A mailbox in Virginia
Briefing: The CIA’s apparent attacks on Ecuadoran fishing boats. Hungary’s new president, someone its last government got rid of. + Why is the White House calling its political opponents “national security” threats?
‘The world is the sphere of influence’
Feature: Why is the White House calling its political opponents “national security” threats? Andrew Preston on the 86-year history of a curious rationale.
Leave your phone at home
Briefing: No one can get to the villages that took the worst of a magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Colombia. The White House pares American childhood vaccines down from 17 diseases to 11. + Why do temperatures keep rising—even after they cool off?
‘A shield of peace’
The weekend despatch: A new military alliance is taking applications. An unknown ancestor is in every human genome. + Who is Kurt Ballou?
Spent
Briefing: The Pentagon regrets finding itself out of missiles—until 2030. In India, the ex-prime minister of Bangladesh brushes off her death sentence. + What happened to the “public intellectual”?
Tracks of uncertainty
Feature: What happened to the “public intellectual”? Raymond Geuss on a role that lasted 70 years—and why he won’t really miss it.
Just passing through
Briefing: Sixty thousand over the fence into Spain in two days. Iran decides on a price for reopening the Strait of Hormuz: total control of everything. + What could the defeat of Hezbollah actually settle?
Buying time
The weekend despatch: Engineers from America’s leading AI labs, all asking Washington to help them cool things down. Astronomers listening for alien signals, now opening up beyond a band they’ve been using for decades. + Who is Vini Reilly?
‘The Kingdom … does not seek escalation’
Briefing: Saudi Arabia’s first strikes on Iranian militias, while pushing the U.S. to end the war. A Russian cruise missile in a Polish field, 100 kilometers over the border. + Can Europe’s booming defense industry save its dying factories?
Cars before drones
Feature: Can Europe’s booming defense industry save its dying factories? Sander Tordoir on the problem with the story Germany’s manufacturers are telling themselves.
