A. Kade - THE KADE FREQUENCY

A French administrative demand letter lying on a kitchen table beside a teenager's school backpack.

captured class

Solidairement: France's Bill to Make Protesters' Families Pay

Teenagers marched for heating and teachers. France's answer: a bill making every protester liable up to €10,000, payable from family allowances.

A stack of closed buff-coloured case folders on a plain wooden desk in flat daylight, with slightly worn covers and nothing else on the desk. No people, text or labels are visible.

captured class

Compatible: 23 Lost Eyes, Zero Convictions in France

A 16-year-old lost an eye at a school blockade in Tours. The prosecutor's word was "compatible." Here's how the last 23 such cases ended.

An empty conference hall in an older European public building, with rows of plain wooden seats, tall windows and a low dais at the far end. No people, flags or insignia are visible.

Empire decline

Geneva: When the UN Moved a Continent Over One Visa

In 1988 the General Assembly voted 154-2 to relocate to Switzerland rather than let the host state pick who speaks. This week, the same thing happened.

A plain bound report lying closed on a bare wooden desk in flat daylight, with a blank grey cover and nothing else on the desk. No text, markings or people are visible.

captured class

Clearly Identifiable: What the UN Found at Minab

A UN mission found war crimes by the US and crimes against humanity by Iran. Both governments called it unserious. And I got one thing wrong in August.

A single unmarked articulated lorry parked in an empty lay-by at night with one cab light on, wet tarmac reflecting the light. No people, text or signage are visible.

captured class

Right After November: Who Actually Pays for This War

European petrol is up 28% since December, and heating oil just jumped €122 in a week. One country made the decision. Most of the people paying have no vote in it.

An unattended laboratory bench in cold flat light, with clean glassware, empty racks and a closed notebook. No people, labels or text are visible.

explainer

No Market: Why Some Diseases Never Get a Drug

1,393 drugs were approved between 1975 and 1999. Thirteen were for diseases affecting 1.7 billion people. Here's the mechanism, and what fixes it.

An empty wooden office chair behind a plain desk in a bare room, lit by pale daylight from a single window. The desk is empty and no people, text or signage are visible.

captured class

The Replacement: A Police Chief, and Six Days

Gaza City's police chief was killed on 13 August. His replacement was killed on 19 August. Some questions, and the answers nobody has given.

A high-altitude glacial lake of pale turquoise meltwater in flat overcast light, with a retreating glacier at the far end and a long ridge of loose rock and gravel debris in the foreground.

explainer

Ten Lakes: Why Glacial Floods Come Without Warning

15 million people live in the path of glacial lake floods. About ten Himalayan lakes have been properly studied. Here's why the warning never comes.

An empty office chair in a dim room facing an unseen monitor, its pale glow lighting one side of the frame. No people, screens or text are visible.

captured class

Outdated: The Word That Killed 175 Children

A school in Minab was struck because the targeting data was old. Not a wrong decision, old information, in a system running at 1,000 targets an hour.

A close-up of an aged legal document page in soft light, with dense typeset paragraphs blurred and unreadable. No words, seals or signatures are legible.

explainer

The Case for War: What Counts as an Act of War?

No treaty defines an act of war. Not the UN Charter, not NATO's Article 5. Here's the history of that silence, and who it serves.

A row of empty retractable queue barriers snaking across a bare floor in a large empty terminal hall under flat overhead lighting. No people, signage or text are visible.

europe

Temporary: When a Rule Becomes a Favour

Italy suspended free movement with Spain. Spain retaliated. Italy has had twice Spain's irregular arrivals. Nine countries now have "temporary" checks.

A worn kitchen table at night lit by a single lamp, with unopened envelopes, printed statements, a cold cup of coffee and a pen. No people are visible and no text is legible

explainer

The Severed Line: Why one wage stopped being enough, and who decided that

The most common second job is the same job again. Here's what happened to wages after 1979, why nobody believes you, and who decided it.