So long, imagination engine
Briefing: Six months, a billion-dollar Disney deal, and falling downloads. What Meta told parents about Instagram versus what it knew. + Why did the Mexicans kill El Mencho?
Shadow state
Feature: Why did the Mexicans kill El Mencho? Benjamin Smith on the state losing control over the cartels.
Productive conversations
Briefing: The U.S. may or may not be talking to Iran; the Iranian regime may or may not be turning on itself. Lebanon shows out the ambassador from Tehran. + A Category Four cyclone is about to cross northern Australia twice. Why twice?
Beyond the lost city
The weekend despatch: A dollar a gallon higher in three weeks. A 2,300-year-old metropolis, 15 kilometers from Iran. + Who are Autechre?
Who knows better about surprise
Briefing: The war hits the gas fields that power half the world. Three central banks hold rates—and cite the war. + Will Ukrainian democracy survive the Russian assault?
An Orwellian war
Will Ukrainian democracy survive the Russian assault? Serhii Plokhy on the historical clues.
‘No imminent threat’
Briefing: The first senior U.S. official to quit over the Iran war is from Trump’s inner circle. The man running Iran since Khamenei’s death is dead. + Why is Kazakhstan so warm right now?
Seeing things
The weekend despatch: Deep-faking the war in the Middle East. An MC’s election in Nepal. + Who are Tomorrow’s Warriors?
Below the waterline
Briefing: The price of oil as Iran mines the Strait of Hormuz. Two terror attacks hours apart on American soil. + How did a criminal industry worth tens of billions entrench itself in Cambodia?
Code black
Feature: How did a criminal industry worth tens of billions entrench itself in Cambodia? Jacob Sims on the nexus of organized crime and autocracy in Southeast Asia.
