NYT

The pontiff begins a trip to Turkey and Lebanon on Thursday — the first foreign voyage of his papacy, and his biggest test yet.

Net migration to Britain has fallen by almost 80 percent from its 2023 peak, according to data released on Thursday.

The authorities said flammable netting and foam boards may have fueled the city’s deadliest blaze in nearly 70 years, killing 55 and prompting arrests.

The police said that building materials used by the company for the work at Wang Fuk Court may not have been up to fire safety standards. The police did not identify the company or who was arrested.

Firefighters tried to douse the blaze at an apartment complex in the city’s northern Tai Po district, which killed at least four people.

China and Japan are in a diplomatic feud over Taiwan, with President Trump in the middle.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer egged on first graders doing the viral gesture, then apologized when told the school prohibited it. “I didn’t start it, Miss,” he said.

First in Warsaw and later from Paris, he supplied anti-Communist activists in Poland with steady stream of leaflets, newsletters and banned books.

The exact cause of the blaze at a high-rise complex was not known, but the authorities suspect that materials on the exterior of the towers, which were sheathed in scaffolding, did not meet fire-safety standards.

The plan presented by the chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, called for spending increases and higher taxes on the wealthy and the middle class.

American diplomats were told to raise U.S. concerns about “violent crimes associated with people of a migration background.”

The military announced on Wednesday it had taken over the West African nation. Later, the opposition leader accused the incumbent president of staging the coup d’état to try to retain power.

The president did not attend this year’s annual gathering in South Africa, which has been a frequent target of his attacks.

The area’s high-rises have robust safety features and are not as densely packed as those in Hong Kong, making them less susceptible to blazes.

Oil and gas firms were supposed to start reducing methane, a powerful driver of climate change. The agency is giving them more time and may cancel the requirement.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced curbs on steel imports, a new tariff and help with steel and lumber freight costs in a bid to aid Canadian industries.

Officials in Dubrovnik, Croatia, say the strong currents of the Adriatic Sea washed ashore a vast amount of garbage, mostly from Albania, during a recent storm.

Daniel P. Driscoll, the U.S. Army secretary, used the growing threat from Moscow as a way to sell a quick peace deal unfavorable to Ukraine.

China and Japan are in a diplomatic feud over Taiwan, with President Trump in the middle.