CATEGORIES

What did you just say? - The fallibility of intelligent chatbots

Google’s unveiling of a rival to ChatGPT had an expensively embarrassing stumble last week when it emerged that promotional material showed the AI chatbot giving an incorrect response to a question.

Poor science - Research left with massive funding gap

The government’s new science minister has said the UK is “more than ready to go it alone” if there is no resolution to the stalemate over taking part in the EU’s flagship research programme.

Burt Bacharach 1928-2023

The composer leaves a long list of complex and distinctive melodies, interpreted by musicians of all stripes. Maybe you are humming one now?

Peak perspective

Globe-trotting artist Peter Doig is on the brink of a new frontier, with a show that puts his work alongside venerated modern masters

Polls don't bode well for Biden despite his triumphs

When Joe Biden accused some Republicans of wanting to “take the economy hostage” and slash social welfare entitlements, the US’s State of the Union address turned into a verbal brawl akin to the UK’s House of Commons. “No!”, “Boo!”, “Liar!” came the response.

Progress poll - All eyes on crucial test for African democracy

Upcoming election is a chance for the continent's most populous nation to reaffirm faith in elected governments

Thorny issue - Invasive cactus takes root above the snowline

The residents of the Swiss canton of Valais are used to seeing their mountainsides covered with snow in winter and edelweiss flowers in summer. But as global heating intensifies, they are increasingly finding an invasive species colonising the slopes: cacti.

Female readers find solace and feminism in Sally Rooney

When the manuscript of Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends first arrived in Peng Lun’s inbox, he hesitated.

Secret summit raises Brexit's lack of success

Brexiters and remainers from both sides of the political divide met for ‘private discussion’ with diplomats and business leaders

'He's really dangerous' - The convict soldiers go back home

Anatoly Salmin, a convicted thief and murderer, is home from prison years ahead of schedule – his reward for volunteering for a suicide mission in Russia’s war in Ukraine and then managing to survive.

Two more years of war warns head of Wagner group

The boss of the Russian mercenary Wagner group said it could take Russia two years to seize the east of Ukraine in a rare interview that suggests at least some key figures in Moscow are gearing up for a protracted conflict.

'The dead leave empty spaces'

A year after the death of his beloved mother, the artist and writer Osman Yousefzada looks back on her zest for life and the comfort of community rituals

Smoke and mirrors

Andrew Tate achieved global notoriety and, he claims, vast riches by peddling his businesses and his brand of violent misogyny to millions on social media. But is the former kickboxer’s life of fast cars and luxury a facade?

DESPERATE IN IDLIB - THE FLOW OF AID IS TAINTED BY POLITICAL SQUABBLES

A Syrian rebel leader with a $10 m US government bounty on his head has appealed for urgent international aid to help the province of Idlib after the earthquake that killed thousands and brought the last opposition-controlled area to its knees.

Deadly lessons - Developers cut corners rather than heed costly guidance

After more than 17,000 people were killed in an earthquake near the Turkish city of Istanbul in 1999, authorities promised stricter building regulations and introduced an “earthquake tax” aimed at improving preparedness in a country that sits on two major geological fault lines.

HORROR UPON HORROR

As cemeteries fill up and families wait for news, those who fled the bombardment from the air in Syria's civil war relive the grim ritual of digging through rubble

City limits 'I fear something very violent will happen'

Burning pyres of rubbish and bullet-pocked walls. Troops holed up in the airport with AK-47s and riot shields, waiting for a truce. A mayor holding court behind the broken windows of a vandalised city hall.

Famous blue leotard

Leonard Cohen gave his blessing toa dance show set to his songs, but did not live to see it. Ontour, its performers recall feeling his presence onstage

Creature comforts This scholarly look at how badly humans treat animals employs moral principles to shame us into recognising their rights

The physicist Stephen Hawking once hosted a party for time travellers, but only sent out the invitations after the date had already passed. No one came.

How to buck up buckwheat so you're not stuck with a glucy mush

When Alissa Timoshkina was growing up, buckwheat was something of a staple: “We’d have it for breakfast with milk and sugar, as a side to savoury dishes, or as a stuffing for pies or cabbage rolls,” says the Russian author of Salt & Time: Recipes from a Russian Kitchen. “It’s not just comforting because it tastes like childhood, but it’s nutritionally good as well.”

Lightning seeds Completed before he was attacked last year, Salman Rushdie's book about a 15th-century Indian empire has an infectious sense of fun

The Vijayanagara empire covered most of south India in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Sea change

BBC radio’ shipping forecast holds aspecial place in British culture. Mark Power tried to capture its mystery in his 1996 book, which has been updated with new images

Next level

The Japanese games maker Nintendo has spent 40 years at the top. What's its secret?

I went viral for a meme, but Scholz's hesitancy over Ukraine is no joke Timothy Garton Ash

A couple of weeks ago, at a moment of huge frustration over Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s foot-dragging on allowing Leopard tanks to go to Ukraine, a Ukrainian friend sent me a satirical mockup on “Scholzing”.

Europe needs to copy Biden's green deal - not resort to its old ways Lorenzo Marsili

European governments have for many years basked in a sense of climate superiority over the US. We had the most ambitious climate goals; we were the constructive actor at Cop conferences; we had carbon-pricing mechanisms; and since 1990, we have reduced emissions by 28% against just 2% in the US. The US, by contrast, had climate-denying Republicans.

Netanyahu can be resisted - but only with Palestinian support Jonathan Freedland

Netanyahu can be resisted - but only with Palestinian support Jonathan Freedland

Everything in its place

It’s the age of decanting never before have household perfectionists removed so many things from packages, only to put them in other packages. Extreme tidiness is amodern obsession. But is it healthy? By Amelia Tait

'All we wanted was justice'

In 2021, a security guard in Spain stormed into his workplace and shot four people. He was caught and badly injured after a standoff with police, and a trial was set but his victims would never get to see him punished. Should a mass shooter have been allowed the right to die by euthanasia?

Bolsonaro 'clears head' in Florida as anger grows in Brazil

Among the most popular traditions at Florida’s Disney World are the daily character appearances that allow the public to get up close to the theme parks’ star attractions.

All blown up What was the Chinese 'spy balloon' actually for?

A Chinese balloon was brought down in a puff of smoke and debris by an air-launched missile, after perplexing Washington with its three-day odyssey over the continental US. The question is: what was it all for?