The stunning downfall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad leaves not merely a vacuum of power in that country but a nearly endless list of unanswered questions. One of the most significant concerns the fate and future of the minority Alawite community, from which Assad and his inner circle hailed. The Assad dictatorship began when Bashar’s father, Hafez, seized control of the country in 1970.

This article contains spoilers for the film The Seed of the Sacred Fig.
When the film The Seed of the Sacred Fig begins, an Iranian lawyer named Iman (played by Missagh Zareh) has just been promoted to “investigating judge.” The position gets him a higher salary, promises him a luxurious three-bedroom home—and arms him with a gun.

Paul Mescal isn’t known for being funny. In breakout dramatic turns such as 2020’s Normal People and 2022’s Aftersun, the Irish actor has consistently painted with more melancholic shades—qualities that he acknowledged last night when he hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time. During his monologue, Mescal said he couldn’t understand why his comedic prowess continued to go unnoticed.

NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team
Day 8 of the 2024 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: a mysterious nebula. Details of a complex structure within the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) are revealed by this image of the Keyhole Nebula, obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope. The picture is dominated by a large, approximately circular feature, which is part of the Keyhole Nebula.

When Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel on October 7, 2023, he intended to deal a decisive blow against a powerful nation-state—and he succeeded. But the state his attack has devastated turned out not to be Israel, but Iran, his key sponsor.
It is a persistent folly of progressive thought to believe that wars do not achieve meaningful political consequences. The past 15 months in the Middle East suggest otherwise.