Stephen Hawking has managed to air his concerns about Donald Trump, Brexit and the backlash against experts to an audience of hundreds in Hong Kong without travelling 6,000 miles to the country. The world-famous physicist appeared before crowds who cheered and took photos via hologram. The cosmologist and professor, who is 75, is the latest in a string of politicians and entertainers to use the technology which is making significant incursions into industries. Hawking made the speech and answered questions in the guise of a "HumaGram", a three-dimensional image which can only be viewed by those in special glasses. The Cambridge professor also spoke via a hologram at the Sydney Opera House in 2015.

THE descent into a post-truth world continues at a depressing rate. The latest winner of the pants-on-fire award is former US presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. In an interview with CNN after a speech in which Donald Trump wrongly claimed that violent crime was rising, Gingrich cherry-picked the facts – then abandoned them altogether. "The average American does not think crime is down," he said. "As a political candidate, I'll go with what people feel."