Hello and happy weekend to you all. We have reads for you today from all over the world. So sit back, ease into the weekend and be transported by mysteries in Cuba, mountains in Colombia and midterms in the US – just to name a few. Enjoy.

1. Cocaine nation Cocaine seizures in Europe have increased more than fivefold in the past 10 years. A host of drug cartels have taken root as the continent’s “insatiable appetite” for cocaine grows. One man, Jos Leijdekkers, has successfully turned Sierra Leone into the world’s first true narco state, according to intelligence sources. A Guardian investigation, which drew on dozens of interviews with intelligence and police officers across two continents, has revealed the murderous cost of the drug trade.

‘It is state capture by a criminal network on a scale never seen’: Leijdekkers is Europe’s pre-eminent cocaine baron. The Dutchman is credited with importing volumes “vast enough to repeatedly crash Europe’s cocaine market”. He is also comfortable with deadly violence. It is reported that high-ranking police officers are among at least 14 people killed in Sierra Leone on Leijdekkers’ orders. The cocaine kingpin is also the son-in-law of Julius Maada Bio – the president of Sierra Leone.

Sources say Leijdekkers’ empire was at one time generating a $150m (£113m) monthly profit – greater than the cost of running the entire country. In 2025, the Netherlands sent a request to extradite Leijdekkers – one of Europe’s most wanted men. But Sierra Leone denied even knowing who he was.

Notable quote: “We’ve had cocaine disputes before, but nothing like this. We’ve entered a new era.” – European police source How long will it take to read: just over nine minutes.

2. A verdict on Trump is coming Come 3 November, millions of Americans will head to the polls and cast their vote in the midterm elections. The stakes are high, with the results predicted to have a huge impact on Donald Trump’s last two years in office. Voters are set to decide whether they trust the president’s Maga allies to keep control of Congress, or return Democrats to the majority. With the cost-of-living continuing to hurt households, and the US-Israel war on Iran unpopular with many across the political spectrum, Democrats have a shot at taking back control of the House of Representatives and the Senate – potentially giving them the power to block Trump’s authoritarian agenda.

What really matters to Americans? When the Guardian asked readers what issue mattered most to them and if they were optimistic about the future of America, common themes emerged. Most voters were concerned about the state of the economy. Justin Daniels from Michigan said: “I don’t understand why so many CEOs are saying companies are making record profits while people have to have two and three jobs.”Morgan from California saw a discrepancy between ordinary citizens and Donald Trump: “He is benefiting from his office, increasing his income [by] billions of dollars, while Americans are suffering with high gas prices and food prices and so forth.”

Another theme was the Trump administration’s assault on migrants. Scott from Georgia told the Guardian: “I feel like [ICE] right now is having the largest, most powerful negative impact on people in this country. And it’s very blatant, and I feel like stopping that would be a good touchstone for how we all move forward.”How long will it take to read: less than six minutes. Giving US readers plenty of time to to vote.

3. A 28-year walk home How far would you be willing to walk home? More than a kilometre and I am probably calling a cab. But Karl Bushby has walked more than 36,000 miles (58,000km) since he left his home in Hull back in 1998. After bush-bashing through deserts, surviving kidnappers and being held at gunpoint, Bushby says “some things are worth dying for”. But why walk? What is Bushby running from?

An overwhelming sense of his own mortality: A keen distance runner, Bushby would suffer from anxiety attacks if he went a day without running. Poor mental health pushed him to finally lace up his hiking boots and walk across the world. But his biggest driver was death. “I took death seriously. You’re dying, you’ve got one life, and what are you going to do with it? That really resonated with me,” Bushby said.

Notable quote: “I always say 99.999% of the people I met represented the very best of humanity. Every country has been the same.”How long will it take to read: 11 minutes. But don’t worry, Bushby’s trek may be coming to a screen near you. German film-maker Werner Herzog is making a documentary about the journey.

4. Havana Syndrome: Russian operation or mass hysteria? It’s a mystery that has haunted American intelligence services for the last decade. Dozens of CIA officers have been afflicted by the strange and debilitating symptoms often referred to as Havana Syndrome (official documents refer to it as anomalous health incidents). This read asks: is it just hysteria, or is there something more nefarious behind the unexplained phenomenon?

Is Russia behind Havana Syndrome? A new book by two CBS journalists asserts that Russia was behind at least some of the documented episodes of the strange illness. The theory posits Russian intelligence found a way to wound or intimidate covert US operatives using a previously unknown weapon that delivers sonic or pulsed microwave energy. The book also suggests that parts of the US government and intelligence community covered up the evidence.

But others, like Douglas Fields, a cellular neuroscientist and author of several books about the brain, claim that theories of an energy weapon should be taken no more seriously than sightings of the Loch Ness monster. How long will it take to read: a bit under 10 minutes.

5. Abused while under the care and control of the state Sarah Collard, Indigenous affairs correspondent for Guardian Australia, spoke to four young men who have lodged civil proceedings alleging historical sexual abuse by staff and fellow detainees at youth detention centres in Canberra. They give eerily similar accounts, despite their experiences being separated by years and occurring at different centres. They allege they were not believed, were dismissed or had no way of disclosing their abuse at the time.

Notable quote: “It seemed to be a bit of a protect-the-perpetrators club there … The few that did [speak up] were shunned out.” – Kirsten Nasser, from the legal firm Maliganis Edwards Johnson, a solicitor specialising in cases alleging institutional abuse.