 |
| King Charles III and Queen Camilla leaving a London hospital last week. Daniel Leal/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
King Charles has cancer
Less than 18 months into his reign, Britain’s King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer.
The announcement came from Buckingham Palace a week after the 75-year-old sovereign left a London hospital after a procedure to treat an enlarged prostate. The palace did not disclose what type of cancer Charles has, but a palace official said it was not prostate cancer.
Charles will pause public-facing duties for treatment, but he will continue responsibilities like his weekly meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The palace said that Charles “remains wholly positive about his treatment” and that he looked forward to resuming public engagements.
Background: Charles waited longer than any other British monarch to ascend the throne after the seven-decade reign of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and he was well known to the public when he became king in September 2022. Since then, he has become a confident elder statesman, traveling widely and speaking out on issues like climate change.
Context: Royal family members often reveal little about their health, and palace officials made clear that they would not issue regular updates on the king’s condition.
 |
| Antony Blinken meeting with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince yesterday. Saudi Press Agency, via Reuters |
Blinken seeks to reduce Middle East tensions
Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia to rally allies around a proposed cease-fire agreement in Gaza and to try to keep U.S. attacks against Iran-backed militias from spiraling into a broader regional war.
Blinken met with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince on the first stop of the trip, his fifth to the Middle East since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
The visit follows U.S.-led airstrikes against the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen as well as dozens of recent U.S. attacks against targets in Iraq and Syria.
Yesterday a drone strike killed six Kurdish fighters at a military base that houses U.S. and allied troops in eastern Syria, according to a Kurdish-led group’s media outlet that blamed an Iran-linked militia.
A U.S. official said that Blinken would tell allies in the region that the Biden administration’s recent strikes should not be interpreted as an escalation of fighting.
Related: Hamas was considering a proposal to stop the fighting in the Gaza Strip and release the remaining hostages there, according to a broadcaster affiliated with the group.
 |
| President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine’s top commander, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
Zelensky hinted at a major government shake-up
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that an overhaul of the country’s military and civilian leadership was necessary to reinvigorate the war effort against Russia at a time when the conflict is mired in a bloody stalemate.
Zelensky indicated that he would likely go beyond replacing Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s popular top military commander, whose strained relationship with Zelensky has grown increasingly public.
Problems between the military and the civilian government represent the most serious schism in Ukraine’s leadership since the start of the war, and a new mobilization bill that could lead to the drafting of up to 500,000 people has heightened tensions in the country.
Related: The parent company of Yandex, a tech giant often called “Russia’s Google,” agreed to sell all of its Russian assets for about $5 billion, marking one of the largest corporate exits from Russia to date.Continue reading the main story
| THE LATEST NEWS |
Europe News
 |
| Michel Euler/Associated Press |
| Parisians voted to triple parking fees for large cars like SUVs, as the mayor continued to push for a pedestrian-friendly city.Northern Ireland’s power-sharing agreement could shore up a United Kingdom that has seemed in danger of spinning apart since Brexit. |
Weather and Climate
| At least 122 people died in wildfires that engulfed Chile. Fires destroyed most of the national botanical garden, but several hundred visitors there survived.Another band of heavy rain deluged California as hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses remained without power.Climate change and the natural weather phenomenon El Niño are powerful forces behind the Chilean wildfires and California’s unusually strong storms.A study of sea sponges suggested that humans have raised global temperatures by about 1.7 degrees Celsius, not 1.2 degrees Celsius, the most commonly used value. |
Around the World
 |
| Dave Sanders for The New York Times |
| El Salvador’s president easily won re-election, bolstered by his successful crackdown on gangs and despite the restriction of civil liberties.Five former players of Canadian junior hockey are facing sexual assault charges. Fans have criticized the response from national hockey officials.Yang Hengjun, a Chinese-Australian writer who was detained in China on national security charges, was given a suspended death sentence. |
Other Big Stories
 |
| Ed Zurga/Associated Press |
| A research firm that studies disinformation said that sexually explicit, A.I.-generated images of Taylor Swift likely began to circulate on the message board 4chan as a game.A high-level delegation from the U.S. Treasury Department is traveling to Beijing this week for economic talks. |
U.S. Politics
| After months of calling for a deal that would pair Ukraine aid with a crackdown on migration into the U.S., many Republicans in Congress rejected such a bill.Ever since Donald Trump left the White House in 2021, he has grabbed at every opportunity to behave like an incumbent president. |
A Morning Read
 |
| Leah Nash for The New York Times |
A growing number of therapists are ditching their couches to treat patients outdoors. They say that combining traditional talk therapy with nature and movement can help clients feel more open, find new perspectives and express their feelings.
Some professionals are skeptical of the practice, but studies have shown that immersion in nature can benefit mental health.
SPORTS NEWS
World Cup 2026: The biggest knockout tournament in soccer history.
Thriving between worlds: Formula One’s Pierre Gasly is learning on the track and on the golf course.
A reminder of golf talent: Wyndham Clark shot a record round at Pebble Beach.
| ARTS AND IDEAS |
Women triumphed at the Grammys
Women thoroughly dominated the Grammy Awards. Taylor Swift became the first artist to win album of the year, the Grammys’ top prize, four times, besting Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon, each of whom won three. Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, SZA, Lainey Wilson, Karol G and the band boygenius all won awards. The show also featured powerful performances by Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman — two godmothers of modern songwriting who have rarely appeared in public in recent years.
Overall, “the show was particularly joyous, slick and thoughtful,” our critics wrote. The Grammys captured pop music as it actually is — centerless, and subject to change at any moment. We also have an appraisal of Chapman’s performance and thoughts on Jay-Z’s speech, which he used to excoriate the Recording Academy, which awards the Grammys, for mistreating and short-shrifting Black artists.
| RECOMMENDATIONS |
 |
| David Malosh for The New York Times |
Cook: This spiced Irish oatmeal feels more like dessert than breakfast.
