The Binance hack exploited familiar weaknesses – all organisations should learn from it
Hackers have stolen around US$6.3 billion (£4.7 billion) from the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, most of which was taken in under an hour. According to Binance, the attack exploited systems and individuals with the authority to carry out transactions involving such large sums. Such vulnerabilities exist everywhere; statistics show that people and the systems they directly […]
From doctors and teachers to lawyers, every profession has a duty to align with climate goals
NStafeeva/Shutterstock A Dutch family doctor called Tibor Poelmann posted a petition on an online forum for GPs in 2021. He wanted their pension fund to stop investing in oil and gas. It quickly gathered 1,200 signatures. Three years later the fund, which looks after €10 billion (£8.4 billion) for 25,000 doctors, decided to sell all […]
HIV prevention medication is highly effective, but it can complicate blood donor screening
Blood donation rules account for medicines that can affect the tests used to detect HIV. Utoimage/Shutterstock Taking medicine to prevent HIV might seem a good reason to feel confident about being able or eligible to give blood. Yet people taking pre-exposure prophylaxis, known as Prep, cannot donate while using it, and must wait for three […]
King Arthur and Ramayana: ancient stories that speak to the moral dilemmas of today’s leaders
Across the vastly different worlds of ancient India and medieval Britain, two legendary rulers face the exact same impossible choice: sacrifice their love or shatter the moral foundation of their kingdom? It feels strikingly familiar in an era where modern heads of state are still forced to choose between personal loyalty and institutional justice. The […]
We used ancient DNA to track the origins and spread of the Germanic and Celtic languages – new research
Ales stenar (Ale’s Stones) in southern Sweden is a monumental Iron Age stone ship-setting overlooking the Baltic Sea. These structures were graves or cremations surrounded by stones in the shape of a ship. It dates to around 600–1000 AD and broadly coincides with the period of back-migration into the region. Nicolas Delgado Clausen, CC BY […]
Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery is a brilliant exploration of the life of the queen of crime
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Agatha Christie’s death, the exhibition A World of Mystery at the British Library takes visitors on a fascinating journey through spaces that evoke Christie’s life and work. This landmark exhibition offers unprecedented access to a body of private papers, diaries, manuscripts and family objects, brought together for public view […]
US midterms: why a Democrat Congress could mean less political gridlock, not more
The Democratic party has won both chambers of US Congress in the midterm elections, wresting control from the Republicans. With Donald Trump still in the White House until 2028, the result has raised expectations of political gridlock. Analysts at the US investment bank Stifel, for example, have predicted that gridlock is “the most likely policy […]
Why Trump, Xi, and Putin can’t carve up the world like the ‘big three’ leaders of 1945
Discussions are underway for a potential meeting between Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on November 18-19. The prospect has prompted comparisons with the “Big Three” summit in Yalta in February 1945 at which the leaders of Britain, the US and the Soviet Union discussed […]
International surrogacy and the narrow legal idea of what makes a family legitimate
PeopleImages/Shutterstock A recent family court judgment in the UK highlighted ethical issues with the practice of international surrogacy. The case is thought to be the first to come before a court in the UK involving a surrogate who gave birth in China, where surrogacy is illegal. It raised numerous concerns – including about the welfare […]
US midterms: after two years of unchecked Trump we’ll now see if Congress can reassert its democratic role
The 2026 midterm elections have delivered a decisive rebuke to Donald Trump and his Republican allies. Democrats have won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, ending two years of unified Republican government in Washington. The immediate political consequences of this result are clear: Trump will find it harder to pass legislation, […]