Anytime, any place, anywhere.

The American politicians who want to speak to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor about Jeffrey Epstein say his arrest reinforces their case to have him called before them.

They’ll make it work, whatever and wherever it takes them.

“He can testify remotely, he can testify in person – and in the UK,” US Representative Suhas Subramanyam told me.

The Democratic member of the House Oversight Committee is prepared to travel to Britain to hear testimony from Andrew.

“We are going to New York to meet with the Clintons, we just came from Ohio to meet with Les Wexner,” said Rep Subramanyam. “And the entire committee doesn’t have to come.

“It can be certain members who are interested in that particular witness, but we are very flexible when it comes to hearing testimony from people who have knowledge of what happened with Epstein and Maxwell, and the cover up as well. He clearly has knowledge.”

As a foreign national, Andrew can’t be subpoenaed to give evidence. He has ignored all requests to testify.

He also denies any wrongdoing.

But committee members believe he has questions to answer over and above the interests of Thames Valley Police.

Rep Subramanyam told me: “I want to still hear from him. The door is still open. We will do it on his terms, and engage on his terms. I just want to make sure he tells the truth to us, because he’s not been truthful so far.”

Americans ‘want to see justice’

The arrest of Andrew further accentuates the difference in impact of the scandal in the US compared to other countries.

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In the UK, the former prince and Peter Mandelson are casualties of the Epstein affair. In turn, it has weakened Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, whose chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, has quit.

In the US, outside of the private sector, there has been little to no consequence for individuals named in the Epstein files.

Read more:
What does Andrew’s arrest mean for the royal family?
Andrew’s arrest ‘worst possible thing’ for the Crown

Rep Subramanyam said: “The people who’ve gotten the least amount of consequences are people in the Trump administration who keep coming up in the files.

“I think the American public and the world public want to see accountability and justice, not just for the victims, but they want to see the system work.

“And so that’s what this is really about. Is about making sure that governments aren’t covering up for rich and powerful people and that they’re being held accountable for these heinous crimes.”

The developer responsible for remakes of Shadow Of The Colossus and Demon’s Souls has suddenly been closed, with the loss of over 70 jobs.

You’d never know at a glance, but the video games industry is in dire trouble at the moment. Just this week we’ve had suggestions that the memory crisis, which could make it impossible to manufacture gaming hardware in bulk, could last up to a decade, while at the same time gaming is increasingly losing out to things like gambling and porn in terms of how people spend their time and money.

As if to underline the issue, it’s been revealed that Sony is to shut down Bluepoint Games, the studio they bought five years ago and which specialises in remasters and remakes.

Bluepoint has been around for 20 years but after the remake of Demon’s Souls, for the launch of the PlayStation 5, they’ve haven’t announced any new games.

Behind the scenes, it’s been rumoured that they, like most of Sony’s other first party studios, were put to work on a live service game – thought to be part of the God Of War franchise – but it was later believed to be one of two projects cancelled by Sony last year.

Whether they were about to realise their dream of working on a big budget new IP, as they originally intended to do after Demon’s Souls, is unknown, but in recent months they were hiring for people to work on some sort of third person action game.

Sony has made no public annoucement about the closure, but it was first reported by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, with the text of an email from PlayStation CEO Hermen Hulst later appearing on ResetEra.

‘We’re operating in an increasingly challenging industry environment. Rising development costs, slowed industry growth, changing player behaviour, and broader economic headwinds are making it harder to build games sustainably,’ wrote Hulst.

‘To navigate this reality, we need to continue adapting and evolving. We’ve taken a close look at our business to ensure we’re delivering today while still well-positioned for the future. As a result, we will be closing Bluepoint Games in March.

‘This decision was not made lightly. Bluepoint is an incredibly talented team and their technical expertise has delivered exceptional experiences for the PlayStation community. I want to thank everyone at Bluepoint for their creativity, craftsmanship, and commitment to quality. Where possible, we will work to find opportunities for some impacted employees within our global network of studios.’

In addition to various remasters, remakes, and ports Bluepoint also worked as a support studio for God of War Ragnarök, which is presumably why their live service game was based on the franchise.

As awful as the news is, it may only be the tip of the iceberg as far as Sony closures go, with many already worrying about the future of Destiny maker Bungie and Days Gone developer Bend Studio, who haven’t released a single new game this generation.

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Salesi Makahokovalu Rabuku, 32, originally from Fiji, was found dead at Marne Barracks at Catterick Garrison army base on January 20 this year.

