President Trump, who decried what he called “American carnage” during his inaugural address in 2017, on Friday called the Democratic convention the “darkest and angriest and gloomiest” in the country’s history in remarks to a conservative group in Arlington, Va. He also delivered another intense assault against universal mail-in voting, …...Read More

This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. Margaret and Jimmy Shaw grew up with humble means in a Georgia town with no streetlights or indoor plumbing. They were teenagers when they got married — without telling their …...Read More

This is the Coronavirus Schools Briefing, a guide to the seismic changes in U.S. education that are taking place during the pandemic. Sign up here to get the briefing by email. How the world is handling school “My 11-year-old daughter went back to school in London on June 1,” Jenny …...Read More

In the run-up to the Democratic National Convention, the most closely guarded secret was how much time each speaker would get. Many privately jockeyed for extra time. In the end, the tone and substance of this week’s convention felt tailor-made for Joseph R. Biden Jr. Many of the leaders who …...Read More

Tropical Storm Laura formed on Friday, the latest named storm of a busy Atlantic hurricane season, while another, known currently as Tropical Depression 14, churned its way toward the Gulf of Mexico. Laura, currently east of the Leeward Islands, is expected to make its way north by going over Puerto …...Read More

Fire suppression It’s counterintuitive, but the United States’ history of suppressing wildfires has actually made present-day wildfires worse. “For the last century we fought fire, and we did pretty well at it across all of the Western United States,” Dr. Williams said. “And every time we fought a fire successfully, …...Read More

Six states and the District of Columbia sued the Postal Service and the postmaster general on Friday, alleging that recent operational and policy changes were illegal and “designed to undermine” the agency’s ability to operate effectively as millions of Americans plan to vote by mail during the pandemic. The lawsuit …...Read More

The road to Arecibo Observatory in northwestern Puerto Rico winds upward through farms and rainforest. Chickens run across the road. Then, suddenly, you reach the top: a fence, guards and gleaming white buildings and towers, as if you had stumbled into the lair of a James Bond supervillain. Hanging in …...Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook spent years preparing to ward off any tampering on its site ahead of November’s presidential election. Now the social network is getting ready in case President Trump interferes once the vote is over. Employees at the Silicon Valley company are laying out contingency plans and walking …...Read More

“Welcome to the fourth night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention: ‘Uniting America.’ OK, these last few nights have been going so well, we’ve decided to add a fifth night where we will just play Michelle Obama’s speech on a loop.” “We’ve cried out for justice. We have gathered in …...Read More