Latest Stories
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Populist leaders come top in virus deaths
Is populism the real virus? As many governments begin to ease lockdown, the statistics point to common failures and a dangerous outlook in countries with right-wing, populist leadership.
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‘To care for ourselves, we must care for nature’
Could animal poaching lead to a new killer virus? On World Environment Day 2020, we investigate the powerful links between human health and our attitude to nature and wildlife.
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Sick and on fire: the end of the American era
Will this be the week when it became clear the American era was over? As thousands take to the streets and a president threatens his own people, many predict a historic turning point.
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Thousands join march as protests spread to UK
Could the virus help kill racism? The high number of black victims of Covid-19, together with the murder of George Floyd, has focused people’s minds on a history of shameful injustice.
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Britain becoming ‘laughing stock of the world’
Is modern Britain a tragedy or a farce? In the world’s sixth-richest country, the virus response looks like a tragic failure – and, as for Parliament, many don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
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Put down your protest banners – or I shoot
Is using the army to quell civil unrest ever justified? Troops from the US 82nd Airborne Division were moved to Washington last night. Americans are terrified that Trump might use them.
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Protest, plague, and the year the world changed
Is this 1968 all over again? America is living through the worst civil unrest since the assassination of Martin Luther King. But the similarities with that momentous year don’t end there.
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The Machine rules – you have been warned
Will we value human contact more after the lockdown? A 111-year-old story by EM Forster is proving extraordinarily prophetic about social isolation and our relationship with technology.
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Wave of violent fury erupts across USA
Is the United State’s crisis, our crisis? The media presents American racism as a uniquely US problem. But evidence shows anti-black racism is rapidly worsening in the UK and Europe too.
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History made as astronauts enter space station
Is our obsession with space wrong? Elon Musk’s company SpaceX has triumphed with its first manned US space rocket in a decade. But many believe humans have a moral duty to focus on Earth.
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Invasion of the 94-stone body snatchers
Is it time to stop the return of the bear? Once threatened with extinction, these wild animals are making a comeback, raising serious concerns about the dangers to people and livestock.
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Trump accuses Twitter of stifling free speech
Is free speech under threat? President Trump has accused Twitter of trying to censor him, while British journalists claim that the government is using underhand tactics to thwart them.
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Heated exchanges – and maybe another Cold War
Has a second Cold War begun? China has been busy flexing its muscles in Hong Kong and elsewhere, suggesting that it sees the Covid-19 pandemic as a chance to claim global leadership.
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‘No apologies, no regrets,’ says No 10 adviser
Will Dominic Cummings go? The raging media storm over Boris Johnson’s right-hand man exposes the yawning gap between the practice of politics and the role of trust in public life.
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How too much news can mess with your head
Does news warp the mind? Our brains evolved to pay attention to threats, but we are constantly bombarded by negative stories. The 24/7 news cycle might be distorting our vision of reality.