The Washington Post - Breaking news and latest headlines, U.S. news, world news, and video

(Nathan Jones)

U.S. downs suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic coast

U.S. fighter aircraft, acting on an order from President Biden, shot down the balloon off the South Carolina coast on Saturday.

By Ellen Nakashima, Alex Horton, Dan Lamothe and Rosalind S. Helderman52 minutes ago

MORE COVERAGE

RECORD COLD

‘Historic Arctic outbreak’ crushes records in New England

By Joel Achenbach, Matthew Cappucci and Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff56 minutes ago

MORE COVERAGE

People in Raleigh, N.C., protest the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe. (Getty Images)

Republicans aim to decimate abortion access in post-Roe haven states

In Florida and Nebraska — where laws still allow the vast majority of abortions to continue — conservatives are pushing for six-week bans, which, together with the same kind of ban proposed in North Carolina, could dramatically reshape the national abortion landscape once again.

By Caroline Kitchener and Rachel Roubein

MORE COVERAGE

Analysis

House GOP embraces mainstream media after years of bashing ‘fake news’

By Paul Kane

Beyond the hopeful bubble of a papal visit in South Sudan, scenes of despair

By Chico Harlan

Only from The Post

Perel's story was dramatized in the 1990 film “Europa Europa.” (Getty Images)

Solomon Perel, Jew who posed as Hitler Youth to survive war, dies at 97

Only in retirement did he begin to publicly tell his story — one that even in the bottomless depths of Holocaust sagas stands out as remarkable. “To this day I have a tangle of two souls in one body,” he said in 1992.

By Emily Langer

D.C.’s skyline is low — by law. The mayor wants to reshape it.

The prospect of amending the Height Act has taken on new urgency as city officials seek to build consensus around a vision for reinventing an emptier downtown.

By Paul Schwartzman

(Luis Velarde/The Post)