LLMs-gone-rogue dominated coverage, but had nothing to do with the targeting. Instead, it was choices made by human beings, over many years, that gave us this atrocity On the first morning of Operation Epic Fury, 28 February 2026, American forces struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, in southern Iran, hitting the building at least two times during the morning session. American forc...
LLMs-gone-rogue dominated coverage, but had nothing to do with the targeting. Instead, it was choices made by human beings, over many years, that gave us this atrocity On the first morning of Operation Epic Fury, 28 February 2026, American forces struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, in southern Iran, hitting the building at least two times during the morning session. American forces killed between 175 and 180 people, most of them girls between the ages of seven and 12. Within days, the question that organised the coverage was whether Claude, a chatbot made by Anthropic, had selected the school as a target. Congress wrote to the US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, about the extent of AI use in the strikes. The New Yorker magazine asked whether Claude could be trusted to obey orders in combat, whether it might resort to blackmail as a self-preservation strategy, and whether the Pentagon’s chief concern should be that the chatbot had a personality. Almost none of this had any relationship to reality. The targeting for Operation Epic Fury ran on a system called Maven. Nobody was arguing about Maven. Continue reading...
Hair transplants have never been more widespread or more affordable. So why do so many balding men prefer glued-on hairpieces? And are the best really undetectable? When you hear the word toupee, certain images spring to mind. Older men with suspiciously thick hair, say; or a poorly colour-matched partial wig covering a bald patch, perhaps flying off in the wind. These are the toupees of old. Toup...
Hair transplants have never been more widespread or more affordable. So why do so many balding men prefer glued-on hairpieces? And are the best really undetectable? When you hear the word toupee, certain images spring to mind. Older men with suspiciously thick hair, say; or a poorly colour-matched partial wig covering a bald patch, perhaps flying off in the wind. These are the toupees of old. Toupees are distinct from wigs in that they cover only part of the scalp, but both have a long history. While humans were wearing hairpieces as far back as ancient Egypt, toupees originated in the 18th century, the name developing from the French toupet, meaning “tuft of hair”. They became particularly prominent in the mid-20th century, with Time magazine estimating that more than 2.5 million men across the US were wearing toupees by 1970. But concerns about how obvious the pieces were, hammered home by ridicule in popular culture (see Monty Python’s Toupee Department sketch) combined with the gradual acceptance of shaved heads in fashion, led to their decline. Continue reading...
Noah Wyle is back on our screens as a lovable doctor in the punchy, gory and totally addictive series that has taken the US by storm. Believe the hype! It’s here at last. The medical drama that took its native US by storm last year has finally crossed the pond. All 15 episodes of The Pitt’s first season, set in almost real time over a single shift in the overstretched emergency department of a bus...
Noah Wyle is back on our screens as a lovable doctor in the punchy, gory and totally addictive series that has taken the US by storm. Believe the hype! It’s here at last. The medical drama that took its native US by storm last year has finally crossed the pond. All 15 episodes of The Pitt’s first season, set in almost real time over a single shift in the overstretched emergency department of a busy Pittsburgh hospital, are being offered to tempt us all into subscribing to yet another streaming service – HBO Max, which also promises other baubles, such as the new Harry Potter series and the adaptation of DC Comics’ Lanterns plus rich pickings from its prestigious back catalogue, such as The Sopranos, Succession, Game of Thrones and Friends ( which departed Netflix last year , giving many viewers the first insight into the true transience of life). But The Pitt is the one that we older viewers, perhaps, have been waiting for. For it comes from much the same team that produced the then-groundbreakingly gritty ER, and it stars one of its most enduring talents, Noah Wyle. He arrived in the 1994 pilot episode as third-year medical student John Carter, and we followed him as he endured, then thrived under Dr Benton’s tough-love training, qualified in emergency medicine and moved up the ranks at Cook County before bowing out as a main character in the season finale in 2006. With many a literally heart-stopping moment in between, let me tell you. The show made a megastar out of George Clooney (as womanising paediatrician Doug Ross) but Wyle was never less than brilliant. Continue reading...