An inquest was opened into the 32-year-old’s death today (Thursday, February 19) at Northallerton Coroner’s Court.

At the hearing, assistant coroner of North Yorkshire and York, Mark Armitage, said that Salesi was found in his bedroom at the military base.

Despite the best efforts of emergency services, Mr Arimitage said that the army engineer was pronounced dead “a short time later”.

The inquest was adjourned to a date yet to be fixed.

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After the unprecedented arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor by U.K. authorities, some U.S. lawmakers have demanded greater accountability for individuals linked to Jeffrey Epstein on this side of the Atlantic.

Elected officials from both parties have urged the Trump administration to follow the European nation’s lead and take stronger steps toward securing justice for Epstein’s victims.

“The U.K. is not messing around,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a New Mexico Democrat, said. “It’s time to act.”

The former prince was arrested at his residence near Windsor Castle on Thursday. Authorities suspect him of misconduct in public office for allegedly leaking confidential documents to Epstein while serving as the U.K.’s trade envoy. The allegations were uncovered in the latest cache of the so-called Epstein files released by the Department of Justice. The documents appear to include numerous references to King Charles’ brother, whose association with Epstein has long been known. They also contain photos seeming to show the disgraced prince on all fours over a woman.

The 66-year-old Mountbatten-Windsor — the first senior royal in modern history to be arrested — will be held in a cell while he awaits an interview with police.

The arrest comes at a time when public intrigue surrounding the Epstein files — which has endured for years — shows no signs of waning. While campaigning, President Donald Trump vowed to make the government’s records on the convicted sex offender public. Although he resisted the idea after taking office, he later signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, compelling the Department of Justice to release its documents on Epstein. Millions of files have since been published, some of which include references to high-profile individuals and sexual activity with minors. Despite this, the documents have not yet resulted in any prosecutions in the U.S.

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‘It’s time to act’

The stunning news of Mountbatten-Windsor’s detention, which came on his 66th birthday, sent shockwaves across the Atlantic, prompting swift reactions from a number of U.S. officials.

Democrats largely led the charge in seeking further action from the Trump administration, which has thus far chosen not to pursue any prosecutions — and President Donald Trump has dismissed the entire Epstein matter as a “hoax.”

“I’m glad to see someone is finally being held accountable,” Maryland Rep. Johnny Olszewski told CNN Thursday morning. “This is far too vast a network for there not to be more accountability.”

He lamented the passivity of the U.S. government, saying: “We can’t even release all the files.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in her congressional testimony last week that “all” the files had been made public. However, a recent report by Channel 4 News out of the U.K. claimed that, based on internal emails, only 2 percent of the documents have been released.

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New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury also applauded the decisive action by U.K. authorities, writing in a post on X: “If a Prince can be held accountable, so can a President.”

“It’s time to act,” she added.

“If you raped or abused children, you should be prosecuted and held fully accountable,” Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari wrote in a social media post about the former prince’s detention.

The DOJ’s files include references to and correspondence from numerous high-profile individuals across all sectors of society, including President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and film director Woody Allen. Merely being named in the files is not in and of itself evidence of wrongdoing. None of the people named in the file have been charged in U.S. courts.

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Some Democrats, meanwhile, accused the Trump administration of deliberately shielding criminals from legal repercussions — while noting that multiple other nations have take action.

“In France, the Paris prosecutor’s office just opened two investigations based on new leads from the released files,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “And in Britain, former prince Andrew has been arrested over ties to Epstein. When will there be justice in America?”

Republicans echo calls for accountability

A few Republicans have weighed in following Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest, with some of the strongest statements coming from South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace — one of four GOP members who voted to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

“If you’re watching a former prince get arrested today, remember: four Republicans refused to flinch, refused to fold, and forced the Epstein files into the light,” Mace, who is running for South Carolina governor, wrote in a post on X, which she pinned to the top of her feed. “Courage has consequences. So does corruption.”

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Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who helped spearhead the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, urged the Trump administration to take a page from the U.K.’s playbook.

“Prince Andrew was just arrested. This was the metric I established for success of the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” he wrote on X. “Now we need JUSTICE in the United States. It’s time for [Bondi] and [FBI Director Kash Patel] to act!”

Trump has not commented publicly on the arrest of Mountbatten-Windsor, who was once photographed with him at Mar-a-Lago. In November, the 79-year-old president lamented the disgraced prince being stripped of his royal titles, calling it “a terrible thing.”

