US security services accuse Russia of interfering in the US election (Trump meets with intelligence leaders after calling Russia case ‘witch-hunt’, 6 January), but in view of FBI director James Comey’s bombshell only 11 days before the election – announcing that the FBI had discovered additional emails and was reviewing them to see whether they were related to its investigation into Clinton’s handling of classified information – are we to assume he is also a Russian agent?
John Green
London
• Loner, hacker supreme – forget Alisa Shevchenko (Young Russian denies she aided election hackers, 7 January), it’s got to be Wasp (Lisbeth Salander).
Paulette Phillips
Bromley, Kent
• Good for the pope (Go ahead and breastfeed in church, 9 January). Another benefit of breastfeeding, which would appeal to the pope, is that it can be an effective method of birth control, as long as breastfeeding remains exclusive and frequent. The activities of milk companies have inadvertently contributed to the population explosion, increasing the number of their potential customers.
Peter Greaves
London
• Like Andy Croft (Letters, 9 January) I too have concerns about the Guardian’s list of must-read books for 2017. It failed to take into account the growing market for self-published books, many of them of higher quality than so-called mainstream books. In particular, I suspect one bestseller is due to be out in October 2017: Corpse Roads of Cumbria by Alan Cleaver.
Alan Cleaver
Whitehaven, Cumbria
• Had Peter Riocreux (Letters, 9 January) asked the good Dr Wiki for advice he would have learned that: “The word broccoli comes from the Italian plural of broccolo, which means ‘the flowering crest of a cabbage’.” The internet can tell you a lot.
John Presland
Meres, Asturias, Spain
• I’m not sure about a broccolo, but I do know that a spaghetto is the last strand left on your plate.
Jerry Stuart
London
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