How Saudi Arabia Infiltrated Twitter
The extraordinary allegations presented in this story suggest that two Twitter employees used privileged access to internal systems to identify private user information and share it with the Saudi state.
‘The intelligence coup of the century’
The explosive story of Crypto AG, a Swiss firm that for decades supplied cryptography technology to numerous world governments, and provided a back door to US and West German intelligence services in the process.
Dominic Cummings and the battle for Downing Street
A profile of Dominic Cummings by the Newsnight political editor.
The Billion-Dollar Disinformation Campaign to Reelect the President
A look at the prospect in the US of a presidential election saturated with the “censorship through noise” of a coordinated disinformation campaign.
Imperial Graveyard
This dissection of a biography of the prominent American diplomatic Richard Holbrooke deals with a complex figure (“an exceptional shit of a human being, even aside from the defects born of extreme ambition”) who served in the Balkans under Clinton and Afghanistan under Obama, and stood for a very particular vision of America’s place in the world.
Is a Good-Enough Candidacy Good Enough for Joe Biden?
On the eve of the Iowa Caucus, a look at Joe Biden’s candidacy, defined perhaps more by who he’s not, than by who he is.
The Fog of Rudy
The eventful career of Rudy Giuliani is examined in this compelling profile, culminating in his role as attorney to Donald Trump. As the author observes – “The real question is perhaps not ‘What happened to Rudy?’ It’s ‘What happened to us?’ Today, anything seems possible for those who are willing to say and do anything.”
Revealed: how Angolan ruler’s daughter used her status to build $2bn empire
The story of alleged grand corruption perpetrated by Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the former President of Angola.
Mohammed bin Zayed’s Dark Vision of the Middle East’s Future
A piece seeking to deconstruct the world view and ambitions of the leader of the UAE, a key player in a region under severe political strain. It’s noteworthy that the response online to this piece has been extremely divided, ranging from dubbing it “a sinister piece of hagiography” to an “exceptional profile” based on an “extremely rare interview”.
Blood and Soil in Narendra Modi’s India
An arresting and disturbing story about the past, present, and future of Narendra Modi’s politics. The story’s climax is the proposal that, with his reelection 2019, Modi “uncovered a terrible secret at the heart of Indian society: by deploying vicious sectarian rhetoric, the country’s leader could persuade Hindus to give him nearly unchecked power.”