JQJO — Your world, one story at a time · Page 1241

As Zohran Mamdani rallies Sunday with Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the democratic left is framing his front-running New York City mayoral bid as a defining test. He touts universal child care, free buses, city-owned groceries and a rent freeze — proposals critics say are unrealistic and costly, at nearly $7 billion a year. Mamdani has softened some stances, pledged to apologize for calling the Police Department racist and says he’d retain police commissioner Jessica Tisch. Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed him but rejects his tax hikes; top senators have withheld support as voters eye basics like trash and crime.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration will not trade away long-standing U.S. support for Taiwan in talks with China over a trade agreement. "No one is contemplating that," he told reporters Saturday aboard his plane, traveling from Israel to join President Donald Trump in Doha en route to a regional meeting in Asia. His comments addressed concerns that favorable trade terms might come at Taiwan’s expense.

Vice President JD Vance attacked Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic front-runner for New York City mayor, mocking Mamdani’s emotional remarks about an aunt who felt unsafe in her hijab after 9/11 and saying attention should be on the victims. Vance also criticized Mamdani’s meeting with Brooklyn imam Siraj Wahhaj. Mamdani, seeking to become the city’s first Muslim mayor, decried politics of division, compared Vance to Andrew Cuomo, and posted a widely viewed video after a Bronx mosque speech. The race has grown tense as allies traded barbs, prompting rebukes from journalists and Democrats.

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro accused the U.S. of “fabricating a new eternal war” as the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford moved closer to the country, and he began legal steps to revoke opposition figure Leopoldo López’s nationality and passport. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said the appeal to the Supreme Court cites López’s calls for a military invasion; López, exiled in Spain, backed U.S. deployments and dismissed the move as unconstitutional. U.S. forces have destroyed boats off Venezuela in anti-drug operations, leaving at least 43 dead.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said mediators of the Gaza ceasefire shared intelligence that helped flag a possible attack weekend, after the State Department warned Hamas might target Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Rubio discussed an international stabilization force for Gaza, potentially backed by a U.N. mandate, with interest from Indonesia and Azerbaijan and talks with Qatar, Egypt and Turkey. He defended sanctions on Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro while downplaying tariffs, insisted U.S. military moves in Latin America are counterdrug operations despite Maduro’s denunciations, and affirmed Taiwan will not be traded in U.S.-China talks as Trump plans to meet Xi.

Russian strikes battered Kyiv overnight in a second deadly attack in 24 hours, killing at least three and injuring dozens, including six children, city officials said. Fires and shattered windows hit high‑rise buildings in Desnianskyi and Obolonskyi as alerts lasted about 90 minutes; the full extent of damage remained unclear. President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed appeals for Patriot air defenses after an earlier strike killed at least four. Russia said it downed a drone bound for Moscow, and the Kremlin said Vladimir Putin visited a command post. President Trump’s peace push stalled, and a planned Budapest summit was scrapped.

A few thousand pilgrims packed St. Peter's Basilica as Cardinal Raymond Burke celebrated a traditional Latin Mass with the explicit permission of Pope Leo XIV, a moment that thrilled Catholics who felt sidelined by Pope Francis's 2021 restrictions. Families with children filled the standing-room-only aisles amid incense, hymn, and bowed reverence. For organizers, the liturgy signaled Leo's promised push for unity and dialogue, even as Burke's homily leaned on Benedict XVI's 2007 reform. Some attendees, who once called themselves 'orphans,' left hopeful that the church's liturgy wars might finally ease.

A Spelling Bee forum invites solvers into a moderated comments thread for hints, conversation, helpful tips and creative content, with no spoilers. The page points to a reader-compiled glossary by Monicat, the Spelling Bee Buddy live grid and two-letter list, and the Getting to Genius guide, plus Tips and Tricks. Editors emphasize the hand-curated word lists don’t include every possible solution and invite word suggestions via email. Technical issues can be reported via Settings. Links also direct readers to Wordle Review and the Connections Companion.

Tens of thousands protested in Valencia a year after floods that killed 229 people, Spain’s deadliest in modern history and Europe’s worst flood disaster since 1967. Protesters demanded the resignation of regional leader Carlos Mazon, waving banners reading “Mazon to prison” and chanting, “They didn’t die, they were murdered.” Mazon’s administration faces criticism for issuing alerts more than 12 hours after the national weather agency’s highest warning. He says officials lacked sufficient information and the scale was unforeseeable. Residents described streets and homes already swamped when messages arrived. A judicial probe into the emergency response is underway.

After years of dangerous blood clots, Summer McKesson learned she has Marfan syndrome and a genetic clotting disorder. Seeking answers through 23andMe, she discovered seven half‑siblings and evidence that Duke University physician Dr. Charles Peete secretly used his own sperm in fertility treatments decades ago, fathering at least 12 children. Families described shock and anger; Peete died in 2013. Duke called the actions unacceptable and said they could not occur today. With limited legal recourse and North Carolina lacking a fertility‑fraud law, McKesson urges potential siblings to get tested and share medical histories.