FluxDash

BooksObituaryLeslie Thomas obituaryOutgoing author best known for The Virgin Soldiers, a comic novel about national serviceOnly a few good writers are also good talkers. The novelist and journalist Leslie Thomas, who has died aged 83, was one of them: he could extract on the printed page, on radio and television or in a face-to-face interview good-natured humour from almost anything that life threw at him – including his own bleak orphaned childhood in a Barnardo's home or his national service in Malaya at a time when terrorists attempted to murder as many British troops as possible.

Drugs This article is more than 11 years oldLSD could help alcoholics stop drinking, AA founder believedThis article is more than 11 years oldAuthor reveals Bill Wilson's acid theory, but his experiments upset other Alcoholics Anonymous membersThe co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) believed LSD could be used to cure alcoholics and credited the drug with helping his own recovery from often debilitating depression, according to new research. About 20 years after setting up the Ohio-based sobriety movement in 1935, Bill Wilson came to believe that LSD could help "

Science This article is more than 5 years oldThis article is more than 5 years oldGeneticists hope comparing prehistoric and modern biology will help them understand what makes humans unique Scientists are preparing to create “miniature brains” that have been genetically engineered to contain Neanderthal DNA, in an unprecedented attempt to understand how humans differ from our closest relatives. In the next few months the small blobs of tissue, known as brain organoids, will be grown from human stem cells that have been edited to contain “Neanderthalised” versions of several genes.

Sunderland This article is more than 1 month oldSunderland appoint Michael Beale as manager until summer 2026This article is more than 1 month oldBlack Cats delighted to appoint ‘progressive coach’Beale was sacked as Rangers manager two months agoMichael Beale said he feels “honoured” to join Sunderland after his appointment on Monday as the Championship club’s new head coach. It is fair to say that many Sunderland fans have been somewhat underwhelmed by the decision to replace the much-loved Tony Mowbray with the 43-year-old Londoner so Beale could do with hitting the ground running when he presides over his first match in charge against Coventry at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

Joe BidenThe president’s cognitive ability, a conservative media concern, has increasingly become more mainstream In 2019, a manipulated video spread through social media platforms showing Joe Biden on stage telling an audience that he “shouldn’t be president”. Biden’s voice had been slowed down, giving the impression he was slurring his words, while footage from a real speech he gave at an Iowa university was edited to cut out context, splice together clips and make it seem like he was calling himself “Slow Joe Biden”.

A new start after 60Life and styleMark Fuhrmann culled his possessions and set off into the deep, where he was chased by an alligator, brushed past a brown bear and saw a great white shark sauntering past ... Shortly before he turned 60, Mark Fuhrmann realised what he wanted. “I thought: ‘I’d like to see things I’ve never seen before, I’d like to experience things I’ve never experienced before – and I’d like to be alone.

Piers Morgan Alex Jones’ pro-gun tirade at Piers Morgan on British presenter’s own show - video Alex Jones, creator of the 'Deport Piers Morgan' petition, explains his argument for gun ownership to the British presenter on his CNN show. Jones has sparked wide controversy since expressing his views on gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre. The outspoken Texan tells Morgan that taking away people's guns would lead to government tyranny Source: Piers Morgan Tonight / CNN

The ObserverParis This article is more than 2 years oldBy the homes of Degas and Renoir, Paris street artists face a lonely struggleThis article is more than 2 years oldA bustling Belle Epoque square has fallen silent, bringing hard times to today’s painters In normal times Paris’s famous Place du Tertre – the “artists’ square” – is packed with tourists and visiting out-of-towners, even on a chilly January afternoon. In the time of coronavirus, however, the square, home to painters, portraitists, caricaturists and silhouette artists, is almost entirely deserted.

Fashion Statement newsletterFashionFashion Statement: Jessica Simpson's underwear rangeSign up for thrillingly strange fashion news to be sent straight to your inbox each weekFASHION DILEMMAWhy is Jessica Simpson flogging Intimates? A dearth of fashion news this week (we can only assume everyone's taking a break before fashion week madness begins) leads us once again in a downward direction. Last week it was control underwear for men; this week, brand Simpson is getting in on the act.