Our round-up of the funny, fascinating and unusual stories this fortnight

Controversy of the week

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Goldbugs are not ideal dinner guests. They are rarely in a particularly cheery mood: one pro-gold article I recall from the optimistic 2000s was entitled We’re freaking doomed, dude. That conjures up

Can we give a round of applause to comedian Ricky Gervais, who has donated almost £2.5m to a group of animal charities from the proceeds of his recent stand-up tour? The money is to be split between 2

Our pick of your best letters and some wise words from our favourite stars…