The Economist

Hello, you're listening to the free edition of the world in brief from The Economist.

As a reminder, if you subscribe to The Economist, you'll get access to a deeper look at the day ahead, updated three times a day.

If you're already an Economist subscriber, visit

economist.com slash espresso or visit our Espresso app to start listening. Here's today's free edition.

This is the world in brief from The Economist.

Our top stories, Israel said it attacked two of Iran's nuclear facilities

after warning it would, quote, escalate its offensive.

There has been no release of radioactive material,

according to Iranian state media. The strikes hit a heavy water complex and a plant that produces

yellow cake, a powdered uranium, concentrate. Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the world's atomic watchdog, warned of the risk of a, quote, major radiological accident in the region.

In response, Abbasarachi, Iran's foreign minister, threatened to exact a, quote, heavy price for Israel's attack. He accused Israel of coordinating

with America, despite Donald Trump's pledge to pause strikes on energy infrastructure.

Separately, Marco Rubio, America's Secretary of State, said America would achieve its

objectives in Iran, quote, without any ground troops,

and that its operation would end in, quote, weeks, not months. Mr. Trump directed the Department

of Homeland Security to pay airport security staff, declaring the six-week DHS shutdown and, quote, emergency situation.

Meanwhile, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives rejected a bill, earlier passed by the Senate, that would have reopened the department because it failed to fund immigration enforcement.

Mike Johnson, the House Speaker,

will put forward a separate stopgap funding bill.

American stocks slid for a fifth consecutive week.

The SMP 500 closed nearly 1.7% lower,

...