On the layout, for avoidance of doubt
The new layout is "row based". Each row may have different content, but that content is limited to that row, and doesn't "bleed over".
That means, the "top stories" is just that very first row of stories, comprising of one with images, and three without. Those are editorially picked. You might see that it's a "whole section of one row" as it's got a distinctive border before it (well, next to its title) and after it, delineating it.
You may see instead a "breaking news" row, of one story. If set, it's shown _instead of_ the "top stories" unit.
After it, you'll see a chronological set of stories - from most recently to least recently published.
BUT...
We may instead show you a row of four "most read" stories; that'll have a distinctive light grey background. After that row, the main content resumes.
Or... we may show you a "don't miss" story. That one will be Editorially picked, but the three stories to its right will be the "rightful" stories, from most recently to least recently published.
Or, there may be an Editorially picked story, "stickied" in that position. After it, there'll be three more chronological stories.
Interspersed, you'll see about three ads; some will be full-width and won't impede the display of stories before and after; others will be usually set to the right (or left!) of stories, and the three (or five) stories preceding it will shrink slightly, as (at least on desktop) we can only display ads of a given width (300px or so) on a desktop-sized device.
On a mobile device, the "most read" unit is also four stories, and also has the distinctive background.
Nothing's changed with regards to our displaying stories "generally" in most recently to least recently published order. It's kinda literally just how we portray the stories that has changed.