The Observer Daily: Iran’s ‘easy target’?

The best of The Observer, from across our newsroom View in browser The Observer Daily: Iran's 'easy target'?The best of The Observer, from across our newsroom Basia Cummings • Wednesday 18 June 2025 Dear friend, Such is the speed and intensity of the news at the moment, big things can slip by without much critique. I mean, there's a lot happening: the unfolding war in the Middle East, an intensifying humanitarian crisis in Gaza, drone attacks in Ukraine, and the unrelenting pace of headlines from Donald Trump's White House. But let's force ourselves to pause on one particular revelation: NBC News in the US reported that Trump "rejected a proposal from Israel in the last days to assassinate Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei". On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump followed up: "We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now." Writing today, David Aaronovitch implores us to recognise just how unusual a moment this was. "Because what was being so desultorily discussed was an assassination almost historically unprecedented – and not just in the modern era. Heads of state and heads of government just about never decide to kill each other, even in wartime." Click here to read more → "The enemy of nonsense" – George Orwell Also in The Observer Killer cold Devotees believe cryotherapy, or cold therapy, can ease sore muscles, aid weight loss and boost sex drive. But two recent deaths in cryochambers in France, which can dip as low as -196C, underline the risks. So why are more and more people freezing themselves? Andrew Anthony investigates. Click to read the full piece → Grooming gangs failures rest on poor data by John Simpson Since the late reporter Andrew Norfolk exposed the Rotherham grooming gang scandal in 2011, there have been several local inquiries and one national inquiry into child sexual exploitation, the role of group-based abuse and the significance of ethnicity in these gangs. But it has taken an audit by Baroness Louise Casey, released this week, to say what should have been said much more loudly years ago: unreliable data stops us properly understanding the issue. John Simpson explains what we do and don't know about grooming gangs in Britain in The Sensemaker, our other daily newsletter. It features calm and clear analysis on what's driving the news across tech, geopolitics, finance and culture. In today's edition, we look at the man behind a notorious gossip forum, Trump's golden phone, and why decriminalising abortion in England is just the start. To get the full Sensemaker sent to your inbox every morning, sign up here. Want a happy life? Avoid medical tests by Melanie Reid From DNA tests that identify cancer genes to memory clinics that can diagnose early-stage Alzheimer's, our bodies have never felt more predictable. Or as Melanie Reid puts it, "this is the golden age of monetised human anxiety." Melanie makes the case for being an ostrich: keeping away from tests if you're doing ok and enjoying life. "Appreciate what you've got every day," she writes. "If you're functioning, you're privileged."    Click here to read more → The feminist icon who wasn't by Stephanie Merritt The poet Robert Browning said that love begins and ends in motherhood, but we all know it is more complicated than that. Molly Jong-Fast's new memoir unpicks her complex relationship with her mother, the renowned novelist Erica Jong, who is currently in a nursing home with dementia. "For Jong-Fast," Stephanie Merritt writes. "It's impossible to witness her mother's decline without being pitched repeatedly into painful memories of neglect and abandonment that she has yet to make peace with, and perhaps never will."      Read the full review → Listen Daily Sensemaker How much energy does AI use? Artificial intelligence is changing our lives and our world at an astonishing pace, but its hunger for data is matched by its need for energy and water Click here to listen → The Slow Newscast Brute force This is the story of three women with one shared experience: being a police officer whose own institution can't help them escape the abuse of their partners Click here to listen → Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow.   Basia Cummings Editor, digital The Observer   My Account To manage your newsletters, track tickets and more, go to the 'My account' page on the Observer website: Manage my newsletters Follow Follow The Observer on social media on your preferred platform:   The Observer     The Observer Food Monthly The Observer Magazine The Observer New Review   Listen Listen for free in the Tortoise app or wherever you get your podcasts: Want to change how you receive these emails? Update email preferences Copyright © 2025 Tortoise Media. All rights reserved. Did this email get caught in your spam filter? Add editor@newsroom.tortoisemedia.com to your address book to never miss an email again. No longer want to receive this newsletter? Unsubscribe here.