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AI influencers
Beautiful lies
Computer-generated avatars on Instagram and TikTok are promising to make middle-aged women young again – at a price, Lily Isaacs reports
Ofcom
Online safety
It’s time to question whether the media regulator is fit for purpose after a £950,000 fine for forum hosting pro-suicide content goes unpaid, Patricia Clarke writes
Psychedelic drugs
The trip adviser
A £2bn corporate takeover is somehow only a few degrees of separation from a poisonous toad, Peter Thiel and a countess who once drilled holes in her head. By Tim Adams
For today
Utilities
Fred Harter
Thames Water is an early test for Andy Burnham’s public control agenda
Europe
Isabel Coles
Latvia calls for more troops on Nato’s exposed eastern front
Books
Catherine Taylor
Christian Kracht’s Air is a mesmerising climate-crisis parable
Restaurant
Tabitha Joyce
Eat, stay, love: meet Wiltshire’s new restaurant with rooms
Who funds Reform?
Catherine Neilan
Reform donor lost thousands betting on Iran and Starmer
Ceri Thomas
Profiting in plain sight, Farage could earn a fortune by talking up bitcoin shares
Ceri Thomas
The invisible man whose millions are transforming British politics
Catherine Neilan
Clacton could be up for grabs after investigation into Farage’s £5m ‘unconditional gift’
Ideas
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Adele Zeynep Walton
This online curfew is a PR stunt. Internet users don’t need to be regulated – internet platforms do
Kate Maltby
Badenoch’s attacks on net zero and ECHR supporters won’t win back floating voters
John Naughton
When social media causes context to collapse, we all end up in the same room
Ben Zaranko
The case for raising taxes on older people
Culture
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In Real Life
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Observations and scenes from beyond your phone screen
Lifestyle
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Sport
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World Cup 2026
George Simms
Happy and vainglorious: Curtain falls on gaudy World Cup
Cycling
Chris Marshall-Bell
Tadej Pogačar powers on – but is Le Tour becoming predictable?
F1
Matt Majendie
Antonelli hoping for more relaxing weekend at Spa after qualifying on pole
Cricket
Cameron Ponsonby
This is the world we live in – the Test game is in thrall to franchise cricket
Meet the Observers
To meet more of our team, click here
Slow Newscast
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Weekly investigations in audio
Tortoise Investigates
Deep Water
In the high-stakes sport of freediving, athletes descend as deep as they can on a single breath. They are used to putting their lives at risk. Through her diving instructor, Lydia Gard discovered a new threat that could tear their community apart: drug use
Sweet Bobby
Kirat is a successful radio presenter. On Facebook she meets Bobby, a handsome cardiologist. He’s a catch. Soon, they get tangled up in a love affair full of lies and manipulation. Then… Kirat discovers a deception of almost unimaginable proportions. Alexi Mostrous investigates a very modern love story
Lucky Boy
Gareth’s whole life has been defined by a relationship he had 35 years ago when, as a 14-year-old schoolboy, he fell in love with an attractive young teacher at his school. He spent most afternoons in her bedroom. But when she walked out of his life, everything started to unravel. Chloe Hadjimatheou asks: who gets to be a perpetrator, and who gets to be a victim?
