Spoilers
The Iranian hackers France says sabotaged hundreds of grocery stores. The two sanctioned by Washington in 2024. & Why does Russia keep meddling in Western politics?
Assets and enemies
Feature: Why does Russia keep meddling in Western politics? Vlad Vexler on how all the partisan bickering that reliably follows is the point.
‘A genuine threat’
What U.S. agencies knew about a woman close to Nvidia’s CEO and never told him. Britain’s warning to its war minister in 1961. & Democrats won the U.S. midterms not least because of Trump’s war on Iran—now what?
After the landslide
An Ohio city’s ban on data centers, and a developer who says it makes no difference. Illinois farmers against Chicago’s grain barons, in 1877. & The weekend despatch.
A ‘message to the West’
The weekend despatch: Someone’s one-hour hoax warning about bombs on European flights, in the name of a Russian group whose founder says it no longer exists. + Who’s Tyler Childers?
‘When I say it ends’
Six in 10 U.S. voters against a war Trump started, with no real way to stop it. When Congress refused Gerald Ford money for South Vietnam in 1975. & Why does everyone hate “the elites”?
The revolt against the elites
Feature: Why does everyone hate them? Hugo Drochon on how so many voters in the West came to feel shut out of power.
Whatever happens …
U.S. federal election monitors at the polls, state officials keeping them outside. A president’s sealed plan for losing, in 1864. & What does Google see in AI that investors seem not to?
Midnight judges
An overnight battle for Poland’s top court, with each side saying the law’s on its side. How America’s third president got rid of 16 judges with life appointments. & The weekend despatch.
The Doha curriculum
The weekend despatch: One American businessman’s explanation to another that a foreign government is bribing him. How the Gulf's rival monarchies are paying to play in Western media. + What’s Elephant 6?