Reluctance to cheerlead alleged US ceasefire efforts reflects suspicion talk of peace could be another foil for escalation Middle East crisis – live updates Not long after Donald Trump said the US was engaged in “strong talks” to bring the war with Iran to an end this week, Qatar took the unusual step of distancing itself from the alleged diplomatic negotiations. Qatar was not involved in any medi...
Reluctance to cheerlead alleged US ceasefire efforts reflects suspicion talk of peace could be another foil for escalation Middle East crisis – live updates Not long after Donald Trump said the US was engaged in “strong talks” to bring the war with Iran to an end this week, Qatar took the unusual step of distancing itself from the alleged diplomatic negotiations. Qatar was not involved in any mediation efforts, said Majed al-Ansari at a briefing on Tuesday night, before adding as a telling aside: “If they exist.” Continue reading...
A box the size of a filing cabinet was lifted by crane, slowly moved and placed very carefully in the back of an unassuming lorry earlier this week. What looked like a casual drive around the Cern campus was actually a world-first experiment in transporting antimatter, the most expensive and volatile substance on Earth. To find out why scientists wanted to achieve this milestone, and what happened...
A box the size of a filing cabinet was lifted by crane, slowly moved and placed very carefully in the back of an unassuming lorry earlier this week. What looked like a casual drive around the Cern campus was actually a world-first experiment in transporting antimatter, the most expensive and volatile substance on Earth. To find out why scientists wanted to achieve this milestone, and what happened on the journey, Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, and the Cern physicist Dr Christian Smorra. Please drive carefully: scientists plan to transport volatile antimatter for first time Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...
Only 38% of parents without care plans felt teachers in mainstream schools had the tools to deal with special needs Parents of children with special needs in England feel alienated from their schools if they don’t have legal protection, according to the biggest representative survey of its kind. In a finding that will cause consternation among government ministers, the survey of parents found that...
Only 38% of parents without care plans felt teachers in mainstream schools had the tools to deal with special needs Parents of children with special needs in England feel alienated from their schools if they don’t have legal protection, according to the biggest representative survey of its kind. In a finding that will cause consternation among government ministers, the survey of parents found that those of children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) but no education, health and care plan (EHCP) were the least satisfied group in the education system. Continue reading...
Hostilities should halt and healthcare facilities must be treated as ‘safe havens’, WHO’s regional chief has said Middle East crisis – live updates A total stop to hostilities in the Middle East is needed to halt a “health crisis unfolding in real time”, the World Health Organization’s chief in the region has said. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities must be treated as “safe havens”, urged D...
Hostilities should halt and healthcare facilities must be treated as ‘safe havens’, WHO’s regional chief has said Middle East crisis – live updates A total stop to hostilities in the Middle East is needed to halt a “health crisis unfolding in real time”, the World Health Organization’s chief in the region has said. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities must be treated as “safe havens”, urged Dr Hanan Balkhy , the WHO’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean. Continue reading...
The Italian PM has won plaudits for her tightrope-walking pragmatism. But have voters now had enough? Giorgia Meloni has a long history of defying expectations . She holds the record as Italy’s youngest cabinet member, at 31, and is its first female prime minister, thus overcoming two of Italian politics’ most formidable obstacles, gerontocracy and machismo. After she took office in autumn 2022, s...
The Italian PM has won plaudits for her tightrope-walking pragmatism. But have voters now had enough? Giorgia Meloni has a long history of defying expectations . She holds the record as Italy’s youngest cabinet member, at 31, and is its first female prime minister, thus overcoming two of Italian politics’ most formidable obstacles, gerontocracy and machismo. After she took office in autumn 2022, she quickly put to rest concerns that her post-fascist background would make her a foreign policy radical. Staunch support for Ukraine and a pragmatic relationship with EU leaders won her international credibility. Against this backdrop, the defeat she suffered in this week’s referendum – where Italians rejected the government’s proposed constitutional reform of the judiciary by 53.2% to 46.8% – appears all the more significant. Riccardo Alcaro is head of research at IAI, Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome Continue reading...