A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent.

New developments on Epstein files

While there have not yet been any arrests or prosecutions in the United States, several new developments related to Epstein have emerged in recent days.

On Saturday, the DOJ sent a six-page letter to Congress, which included the names of politicians, businesspeople and celebrities who were mentioned at least once in the files. Among the names listed were Trump, Mountbatten-Windsor and Gates.

This week, billionaire Les Wexner also testified before the House Oversight Committee, claiming he was “duped” by Epstein, his former financial adviser, who he described as a “world-class con man.” Wexner turned over the management of his massive fortune to the convicted sex offender in 1991.

New Mexico lawmakers also approved a comprehensive investigation into Zorro Ranch, a sprawling property once owned by Epstein. The estate is referenced numerous times in the DOJ’s files, which include unconfirmed reports about criminal activity there.

Still, despite limited efforts by lawmakers, the public remains skeptical that justice will be served. According to a new Reuters survey, 69 percent of Americans believe “powerful people in the U.S. are rarely held accountable for their actions.”

Rapper Lil Poppa has died at the age of 25 and fans of his music rushed to social media to pay their respects.

Rapper Lil Poppa has died aged just 25, it has been confirmed. The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office in Georgia confirmed that the musician was pronounced dead.

A cause of death for Lil Poppa – whose real name was Janarious Mykel Wheeler – has not yet been revealed. The rapper was due to perform for fans in New Orleans on March 21.

Devastated fans have flooded social media with tributes to the late artist. Poppa had more than 600,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, according to the Mirror.

One mourner posted on X, previously Twitter: “Gone way too soon. Lil Poppa helped many people feel understood through his words.” A second commented: “Lil poppa gone before he could release “more healthy than before. “

His music got me through a lot of down moments in life, damn.” A third wrote: “Can’t believe this Lil poppa news. One of the best writers to come outta Florida for a very long time.

“Hard to find artists who could convey the feelings of depression as well as he could.” Another said: “Losing someone so young at just 25 is painful. May Lil Poppa’s soul rest in peace, and may strength and comfort be with his family, friends, and everyone who loved his music during this difficult time.”

A fifth remarked: “Don’t wanna believe this Lil Poppa news, really one of my favourite artists that was so young and relatable.”

The singer shared an update to his Instagram Stories only on Tuesday night in now what is a now-tragic final post. It showed him appearing to be riding in a car as he listened to Letting it go by Rod Wave.

He would often write songs about relationships, mental health, and love. On his Instagram, his bio read: “First We’re Born, Next We Suffer, Then We Die… The End!!”

Signed to Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group (CMG), Lil Poppa had released several successful tracks in recent years, including Love and War, Mind Over Matter, and HAPPY TEARS. His 16-track album Almost Normal Again dropped in August 2025, followed by his latest single, “Out of Town Bae,” released on Friday, February 13.

Following the album’s release, Poppa launched a 20-date Almost Normal Again Tour. He had previously joined forces with Rod Wave, his Falling Fast collaborator, on the Last Lap Tour.

His debut studio album, Blessed, I Guess, came out in 2021 and reached number 160 on the Billboard 200. His 2022 mixtape Under Investigation 3 also made its mark on the Billboard 200, climbing to number 194.

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Trump spent several hours snoozing through a meeting of the poundshop SPECTRE he’s set up to rival the UN, before giving a genuinely odd response to Andrew’s arrest. Here’s a roundup of the last 24 hours in Trumpworld

Donald Trump is on his way to Georgia, where he’ll give a speech about the cost of living.

That’s the theory at least. As we mentioned yesterday, there’s another push to get the erratic, elderly president to stay on message – and talk about something voters are actually worried about.

That push started on Friday, after a strategy meeting of Trump’s top team. The cost of living and the reduction in drug prices. That’s what he’s supposed to be talking about from now until November’s midterms.

So obviously Trump has spent the last couple of days talking about Iran, Gaza, the Chagos Islands, occasionally Epstein, and hosting the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace – the tin pot gaggle of autocrats and wronguns he’s set up to rival the UN.

Good luck getting him to stay on message at a rally speech, is all I’m saying.

Meanwhile in Trumpworld

• He gave a very weird response to Andrew getting arrested
• Another Pyongyang-style banner of his face has gone up on a government department
• Highlights of the BoP meeting
• Trump has a black friend

Here’s what you need to know

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1. Trump’s response to Andrew getting arrested was VERY weird

Donald Trump was asked for his thoughts about Andrew Mountbatten Windsor getting his collar felt this morning. And his response was truly bizarre.

