The High Low goes out on a high – podcasts of the week

Pandora Sykes and Dolly Alderton bow out after four years hosting their hit show. Plus: fly-on-the-wall chats with Pharrell Williams, and an accessible look at the climate emergencyThe Climate QuestionFar from being dry or doom-mongering, the BBC’s new podcast on the climate emergency offers an engaging, accessible look at the current state of play,...

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Facebook to remove false claims about Covid vaccines

Move marks strongest push yet to prevent platform being used for anti-vaccination rhetoricCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageFacebook is to begin removing false claims about Covid vaccines, the company has announced, as the UK prepares to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.It is the strongest move yet by Facebook to prevent...

18h

Cyberspies target Covid vaccine 'cold chain' distribution network

Tech firm IBM says it has uncovered global phishing campaign with hallmarks of being state-backedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA global phishing campaign targeting organisations working on the “cold chain” for Covid vaccines has been uncovered by researchers at IBM, who say it bears the marks of a nation-state attack.From...

19h

Twin Mirror review – bold narrative adventure with no real heroes

PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S; DontnodInvestigative reporter Sam Higgs goes back to his home town and becomes entangled in a dark mystery he must solveThe grizzled journalist returning to their rural home town and becoming enmeshed in a dark mystery is a familiar theme in thriller movies and novels. Twin Mirror – equal parts psychological mystery thriller...

22h

Afros in Azeroth: the quest for diversity in World of Warcraft

Sixteen years after its launch, World of Warcraft is finally introducing diverse skin tones, facial features and hairstyles. Game director Ion Hazzikostas explains why nowRecently, I’ve spent quite a lot of time pondering what an orc would look like with an afro. This, naturally, led to contemplation of an axe-afro-comb combo, and whether such a contraption...

22h

Empire of Sin review – goodfellas, but not greatfellas, in 1920s Chicago

Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Mac; Romero Games/Paradox InteractiveAs a prohibition-era mob boss, you’re at war with rival gangs as well as the police in this ambitious, if uneven, gangster simBrick-by-brick and bullet-by-bullet, Empire of Sin tasks you with building your own criminal syndicate in prohibition-era Chicago. Assuming control...

22h

'These images are a crime scene … it's massive for us to find the child'

The Internet Watch Foundation is seeing a growing number of tipoffs about child abuse. We talk to one analyst about her work‘Deeply dark criminal activity’ drives rise in child abuse images onlineIsobel* has been working throughout lockdown. With her colleagues in the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) analyst room in Cambridge she has been responding...

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Next-gen gear: what you need to get the most out of your PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X

You’ve got your PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X – but what else do you need to experience the future of gaming? Here are the TVs and headsets we recommendThis month we welcomed a new video game generation with the thrilling (if rather limited) arrival of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 machines. Whether you’ve already received your shiny new console...

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Salesforce to buy Slack in $27.7bn deal aimed at competing with Microsoft

Marc Benioff’s company gains leverage against Microsoft’s threat with the largest acquisition in its 21-year historyBusiness software pioneer Salesforce.com is buying work-chatting service Slack for $27.7bn in a deal aimed at giving the two companies a better shot at competing against longtime industry powerhouse Microsoft.The acquisition announced...

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'There's a gaping hole in our knowledge': the scientists studying why gamers invert their controls

Our article asking why so many players invert their controls provoked a fierce debate that has now caught the attention of researchers into visual perceptionIt is one of the most contentious aspects of video game playing – a debate where opposing sides literally cannot see each other’s perspective. When the Guardian ran an article asking why a large...

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