DINNER PARTY INTEL: Military precision on parade

1. Parade and parody

Two Saturdays ago, there were military parades in London and Washington. The annual trooping the colour was performed by Grenadier Guards, while in Washington there was a march-past to commemorate the US army’s 250th anniversary. Tim Cooper, who has filmed military drills across the world for the past 15 years, described the former as “precision, poise, perfection” while he called the US parade “lacklustre, lamentable, laughable”.

2. Pizza attack alert

There were clues last week to attacks on Iran by Israel and later the US. According to The Times, just before Israeli strikes began on Thursday night, “the area around the Pentagon experienced a surge of pizza orders”. The newspaper said it was a sign that US intelligence staff were preparing for an all-nighter. The Pentagon Pizza Report account on X also noted that a local gay bar had “abnormally low traffic for a Thursday night”. 

3. All out of love

Some Venetians have gone from love to loathing. The target of their 180° turn is this week’s Bezos wedding in the “City of Love”. Tech billionaire Jeff Bezos and bride-to-be Lauren Sánchez, along with many friends, are gathering in the city, much to the annoyance of a group of 300 protesters who plan to disrupt the nuptials. Venice hosts about 600 weddings a year, and the Bezos wedding coincides with peak tourist season.