Robert Worth | New York Times | 30 January 2013 Profile of Gérard de Villiers, 83, French king of pulp fiction, author of 200 spy novels. They're cheesy and full of bad sex. But here's the thing: they are also full of real-life secrets from the cloak-and-dagger world. Over the years de Villiers has become a drop-box for spies, and not only French ones, who want to get a story out Sepoy | Chapati Mystery | 28 January 2013 Fantasy: How to design a city for maximum protection against drone strikes. Fixed outer wall, movable inner walls. Windows covered with computerised mashrabiyas that recombine into QR codes to jam cameras. High-wattage radio towers to interfere with wireless communication. Moving LED lights to frustrate facial recognition Justin Fox | Harvard Business Review | 30 January 2013 Jeff Bezos delivers results, exudes authority, stays on message—and so persuades investors to accept his pursuit of long-term growth over short-term profits. "He's a hedge fund veteran who has always taken a skeptical view of Wall Street, treating it more as a loopy rich uncle than the efficient information processor of standard finance theory" Sumit Ganguly | Foreign Affairs | 30 January 2013 Rahul Gandhi — son of Sonia, grandson of Indira — is being groomed to succeed Manmohan Singh as India's prime minister. But is he up to the job? He's not shown much acumen as a campaigner, or a legislator, or a public figure. If Congress insists on running him, it could hand an election victory to its right-wing populist rival, BJP Adam Curtis | BBC | 30 January 2013 "The West is worried about the rise of Islamism in Africa. But behind these fears is an incredibly simplified — almost fictional — vision of the world. At its heart is a filter that wipes away anything complex about power and the struggles for power in African countries. It's blind and arrogant. And it's terribly dangerous" Susanne Beyer | Spiegel | 30 January 2013 Artistic director of Moscow opera and ballet theatre almost blinded in acid atack. His predecessor resigned, saying, "This theater has no morals". Ballet director was forced out in a sex scandal. What's going on? One theory blames professional or sexual jealousies among the performers; another points to a criminal racket in ticket scalping Thought for the day: "History doesn’t happen when a leader makes an argument, or even strikes a pose. It happens when he strikes a chord" — Mark Lilla
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