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Hezbollah's New Chief

Hezbollah has appointed cleric Naim Kassem as its new leader following the death of Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike near the Lebanese capital, Beirut, last month.

The 71-year-old Kassem is considered one of Hezbollah's founding members and served as the group's deputy for 33 years, initially under Nasrallah’s predecessor, Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed in 1992. Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire since the start of the latest Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran and are designated terrorist organizations by the US. See an overview of Hezbollah here and Hamas here.

Across Gaza, at least 115 people were killed from Israeli airstrikes yesterday, with most of the deaths attributed to a hit on a five-story residential building in the north, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. The attack came a day after Israel's parliament banned the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, from operating within Israel.

Belgium's Largest Drug Trial

A Belgian court sentenced more than 120 people convicted of drug-related crimes yesterday in the largest drug trial in the country's history. Sentence lengths ranged from one to 17 years for dozens of defendants hailing from Albania, North Africa, Belgium, and Colombia in a globe-spanning drug trafficking operation. 

The case, which began in December, relied on evidence collected after police successfully infiltrated and surveilled the Sky ECC and Encro encrypted phone networks in 2020 and 2021. Such networks consisted of tens of thousands of individuals using modified phones designed for total anonymity, including disabling cameras, microphones, and GPS and using a concealed operating system. The multinational and novel nature of the infiltration, which collected huge swaths of data from entire networks, has prompted complex legal questions and led to more than 6,500 arrests. 

The ruling comes as Europe continues to grapple with sprawling criminal drug networks. Belgium's major port of Antwerp seizes more than 100 tons of cocaine annually. 

Lost City Discovered

Archaeologists have discovered a Maya city beneath the jungle canopy in Campeche, Mexico, according to a study released yesterday. The ancient site, dubbed Valeriana by the team, contains more than 6,600 structures, including pyramids and ball courts. It is believed to be one of the largest Maya sites in Latin America.

The city, which may have housed up to 50,000 people during the Classic Maya period (years 250 to 900), features two major centers about 1.2 miles apart, linked by causeways. Researchers suggest Valeriana was likely an important political or economic center in the region due to its layout and construction.

Archaeologists discovered the city by analyzing preexisting lidar data—a technique in which variations in surface height are measured using airborne laser mapping. The site was found when a researcher stumbled upon the data, originally gathered for ecological and forestry studies, online. Learn more about other discoveries enabled by lidar here.

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1440 Business & Finance

Dear Readers—

Tomorrow, we're launching our second-ever newsletter focused on deep dives into business and finance. The first one covers venture capital, including

> Where the money comes from to begin with

> Recent trends in the industry

> The world's top cities for venture capital

> Its similarities to the 18th-century whaling industry

... and much more. A new topic comes out every Thursday—sign up here to get it in your inbox!