Hello from the London newsroom, where we’re being kept even busier than usual by a heady mix of stories — from Trump’s deal with Iran to the aftermath of the SpaceX IPO and the Makerfield by-election, a British political earthquake whose tremors are being felt in Westminster.

Beyond the office, this is perhaps my favourite time of year: the pubs are overflowing with City drinkers enjoying the long summer evenings, the school and university exam season is over, London’s parks are thrumming with picnickers, and the spirit of revelry abounds.

Wherever you are, I hope you enjoy my selection of the week’s articles, with a few from elsewhere that are well worth reading.

If this email was forwarded to you and you’d like to receive Long Story Short in your inbox every Friday, click here to sign up.

Controversy over the mooted development by Donald Trump’s son-in-law on the Albanian island of Sazan has become a touchstone for unrest over wider government corruption. The Albanian premier, meanwhile, claims the tensions are being stoked from afar by hackers in Iran. Our reporters unpick the competing international, domestic and environmental pressures ignited by Jared and Ivanka’s latest project.

A vet, a stairlift salesman and a Mozart scholar walk into a discreet hotel . . . not the start of a joke but the story of the “Wegmann shareholders” — the secretive heirs to the Franco-German tank manufacturer KNDS. Laura Pitel and Leila Abboud take us behind the scenes to meet the individuals set to receive huge windfalls when the German government buys its stake in the company.

Ending the conflict with Iran has become a totemic test of Trump’s presidency, and the effort was nearly knocked off course by a Sunday night offensive on Beirut by Benjamin Netanyahu’s forces. Cue turmoil in Washington: an 80th birthday party, a huge geopolitical crisis, an expletive-ridden rant . . . just another day in the White House, deftly deciphered by Ed Luce.

I always look forward to reading Eleanor Olcott’s dispatches from Beijing and this magazine piece — on how the gym became her community in an increasingly atomised and digitised city — is a brilliantly colourful insight into life in China’s capital. Read on for details of the personal trainers, hip-hop dancers and geriatric weightlifters who populate her branch of Oxygym.

On the investigations team, we specialise in stories that bring hidden issues to light. So when I spotted that teenagers across Europe and Israel were being recruited as proxies by hostile states, I was determined to find out more. These youngsters are often approached on gaming platforms and enticed into dangerous acts of sabotage or reconnaissance in exchange for payments in crypto. Almost all the risk lies with the teen recruits, while their handlers hide behind anonymous Telegram accounts, remote and often impossible to track down.

Quick hits

OTHER FT STORIES THAT HAVE CAUGHT MY EYE THIS WEEK

• Ahead of the by-election, Robert Shrimsley was brilliant on how Makerfield candidate and prime ministerial rival Andy Burnham embodies voters’ search for hope in a hopeless Britain.

• New research from the health tech frontier reveals that AI medical tools now match or surpass human doctors in the quality of diagnosis and treatment.

• Our Big Read from Bogotá uncovers the manoeuvrings behind the boom in Colombian cocaine — as leftwing rebels have been replaced by gangsters selling ever more drugs to Europe and Asia.

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING ELSEWHERE

1. Makerfield days A beautiful essay on the residents of the Makerfield constituency, a population under global scrutiny as Britain’s political woes deepen. (New Statesman).

2. The Whimsy and Heartbreak of America’s Garage Sales I love Caity Weaver’s writing and this, on the bric-a-brac magic of second-hand stalls and estate sales, does not disappoint. (The Atlantic).

3. David Hockney’s Living Depths Hockney was such a titan of the British art scene that it is hard to believe he is gone. Rebecca Mead captures the dopamine-boosting brilliance of his work, his endless reinvention and optimistic vigour (New Yorker).

Sunday will be the summer solstice, which reminded me of Judith Evans’ lyrical report from Stonehenge on the Morris dancers, ravers, hippies and archdruids who gather at Britain’s ancient stone circle to celebrate the longest day of the year. Even if the pagan rituals leave you cold, there is, Judith writes, something consoling in the solidity of these prehistoric monuments and the benign chaos of the solstice revels.

We always want to hear your thoughts and feedback, so drop me a line at [email protected] or email the team at [email protected] — and have a lovely weekend, however you spend it.

Helen