| Read time: 6 minute(s)

Debate of the Week: Should we all refuse to watch?

THE NEWS: Qatar’s attitudes towards homosexuality, women’s rights and labour law violations are provoking international outcry. Now some are calling for a boycott of the World Cup. A fire-breathing spider made from fifty tonnes of steel. Seven glitzy new stadiums. Ice rinks just miles from beach clubs; theme parks next to circuses; light shows which […]

| Read time: 5 minute(s)

Debate of the Week:Is India the World’s Next Superpower?

THE NEWS: Rishi Sunak’s election as Conservative leader makes him the UK’s first British Asian leader. And he has family connections to a country that is quickly gaining influence. It was a historic moment. Sunak will be the first prime minister of Asian origin, and the first Hindu. “I am thoroughly British,” he has said: […]

| Read time: 5 minute(s)

Debate of the Week:Has Iran protest gone global?

THE NEWS:Hajipour’s Baraye received 95,000 submissions to win a Grammy, or 83% of the fan vote. Is the Iran protest going global? A new hit song has taken social media by storm and brought awareness to the uprising. Some are hopeful that it could help the movement to expand beyond Iran’s borders. Users clicking onto […]

| Read time: 9 minute(s)

Asteroid’s path altered in NASA’s first test of planetary defense.

The spacecraft NASA deliberately crashed into an asteroid last month succeeded in nudging the rocky moonlet from its natural path into a faster orbit, marking the first time humanity has altered the motion of a celestial body, the U.S. space agency announced on Tuesday. The $330 million proof-of-concept mission, which was seven years in development, […]

| Read time: 7 minute(s)

Debate of the Week: Do mushrooms rule the world?

IN THE NEWS: The largest living organism on our planet lives under a forest in Oregon. It glows eerily in the dark, and scientists believe it’s about 2,500 years old. A huge organism is growing beneath your feet. Every second, it tangles further into the soil, building an extraordinary invisible web. Fungi are all around […]

| Read time: 4 minute(s)

End of an Era: Serena Williams and Roger Federer changed tennis forever. So will their retirement.

Williams, 40, and Federer, 41, have both announced in short succession their plans to retire, leaving the tennis world without two iconic competitors who were among the best the sport has ever seen and whose appeal eclipsed the game. Williams announced on Vogue magazine’s website that she would retire after this year’s U.S. Open, saying […]

| Read time: 6 minute(s)

Debate of the Week: Do we all have superpowers?

IN THE NEWS: A Scottish woman who can smell Parkinson’s has inspired experts to create a new test for the disease. Now, scientists are looking for others with amazing secret talents. The mystery was finally solved. Les and Joy Milne had come to their first Parkinson’s disease support-group meeting. “I walked into the room,” says […]

| Read time: 9 minute(s)

Capitalism Redefined: Patagonia Founder gives away the company to fight climate change

A half century after founding the outdoor apparel maker Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, the eccentric rock climber who became a reluctant billionaire with his unconventional spin on capitalism, has given the company away. Rather than selling the company or taking it public, Mr. Chouinard, his wife and two adult children have transferred their ownership of Patagonia, […]

| Read time: 7 minute(s)

Debate of the Week: Is it right to turn bugs into food?

Companies aiming to sell them as snacks are rapidly expanding, and claim they could end global food shortages while protecting the environment. Imagine it’s the year 2031. Ella could not believe her luck. She was celebrating her birthday at 2031’s Restaurant of the Year. There was carpaccio of caterpillar, bluebottle paté, woodlouse tempura. What should […]

| Read time: 6 minute(s)

Debate of the Week: Is biotech getting too powerful?

THE NEWS: A new program could tackle global problems like famine and pollution, say awed scientists. But some fear the risks far outweigh the rewards. Most of the time, human knowledge advances at a glacial pace, with frequent false starts and setbacks. But every so often, there is a single moment that revolutionises what we […]