"We are in Britain, to use a technical economic term, screwed," writes John Lanchester in this primer on the global financial meltdown. He relates the complex roots of the crisis with admirable clarity, attributing the crunch to a congruence of factors: "a climate" (the triumph of free-market capitalism with the end of the Cold War); "a problem" (sub-prime mortgages); "a mistake" (bankers' maladroit risk calculations); and "a failure" (on the part of governments, which let it all happen).

Chancellor George Osborne launched a searing attack on Labour today for leaving Britain's armed forces dangerously outdated.

A German student has created a computer game giving players a taste of life as an East German border guard shooting political fugitives fleeing to the West, to the outrage of victims' relatives.

A two-day meeting taking place in Moscow this week may turn out to be just another talking shop, but it could also be the start of something much more significant. The subject is co-operation in the Arctic, a title which puts the most positive spin on what might more realistically be termed cut-throat competition for a slice of territory believed to be rich in natural resources.

Assassinations were carried out by British intelligence services during the Cold War, a former secret agent has revealed. John le Carré, who became a novelist after working for MI5 and MI6 in the 1950s and 1960s, said he saw "very bad things" during his career. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Le Carré, whose real name is David Cornwell, admitted the British carried out "direct action", but insisted he was never involved.

The number of senior officers in Britain’s armed forces is likely to be cut as part of sweeping measures to tackle a £37 billion black hole in the defence budget.

North Korea has offered a unique way to repay nearly $10m in Cold War-era debt – with ginseng, according to Czech officials.

Tony Judt was a fine historian, a specialist in the 20th century, and a prolific author who never shied away from controversy. That, until two years ago, is how he would have been remembered, and his writing and teaching would have been monument enough. But now, for every one person who knew and admired him for his scholarship, there will probably be many, many more who will mourn him for the fortitude he showed in his last illness, the fearlessness with which he spoke about it, and the strength of his determination to use every moment he had left.

On one of the hottest days of the year, the scene at Vienna airport recalled some of the coldest days of the Cold War. Two planes, one flown in from New York, the other from Moscow, stood side by side on the tarmac. There was an exchange; the planes flew back with new passengers, and there was quiet satisfaction with a deal well done.

Having worked as a reporter in Moscow, Washington and indeed London, I have learnt only two lessons from the periodic eruption of espionage dramas. The first is that, however seductive and meticulous the detail, things are seldom completely as they seem. The second is that, despite the end of the Cold War, pretty much everyone is still at it: note the terse "no comment" given by Britain's former ambassador in Moscow Tony Brenton when asked on the BBC Today programme yesterday whether Britain was still in the Russia spying game.