The 79th Cannes Film Festival opened Tuesday, with 22 films competing for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top award. South Korean director Park Chan-wook is leading this year’s nine-member competition jury. Pierre Salvadori’s The Electric Kiss officially opened the festival, following a pre-opening screening of Pan’s Labyrinth, shown again 20 years after its record 22-minute ovation. Other films drawing attention include Pedro Almodóvar’s Amarga Navidad, Ira Sachs’ The Man I Love, and John Travolta’s directorial debut, Propeller One-Way Night Coach. Barbra Streisand and Peter Jackson will receive honorary Palme d’Or awards.
True Spies
The Old Man And The CIA
How much power can one spy hold from the shadows?
After World War II, the United States faced a choice over what kind of global power it wanted to become. President Harry Truman created the CIA in 1947, but he did not want it to become a force for coups, assassinations, or secret wars. Allen Dulles had a very different vision.
Before becoming the CIA’s longest-serving director, Dulles built his career in diplomacy, Wall Street law, and wartime intelligence. During World War II, he served in Bern, Switzerland, with the OSS, America’s wartime spy agency. There, he met with senior Nazi figures and helped arrange Operation Sunrise, a secret surrender negotiation that angered Franklin D. Roosevelt and raised Soviet suspicions.
After the OSS was dissolved, Dulles continued to operate through unofficial channels. He helped shape early Cold War operations, including efforts to manipulate politics behind the Iron Curtain. By 1953, he had become head of the CIA, while his brother, John Foster Dulles, served as secretary of state.
From that position, Dulles pushed the Agency into a new era of covert power, targeting perceived communist threats abroad and helping turn secret action into a central tool of American foreign policy.
Join author David Talbot in this week’s podcast selection, ‘The Old Man And The CIA’, for a story of secret power, Cold War ambition, and the man who helped reshape American intelligence.
When a buried mission resurfaces, Jack Ryan is pulled back into the CIA. Together with MI6 agent Emma Marlow, he faces a ruthless enemy who’s always one step ahead—turning every move into a fight for survival. No operation stays dark forever.
Jack Ryan: Ghost War on Prime
When a buried mission resurfaces, Jack Ryan is pulled back into the CIA. Together with MI6 agent Emma Marlow, he faces a ruthless enemy who’s always one step ahead—turning every move into a fight for survival. No operation stays dark forever.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling on schools to make recess a protected part of the day, releasing its first updated guidance on the topic in 13 years. The group says unstructured play helps children and teens learn, move, socialize, and manage emotions.
The recommendation pushes back against a trend in some schools to shrink recess in favor of more classroom time and test prep. Pediatric experts say breaks give students space to reset and may help them retain what they learn. They recommend at least 20 minutes of recess each day, along with shorter breaks between lessons.
Across the US, access to recess remains uneven. Since the mid-2000s, as many as 40% of school districts have cut back or removed it altogether. In schools that still offer recess, the length can vary widely. Some states are beginning to set firmer rules.
Articles
FISA Section 702
How does modern surveillance reach across borders?
FISA Section 702 has become one of Washington’s most contested intelligence tools. Created in 2008 as part of an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, it allows US agencies to intercept electronic communications from non-US citizens located overseas without a traditional warrant.
Agencies, including the NSA, CIA, and FBI, use the program to monitor suspected terrorists, foreign spies, weapons networks, and cybercriminals. Supporters argue that speed matters, especially when tracking threats across borders, and say the system has helped disrupt terror plots, trace fentanyl supply chains, and respond to ransomware attacks.
The dispute centers on “incidental collection.” When a foreign target communicates with an American, the American’s messages can also be added to the database. Privacy advocates and some lawmakers argue that this gives the FBI a way to search U.S. persons' communications without the normal constitutional safeguards.
The fight came to a head in April 2026, as Congress scrambled to keep Section 702 from expiring. After longer extensions stalled, lawmakers passed a short 10-day extension, leaving the larger debate unresolved.
Discover more about FISA Section 702 in this SPYSCAPE article.
Give your party guests an unforgettable experience designed to engage, entertain, and inspire. Our dedicated staff will be on hand to help, and you'll even get your own private space to celebrate.
Host your birthday at SPYSCAPE or SPYGAMES.
Give your party guests an unforgettable experience designed to engage, entertain, and inspire. Our dedicated staff will be on hand to help, and you'll even get your own private space to celebrate.
A 59,000-year-old molar found in a Siberian cave may hold the oldest known evidence of dental treatment, according to a new study published in the journal PLOS One. The tooth belonged to a Neanderthal, and a deep hole in its surface suggests someone used a sharp tool to ease the problem.
Researchers believe the tool may have been a toothpick made from local jasper. To test the idea, they tried similar procedures on three modern human teeth. Wear marks on the ancient molar suggest the Neanderthal kept using the tooth afterward, indicating the treatment may have worked well enough to allow eating.
The find is unusual because no species other than Homo sapiens had previously been linked to this kind of dental procedure. It also adds to growing evidence that Neanderthals were more capable than old stereotypes suggest.
