CATEGORIES

A disaster foretold The story behind 1986's Challenger space shuttle explosion is a gripping catalogue of underfunding and stifling bureaucracy

In 1986, two catastrophic events occurred on either side of the cold war divide that shocked the world. On 28 January, 73 seconds after takeoff, the US space shuttle Challenger broke apart in mid-air, killing all seven astronauts on board and traumatising millions of viewers watching live on TV. Three months later, on 26 April, a meltdown at Chornobyl sent a radioactive cloud across the USSR and Europe. Two workers died immediately and the estimated death toll over time ranges from hundreds to tens of thousands. It's widely believed to have contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

A wild ride Tragedy and farce collide in the Irish author's beautiful, lovable and fun tale of lovers on the run in 19th-century Montana

The hero of Kevin Barry's new novel, The Heart in Winter, is a dope-fiend Irishman haphazardly subsisting in the mining town of Butte, Montana, in the 1890s. Tom Rourke has a poor excuse for a job as assistant to a poor excuse for a photographer, and earns drink money by writing letters for illiterate men luring brides from the east. His spare time is spent haunting brothels, racking up debt through his opium habit, and writing songs along the lines of: Ain't got a dime / But the sun's gonna shine/ Coz we's all bound for heaven/ On the Cal-i-fornee line. In his own mind, he is \"set apart from the hoarse and laughing crowd. He was at a distance of artistic remove from it was what he felt.\"

Alive and Kicken The gallery that's pivotal to how we see photography

Co-founded before the medium was taken seriously as art, this Berlin venue is turning 50 by celebrating its collection-and photography itself

All the rage

The designer and activist has been making waves for decades. Now she's back with an urgent political message

If Starmer is a 'political robot', he's one that has been hardwired to win

No drama Starmer. No surprises at last week's manifesto launch, no rabbits, no hats. Some in the audience are getting restless. Reporters yawn, or laugh, when the Labour leader says, for the millionth time, that his father was a toolmaker who worked in a factory. A voter at last Wednesday's Sky News debate told him to his face that he was a \"political robot\". The complaint is not only about style, but substance too. Opponents on the right lambast the lack of plans and policy detail; on the left they condemn the dearth of radical ambition.

I've swiped away my dating apps-and life feels all the better for it

Swipe. Swipe. Swipe. For a while I was swiping so much I was barely thinking. Dating apps had hijacked my fingers, brain and evenings. I'd swipe, mindlessly and without looking, under the table at group dinners or during TV ad breaks. \"This is modern dating,\" I'd tell myself. \"It's a job. I have to keep on going. This is the key to my happy ending.\"

Rising violence against politicians is an attack on democracy itself

The response of Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's centre-left prime minister, to being physically assaulted in a Copenhagen street was dignified and very human. \"I'm not doing great, and I'm not really myself yet,\" she admitted last week. The attack had left her feeling shocked and intimidated, she said.

The vinyl frontier

As album sales boom in the UK, so has the illegal trade in poor-quality fakes. But dogged record detectives are fighting back against the bootleggers

'We're in 1938 now' Putin's war in Ukraine and lessons from history

Some analysts believe Kyiv is buying the west time on the precipice of a world war. Does the experience of previous conflicts suggest this time is being used wisely?

Russian warships bring cold war frisson to Havana

Where vast American cruise ships once disgorged mojito-thirsty holidaymakers into the crumbling streets of old Havana, now lurks the eerie darkness of the Russian nuclear-powered submarine Kazan.

Will supreme court ethics prove to be a key election issue?

'Look at me, look at me,\" said Martha-Ann Alito. \"My heritage is German. You come after me, I'm gonna give it back to you.\" It was a bizarre outburst from the wife of a justice on America's highest court. Secretly recorded by a liberal activist, Alito complained about a neighbour's gay pride flag and expressed a desire to fly a sacred heart of Jesus flag in protest.

Life support Why looking after No 1 isn't always best

Research has confirmed the health benefits of supporting others. And the deeper the engagement, the better it gets

Cats in flats Delight as covert pets finally given legal status

Tommy is, without doubt, the head of his household. If he wants the air conditioning on, he simply glares at the unit on the wall. If he wants an early night, he'll miaow for the TV to be silenced. But, until now, Tommy has been living in violation of a law that bans cats from much of Singapore's housing.

