Sphere Team - Theunis Bates

Theunis Bates

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Theunis is a London-based journalist. He writes for Time, Fast Company and Business Life.

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Auschwitz Sign Stolen for Foreigner, Police Say

posted: 5 days 12 hours ago

LONDON (Dec. 22) – Polish police believe a foreign collector or dealer in Third Reich artifacts ordered last week's theft of a sign from the gates of former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Bi ...

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Go Forth and Steal, Says English Priest

posted: 5 days 18 hours ago

LONDON (Dec. 22) -- For some 3,500 years, the 10 Commandments have included the easy-to-follow instruction, "Thou shalt not steal." But one British Anglican priest thinks that ancient command is now ...

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Brits Rage Against Simon Cowell's Hit Machine

posted: 6 days 10 hours ago

LONDON (Dec. 21) -- Christmas songs are normally sedate, soppy affairs crooned by the likes of Bing Crosby, Johnny Mathis and Mariah Carey. But on Sunday, Britain added an explicit, anarchic new anth ...

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Is Santa's Famous Forebear Buried in Ireland?

posted: 9 days 10 hours ago

(Dec. 18) -- Just about now, the Santa Claus loved by children everywhere is busy wrapping up presents at his home in the North Pole. But if some historians are correct, the figure who inspired every ...

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French Court Says 'Non' to Google Book Scanning

posted: 9 days 15 hours ago

(Dec. 18) -- Google's plan to build an online library filled with all the world's books took a blow Friday, when a Paris court ruled that the company had acted illegally by scanning French works and ...

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Could New Clean Energy Source Trigger Quakes?

posted: 10 days 12 hours ago

LONDON (Dec. 18) -- The Obama administration has a lot riding on geothermal energy, which it sees as a future source of clean, green and virtually unlimited electricity. Over the past year alone, the ...

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Israel Sees Pattern of Hostility Emerging in Britain

posted: 12 days 12 hours ago

LONDON (Dec. 15) -- Israel's relationship with Britain hit a new low Tuesday when it was revealed that a London judge had issued an arrest warrant for former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni over her rol ...

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Monkey Talk Could Show Roots of Human Language

posted: 16 days 12 hours ago

LONDON (Dec. 11) -- It's long been known that dolphins, chimps, birds and a herd of other animals use a variety of sounds to communicate simple messages -- "Go away" and "Please breed with me" being ...

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Forget Fido: Pygmy Hedgehogs Are New Hot Pet

posted: 16 days 17 hours ago

LONDON (Dec. 11) -- What's 5 inches long, covered in spikes and sure to make Paris Hilton scream with delight? It's the new must-have pet: the African pygmy hedgehog. Breeders of these tiny, prickly ...

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Odds Shorten on Royal Wedding for Prince William

posted: 17 days 18 hours ago

LONDON (Dec. 9) -- Wannabe royal brides with a crush on Britain's Prince William should prepare to have their hearts broken. Bookies are now betting that the 27-year-old prince will propose to his lo ...

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