How will this end?
The world this week
Politics
Business
The weekly cartoon

Leaders
A torn Iranian flag with a missile-shaped negative space at the center of the rip.
Conflict in the Middle East
Where will the Iran-Israel war end?
In a worse place if Donald Trump rushes in

A new “Pug” test
To keep Russia out and America in, NATO must spend more
European members need a hard date to boost their defence budgets
Pedestrians walk past an electronic board showing the Nikkei 225 index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange along a street in central Tokyo, Japan.
A fiscal fable
Japan’s government bonds: this time it won’t end well
Even as interest costs mount, politicians promise handouts
Newborn baby girl yawning in a hospital cot
Baby brain
Why MAGA’s pro-natalist plans are ill-conceived
Efforts to deliver a baby boom either fail or cost a fortune
A billboard showing an ad with two humans peels back to reveal a grid of colorful tiles, symbolizing AI
Computers v creatives
What the “cockroaches” of the ad world teach about dealing with AI
A rosé-soaked meeting in Cannes is like a postcard from the future

Letters
A selection of correspondence
Reforming the NHS
By Invitation

War in the Middle East
For Trump, both action and inaction in Iran have consequences, says Karim Sadjadpour
Briefing
Smoke rises from locations targeted in Tehran amid the third day of Israel's waves of strikes against Iran, on Sunday, June 15, 2025
Decisive attack, unknown result
Israel’s blitz on Iran is fraught with uncertainty
Much hinges on the stubborn supreme leader and America’s mercurial president
A satellite image shows the Isfahan enrichment facility
Target acquired
Israel’s race to kill Iran’s nuclear dream
If it fails the regime could make a frantic dash for a bomb
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
Inside the Islamic Republic
Will Iran’s hated regime implode?
Trump calls for Tehran to “immediately evacuate”
Asia
An Australian fan of K-pop band KTS holds travel cards with designs dedicated to the group in Seoul, South Korea on June 13th 2023
From shrimp to dolphin
Can South Korea’s new president get his country back on track?
Submarine warfare
Could Trump can AUKUS?
Multiple choices
India’s and China’s civil-service exams are notoriously difficult
Fangs for your attention
Why India has so many snakebites
Banyan
A White House love-in for Pakistan’s big man outrages India
China
A cat climbs in a wreckage of Russian ‘Geran’ drone shot down in Ukraine.
Clues in the wreckage
China has become the most important enabler of Russia’s war machine
Cash for clunkers
Chinese consumers are splurging—but probably not for long
Air pollution
Rich Chinese cities are suffocating poor ones
United States
Steam vents in Manhattan, New York, United States
The other half
Democrats could do a lot better with the power they hold
It tolls for thee
Congestion pricing in Manhattan is a predictable success
Voting and shooting
The attacks in Minnesota reflect a worrying trend
The Lumbee
The strange history of the tribe courted by Donald Trump
Presidential disapproval
Our model suggests President Trump is under water in every swing state
Lexington
The New York mayor’s race is a study in Democratic Party dysfunction

The Americas
A drone is launched during a Haitian police and MSS operation against armed gangs.
Whacking the gangs from above
Drone warfare is hitting Haiti
Wither Seleção’s swagger?
Brazilians love football. Their national team is past its prime
More dirt
Police allege that Jair Bolsonaro sanctioned a spy ring
Middle East & Africa

Topsy-turvy tariffs
China is trying to win over Africa in the global trade war
Expanding misery
The war in Sudan is spilling over its borders
Cheap and deadly
Africa’s scary new age of high-tech warfare
Europe
This illustration shows political leaders, military missiles, tanks, and fighter jets with a NATO flag in the background. The design uses bold black, white, and blue colors, suggesting themes of war, defense, and international politics.
Keeping the president happy
This week’s NATO summit will be all about placating Donald Trump
Foreign fighters welcome
Ukraine looks abroad to boost its manpower
Balkan bully on the ropes
Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic is rattled
Sea of troubles
Corruption at the heart of his party wounds Spain’s prime minister
Bread on wheels
A revival for the classic Renault 5
Charlemagne
Europe wants to show it’s ready for war. Would anyone show up to fight?
Britain
View from Titterstone Clee Hill on a misty day in the Shropshire Hills National Landscape Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Regional identities
The English Midlands is unjustly overlooked
Enter the dragon
Biotech is coming to Wales
Doctors’ orders
Britain’s newest way of demoralising doctors
Front of the Q
MI6’s new “C” used to be “Q”. And she’s good with the gadgets
Child sexual exploitation
The grooming-gangs scandal is a stain on the British state
Bagehot
The rise of Nigel McFarage
International
A collage of When Harry Met Sally with a skyline of Istanbul.
Harry, meet Sally
Can men and women be just friends?
The Telegram
In Trumpworld, toppling rulers is taboo
Business
Several AI-like figures with globe-shaped heads sit around a conference table, watching a presentation. One figure, standing in a suit, pitches an advert featuring another AI figure holding a red object.
Creative destruction
AI is turning the ad business upside down
Knickers in a twist
Victoria’s Secret is struggling to reinvent itself
Oh, Brother!
The family saga at Germany’s media colossus takes an unusual twist
Zucked in
Mark Zuckerberg is spending megabucks on an AI hiring spree
People’s code
Why China is giving away its tech for free
Bartleby
How to build the right corporate culture
Schumpeter
Can a car boss turn around Gucci’s owner?
Finance & economics
Illustration of a graduate wearing mickey mouse ears
Crammed and damned
Why today’s graduates are screwed
Baramaki days
Japan’s debts are shrinking. Its troubles may be only starting
Paddy problems
Japan is obsessed with rice. And prices have gone ballistic
Offering little
Can China reclaim its IPO crown?
Dire strait
What the Israel-Iran war means for oil prices
Buttonwood
Investors ignore world-changing news. Rightly
Free exchange
Who are the world’s best investors?
Science & technology
illustration of a Rubik’s Cube floating in a digital space. One visible face of the cube features a robot head, while another shows a human face
AI benchmarking
How to find the smartest AI
Grim reaping
Climate change will hurt the richest farmers—and the poorest
Research rankings
Are China’s universities really the best in the world?
Well informed
Is the “manopause” real?
Celestial navigation
Meet the moths that use the stars to find their way
Culture
Silhouette of a man against a red background obscured by a sphere. There are blue pills scattered on the floor
Gender relations
The silly and sinister manosphere
You butter believe it
The year’s chicest shade is good enough to eat
American foreign policy
Was Zbigniew Brzezinski America’s most important foreign-policy guru?
Music mecca
The Laurel Canyon sound has reverberated down the decades
Mind your own business
The right to privacy has been hard-earned. It is imperilled again
Back Story
Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the age of the genius
Economic & financial indicators
Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Obituary
Brian Wilson of the rock and roll band "The Beach Boys" holds a copy of their 1963 album "Surfer Girl" in 1964.
The reluctant surfer
Brian Wilson attracted a fame he could hardly endure