The women whose words are tackling Wikipedia's male bias

Packed into the back room of a feminist bookshop in Madrid, 17 women hunched over their laptops, chatting and laughing as they passed around snacks. Every now and then a hearty burst of applause punctuated the sound of typing, each time marking a milestone as the group chipped away at what is perhaps one of the world's most pervasive gender gaps.

'It's tragic' Teen Afghan girls on life without school

Barred from education for more than 1,000 days, girls face forced marriage, violence and isolation with no end in sight

Snow patrol Inside the fight to save arctic foxes

Captive breeding has helped reduce threat from predators and the climate crisis-but can the species survive long-term?

Cornish language enjoys a renaissance

The ancient Cornish language has been declared dehwelans dhyworth an marow-back from the dead - amid a rise in popularity thanks to Covid-19 and a critically acclaimed psych-pop star.

The Brexit omertà Why both main parties are scared to mention the B word

It was once the defining issue in British politics -but this time around no one, it seems, is in any way keen to discuss the UK's place in the EU

US warns of the most catastrophic famine for four decades

Sudan is facing a famine that could become worse than any the world has seen since Ethiopia 40 years ago, US officials have warned, as aid deliveries continue to be blocked by the warring armies but arms supplies to both sides continue to flow in.

No end in sight Israel's conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah grinds on

In 2019, Aviv Kochavi, then the chief of staff of Israel Defense Forces (IDF), delivered a bullish speech. The IDF, he proclaimed, is \"all about victory\".

Key powers fail to sign peace summit communique

Keyregional powers including Brazil, India, South Africa and Saudi Arabia failed to sign up to a joint communique issued at the end of a Ukraine peace conference in which more than 80 countries and international organisations endorsed its territorial integrity in the face of Russia's invasion.

Renewed Russian strikes take heavy toll on Kharkiv

The apartment at 24 Liubovi Maloi avenue was an eerie ruin. Its roof and outer walls had disappeared. In one corner, a row of suits hung in a wardrobe. There was a TV, a coffee cup, a maroon jacket on a peg. And a black-and-white photo album with old family snaps taken in communist times.

Identity crisis Beware rebranded far right's creep into the mainstream

Far right? Hard right? Radical right? Or just plain right? The success in the recent EU elections of parties such as Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National (RN - the rebadged Front National) and Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has generated a debate about whether the label \"far right\" should be retired because, as Spectator editor Fraser Nelson argues, many parties that carry that moniker are \"now mainstream in a way that wasn't the case 15 years ago\".

'Russian roulette' Macron's ballot box gamble is the stuff of centrist nightmares

The prime minister, Gabriel Attal, stared ahead with his arms folded while another minister covered his face with his hands. As the French president, Emmanuel Macron, gathered top government figures at the Élysée on 9 June to make the shock announcement that he would dissolve parliament and call a snap legislative election after a surge at the polls by Marine Le Pen's party, the mood, the prime minister said, was \"grave\".

Fears grow over far right's rise

Ahead of a snap parliamentary vote, Marine Le Pen's National Rally is polling high across much of the country. Can the party actually win power-and what would it try to do if so?

Keeping the peace

Military service for 18-year-olds is a key Tory election pledge in the UK.But in countries with conscription, opting out comes at a cost. Michael Segalov asks seven conscientious objectors why they refused to serve in the armed forces

How steroids got huge

Once upon atime, it was only hardcore bodybuilders who pumped themselves up with testosterone. Today it is no longer niche. But how dangerous is it?

The Drugs Trade How Big Is The Problem-And Who Is Paying The Price?

Over the past 10 years, Europe has developed a serious cocaine problem. The drug, originating in the jungles of South America, is being transported, sold and consumed across the European continent in record amounts.

Calamitous floods made more likely by global heating

The unusually prolonged and extensive flooding that has devastated southern Brazil was made at least twice as likely by human burning of fossil fuels and trees, a study has shown.

Paddington is back-and he's gone immersive

The bear from darkest Peru has donned his wellies and duffle coat for a live experience’ that is halftheatre, half-party, with lashings of marmalade