Professionals from across Europe urge MEPs to reject plans, saying ‘climate of fear’ could stop people seeking care More than 1,100 healthcare professionals from across Europe have urged MEPs to reject proposed measures aimed at increasing the deportation of undocumented people, warning they could threaten public health by transforming essential public services, including hospitals, into sites of ...
Professionals from across Europe urge MEPs to reject plans, saying ‘climate of fear’ could stop people seeking care More than 1,100 healthcare professionals from across Europe have urged MEPs to reject proposed measures aimed at increasing the deportation of undocumented people, warning they could threaten public health by transforming essential public services, including hospitals, into sites of immigration enforcement. The draft plans, which are due to go to a vote on Thursday, have been in the works since last March, when the European Commission laid out its proposal to target people with no legal right to stay in the EU, including potentially sending them to offshore centres in non-EU countries. Continue reading...
Stretched over a winding valley and secluded by trees, the vast complex in the small town of Dubnica nad Vahom is testament to Czechoslovakia’s past as a Cold War arms manufacturer, and also the industry’s bleak outlook after the fall of communism. Some of the facilities were rented to new businesses. One made printer cartridges, another made school benches. Production of air rifles kept the compa...
Stretched over a winding valley and secluded by trees, the vast complex in the small town of Dubnica nad Vahom is testament to Czechoslovakia’s past as a Cold War arms manufacturer, and also the industry’s bleak outlook after the fall of communism. Some of the facilities were rented to new businesses. One made printer cartridges, another made school benches. Production of air rifles kept the company, ZVS Holding AS , largely afloat. The number of employees dropped from 7,000 to a few hundred. The rejuvenation of ZVS is now part of a wider transformation as NATO scales up production of military equipment. It’s one that has implications for the economy and politics in the European Union’s east, as well as its richest man . Slovakia became the world’s biggest per capita car producer along with the Czech Republic because of demand from auto companies for cheaper, skilled labor. Now war is turning the tiny nation into a critical ammunition powerhouse. The new focus is underpinned by a close alliance between Czech arms billionaire Michal Strnad and Slovakia’s influential defense minster, Robert Kalinak . ZVS is part of Strnad’s Czechoslovak Group AS, or CSG, which he wants to become Europe’s biggest defense conglomerate . “In the midst of this severe economic crisis gripping Europe, the defense industry is one of the few remaining lifelines still feeding our economy,” Kalinak, who has known the Strnad family for more than a decade, said in an interview at his office in Bratislava. “I like the idea of having another ‘pillar’ for our industry to stand on,” he said, predicting “a good 30 years of prosperity.” (Sign up to the Eastern Europe Edition newsletter, delivered every Friday.) Strnad’s family acquired a controlling 50% share of ZVS in 2015 and in 2020, two years before Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, it decided to only focus on making large-caliber ammunition. Slovakia now makes hundreds of thousands of shells a year compared with just some 30,000...
Zhang Dongmei Beijing named Zhang Dongmei a deputy director of the Communist Party Central Committee’s Hong Kong and Macao Work Office, filling a senior vacancy and making her the first woman to join the office’s leadership team since it was formed three years ago, according to a government personnel notice released Tuesday. Zhang, 58, previously served as a vice chair of the All-China Women’s Fed...
