International

Iran Buries Khamenei: Mass Mourning, a Hidden Successor, and Diplomacy on Pause

World Politics 

Tehran is in the grip of one of the largest public mourning events in the Islamic Republic’s history. On July 4, Iran opened a six-day state funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who ruled the country for more than three and a half decades before he was killed on February 28…

Russia's Deadliest Kyiv Strike of the Year Kills Dozens and Rattles NATO's Eastern Flank

World Politics 

Russia this week carried out one of the deadliest attacks on Kyiv since the start of its full-scale invasion, unleashing a combined missile and drone barrage in the early hours of Thursday that killed dozens of civilians, wounded more than ninety, and damaged over a hundred residential…

Iran Buries Khamenei: A Dayslong Funeral, a Contested Succession, and a Pause in Talks With Washington

World Politics  

Iran on Friday began a dayslong state funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who ruled the Islamic Republic for nearly four decades before he was killed in a joint US-Israeli air campaign in late February. The ceremonies—expected to draw millions across Iran and into Iraq…

Fragile US-Iran Diplomacy Stalls in Doha Over Frozen Billions and the Strait of Hormuz as Iran Prepares to Bury Its Slain Supreme Leader

Daily World Politics 

Four months after a devastating war that reshaped the Middle East, the United States and Iran are engaged in a wary, halting attempt at diplomacy — and this week that effort ran into some of its hardest limits. Negotiators from both sides concluded two days of indirect talks in Doha on…

Russia Unleashes Its Deadliest Strike of the Year on Kyiv, Killing at Least 27 as the War Enters a Violent New Phase

Kyiv awoke on Thursday, July 2, to one of the most destructive nights it has endured since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022. In an assault that Ukrainian officials described as “massive” and that stretched across roughly eleven hours, Russian forces battered the capital with a combination of ballistic and cruise missiles and swarms of…

Russia Unleashes Its Largest Aerial Assault of the War on Kyiv

570 drones and missiles pound Ukraine’s capital hours after Zelensky’s warning, killing over a dozen and rattling NATO’s eastern flank

Background
Russia’s war on Ukraine entered its fifth year in 2026, and the summer has brought no sign of the conflict winding down despite months of on-…