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Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Eyewitness IranThe Guardian WeeklyFounded in Manchester, England4 July 1919Vol 209 | Issue№ 5Guardian Weekly is an edited selection of some of the best journalism found in the Guardian and Observer newspapers in the UK and the Guardian’s digital editions in the UK, US and Australia.The weekly magazine has an international focus and three editions: global, Australia and North America. The Guardian was founded in 1821, and Guardian Weekly in 1919. We exist to hold power to account in the name of the public interest, to uphold liberal and progressive values, to fight for the common good, and to build hope. Our values, as laid out by editor CP Scott in 1921, are honesty, integrity, courage, fairness, and a sense of duty to the reader and the community. The Guardian is wholly…1 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023DEATHSSinéad O’ConnorIrish singer who shot to global superstardom with the single Nothing Compares 2 U. She died on 26 July, aged 56.Randy MeisnerAmerican musician who was a founding member of rock band the Eagles. He died on 26 July, aged 77.Rachid SfarTunisia’s prime minister from 1986 to 1987. He died on 20 July, aged 89.Jean-Jacques HonoratHaitian politician who served as prime minister from 1991 to 1992. He died on 26 July, aged 92.Martin WalserNovelist regarded as one of Germany’s most important postwar authors. He died on 28 July, aged 96.Paul ReubensAmerican actor best known for his portrayal of the children’s film character Pee-wee Herman. He died on 30 July, aged 70.…1 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023‘A contract hasbeen broken’Over his years of service, Zur Allon, a reservist lieutenant colonel in Israel’s artillery special forces, never imagined a day when he would refuse to report for duty.“Half of my company was blown up in Lebanon. I have given many years of my life defending this country,” said the 46-year-old, a leader of Brothers and Sisters in Arms, a pressure group of more than 60,000 Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reservists established this year in protest against the government’s proposed overhaul of the judiciary.“That’s why we are so angry,” Allon said. “The government is breaking a very simple contract we have – to protect a Jewish and democratic Israel.”The IDF was envisioned by the state’s founder, David Ben-Gurion, as “the people’s army”: an apolitical melting pot that would bring together Israelis…5 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Under-fire Odesa sets aside its Russian heritageSCIENCEIs new drug a schizophrenia breakthrough?Page 30 →In the courtyard of Odesa’s Fine Arts museum, a police officer unlocked a large, grey container and pulled back the doors to reveal Catherine the Great. She was laid out flat on a wooden tray, one arm outstretched and the other at her side, holding a scroll ordering the construction of Odesa.The Russian empress, or rather her bronze likeness, used to stand proudly on a pedestal in the heart of the city that she founded in the late 18th century. Now she is here, locked in a box away from public view.The removal of Catherine, able before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last year, is a reflection of the mood in a city that is rapidly losing all sentimentality about its Russian-linked…6 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Harsh regime Satellites help build picture of detention centres in annexed stateThere has been a pattern of increased activity at high-security detention facilities in Tibet, according to a study measuring night-time lighting usage, suggesting a potential rise in harsher imprisonments by Chinese authorities.The report, by the Rand Europe research institute, said the findings added rare new clues about the Chinese government’s “stability maintenance” policies of control in the highly securitised Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), which it described as an “information black hole”.“Using overhead satellite imagery analysis and night-time lighting data, this study sought to add another piece to the puzzle in the hope of helping … other workers to complete the picture,” the report said.The Rand study examined 79 detention facilities across the TAR, finding patterns of growth in lighting were concentrated in the 14 higher-security facilities. The researchers found increases…2 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Green retreat Raft of Tory climate policies under threatRishi Sunak has been accused of showing disregard for the climate crisis after Whitehall officials warned that some of his key green pledges were already unachievable.With the prime minister facing a backlash within his own party after appearing to row back from his commitment to green policies, an internal government audit found that a series of measures designed to help meet Britain’s net zero goals had been allowed to run off course.A scheme to reduce packaging, a deposit return plan for plastic bottles, a boost for recycling and a tree planting and woodland creation programme have all been given a “red” rating by Whitehall’s major projects body. It concluded that their successful delivery “appears unachievable”.The revelation backed up claims that the government is in “full retreat” on climate pledges. Sunak…3 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Joy and def iance at Indigenous gatheringDuring the world’s hottest month in more than 100,000 years, Indigenous men, women and children from all over Brazil made their