Senate leaders of both parties are urging their colleagues to renew an expiring warrantless surveillance law before it lapses at midnight on Friday, as advocates of the law have argued that any expiration would mean going blind on a key source of counterterrorism information and other foreign intelligence. That deadline adds pressure to senators not to vote for any amendments …

It started with one package, plastic-wrapped and barnacle-encrusted, discovered on a secluded beach in New South Wales, Australia, one balmy evening in December. Inside were 39 sealed packages, each containing about two pounds of cocaine, according to the police. Then, within days, nine more packages were found across eight beaches and bays spanning a 60-mile stretch of coastline between Sydney …

Senate Republicans outraged at Democrats’ quick move to kill the impeachment of Alejandro N. Mayorkas without a trial warn that the precedent set could give rise to a nightmare scenario for Democrats in the future. It would go something like this: Democrats in control of the House move to impeach and remove an out-of-control Republican president. Republicans who lead the …