Bots hunt deformed RF contacts inside the collider's 27 km vacuum tubes

The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and CERN have jointly developed a "mouse-sized robot" to inspect parts of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that are out of reach to humans.…

It’s not simply that kids’ culture has improved since I was young. Across stage, screen and cinema, grownup offerings pale in comparison to those aimed at my son

World Book Day dawns once more, with its morning chorus of swearing and sticky tape. This year, it falls shortly before we’re throwing a Harry Potter birthday party, so the living room has already surrendered to chocolate frogs and wand clay and preparations for the Dobby Sock Toss. Good timing, then. If you’ve already made a Nagini piñata, what’s one more hippogriff for the list?

Is competitive cosplay the best way to foster a love of literature in young people? That’s for finer minds than mine to debate, but with books like these, I’m surprised it’s required. What a time to have recently mastered phonics. What reluctant reader could fail to laugh at Mr Gum, or indeed anything by Andy Stanton? Who wouldn’t be thrilled by Louis Sachar or Lottie Brooks or Malorie Blackman?

The Americans finished fifth in the medal table in 2022. A strong team will be looking to improve that record in Italy in the coming days

The first-time Paralympian only turned 19 at the start of March, but she has been in the news for her skiing prowess since she was a second-grader. She’s also going to Italy on a roll, having reached the podium in two World Cup downhill races in early February. In the 2024-25 season, she had two World Cup podium finishes in giant slalom, and she took bronze in giant slalom and fifth in slalom at the world championships, where the other three events were canceled. Though she was born without her lower right arm, she was still an honorable mention All-State softball player in Colorado.

Restored documentary records a historic independence day show in Accra, with electrifying performances from Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett and more

This exuberant, distinctively high-minded documentary, now restored, comes from the Oscar-winning though now somewhat overlooked film-maker Denis Sanders, made just one year after his renowned 1970 film Elvis: That’s the Way It Is, about Elvis Presley in Las Vegas. Soul to Soul is a record of an epic independence day concert in Accra, Ghana, in 1971, given by American and Ghanaian musicians. Ghana was chosen as it was the first sub-Saharan African nation to gain independence from Britain. Among the US contingent were Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, Santana, the Staple Singers and the Voices of East Harlem.

The concert and film can be seen now as part of the American Black consciousness debate of the time, which specifically prized the concept of the African motherland and the spiritual importance of returning to the wellspring of Black American inspiration. With its shots of the musicians aboard the plane to Ghana, and the rich and teeming ambient material showing Accra’s street life, you might find yourself reminded of Leon Gast’s When We Were Kings, about the Ali/Foreman fight in what was then Zaire, although without the talking-head perspective. There are richly enjoyable performances, and the extreme closeup shots of Tina Turner are where its energy is at its most visceral.

Pacific island says the US weakened its proposal to advance a key climate ruling but vows to hold major polluters accountable

The Trump administration’s attempt to sink a UN resolution demanding countries act on the climate crisis has caused cuts to the proposal but hasn’t entirely killed it, according to the tiny Pacific island country spearheading the effort.

The US has demanded that Vanuatu, an archipelago in the south Pacific, drop its UN draft resolution that calls on the world to implement a landmark international court of justice (ICJ) ruling from last year that countries could face paying reparations if they fail to stem the climate crisis.

Staff for the rich and famous are influencerizing their day-to-day lives, giving followers access to luxury while creating financial safety nets for themselves

Victoria Hiegel, personal assistant to a celebrity client she cannot name because of a nondisclosure agreement, spent 13 February ferrying Valentine’s Day cookies across Manhattan. Her boss “doesn’t love chocolate,” so Hiegel had to hunt for a bakery that could swap the batch’s chocolate chunks for sour hearts. She posted part of her search to TikTok, where she received thousands of views from people keen to watch her cater to the whims of the rich and famous.

Hiegel, 26, is a microcelebrity in her own right. Wearing her blond hair in carefully styled waves and speaking with a practised ease, she has obvious star appeal. But it is her career that fascinates her 1m followers.

Insider says demand is far outstripping supply and calls for creation of air bridges to evacuate people from Middle East

• Middle East crisis live – latest updates

Planes are always urgently sought out when a crisis strikes somewhere in the world. Since the US-Israel war against Iran started on Saturday, demand has outstripped supply with thousands of people stranded in the Middle East frantically searching for an exit route.

While many are reliant on governments to dispatch aircraft to evacuate them, those with the financial means can look at a more expensive and much speedier option – a private jet. Matt Purton, the director of aviation services at UK-based global company Air Charter Service, is the man some of them have on speed dial.

When presidents ask the country to support a war, honesty is not optional

The bombs fell in our name before any of us knew. Then the president saw fit to inform us.

Legal scholars and politicians alike began debating whether they were constitutional. Markets responded within hours. Cities across the United States moved to heightened alert amid fears of retaliation.

Urgent request submitted by vessel after US submarine sank Iranian warship in same area with torpedo on Tuesday

• Middle East crisis – live updates

A second Iranian ship has been reported in waters close to Sri Lanka and has sought emergency permission to dock, a day after a US submarine sank an Iranian frigate killing more than 80 people onboard.

The Sri Lankan minister Nalinda Jayatissa told parliament that another Iranian vessel was sailing close to Sri Lanka’s territorial waters on Thursday morning. “We are making necessary interventions to resolve this issue, restrict the threat to lives and to ensure regional security,” said Jayatissa.

Terwijl Iraniërs thuis gebukt gaan onder inflatie en sancties, blijkt de nieuwe Opperste Leider Mojtaba Khamenei via een schimmig netwerk te verdienen aan Europese luxe‑hotels, onder meer in Frankfurt. Zijn naam duikt op achter een vastgoedimperium waarin vijfsterrenhotels, golfresorts en winkelcentra zijn ondergebracht in een web van brievenbusfirma’s en stromannen.​

De kern van de constructie is de Iraanse zakenman Ali Ansari, volgens het Verenigd Koninkrijk onder sancties wegens vermoedelijke financiering van de Revolutionaire Garde. Onderzoek van de Financial Times en Bloomberg laat zien hoe Ansari via offshorebedrijven in Luxemburg, St. Kitts en Nevis, Duitsland en Spanje een portefeuille van naar schatting 400 miljoen euro opbouwde, met onder meer het Hilton Frankfurt City Centre en Hilton Frankfurt Gravenbruch. Bloomberg koppelt het eigendom door naar Mojtaba Khamenei, die zelf al jaren op de Amerikaanse sanctielijst staat.​

Dat levert een ongemakkelijke vraag op: hoe kan iemand die in Washington als persona non grata geldt, ongestoord meeverdienen aan kamers van meer dan 1.000 euro per nacht in het hart van Europa? Een deel van het antwoord zit in de lappendeken van sanctieregimes: Ansari is wel gesanctioneerd door het VK, maar (nog) niet door de EU, en Khamenei’s naam komt in geen enkel eigendomsregister voor. Juridisch is er dus vaak geen verbod, moreel wringt het des te meer.​

Voor Europese regeringen komt hiermee een ongemakkelijke spiegel omhoog: zolang eigendom via trusts, tussenpersonen en exotische jurisdicties kan worden verhuld, blijft het verschil tussen strenge sanctieretoriek en zachte hotelkussens vooral een kwestie van perspectief.​