He started by going on about how sad it was for the royal family. I mean, sure. But then he said this: “I’m the expert in a way because I’ve been totally exonerated. That’s very nice. I can actually speak about it very nicely.”

First of all, nobody’s been exonerated about anything. While inclusion in the files doesn’t suggest guilt or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, Trump’s name does appear in there thousands of times. And there have been whistleblower allegations against the President that were at least credible enough, according to the documents, that the FBI sent someone to interview the whistleblower.

Anyway, he went on: “I think it’s a very sad thing. It’s really interesting because nobody used to speak about Epstein when he was alive, but now they speak.

“But I’m the one that can talk about because I was completely exonerated. I did nothing.”

It’s just a really weird thing to bring up when asked about someone else, is all.

2. Another Pyongyang-esque banner of Trump’s face has gone up in Washington DC

You may remember some consternation last year when a giant banner of Trump’s face was raised on the Department of Agriculture in DC. And then another was raised later on the Department of Labour.

Well, a third has been put up – this time on a slightly more troubling place: The Department of Justice.

Of all the government departments, the DoJ is probably the one for which independence from the White House is the most important.

But given how casual Trump has been in ordering the DoJ to go after his enemies, they may as well just slap his picture on the side of the building at this point.

3. The Board Of Peace held their first meeting and it was exceptionally long

The Board of Peace, the poundshop SPECTRE Trump set up to rival the UN, held its first meeting in Washington DC. It was, as you might expect, a lengthy and tedious exercise in the leaders and representatives of countries – including some of the world’s most oppressed and authoritarian nations – lining up to tell Trump how great he was.

The waxing started in earnest with amateur diplomat Steve Witkoff telling Trump it was “my greatest honour to work for you. It is the blessing in my life. I’ve had many blessings. But this is my greatest blessing.”

Witkoff is the living embodiment of the Peter Principle, but at least he’s grateful.

The meeting was way too long and batsh*t to cover every moment in detail. But here’s a few highlights.

• Trump said the BoP would be “looking over” the United Nations – “making sure it runs properly”. Presumably his interest will largely be directed at the escalators and teleprompters, which he moaned about AGAIN during his opening speech.
• Trump said he was disappointed to get a note telling him Norway had offer to host a meeting for the Board of Peace, because he thought the note from Norway was going to say they were giving him the Nobel Prize.
• Norway later confirmed they’d made no such offer, and that they have no intention of joining Trump’s Board of Peace because the council’s structure is “problematic”
• They played a series of propaganda videos about how great Donald Trump is, and all the wars he’s stopped.
• Tony Blair gave a speech. Trump looked real sleepy throughout.
• The Prime Minister of Egypt kept referring to Trump as “your excellency” for some reason
• The President of Kazakstan proposed “to establish a special President Trump award” to recognise his “outstanding peace-building achievements.” How this would be different from the made-up award Fifa gave him a few months ago is unclear.

4. Speaking of Fifa …heeeere’s Gianni

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino was at the board meeting. And wore a red USA hat.

“”Everyone here is the head of a country, except for Gianni — but he’s the head of soccer, so that’s not so bad,” Trump said.

“Right, Gianni? I think I like your job the best.”

It is entirely unclear why he was there.

5. It was so long in fact that Trump appeared to drop off a bunch of times

Of course, it being a 2 hour plus meeting, with presumably quite comfy chairs, and quite boring speeches, often not in English, Trump used the opportunity to catch up on a little shut-eye.

6. Jared Kushner insisted nobody is “personally profiting” from the reconstruction of Gaza

After playing a deeply unsettling video suggesting Gaza will be a full-blown resort within a decade, Jared insisted nobody’s in this to get rich.

“A lot of these people are volunteers,” he insisted, implausibly. “They’re doing this not for any personal gain, people are not personally profiting from this. They’re really doing this for their children, for their grandchildren and because they really want to see peace.”

I wonder if Trump’s pallid son-in-law is familiar with the old English phrase “Chinny reckon, mate.”

7. And it ended in the most Donald Trump way possible

Of course the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace was drawn to a close by Donald Trump banging a tiny gold gavel, after which YMCA was played.

Because of course it did.

8. Trump says isn’t racist, and if you don’t believe him, ask Mike Tyson

Trump hosted a reception to mark Black History Month at the White House last night – and spent quite a lot of his speech insisting that he couldn’t possibly be racist, because despite posting videos of the Obamas depicted as apes on social media, he has a black friend. Who happens to be a convicted rapist, but we’ll let that slide.

