Why the woolly mammoth's return has been delayed

Plus: What does 'economic D-Day' look like for Iran?  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Richard Hall | August 25, 2026     Hello there. When the woolly mammoth eventually returns, rest assured that TIME readers will be among the first to hear about it. We’re continuing with this publication’s comprehensive coverage of de-extinction with an update today on when that might happen.  We’re also getting into the weeds of "Operation Economic Outcast,” the new U.S. sanctions package aimed at subjecting the Iranian regime to “economic asphyxiation,” in the words of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.     IN TODAY’S BRIEF Trade war unleashed Zelensky rejects wartime elections Iran’s economic “D-Day” Woolly mammoth delayed $8.18 billion in unpaid energy bills Erling Haaland cuts his locks         READ THIS FIRST Trump escalates trade war with threat of 50% auto tariffs Trump speaks to reporters alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office at the White House on May 6, 2025. Anna Moneymaker––Getty Images President Donald Trump threatened to raise automobile tariffs on Canada to 50% as the trade rift between the neighboring nations escalated. Trump announced Monday morning that U.S. tariffs on all Canadian cars and trucks, automotive parts, and steel will increase to 50% starting Jan. 1, 2027. “Build in the U.S. and there are zero tariffs. Canada will be treated like a State no longer! On trade, and in other ways, also, they are among the worst nations in the world to deal with,” he said on social media. Trump’s comments came after trade talks between the two countries broke down, with each side accusing the other of making eleventh-hour demands that derailed negotiations. —Tiago Ventura         SPONSORED Introducing The First Agentic CRM Get revenue agents, workflows, and automations across every stage of your motion. Access customer data in real time through Attio's web app, MCP, API, and SDK. Then Ask Attio anything about your business and get instant answers. It's the CRM that runs the work behind every win. Try Attio Now         HAPPENING NOW A ‘tsunami’ for Ukraine: Zelensky rejects wartime elections Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky waits for international guests at the Nordic-Baltic Eight summit in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 23, 2026. Tetiana Dzhafarova—AFP/Getty Images Volodymyr Zelensky may be under pressure to hold elections in Ukraine, including from his former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, but in remarks over the weekend, the Ukrainian President argued that doing so during the ongoing conflict with Russia would “destroy” the country. “I believe that in a war like this, elections as such are a huge risk,” Zelensky said in remarks to journalists during a two-hour meeting Saturday—parts of which were made public on Sunday. “Elections right now are a tsunami for the country that will split Ukraine.” The renewed push for wartime elections was bolstered by Fedorov, who, in a video posted to social media last week, argued that "democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia.” Zelensky fired Fedorov, once his longtime ally, in July over disagreements in how to run the war with Russia. —Chad de Guzman         THE CONTEXT What does an ‘economic D-Day’ look like for Iran? U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference, announcing a new set of sanctions against Iran and describing the measures as an "economic D-Day," on Aug. 24, 2026. Mehmet Eser—Anadolu Iran’s currency plummeted on Monday, hitting a record-low open-market rate of 2.02 million rials to the dollar, as the Trump Administration launched “Operation Economic Outcast,” which aims to force concessions from Iran through isolation and a financial stranglehold. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Sunday that Iran would be subjected to an “economic D-Day”.  The following day, the U.S. announced sanctions on more than 60 targets while expanding the targeted sectors to include digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping—which Bessent described as some of the country’s “most vital lifelines.” The government may also impose secondary sanctions on Iran’s trade partners, Bessent said, adding that those sanctions could roll out in a matter of weeks. —Rebecca Schneid         SPONSORED The best ideas from the best books, distilled into practical insights you can actually use. Explore proven ideas on habits, mindset, productivity, relationships, and personal growth without spending hours reading every page. Get 49% OFF         IN FOCUS The woolly mammoth’s comeback is taking longer than expected An artist's rendering of an Ice Age mammoth. Leonello Calvetti—Science Photo Library If you’ve been excitedly awaiting the return of the woolly mammoth, you’ll have to be patient a little longer. It was in 2021 that the newly established, Dallas-based company Colossal Biosciences announced plans to use modern gene-editing technology and DNA harvested from mammoth remains to manufacture a mammoth embryo, implant it in the womb of an elephant surrogate, and bring the great, gentle, six-ton beast—which vanished from the planet more than 4,000 years ago—back into the modern world. The target date for a pregnancy was 2027; the target date for the birth was 2028. No more. In a recent conversation with TIME, Colossal CEO and co-founder Ben Lamm concedes that those goalposts have moved more than a little. “We are thinking it will be in the early 2030s,” he says. “We don’t have a hard date. Not 2036, but not 2030 either.” In just the past year, Colossal has learned vastly more about both the mammoth and the elephant genomes than has ever been known before, not only improving the odds that the mammoth can be brought back to life, or de-extincted, but also unpacking basic genetic science that could one day have knock-on effects for humans—including potentially increasing resistance to cancer. Colossal proved its de-extinction chops in the spring of 2025, when it announced that it had brought the extinct dire wolf back to life, editing the genome of the closely related gray wolf to replicate the features of its vanished cousin—including a white coat, larger size, more powerful shoulders, wider head, larger teeth and jaws, more-muscular legs, and characteristic vocalizations, especially howling and whining.  To do something similar with the woolly mammoth, Colossal discovered that the work would be a heavier genetic lift than their research teams had originally expected. The initial estimate was that it would take edits to about 60 genes to turn an elephant nucleus into a mammoth nucleus that could then be used to create a mammoth embryo. Now that number is about 150—and rising.  Digging deeper into the genome of the mammoth, Colossal scientists have extracted bits of its regulatory DNA and inserted them into living elephant skin cells and watched as regulators turned the behavior of the genes up or down—critical work if you want to design other genes to order. —Jeffrey Kluger         ONE NUMBER $8.18 billion British households owe £6 billion ($8.18 billion) in unpaid energy bills and arrears, according to data released by industry group EnergyUK on Monday. It comes as energy prices have risen this year because of the war in Iran. SOURCE: ENERGYUK         A VIRAL MOMENT Soccer Samson Erling Haaland, the goalscoring soccer legend who TIME once wrote “looks like Thor,” has cut his famous locks ahead of the new Premier League season. 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