CL The gold heist at Hong Kong International Airport is the kind of story that travels far beyond its weight in bullion. Seven suspects arrested, then an eighth, then a ninth, the dragnet tightening day by day in the way Hong Kong investigations often do when the embarrassment is public enough. HK$7 million in airport gold does not move quietly, and neither does the city's determination to be seen closing the case.-- CL

MB The week opens with two pressure valves releasing simultaneously: Iran closes Hormuz while diplomats converge on Switzerland, and Taiwan runs combat drills while China positions destroyers around the island. Institutions are not managing these crises so much as performing management of them, which is a different thing. The gap between the choreography and the underlying pressure has rarely looked wider.-- MB