest American retailer.The hedge fund magnate Edward Lampert’s plan to turn Sears stores into dazzling mixed-use developments had attracted prominent investors.

L Lauren Coleman-Lochner

Trump’s Claims About Nigeria Strike Belie a Complex Situation on the Ground

President Trump said the targets of airstrikes in Nigeria were Islamic State terrorists responsible for killing Christians, but experts question his framing.President Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Monday. He said that the targets of Thursday’s strike on Sokoto State in Nigeria were mem

R Ruth Maclean, Saikou Jammeh, Ismail Auwal and Eric Schmitt

What to Know About U.S. Military Action in Nigeria

Before the strikes on Thursday, President Trump said he would halt all aid and go in “guns-a-blazing” to target affiliates of a resurgent Islamic State.Police officers in Nigeria securing the site of a U.S. airstrike in Jabo, Nigeria, on Friday.

T The New York Times

Thailand and Cambodia Reach Cease-Fire in Brutal Border War

The 72-hour cease-fire could pave the way for an end to the fighting, which has killed dozens and displaced thousands over nearly three weeks.A photo released by Cambodia’s state news agency showed Cambodia’s defense minister, Tea Seiha, left, and his Thai counterpart, Nattaphon Narkphanit, posing w

S Sui-Lee Wee

Annette Dionne, Last of the Celebrated Quintuplets, Dies at 91

She was the first to crawl, the first to cut a tooth, the first to recognize her name, and the last to die. And, like her sisters, she resented being exploited as part of a global sensation.Clockwise from top left, Marie, Emelie, Annette, Yvonne and Cécile in 1952.

J Jane Gross

How Ryan Wedding, a Canadian Olympic Snowboarder, Turned into a Drug Lord

Ryan Wedding rose to fame as a Canadian Olympic athlete, but the authorities say he became one of the world’s biggest drug lords, who ordered an informant executed.Ryan Wedding, the police said, ordered the murder of an associate who became an informant. The man was shot and killed while dining in M

N Norimitsu Onishi and Vjosa Isai

A Wealth Tax Floated in California Has Billionaires Thinking of Leaving

It’s uncertain whether the proposal will reach the statewide ballot in November, but some billionaires like Peter Thiel and Larry Page may be unwilling to take the risk.Peter Thiel, a tech venture capitalist, could face a tax bill of more than $1.2 billion if the proposed wealth tax is placed on the

R Ryan Mac, Theodore Schleifer and Heather Knight

Perry Bamonte, Guitarist and Keyboardist in the Cure, Dies at 65

A former roadie, Mr. Bamonte joined the band in 1990. He played on five albums and in hundreds of shows and was “a vital part of the Cure story,” the band said.Perry Bamonte of the Cure performing at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in 2000 in Mountain View, Calif.

M Michael Levenson