Welcome to Sunday. The top 5 most-read stories of the week are displayed below, followed by five editors’ selections that we want to make sure you don’t miss.

You can also get the most-read stories in a magazine-style e-book.

Readers this week were especially attuned to stories offering context on the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Clark Cunningham, an expert on search warrants at Georgia State University, explains what agents were looking for and which laws the Department of Justice thinks Trump violated.

One of those is the Espionage Act. While its name conjures images of furtive spies stealing secrets, it actually applies to any unauthorized gathering, possessing or transmitting of sensitive government information, write national security legal scholars Joseph Ferguson and Thomas A. Durkin. Jeffrey Fields of USC Dornsife explains how the U.S. classifies such information and tries to keep it safe.

The week’s other big news was the passage of a law that would spend an estimated $490 billion over 10 years primarily on policies intended to fight climate change. One editor’s pick explored a group that’s looking to influence policies meant to move economies away from fossil fuels: Big Oil. Robert Brecha and Gaurav Ganti describe their research showing the decarbonization road maps BP, Shell and other oil companies have come up with actually won’t help the U.S. meet its Paris climate goals.

The law also has some health care measures, including a push to drive down prescription drug prices for Medicare. Texas A&M University health policy scholar Simon F. Haeder considers whether it will cut costs for seniors or anyone else.

And with summer winding down, don’t miss Joseph Scalia’s piece on sandcastle engineering. Next week, we’ll have stories on cell tower anxiety, dolphin whistles and wormholes.

Bryan Keogh

Deputy Managing Editor

Readers' picks

Former President Donald Trump, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Aug. 6, 2022, in Dallas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

You don’t have to be a spy to violate the Espionage Act – and other crucial facts about the law Trump may have broken

Joseph Ferguson, Loyola University Chicago; Thomas A. Durkin, Loyola University Chicago

Two national security law experts explain how the Espionage Act isn’t only about international intrigue, and share other important points about the law that was invoked in a search of Trump’s estate.

Editors' picks

BP, Shell and Equinor all produce widely used scenarios of energy’s future. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Influential oil company scenarios for combating climate change don’t actually meet the Paris Agreement goals, our new analysis shows

Robert Brecha, University of Dayton; Gaurav Ganti, Humboldt University of Berlin

Most claiming to be compatible with the climate agreement show a strong continuing reliance on natural gas and coal.

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