The United States will give Ukraine $6 billion to purchase military hardware directly from American defense companies, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III announced on Friday, expressing confidence that many of the weapons and munitions the country most needs will soon arrive. “This is the largest security assistance package that we’ve committed to date,” Mr. Austin told reporters at the …

A senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on Thursday on the condition of anonymity under official ground rules blamed Hamas solely for blocking the deal. The official said that while Israel had signaled it would accept those terms, the response from Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader hiding underground in Gaza, had been “totally nonconstructive.” Hamas has since signaled that …

Sitting with Howard Stern, the nation’s best-known shock jock, President Biden on Friday replayed the deepest lows of his life story and the highs of a decades-long political career in an appearance designed to reintroduce him to an audience of millions. In a surprise interview on “The Howard Stern Show” that lasted for more than an hour, Mr. Stern, a …