Latest Stories
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Book calls Trump ‘a terrified little boy’
Can Donald Trump survive the wrath of his niece? A devastating new book paints the president as a psychologically unhinged fraud. The diagnosis is personal and poisonous – but is it deadly?
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Kanye West declares bid for US presidency
Should we take Kanye seriously? He says he is running to be president of the USA. Elon Musk supports him. Politically, it seems unlikely. But this year has been anything but predictable.
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Politicians and advertisers turn on Facebook
Is Facebook bad for democracy? Advertisers are boycotting the social media site over its feeble response to hate speech, and a new parliamentary report is demanding immediate action.
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The unsolved murder that still haunts Sweden
What lies behind our fascination with true crime? It is fear? Swedish police have just called a halt to a long-running murder investigation which drove amateur sleuths to the point of madness.
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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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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.
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From near-death to birth, the show goes on
Is this the ultimate diversion strategy? Reaction is sharply divided this morning between celebration and exasperation as, once again, Boris Johnson’s personal life eclipses the grim facts.
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‘Lives pulled apart for no good reason’
Who is more out of touch: the tabloids or Meghan and Harry? Exactly 100 days after Megxit, the couple are under vicious fire for announcing a boycott of four popular British newspapers.
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We’re just the same as you – only more famous
In a real crisis, do celebrities help? Some have been praised for leading by example during the pandemic, but many have shown an extraordinary inability to relate to ordinary people.
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It must be true – I saw it on the internet
Can we defeat the misinformation virus? Efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic are being undermined by fake news and scams – and it is not the first crisis to be aggravated in this way.
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Do not lose hope: we can defeat the virus
Should the media publish more good news? The Covid-19 outbreak is frightening and deserves our attention. But amidst all the doom and gloom, there are hundreds of encouraging developments.
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TikTok’s ‘sight bites’ capture the zeitgeist
Should we take TikTok politics seriously? One of the most successful apps in the world was developed for teenagers messing around. Now, it is being adopted by political campaigners.
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After 24 years…Spitting Image set to return
Is satire simply cruel? There is a long tradition of ridiculing the famous and powerful. But in an age of increased sensitivity, the return of TV’s Spitting Image might not be that welcome.
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Darth Vader needs therapy, psychiatrists say
Does Darth Vader have borderline personality disorder? An academic paper by psychiatric researchers argues that he shows clear symptoms. And that we could all learn a lot by studying them.
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No, a street lamp won’t give you the virus
Should conspiracy theories be banned? As the world continues to grapple with the threat of a coronavirus pandemic, troubling fake news about Covid-19 is spreading across the internet.