Geopolitics

US Marines from the 31st Expeditionary Unit boarded a tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday as American warplanes struck bridges and a railway station in southern Iran, a double escalation of military pressure that signals the collapse of any remaining diplomatic restraint. The tanker, the M/T Wen Yao, was suspected of attempting to […]

Two stories from one day tell you everything about the state of the Iran war. The American vice president accused Israel of manipulating US public opinion to keep the war going. And Qatar, the region’s most energetic mediator, had to publicly deny that it was joining the fighting. The war is in its sixth straight […]

President Donald Trump used a rare primetime address from the White House on Thursday night to do what he has done before every election since 2020: cast doubt on the integrity of American voting. This time he had documents to go with the claims. The White House declassified and released intelligence files that Trump said […]

The head of the International Energy Agency has delivered the most direct warning yet about the Strait of Hormuz crisis: the world’s energy supply is facing a disruption worse than the oil shocks of 1973, 1979, and 2002 combined. “The world has never experienced a disruption to energy supply of such magnitude,” Fatih Birol told […]

For six nights, the United States has been bombing Iran. And for the first time in this cycle, the targets included sites that Iran and local sources say are civilian. An airport, a railway station, and at least two bridges were hit overnight Thursday in southern Iran, according to Iranian state media and social media […]

The Chinese government is spending billions on childcare subsidies and maternity leave. A growing body of evidence suggests the real problem is at the other end of life: parents who cannot afford to retire. China recorded fewer than 8 million births in 2025, the lowest number since the founding of the People’s Republic. The government […]

Trump gives Iran 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on power plants. Iran responds by threatening to halt all Middle East energy exports. The United States and Iran are escalating toward a new threshold of destruction, with each side threatening the other’s civilian infrastructure. On July 15, President Donald Trump […]

Thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets of Kyiv and other cities on Thursday to protest President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to fire Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, the popular 35-year-old modernizer credited with turning Ukraine’s drone program into the war’s most effective weapon. Protesters carried signs reading “Hands off Fedorov” and “Stop sabotaging victory.” They chanted […]

The average Russian recruit arriving on the front lines in Ukraine survives 20 to 30 minutes before being killed or wounded. That is not a Ukrainian claim. It is the assessment of John Ratcliffe, the director of the CIA. “The average life expectancy of a Russian recruit right now, arriving on the battlefield in Ukraine, […]

The United States launched a second wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday, targeting military positions in the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps warned it would close “other oil and gas export routes” in retaliation. President Donald Trump told reporters that Iran “better behave” and refused to rule out further escalation. It […]