Good morning! Today is Thursday, the 23rd of July, 2026, and this is the Thursday Edition of GEORGE. GEORGE brings Thursday’s news into focus with reporting, commentary, and dispatches for curious readers. Here are the stories, developments, and ideas worth carrying into the day. Iran-backed Houthi terrorists attacked Saudi tankers, the United States is attacking multiple regions of Iran for the 13th consecutive night, the wreckage of the Pan Am DC-4 that operated as the ill-fated Flight 526A was found 74 years after it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, and Germany’s Volkswagen Group said it would slash the number of models it offers in half. These stories and more are among the top headlines GEORGE is covering today in the @World News Roundup and @The War Room. GEORGE’s @The War Room feature now covers battles and conflicts across the globe, including important dispatches from the Russo-Ukrainian War and the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Our @The War Room correspondents report. In preparing today’s editorial cartoon, the newspaper’s @The Sketch editorial cartoon columnist shed a tear upon learning that a fifth person had died in New York City’s Legionnaires’ disease outbreak. Today’s editorial cartoon appears immediately below. Today’s @World News Roundup features key stories from our correspondents that you may have missed during a busy week. There is more original reporting in today’s GEORGE – but don’t touch that dial. Scroll down for today’s editorial cartoon in @The Sketch, then continue with additional news, commentary, and dispatches readers will not find elsewhere. GEORGE will return tomorrow with a new editorial cartoon and more original dispatches and reportage. @THE SKETCH (above) It’s too darn hot! @INTERMEZZO I Times Square at Night @INTERMEZZO II Pan Am Grumman G-21 Goose @INTERMEZZO III New York City’s new Hudson Yards train station ____________________________________ ____________________________________ Background reading on the subjects behind today’s cartoon: The idea for today’s editorial cartoon was sparked when GEORGE’s editorial cartoon columnist read the story about the fifth death due to Legionnaires’ disease in @World News Roundup. ____________________________________ Times Square in New York City at night ______________________________________ — The Iranian-aligned Yemini Houthi terrorist group on Thursday claimed military strikes on two Saudi oil tankers as part of its new naval blockade on ​Saudi Arabia. At least eight other tankers made an about face and returned to port in recent days. The attacks effectively advance toward a second stranglehold on world oil supplies at the Red Sea in coördination with Iran’s repeated attempt to control the Strait of Hormuz. — The United States launched its 13th night of strikes on Wednesday night that target Iranian military centers of operation, drone and storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets. The overnight operation is part of an effort to secure the Strait of Hormuz and “further degrade” Iran’s ability to threaten merchant traffic. — The naval blockade put into place by Yemen’s Iran’s backed Houthi militant group is causing Saudi crude oil tankers to turn back. Two tankers carrying crude oil reversed course on Tuesday. The Houthis announced a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia at the start of the week that stops the Saudis from transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The Houthis said that the move was made as retaliation for a recent Saudi bombing at Sanaa International Airport and its siege of Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. The group has taken the move in order to stem the flow of oil from the Red Sea via the strait, which serves as a connection between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. — Late on Wednesday, the U.S. Central Command began to unleash a new wave of offensive strikes against Iran, marking the 12th consecutive night of a sustained military campaign. At press time, the Central Command said that operations were “ongoing.” Str
