The day’s defining story was not a new war so much as an old one refusing to obey the calendar. After fresh U.S. and Iranian strikes around the Persian Gulf, Reuters reported that Trump wanted to leave the Iran conflict behind but faced a reality that would not let him. A memorandum meant to end the fighting had already been battered by tanker attacks, retaliatory strikes and threats around the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran buried Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after a week of mourning, while chants of vengeance and uncertainty over the succession kept the conflict politically alive. Gulf companies braced for the uneven cost of war, Japan warned of inflation pressure and NATO allies tried to keep Ukraine supplied with Patriots. The front page was a study in unfinished business: leaders declare endings, but missiles, funerals, markets and alliances keep writing the next paragraph.