He also mentioned that he likes Nicki Minaj, who, let’s face it, he only likes because she likes him.

The kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie – the mother of US news anchor Savannah Guthrie – is the latest in a string of crimes where ransoms have been demanded in Bitcoin.

The 84-year-old was kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona, in the middle of the night. A ransom of US$6 million (£4.4 million) has been demanded by the kidnappers.

The scale of the ransom demand, combined with the use of cryptocurrency as the payment mechanism, raises a critical question: although Bitcoin is not inherently untraceable, can the perpetrators ultimately profit without being identified?

Bitcoin is a decentralised digital currency, commonly referred to as a cryptocurrency, and is often believed to be anonymous, private and untraceable.

This perception has made Bitcoin attractive to some criminals, who view it as a convenient mechanism for receiving, transferring and storing payments.

As a result, Bitcoin has become increasingly associated with criminal activity, including extortion, kidnapping, fraud, ransomware and even murder.

The Guthrie case has once again drawn attention to the darker associations surrounding Bitcoin and reinforced public anxiety about cryptocurrency and its use for nefarious purposes.

At the same time, a number of high profile kidnappings around the world in 2025, involving people known to hold cryptocurrency, has intensified these concerns.

A common perception is that, because Bitcoin is digital, tracking transactions is difficult. Bitcoin does not exist in a physical form; it is represented as entries on the Bitcoin blockchain – a decentralised ledger used to record transactions across a network of computers. So Bitcoin is not inherently untraceable; its blockchain is transparent and permanently recorded.

Transactions do not explicitly list names, but each transaction is publicly visible and traceable between wallet addresses. Ownership is controlled through private keys and managed via a “digital wallet”, which functions conceptually like a traditional wallet in that it stores and enables the transfer of value. Thus, Bitcoin is more accurately, pseudonymous, not anonymous.

Currency conversion

In the Guthrie case, the immediate practical challenge for the kidnappers would be converting US$6 million into Bitcoin and transferring the cryptocurrency to a digital wallet. From there, the funds would need to be sent to a wallet address specified by the perpetrators – assuming the kidnappers provide such an address.

Transactions conducted through regulated cryptocurrency exchanges that impose know-your-customer checks may expose participants. These checks are mandatory processes to confirm user identities with official IDs, proof of address, and facial recognition.

Even before the funds reach the kidnappers, the transaction through a cryptocurrency exchange may itself create identifiable records. However, there is no guarantee of this, as there are many unregulated exchanges that operate in jurisdictions with lenient legislation.

While Bitcoin transactions are traceable between wallet addresses, the kidnappers in this case may attempt to enhance anonymity through layered technical measures. These may include generating a new wallet address for each transaction, operating multiple wallets, and repeatedly transferring funds from a primary wallet through successive intermediary wallets to obscure transaction links.

Maintaining anonymity also requires avoiding any association between wallet addresses and personal information, refraining from interacting with other identifiable people, and using privacy-enhancing tools such as Tor/VPNs – software that masks a user’s location – and coin-mixing services, which enhance privacy by scrambling cryptocurrency funds with others to obscure links between senders and receivers.

Achieving this level of operational security demands significant technical knowledge and strict discipline from the kidnappers. Any human error, whether through identity exposure, exchange interaction, IP logging, or conversion into hard cash may compromise anonymity.

Ultimately, the critical issue is not merely tracing funds but determining how recipients convert or use the Bitcoin without triggering identification through regulatory checkpoints, forensic analysis, or operational mistakes.

Even if the US$6 million could be traced between wallet addresses, anonymity hinges on whether those addresses can be linked to real-world identities. Where wallet holders remain unidentified and operate outside regulated exchanges, investigative challenges increase.

Additional complications arise if the perpetrators operate outside the US. Cross-border enforcement faces limitations including variation in crypto-related legislation and regulation, uneven training in tracing and confiscation, and limited international coordination.

Whether perpetrators can ultimately be reached by law enforcement depends significantly on their jurisdiction and the degree of international cooperation.

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder than during a church service, when something faintly ridiculous caught my eye. My friend saw it too, and once she started laughing, it became impossible to stop. Years later I’ve tried to explain what was so hilarious, but it seems you had to be there. What was it about the combination of the situation – sometimes referred to as “church giggles” – and shared laughter that made it so funny?

