The smartphone has turned even the bathroom into a place of digital escape, raising wider questions about attention, relationships and the ability to disconnect. For many people, controlling the amount of time
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At the northern end of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, the Hansel Valley seems an unlikely place for one of America’s largest data centres. Mobile reception is weak, the landscape is dry and
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Luna al-Shibl rose from television presenter to one of Bashar al-Assad’s most powerful advisers, but her sudden death in 2024 exposed the dangers of proximity to a regime whose inner workings she
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A new wave of piracy off Somalia is exposing the fragile security of the Horn of Africa, as depleted fishing grounds, drought and stretched naval patrols drive former fishermen back to the
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The death of Cambridge professor Jason Arday has intensified questions about proportionality, race and journalistic responsibility after weeks of relentless coverage over allegations concerning his academic record and the wider story of
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Afghanistan’s expanding CCTV network is giving the Taliban new power to monitor public life, while women, activists and political opponents describe a growing climate of fear five years after the fall of
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The world witnessed the fall of the Afghan republic on 15 August 2021, with a shocking degree of rapidity. With Taliban fighters marching into Kabul, President Ghani fleeing from his post, and
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China’s first national rules governing emotionally engaging AI seek to prevent chatbots from replacing human relationships, as millions of users increasingly turn to artificial companions for intimacy, reassurance and companionship. For Yuan
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On July 1, 2026, the day China’s new Ethnic Unity law went into effect, a storm of criticism ensued. All major Western media, governments, politicians and human rights groups raced to denounce
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Ihave been emphasizing the importance of a liberal arts college education for a long time. I had such an education back in the late 1950s, and I’ve been thankful ever since. Back
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