Flagship

Israel deepens Gaza offensive

Israel on Monday launched an air and ground offensive into the only Gaza city that had not seen major military operations or devastation since the war began. Deir al-Balah is a humanitarian hub, and there is speculation that Hamas has been holding Israeli hostages there. The incursion comes a day after the Israeli military reportedly killed dozens of Palestinians seeking food. The UK, Japan, and several European nations were among 25 countries on Monday that condemned Israel’s actions in a statement notable for its candor, the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent wrote. The nations threatened further action to secure a ceasefire — code for recognizing a Palestinian state — a point of leverage that the UK and France have considered but not yet pulled.

Russia’s record drone hit rate

The scale and success of Russia’s ongoing drone strikes on Ukraine reflects Moscow’s ability to penetrate Kyiv’s defenses. Over the past few months, Russia’s drones are striking targets at three times the usual rate, according to a Financial Times analysis of official data, demonstrating “how cheap mass can overwhelm even sophisticated and layered air defences.” Amid Moscow’s escalating attacks, Kyiv has introduced a “Test in Ukraine” scheme, offering foreign arms manufacturers a chance to test their latest weapons on the front lines: It would give defense companies real-world feedback on their products’ capabilities while providing Ukrainian forces with a new supply of weapons on the battlefield. High on Ukraine’s testing wishlist are air defense systems like drone interceptors, Reuters reported.

Stellantis says tariffs dented profits

Auto giant Stellantis estimated it lost $2.7 billion in the first half of this year, as tariffs begin to eat into profit margins at large firms. The Netherlands-based company, which owns car brands including Jeep, Dodge, and Fiat, said it took a $350 million hit from US President Donald Trump’s duties specifically. Analysts and investors are closely watching corporate earnings reports this week for signs of the trade war’s impact. Despite the risks — an EY-Parthenon study found geopolitical and economic uncertainty has erased more than $300 billion from global businesses’ profits since 2017 — markets appear unfazed. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs Monday, while US consumer spending is holding up.

Trump administration ramps up Fed scrutiny

The White House escalated its conflict with the US Federal Reserve, with the Treasury secretary on Monday calling for a review of the “entire” central bank. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the Fed for not lowering interest rates, but the latest scrutiny surrounds its $2.5 billion building renovation. Some Republicans have suggested the costly project could be an opportunity to oust Fed Chair Jerome Powell, but others in Trump’s circle have reportedly sought to deter the president by highlighting the legal obstacles and market reaction he could face. Trump’s frustration could grow as more central banks around the world — facing weaker growth and lower inflation as a result of tariffs — are forecast to cut interest rates this year, Bloomberg reported.

Judge skeptical of Harvard funding cuts

A US judge raised questions Monday over the legality of the Donald Trump administration’s cuts to Harvard University’s research funding. During a hearing, the university argued the funding freeze is unconstitutional, while the White House contended the school has allowed antisemitism to fester on its campus. While the judge is yet to issue a ruling, she pushed back on the administration’s claims that concerns around antisemitism justified the cuts. Trump has made Harvard central to his effort to reshape American higher education; his administration also recently served subpoenas to the Ivy League school for records on international students. Trump-style populists have long “thrilled at the prospect of humbling elite universities,” The Atlantic wrote in a recent profile of Harvard’s president.

Subtle changes in Xi’s leadership

Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s governing style appears to be changing, analysts said, after he retreated from public view in recent months. Xi skipped the BRICS summit for the first time in 12 years, and he has been making fewer appearances. That spurred frenzied speculation over Xi’s hold on power. But such conjecture appears overblown: State media coverage “reveals no such decline in Xi’s prominence,” China Media Project reported. Rather, Xi’s leadership approach is subtly shifting, The Economist wrote, as he relies less on various commissions that he once strengthened to dominate the bureaucracy. A party confab next month will showcase Xi’s “success in remaking the party’s top ranks: the old guard are dead, senile or sidelined and loyalists reign.”

US, China in nuclear fusion race

China is investing heavily to win the race for nuclear fusion. Existing nuclear plants work by smashing big atoms apart; fusion squishes small atoms together, in the same process that powers stars. It promises limitless clean energy, but has always been decades away. Recent breakthroughs, including sustaining a 100 million degrees Celsius reaction for 18 minutes in a Chinese lab, raise the possibility of commercial fusion within a decade. Countries are pouring money into it, but China is spending by far the most. If fusion funding shrinks in the US, China “may well jump ahead,” an analyst told The Wire China, and American research has been hampered by regulations designed for riskier fission plants. As data center power demand rises, fusion could be transformative.

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Polymarket returns to US

Crypto betting platform Polymarket struck a deal to return to the US, three years after being booted from the country. The predictions marketplace bought a small derivatives exchange and clearinghouse for $112 million, allowing it to legally return. Polymarket was thrust into the mainstream during the 2024 presidential election, though only non-US users were allowed to bet on who would win. The acquisition could allow Polymarket to operate on US dollars rather than crypto blockchain, Front Office Sports reported, amid a broader surge in prediction markets’ popularity. Just weeks ago, federal prosecutors shut down a probe into Polymarket, a regulatory U-turn that marked the Donald Trump administration’s efforts to boost the crypto industry and reverse Biden-era scrutiny.

Isolated tribe adds to India census challenge

The task of accounting for the world’s most isolated indigenous tribe adds to the challenges surrounding India’s much-delayed census. For an estimated 60,000 years, the Sentinelese have lived in seclusion on an island in the Bay of Bengal that is part of Indian territory. Authorities don’t know how many people live there, but reaching out for census purposes is “not an option” given the Sentinelese’s hostility to outsiders, an anthropologist told Nikkei, adding that India may have to use satellite imagery or drones to estimate their population. The census for the world’s most populous country, meant to begin in 2021, has also been beset by controversy: The exercise will record caste data for the first time since India’s independence.

A breakthrough in abstract math

A landmark proof brought a “grand unified theory of mathematics” closer to reality. The Langlands program seeks to discover deep connections between number theory, the study of integers, and harmonic analysis, the mathematics of frequencies and oscillatio