Trump Tosses Lifelines to the Struggling Coal Industry

The Energy Department ordered two coal-burning power plants to remain open, and the Environmental Protection Agency gave utilities more time to tackle toxic coal ash.Chris Wright, the energy secretary, ordered that two Indiana coal plants, scheduled to close soon, keep running until early 2026.

L Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow

In Private Letters, Harvard and Trump Administration Escalate Duel

It is the latest twist in the marquee battle of the administration’s campaign to rein in colleges and universities it views as too liberal.An exchange between Linda McMahon, President Trump’s education secretary, and Alan M. Garber, Harvard University’s president, has complicated efforts by the Whit

M Michael S. Schmidt, Alan Blinder and Michael C. Bender

How a Scholar Nudged the Supreme Court Toward Its Troop Deployment Ruling

Accepting an argument from a law professor that no party to the case had made, the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a stinging loss that could lead to more aggressive tactics.National Guard members at an immigrant processing and detention center in Broadview, Ill., in October.

A Adam Liptak

Man Shot in ICE Confrontation in Maryland, Officials Say

Federal and local officials said the man, an immigrant from Portugal, tried to flee and harm agents. He and another man were hospitalized after a vehicle they were in crashed.A shooting in Glen Burnie, Md., involving a U.S. Immigration and Customs officer left two people hospitalized. They were in s

J Jazmine Ulloa and Charlotte Dulany

Redacted Material in Some Epstein Files Is Easily Recovered

The ease of recovering information that was not properly redacted digitally suggests that at least some of the documents released by the Justice Department were hastily censored.The executors of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate faced a civil suit filed in the Virgin Islands in 2021. Documents from the suit

S Santul Nerkar

Intense Storm in Southern California Brings Heavy Rain and Forces Evacuations

Forecasters said heavy rain was expected to drench much of Southern California through the holidays, and officials warned the storm could be deadly.Los Angeles County workers loading sandbags on Tuesday in preparation for a strong storm in Altadena, Calif.

T Tim Arango, Pooja Salhotra, Orlando Mayorquín and Alexander Nazaryan

Immigrant Nurse Is Among 2 Dead in Pennsylvania Nursing Home Explosions

Muthoni Nduthu was one of two killed by explosions at an eastern Pennsylvania facility that was plagued by poor ratings, citations and fines from the federal government.Two people were killed when two explosions tore through a nursing home in Bristol Township, Pa., on Tuesday afternoon.

C Chris Hippensteel, Jack Healy and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs

Mail Carriers Keep Making the Rounds, Despite a Murky Future

As the much-derided agency loses billions, postal workers quietly, and sometimes heroically, serve their communities.A postal worker in Kansas delivers mail to a central hub. The United States Postal Service has cut costs by decreasing the number of home deliveries in recent years.

S Steven Kurutz

Did We Underestimate Kate Hudson?

For years she was pigeonholed as a rom-com star. Her turn as a blue-collar mom with a love of Neil Diamond just might vault her back to the Oscars.

B Brooks Barnes and Thea Traff

How Service Dogs Help Treat Veterans’ PTSD

There’s research suggesting that these four-legged “battle buddies” can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. But shortages and long wait times pose barriers.

S Simar Bajaj

Peng Peiyun, 95, Dies; Official Renounced China’s One-Child Policy

She was given the “hardest job under heaven”: upholding birth limits enforced by often brutal local officials. She came to support softening the policy, then abolishing it.Put in charge of imposing birth limits on Chinese couples, Peng Peiyun, a mother herself, worked to relax the policy by appealin

C Chris Buckley