Zhang Dongmei Beijing named Zhang Dongmei a deputy director of the Communist Party Central Committee’s Hong Kong and Macao Work Office, filling a senior vacancy and making her the first woman to join the office’s leadership team since it was formed three years ago, according to a government personnel notice released Tuesday. Zhang, 58, previously served as a vice chair of the All-China Women’s Federation and as a secretary of its executive secretariat. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security published the appointment in a State Council roster of personnel changes dated March 25.
bombermoon/iStock via Getty Images The following segment was excerpted from the Virtus SGA Global Growth Fund Q4 2025 Commentary. During the quarter, we initiated a new position in Sea Limited ( SE ), a Southeast Asian consumer internet company with an integrated ecosystem combining e-commerce, digital payments, and entertainment. Sea has a diversified business model, with its Shopee e-commerce pl...
bombermoon/iStock via Getty Images The following segment was excerpted from the Virtus SGA Global Growth Fund Q4 2025 Commentary. During the quarter, we initiated a new position in Sea Limited ( SE ), a Southeast Asian consumer internet company with an integrated ecosystem combining e-commerce, digital payments, and entertainment. Sea has a diversified business model, with its Shopee e-commerce platform, a mobile-centric marketplace that provides integrated payments, logistics infrastructure, and seller services; Garena, a digital entertainment platform for users to access mobile and PC online games; and Monee digital financial services offering credit, mobile wallets, payment processing, banking, and insurtech services. Sea operates in markets with unique geopolitical, cultural, and economic complexities, and the company is ahead in localizing its products and content, making it difficult for competitors to disrupt at scale. Sea's e-commerce business benefits from low penetration rates and rising digital adoption, while its logistics network and localized approach create meaningful competitive advantages that are difficult for competitors to replicate. The company's digital financial services segment is scaling rapidly, leveraging accumulated user data and e-commerce use cases to drive engagement and profitability. In gaming, Sea's deep understanding of local audiences and self-developed franchises like Free Fire are favorable for emerging markets audiences where low-end smartphones dominate. While near-term margin volatility is expected as Sea invests in logistics, fulfillment, and new initiatives such as free shipping membership, management's focus on building long-term competitive advantages and expanding addressable markets positions the company well for sustainable growth. Among the key risk considerations are increasing competition from TikTok and Lazada (backed by Alibaba ( BABA ) (BABA)) in Southeast Asia, MercadoLibre in Brazil, and Coupang ( CPNG ) in Tai...
Novo Nordisk A/S ’s Chairman Lars Rebien Sorensen will face investors at the company’s annual meeting for the first time on Thursday after his boardroom coup. He’s in for an earful. Sorensen and new Chief Executive Officer Mike Doustdar have had just months to start remaking Novo as a more aggressive and fast-moving company, but investors point to two recent missteps. The drugmaker failed in an at...
Novo Nordisk A/S ’s Chairman Lars Rebien Sorensen will face investors at the company’s annual meeting for the first time on Thursday after his boardroom coup. He’s in for an earful. Sorensen and new Chief Executive Officer Mike Doustdar have had just months to start remaking Novo as a more aggressive and fast-moving company, but investors point to two recent missteps. The drugmaker failed in an attempt last fall to wrest an obesity startup away from Pfizer Inc. And it surprised the market this year with a gloomy forecast that sent shares plunging. The two events further eroded investors’ faith in the Danish company at the heart of the obesity-drug revolution. Novo’s shares have fallen about 45% since Sorensen, a 71-year-old company veteran, intervened to oust former CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen last May. Over the same period, rival Eli Lilly & Co. ’s market value grew by a fifth, briefly turning the US maker of Zepbound into the world’s first $1 trillion drugmaker. “Investors in Novo have endured an extremely difficult two years,” said Ketan Patel , a fund manager at the family office Whitefriars. “The real test will be to get back in the race versus Eli Lilly and get the share price moving in the right direction.” Sorensen and Doustdar must prove they can steer Novo back to growth. Investors are calling for diversification outside obesity and strong execution on Novo’s most promising new drug: a pill version of its weight-loss blockbuster Wegovy. A year ago, former CEO Jorgensen acknowledged to investors that even though Novo had finally managed to meet demand for its obesity and diabetes shots in the US, its troubles there weren’t over. Competition from cheaper copycat versions prepared by compounding pharmacies remained a challenge. The pharmacies gained a foothold during Novo’s supply shortage and kept selling copies even after it ended. Novo had also suffered a pair of disappointing clinical trial results from its next-generation drug CagriSema. Led by Sorense...