Along the façade of the National Gallery these days are hoardings announcing Credit Suisse’s patronage of the Goya show, with the invitation: ‘Now you can bring Goya’s portraits to life, using your smartphone.’ I didn’t think much of the invitation as I passed it... By T.J. Clark.

An in-depth investigation into how Paul Phua rose from a numbers runner in Borneo to the world’s biggest bookie and poker impresario -- and how the FBI hooked him, only to have to let him go. By Brett Forrest.

She was a prized daughter of the Westboro Baptist Church. Then she started to question her faith, one tweet at a time. By Adrian Chen.

Patrick Hardison’s face was not always his own. Three months ago, it belonged to a young Brooklyn bike mechanic. By Steve Fishman.

A tragic accident exposes the dangers of an out-of-control billion-dollar industry. By Jesse Hyde. [Autoplay Video]

In recent years, the market for passports and citizenship has become massive. One of the poorest nations in the world tried to cash in. Was this an ingenious way to raise money or simply a case of a country selling its soul? By Atossa Araxia Abrahamian

For most patients, morcellation means less-invasive surgery. For others, it can be a death sentence. Alison Motluk investigates why two former Harvard doctors are trying to ban a procedure that left one of them riddled with cancer. By Alison Motluk.

In 2009, Anil Kumar was arrested for his role in a lucrative insider-trading ring. That was not his biggest crime. By Nilita Vachani.

El Niño updates, facts and forecasts for 2015. Learn about El Niño, El Niño trends and history, radar images, U.S. forecasts,The Blob and El Niño impacts.

In November 2012, Salvador Alvarenga went fishing off the coast of Mexico. Two days later, a storm hit and he made a desperate SOS. It was the last anyone heard from him – for 438 days. This is his story. By Jonathan Franklin.

Daft Punk, Cassius, Respect and filter house. The story of how Paris got its groove back. By Raphael Malkin.

For 40-plus years, the fate of Hale Boggs and Nick Begich has been unknown. One dogged journalist is trying to change that. By Rick Anderson.

At 12, she has lived one-quarter of her life in a debilitating state of suspension as a Syrian refugee in Lebanon. By Susan Dominus.

One family fights to win their house back in the Wayne County [Michigan] foreclosure auction after being scammed by a sub-subprime entrepreneur. By Allie Gross.

Thanks to a booming trade press, lobbyists and other insiders know what’s happening in government. The rest of the country, not so much. By John Heltman.

Decades ago, two young lovers were convicted of a brutal slaying. Years later, why has the case become a cause? By Nathan Heller.

A dark incident almost twenty years ago put Greg Torti on the sex offender registry for life. But the real story, he insists, is much more complicated. By Michael Hall.

‘I was trying to present a history of feelings, not the history of the war itself.’ An extract from Svetlana Alexiyevich's book on the USSR and Afghanistan.

An old war comes to a new country. By A.C. Thompson.

The rules: Pilot a boat 750 miles from Port Townsend, Washington, to Ketchikan, Alaska—no motors allowed. The prize: $10,000 nailed to a piece of wood. The result: Seven capsizings, four lifesaving Big Macs, one dramatic coast guard rescue, and a cast of oddball adventurers who reclaimed the salty heart of ocean racing. By Abe Streep.