First Run News

HONG KONG — The United States Navy on Friday ended its search for three sailors who have been missing since a transport plane crashed near Japan this week, the Navy’s Seventh Fleet said in a statement. Eight of the 11 passengers and crew members who were aboard the C2-A Greyhound propeller cargo plane were rescued after the crash Wednesday.

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — For more than a week, as the days passed with little news, relatives of 44 sailors aboard an Argentine Navy submarine that went missing on Nov. 15 hoped for a miracle. On Thursday morning came the crushing news: An explosion had been recorded deep in the Atlantic Ocean near where the submarine was traveling, only a few hours after the vessel’s last communication. Some relatives fainted. Some screamed at the naval officers. Others sobbed loudly. There was also anger.

South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday more than doubled the sentence imposed by a lower court on Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee Olympic sprinter convicted of shooting and killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in February 2013. After his initial trial in 2014, Mr. Pistorius, sometimes nicknamed Blade Runner for the prosthetics on which he runs, was sentenced for manslaughter, but that was later changed on appeal to murder.

WASHINGTON — The party not occupying the White House seizes control of governor’s offices in New Jersey and Virginia. An unexpectedly competitive special Senate election threatens the chamber’s balance of power. Major legislation being forced through along partisan lines heads for a climactic holiday-season vote. Veteran lawmakers of the governing party race for the exits. Such was the state of play at this moment in 2009 when President Barack Obama and Democrats ruled the roost.

It was early November, the day before Virginia’s elections, and the Democratic cavalry — in the form of four podcast hosts crammed into a Lyft — was coming to the aid of Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam. “Do you want to kick things off with something light and funny?” Jon Favreau asked Jon Lovett as their ride — an S.U.V. outfitted with neon lights and a disco ball that were a bit discombobulating before 9 o’clock in the morning — took them to a Richmond campaign office.

It was early November, the day before Virginia’s elections, and the Democratic cavalry — in the form of four podcast hosts crammed into a Lyft — was coming to the aid of Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam. “Do you want to kick things off with something light and funny?” Jon Favreau asked Jon Lovett as their ride — an S.U.V. outfitted with neon lights and a disco ball that were a bit discombobulating before 9 o’clock in the morning — took them to a Richmond campaign office.

SALT LAKE CITY — Benjamin Shapiro strode down the aisle of a packed auditorium at the University of Utah like a prizefighter walking toward a ring. He was dressed in a dark suit jacket and a gray shirt and was followed closely by a bodyguard. The mostly male audience sprung to its feet, cheering him with thunderous applause. After his speech — a searing critique of mainstream liberalism — a young man walked up to the microphone. “I have watched so many of your videos I think my girlfriend hates you,” he said. Mr.

WASHINGTON — At the heart of the Republican tax plan hurtling through Congress is an implicit promise that cutting corporate taxes will lift the middle class through higher wages and more jobs. Speaker Paul D. Ryan, for example, said in a recent speech that “fixing the business side of our tax code is really all about helping families and workers,” adding that “cutting the corporate tax rate means more jobs here in the United States.

MOSCOW — For months, President Vladimir V. Putin has predictably denied accusations of Russian interference in last year’s American election, denouncing them as fake news fueled by Russophobic hysteria. More surprising, some of Mr. Putin’s biggest foes in Russia, notably pro-Western liberals who look to the United States as an exemplar of democratic values and journalistic excellence, are now joining a chorus of protest over America’s fixation with Moscow’s meddling in its political affairs. “Enough already!” Leonid M.

WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, notified the president’s legal team in recent days that they could no longer discuss the special counsel’s investigation, according to four people involved in the case — an indication that Mr. Flynn is cooperating with prosecutors or negotiating a deal. Mr. Flynn’s lawyers had been sharing information with Mr. Trump’s lawyers about the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is examining whether anyone around Mr.