Most people recognise the experience. A solemn setting. Absolute silence. A fleeting visual detail that is, in any other context, only mildly amusing at best. Yet the harder you try to suppress the laugh, the more uncontrollable it becomes. When someone else notices it too, restraint becomes next to impossible.

This kind of laughter that comes from trying not to laugh isn’t confined to religious spaces. It happens in any setting where silence, seriousness and self-control are tightly enforced and uncontrolled laughter is frowned upon.

Rather than being bad manners or a lack of emotional maturity, it tells us something about how the brain behaves under pressure. The science behind it is surprisingly complex.

In highly formal settings – churches, courtrooms, funerals – the brain operates in a state of active inhibition. This is the process by which your brain deliberately suppresses brain activity.

The region most involved is the prefrontal cortex, the thinking and decision-making part at the front of your brain, particularly its medial and lateral areas. These areas handle social judgment, behavioural restraint and emotional regulation.

This part of the brain doesn’t stop emotions from arising. Instead, it works by suppressing their outward expression.

Laughter comes from a distributed network in the brain rather than a single “laughter centre”. The impulse begins in the outer regions of the brain, but the emotional drive comes from deeper structures in the limbic system, the emotional processing centre of the brain.

The limbic system includes the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure that processes emotions and assigns emotional importance to things, and the hypothalamus, which controls automatic body functions like heart rate and breathing. Once laughter gets released, circuits in the brainstem – the base of the brain that connects to the spinal cord – take over and coordinate facial expression, breathing and vocalisation.

This makes laughter difficult to stop voluntarily. The prefrontal cortex normally keeps this response in check, suppressing laughter when it’s socially inappropriate.

When that control weakens – through heightened arousal or shared social cues – laughter emerges as an automatic, reflex-like behaviour. It’s no longer a deliberate act.

In other words, the impulse to laugh and the effort to stop yourself come from different parts of the brain. They’re competing with each other.

When something unexpected or odd catches your eye, your emotional response fires rapidly and automatically. The process to control it takes effort, burns energy, and is prone to failure, especially when you have to maintain it for long periods.

The more firmly you try to exert control, the more the trigger stays active in your attention. Suppression doesn’t erase the thought – it actually rehearses and sustains it.

Laughter isn’t just a response to humour. Neurologically, it also functions as a regulatory reflex – a way of releasing emotional and physical tension.

In constrained environments, your nervous system has few outlets. You can’t move, you can’t speak, you can’t shift position much or signal discomfort.

At the same time, your automatic nervous system becomes slightly activated. Your heart rate increases, your breathing becomes shallower and your muscle tone rises.

This combination lowers the threshold for emotional release. Your body becomes primed to let something out.

Once laughter begins, it recruits automatic motor pathways in the brainstem that you can’t easily interrupt. This is why laughter, once triggered, often feels physically unstoppable.

You’re no longer “deciding” to laugh. The system has taken over and you’re helpless.

The contagion takes hold

For many people, the tipping point isn’t the original trigger. It’s the instant someone else notices it as well.

This is where social neurobiology comes into play. Humans are highly sensitive to subtle social cues: facial tension, changes in breathing, suppressed smiles.

We process these cues rapidly through networks involving the superior temporal sulcus, a groove along the side of the brain that plays a key role in reading other people. Mirror neurons – brain cells that fire both when we act and when we watch others act – also help us pick up on these signals.

Laughing together represents a shared emotional alignment. That shared recognition does two things at once.

It validates your own response (I’m not imagining this). And it removes the sense of solitary transgression (you’re no longer suppressing alone).

The prefrontal control system weakens further. Laughter spreads through emotional contagion.

By this point, the original trigger hardly matters. What you’re laughing at is each other, and the absurdity of trying to regain control.

These moments are often triggered by something visual, but they don’t have to be. A mispronounced word or an unexpected phrase can provoke the same response.

However, visual triggers are especially potent in silent settings. They can’t be interrupted or talked away, and your brain can replay them repeatedly while suppression is in place.

Spoken triggers, by contrast, tend to be shared instantly. Whether laughter erupts depends on how quickly social inhibition can be re-established.

“Inappropriate” laughter is often framed as rudeness or childishness. But from a neurological perspective, it’s a predictable consequence of prolonged emotional suppression in a social species.

The brain is not designed for sustained inhibition without release. When restraint is tight enough – and when someone else is there with you – laughter becomes the escape route. That is why it feels impossible to stop.