‘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.
The ayatollah sends his regrets
Briefing: Iran names a supreme leader who hasn’t appeared in public since the U.S. and Israel started bombing. A deleted tweet moves oil prices 17 percent. + Why’s it getting so hot in West Africa?
Theaters of war
The weekend despatch: The many faces of Operation Epic Fury. An Oscar-nominated screenwriter under bombardment picks up the phone. + What does it mean when the beat answers back?
‘Quiet death’
Briefing: The U.S. Navy sinks an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. The U.S. Senate votes to keep the war going. + What held the post–World War II order together—and what’s coming apart?
Copper rush
Feature: Why is there so much of it—and yet not enough to go around? Adam Simon on the “huge stakes” of global competition for the metal.
Four objectives, five days
Briefing: Washington continues fighting with no public definition of victory. Hezbollah breaks its ceasefire with Israel, while Lebanon outlaws Hezbollah. + How could an unexpected event transform a work of art?
Lone and level sands
Feature: How could an unexpected event transform a work of art? Bryan Singer on a secret monument in Southern Lebanon, its tangled politics, and his first film in seven years.
