The phone book that led us to Assad's spy chief in hiding

The report

How we tracked down "The Spider" who was once one of the most-feared men in Syria

Why phone matters

This development in phone, book, led, assad, spy matters because it alters the baseline assumptions that BBC and others have been working from.

What led here

BBC notes that this did not emerge in isolation; pressures have been building around phone.

Where this fits in Signal Ledger

Related coverage from the World desk.

• Child among three killed in Russian missile attacks near Kyiv
• 'I ran because I knew I would die': Russian drones target medics in Ukraine
• Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan pledge mutual defence as Middle East turmoil escalates

The editorial angle

Signal Ledger reads this through the lens of phone, book, led, assad, spy: How we tracked down "The Spider" who was once one of the most-feared men in Syria.