Iran may be getting pummelled on the battlefield, but it is winning the energy war. The Islamic Republic is now earning nearly twice as much from oil sales each day as it did before American and Israeli bombs started falling. Our report goes inside Iran’s wartime oil machine, a complex operation that relies on front companies and shadow banks. 

Ahead of China’s next Communist Party congress, Xi Jinping, the country’s ruler, has a firm grip on leadership. But the question of succession is ever present. Mr Xi will be 79 when the party holds its 22nd congress in 2032. Will the 21st give any hint of arrangements for someone to succeed him? Or will it become clearer still that he intends to be ruler for life? Our new piece sets out why his next five-year term could involve some turbulence.