...Iranian officials and other senior sources in the country say Khamenei remains in control, ruling from the shadows for security reasons as he recovers from disfiguring wounds while delegating broad daily authority to a coterie of top figures.

But with no photograph, video or audio message released since his appointment a week into the war, Iranians are ever more sceptical about his position in an Islamic Republic in which the leader's voice is meant to be absolute.

"The question is no longer whether ​Mojtaba is alive, but whether Iran still has a functioning supreme leader," said Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute in Washington.

Khamenei's only messages to the Iranian people have come via a handful of ​written statements read aloud by news broadcasters and he was even missing from the extravagant week of funeral rites for his father last month.

Top officials and other insiders ⁠attribute Khamenei's absence to assassination fears and say he holds frequent meetings with top figures, receives all major reports and takes the final decisions on every important issue.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said on August 10 that he had ​held a seven-hour meeting with Khamenei...

Nepal, Guinea, Somalia, Sudan, Jamaica...

Hormuz traffic rises slightly—but remains far below normal
Reuters reports today that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has increased slightly while diplomatic efforts continue.

Approximately 23 commodity-carrying vessels crossed on Wednesday, compared with 16 Tuesday. Before the conflict, roughly 100 commodity vessels normally crossed daily.
Oil and LNG traffic therefore remains severely constrained despite the modest improvement.

Why it matters:
Hormuz continues to provide a near-perfect modern demonstration of the difference between a resource and access to a resource.
Oil can exist.
Tankers can exist.
Buyers can exist.

But if the connecting route becomes restricted, the value of every other component changes.
RESOURCE → ROUTE → CHOKEPOINT → ACCESS → LEVERAGE

That mechanism belongs not only to modern oil markets but to ancient harbors, river crossings, canals, gates and caravan corridors.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Meta agreed Wednesday to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms as part of a landmark legal settlement that ended a trial over teen social media addiction and settled claims filed by nearly every state.

The settlement resolved a pivotal case years in the making that sought to hold the tech giant accountable for the role its platforms played in undermining children’s mental health. The effort targeted features designed to hook young people’s attention.

The agreement “institutes real change, real transparency, real protections for children and teens across the country,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said.

If approved by the court, the deal will stop an avalanche of litigation by states against Meta, although the company still faces lawsuits from individuals and school districts throughout the U.S. For the states, the settlement delivers money for mental-health programs for kids, including after-school or summer activities and digital literacy counselors.

Advocates cheered the new protections, including default time limits and the disabling of features such as “like” counts...