Friday briefing: ​After a week of disruption, is living with threats our new normal?

In today’s newsletter: From diverted airliners to hacked ​fridges, a string of disruptive incidents has exposed the ​vulnerabilities of modern ​life. ​There is now an increasingly blurred space between peace and conflict, the grey zone.Good morning. A multiplicity of hoax bomb threats divert passenger flights across Europe. A malign cyber-attack targets supermarket fridges in Belgium, Sweden, the UK and – in a sickening escalation – the cold storage facilities of France’s national blood service.The actors behind this week of chaos and disruption, be they hostile states or criminal gangs – or even enterprising teenagers – are yet to be identified. But what is certain is that they operate in a context of deepening global conflicts, building national threat and an accompanying, pervasive sense of vulnerability.UK news | Russell Brand has been found guilty of raping a woman and sexually assaulting three others over the course of five years of his show business career.US politics | Donald Trump signed a proclamation that he says will prevent future administrations from changing his design of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room, spaces he declared as national monuments that should be preserved.UK politics | Andy Burnham has said he wants to “recast” the UK’s deal to cede control of the Chagos Islands after resistance from Washington.Health | Cancer diagnoses in England have hit record highs, with more than 1,000 people a day diagnosed, NHS figures show.World news | The UN-recognised government of Yemen has shaken up its political and military leadership in an attempt to regain territory lost to the Houthis in September. Continue reading...