High pressures squeeze and crush, but low pressures damage too. Losing the atom-level buzz that keeps us held safe in the balance of internal and external pressure releases dangerous storms, disorientation and pain, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

RUSSIAN influence in politics? If you believe BBC Newsnight, that means Jeremy Corbyn, shaded red, with a Russian-looking hat and the Kremlin in the background. If you believe the newspapers it means saying Corbyn is an ex-Soviet bloc spy.
Which shows how some media can become bizarrely detached from the real world. Not only was Corbyn not a Soviet spy, the Soviet Union doesn’t exist. It hasn’t existed for 27 years. Russia’s flag isn’t a red banner, it doesn’t have a hammer and sickle. And Vladimir Putin does not lead the Communist Party, he leads the United Russia party.
Lots of people on the left, including Corbyn, are not keen on military conflict with foreign nations, including Russia: but they have no political links to Russia, which has become a thoroughly capitalist country with a fairly authoritarian form of rule and a lot of super-rich oligarchs.

The new angle from private firms shmoozing their way into public contracts was the much-trumpeted arrival of ‘artificial intelligence’ — and no-one seemed to have heard the numerous criticisms of this unproven miracle cure, reports SOLOMON HUGHES

It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES

Keir Starmer’s hiring Tim Allan from Tory-led Strand Partners is another illustration of Labour’s corporate-influence world where party differences matter less than business connections, writes SOLOMON HUGHES

MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES