A look at the work of Germany’s Bamf, the agency with the thorny task of deciding which refugees receive permission to remain in their country. They have many techniques at their disposal, some that can establish identity with little doubt, many more that can only offer “Hinweis” – a clue as to the truth of the story they’re being told.
An eye-opening interview with the man who bankrolled the Leave.EU campaign – confident and ambitious as ever with plans to run for Parliament, a new politics website, and a transatlantic alliance with President Trump’s Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. Conversation turns most interestingly to his views on Russia.
The iconic sequoia tree grows to immense heights, has a massive circumference, lives for many centuries, and will often have no branches for up to half of the trunk’s length – making them a daunting prospect for a would-be climber.
The story of Britain’s little known 20th century conflicts, including a protracted and violent engagement in Oman.
David Vincenzetti is the founder of Hacking Team, a cyber warfare outfit helping governments spy on people. A former employee describes him as “crazy and dangerous”.
Xu Xiang was China’s most successful hedge fund manager, posting returns in excess of 800% and worth $2.2bn. Unfortunately, his card was marked.
This piece kicks off with an evocative depiction of the scene typically found at the V.I.P. terminal of Baghdad International Airport. It was there where in April 2017 a group of Qataris were held on arrival when their luggage was found to contain $360 million in cash. Their presence was linked to a royal hunting trip turned kidnapping that would significantly affect the Middle East’s geopolitics.
Life growing up in a family fighting demons on a daily basis.
A delightfully caustic rundown of (in)famous people that have had a big impact this year – it manages to avoid some of the obvious choices and links to further reading on each entrant.
The story of how a parent teacher association head was allegedly framed for possession of hard drugs by parents with a grudge. The story seems at times to be straight out of a legal procedural TV show – one of the accused writes self-published crime novels in which she imagines ingeniously executed crimes, a firefighter lover arrives at the accused’s house for a tryst at the same time as the police and has to make a hasty exit – and yet it is not.