Monday Briefing: The toll of an attack on an Iranian prison
Plus, correcting Captain Nemo.
Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition
June 30, 2025

Good morning. We’re covering Israel’s attack on an Iranian prison and Trump’s use of a wartime law for mass deportations.

Plus, correcting Captain Nemo.

A guard stands outside a gated complex with a sign reading “Evin House of Detention.”
A guard outside the entrance to Evin Prison in Tehran in 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA News Agency, via Reuters

Israel’s attack on a notorious prison killed 71, Iran said

Iranian state news media reported yesterday that 71 people were killed when Israel attacked Evin Prison in Tehran on June 23. Dissidents and political prisoners, including opposition politicians, activists, lawyers, journalists and students, are held at the facility.

Detainees, visiting relatives and prison staff members were among the dead, according to a statement from Asghar Jahangir, a spokesman for Iran’s judiciary. He did not provide names of the dead, heightening the concerns of some detainees’ families, who said they had not heard from their loved ones since the strike.

Israel’s Defense Ministry declined to comment, and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jahangir’s claims could not be independently verified.

Background: When the Israeli military struck Evin prison, the country’s defense minister said it was one of several places targeted, including the headquarters of the Basij, a volunteer force under the umbrella of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that has brutally cracked down on protesters in Iran.

Analysis: After the 12-day conflict with Israel and the U.S., Iran stands on a knife’s edge. What will a shaken country in dire economic straits do with what its president has called “a golden opportunity for change”?

A building complex with perimeter lighting.
A group of Venezuelans are being held at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas. Paul Ratje/Reuters

A court is considering a major U.S. deportation case

A federal appeals court in New Orleans will consider today whether President Trump can use the Alien Enemies Act to further one of his central policy goals: the mass deportation of immigrants.

The case is before one of the most conservative courts in the U.S., and is likely to reach the Supreme Court. There, the justices would weigh in on whether Trump had used the act unlawfully, a question that courts across the country have been struggling to answer for three months.

Context: The Alien Enemies act was passed in 1798, when the U.S. was threatened by war with France. Before now, that law had been used only three times, all during periods of war, allowing the president to detain and expel members of a hostile foreign nation. Trump invoked the law to round up and deport scores of immigrants who he claimed were members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan street gang.

People crowd an underground subway platform as they take shelter from a Russian air assault.
Civilians sheltering in a subway station during strikes on Kyiv, Ukraine, yesterday. Yan Dobronosov/Reuters

Russia hit Ukraine with its largest air assault yet

Russia pounded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles, the Ukrainian authorities said yesterday. Strikes on infrastructure were reported across the country, including in western Ukraine, which Russia hits less frequently. It was unclear if any civilians had been killed, but the Ukrainian air force reported that one pilot fatally crashed while trying to stop the assault.

The air force said Russia launched 537 drones and missiles overnight — the highest number recorded in a single night since the war began.

MORE TOP NEWS

People filling water bottles from a fountain.
Near the Vatican on Saturday. Tiziana Fabi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Pride

A crowd of people wearing bright colors and waving rainbow flags.
The New York City Pride Parade, yesterday. Natalie Keyssar for The New York Times

SPORTS NEWS

MORNING READ

Susan Namangale, with a white head covering, and four boys sit on a blanket spread outside, playing chess on two chessboards.
Susan Namangale with one of the 150 chess clubs she has set up in Malawi. Amos Gumulira for The New York Times

While most of her teenage schoolmates spent their allowances on snacks and other small treats, Susan Namangale bought two chessboards for her school in Malawi.

Now 49, she hasn’t lost her passion for the game, and is on a mission to show that it’s for everybody, not just the elite. She has introduced it to schools, prisons and city shelters. Read her story.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Two nuns singing accompanied by other people.
Victor Moriyama for The New York Times
  • Faith and rhythm: The Catholic Church’s effort to win young followers in Brazil relies in part on influencers, D.J.s and beatboxing nuns.
  • Behind the binge: For South Koreans, “Squid Game” is a whole lot more than entertainment.
  • Back in action: The British band Oasis is ending its 16-year pause with hopes of conquering America.
  • False pretenses: An artist thought she had sold a painting to Lady Gaga. Then things got strange.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.

ARTS AND IDEAS

A dirty man with a beard and long hair stands with both hands on a captain’s wheel, looking nervous.
Shazad Latif in “Nautilus.” Disney+

‘Nautilus’ helps correct Nemo’s record

Over years of screen adaptations big and small, a fairly uniform picture of Captain Nemo from Jules Verne’s novel “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” has emerged: brooding, 50-ish, taciturn and almost always white.

The hero of the AMC series “Nautilus,” out now on a few streaming platforms globally, is not that Nemo. Played by Shazad Latif, this Nemo is young and energetic, on his first voyage with the titular submarine. But perhaps the most notable change is that this Nemo is Indian, which hews much closer to Verne’s vision. Here are some other notable adaptations of Verne’s famous work of science fiction.

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