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Venezuelans hope online posts will bring news of missing after devastating earthquakes

International News

MEXICO CITY — A father holds the hand of his daughter dressed as a fairy. A 24-year-old man in a pilot uniform stares proudly at the camera. A family embraces on a soccer field. They are among the images posted by relatives within Venezuela and abroad desperately searching for their missing loved ones following two powerful, back-to-back earthquakes on Wednesday evening. Hundreds have been killed and thousands injured. The number of casualties is expected to climb after the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude quakes that caused widespread damage and were among the strongest to strike Venezuela ...

Israel and Lebanon sign framework agreement with US in ‘first step’ toward peace, Rubio says

National News

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Israel and Lebanon’s ambassadors to the U.S. Friday to announce a framework agreement that was described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The agreement does not include Hezbollah and prompted one of the group’s officials in Lebanon to warn of civil war. The U.S. State Department said the framework establishes a process for dismantling Hezbollah and for Lebanon to regain territory that was taken by Israeli forces as they battled the militant ...

US strikes Iran in response to ship attack

National News

WASHINGTON — The U.S. struck Iran on Friday in response to a drone attack a day earlier on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. It’s the most significant test yet to an interim understanding reached a week ago by the two countries to begin working to end their months-long war and reopen the pivotal waterway. U.S. President Donald Trump said the drone attack violated the ceasefire. The strikes came shortly after Trump told reporters, “You’ll find out,” whether the U.S. would respond. U.S. Central Command said the military struck missile and drone locations and coastal radar ...

Bible stories added to required reading in Texas public schools

National News

DALLAS — Texas’ education board on Friday approved a required reading list for more than 5 million public school students that includes Bible stories, widening conservative efforts to bring Christian teachings into U.S. classrooms. The state-mandated list of assigned reading — which includes Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations” and excerpts from the New Testament — appeared to be among the first of its kind of the nation and will take effect starting in 2030. The State Board of Education, which is controlled by Republicans, approved the list on a 9-5 vote following ...

Ukraine bombards Russia with drone attacks

International News

Ukraine launched a major nighttime attack on a dozen Russian regions, Russian-held Crimea and the surrounding seas, Moscow’s Defense Ministry said Friday, in what appeared to be one of Kyiv’s biggest drone assaults since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion more than four years ago. Russian air defenses intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. The previous biggest Ukrainian attack over the past year, as Ukraine has accelerated its drone development, involved 556 drones on May 17. In an effort to turn the tables on Russia’s grinding war of attrition, ...