Today's Headlines: In Huge Blow to Democrats, Virginia Court Strikes Down House Map
Facing Pressure, Trump Officials Reject Claims They’re Softening on Immigration
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The New York Times
Today's Headlines
May 9, 2026, 4:30 a.m. Eastern time

Top News

In Huge Blow to Democrats, Virginia Court Strikes Down House Map

The decision is a major victory for Republicans, wiping away a measure approved by voters to allow Democrats to gain as many as four House seats in the midterms.

Facing Pressure, Trump Officials Reject Claims They’re Softening on Immigration

Immigration hard-liners have grown frustrated with the level of deportations and the Department of Homeland Security’s attempts, under its new secretary, to stay under the radar.

The No-Bid Contract That Is Turning Washington’s Reflecting Pool Blue

President Trump handpicked a firm he said had worked on his swimming pool to repair the iconic site near the Lincoln Memorial.

World

How China’s Leader Lost Faith in His Generals

Xi Jinping spent 13 years building a military to rival that of the United States. But the stronger the Chinese forces grew, the less he trusted the generals he had handpicked to run them.

Four Takeaways From the U.K. Elections

Results from municipal and regional elections signaled major gains for the right-wing populist Reform U.K. and steep losses for Labour.

A Less Muscular Victory Day Parade Shows Putin’s Growing Vulnerability

The event, shrunken because of security fears, adds to a sense that Moscow and other cities can no longer be insulated from the war.

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U.S.

Proposed Rule by Postal Service Could Allow Handguns to Be Mailed

The proposal comes after the Justice Department said this year that a century-old law banning the practice was unconstitutional. Democratic leaders are calling it “unlawful.”

In Kristin Smart Case, Soil Suggests Human Remains Once Present in Yard

A California sheriff said investigators were searching the backyard of a woman whose son was convicted of murdering Ms. Smart, who went missing in 1996.

Jury Finds City of L.A. Not Liable in 2021 Police Shooting of Teen Girl

The death of Valentina Orellana-Peralta, a 14-year-old bystander, occurred at a store where the police were responding to reports of an assault.

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Politics

Trump Plans to Fire F.D.A. Commissioner Marty Makary

Dr. Makary has been a supporter of the Make American Healthy Again Movement but made some enemies in the administration over vaping, the abortion pill and rejections of new drugs.

Republicans Are Building an Advantage in Redistricting. How Much?

Where things stands in the race for House control after recent court rulings.

Alabama Asks Supreme Court to Allow it to Use New Voting Map

State officials urged the justices to allow them to jettison Alabama’s congressional district map, citing the Supreme Court’s recent decision that dealt a blow to the Voting Rights Act.

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Business

Fed Turns Focus to Inflation as Job Market Stabilizes

April’s report showed employers added more jobs than expected, supporting the central bank’s view that it can afford to hold interest rates steady.

Justice Dept. Settles Case Against Provider of Meat Industry Data

Under the agreement, Agri Stats would pay a fine and broaden whom it sold its pricing data to. The department said the move would help reduce food costs.

ABC Accuses Government of Violating First Amendment

The network’s argument, made to the F.C.C., is the most aggressive posture taken yet by a television network toward the Trump administration.

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Technology

Meta’s Embrace of A.I. Is Making Its Employees Miserable

As it adapts to the artificial intelligence era, the company is pushing many of its 78,000 workers to use the technology, and preparing to lay some of them off.

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New York

Man Dies in Subway Attack; Mamdani Orders Inquiry Into Suspect’s Release From Bellevue

A 76-year-old man died after he was pushed down subway stairs, and the police arrested a suspect who had been discharged from the public hospital’s psychiatric unit hours earlier.

Mahmoud Khalil Hurtles Toward Potential Deportation as U.S. Speeds Case

A key judicial decision in Mr. Khalil’s immigration case was expedited significantly and included the recusal of multiple judges.

Compare the Purported Epstein Suicide Note to His Writings

The New York Times has not authenticated the note. But some of its phrases are similar or identical to ones Jeffrey Epstein used in emails and another handwritten letter.

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Arts

Blake Lively Settlement Had No Financial Payout, Filing Confirms

Justin Baldoni’s company did not agree to make a payout as part of the deal that ended Ms. Lively’s lawsuit, but she is able to seek compensation through a separate legal avenue.

A Paul Klee Angel Finally Lands in New York

“Angelus Novus,” an artwork with a fascinating back story, including most recently a wartime delay, is a late addition to an already impressive Klee survey at the Jewish Museum.

The Hopelessness of ‘The Audacity’

In AMC’s merciless satire, the tech lords are extracting all they can from the business (and us) before everything goes to hell.

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Food