way into one of the last great holdouts of the Amazon rainforest to pay their respects to the most effective Amazon protector of them all, Raoni Metuktire, who has indicated that he may be coming towards the end of his activist days.The ostensible reason for the gathering at Piaraçu, a village in Mato Grosso state, was Raoni’s nominal 91st birthday, though, in truth, like the mightiest trees of the Amazon, nobody is sure exactly how old he is.There was joy and celebration, but the overriding emotion was anxiety. Brazil’s Indigenous people find themselves at an extraordinary juncture of national political opportunity and global climate concern that has made the…4 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023‘We have hope for breakthroughs’Fourteenyearsago, theIcelandic neuroscientist Kári Stefánsson led a landmark investigation into the genetic risk factors for developing schizophrenia, a debilitating mental health condition in which people may lose touch with reality.Stefánsson is the chief executive of deCode genetics, based in Reykjavík, which has studied genetic information from more than two-thirds of the Icelandic population. Since 2009, its work has helped to draw an association between people with schizophrenia and those in creative professions. Icelandic writers, painters and musicians were all found to have an inherently higher risk of the condition, which typically develops in adolescence or early adulthood.Stefánsson argues that this association is an inevitable consequence of evolution. Every child is born with about 60-70 random new mutations in their DNA, a biological quirk that provides the basis for humans to…6 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Lessons from ElizaIn 1966, AN MIT PROFESSOR NAMED JOSEPH WEIZENBAUM created the first chatbot. He cast it in the role of a psychotherapist. A user would type a message on an electric typewriter connected to a mainframe. After a moment, the “psychotherapist” would reply.User: Men are all alike.Chatbot: IN WHAT WAYUser: They’re always bugging us about something or other.Chatbot: CAN YOU THINK OF A SPECIFIC EXAMPLEUser: Well, my boyfriend made me come here.Chatbot: YOUR BOYFRIEND MADE YOU COME HEREUser: He says I’m depressed much of the time.Chatbot: I AM SORRY TO HEAR YOU ARE DEPRESSEDWeizenbaum published this sample exchange in a journal article that explained how the chatbot worked. The software was relatively simple. It looked at the user input and applied a set of rules to generate a plausible response. He…20 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023A ‘war economy’ is the way to pull together against global heatingANDREW ANTHONYFarage’s knack for grabbing headlinesPage 48 →Like many other politicians, Joe Biden talks a good game about the need to tackle global heating. Climate change is an “existential threat”, the US president said last week, as the country sizzled amid record-breaking temperatures.Biden had to do something in response to what António Guterres, the UN secretary general, described as the boiling of the planet. The White House announced a series of measures – such as improved access to drinking water and planting more trees – in response to what has been the hottest month on record.To Biden’s critics, this is fiddling while Rome burns. They say he should be declaring a climate emergency, which would allow him to block new fossil fuel projects without congressional approval. As it is, Biden…5 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Elon Musk’s X rebrand is a muddled gamble on everything or nothingElon Musk’s latest change to Twitter, the social media platform he has appeared intent on sabotaging ever since he was strong-armed into honouring his commitment to buy it, appears to be the most baffling yet. In place of a chirruping blue bird, he has substituted a “minimalist art deco” X.Mr Musk, one analyst told the Guardian, had “singlehandedly wiped out over 15 years of a brand name that has secured its place in our cultural lexicon”. It’s hard to disagree. The blue bird had a charm that the ominous X does not. In replacing the gentle invitation of a tweet with something more darkly anonymous, the world’s richest person might be expressing more than he intended.On the app itself, perplexed academic followers twittered as to which of its competitors might…2 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023FOUND IN TRANSLATIONMieko KawakamiJapanKawakami’s work encompasses the cute (Ms Ice Sandwich, about a boy’s obsession with a sales assistant) and the cutting, with All the Lovers in the Night, translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd, and Breasts and Eggs pointing the finger at social expectations of womanhood and femininity. Kawakami interviewed Haruki Murakami in 2017, challenging him about sexism in his work. Since then, a new generation of readers, hungry for a modern view of Japanese society, have made her the coolest Japanese cult author since Murakami.Samanta SchweblinArgentinaSchweblin, whose books have been translated by Megan McDowell, is one of a number of South American authors, including Mariana Enríquez and Agustina Bazterrica, who have made a name in English from stories of creepiness and disgust. (Just the title of Schweblin’s Mouthful of…2 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Aleppo nightsDuring the twilight years of the Ottoman empire at the end of the 19th century, as ethnic tensions flare between the groups that inhabit its vast territories, a young boy flees a massacre and finds shelter in Aleppo with a wealthy Muslim family. Like his hosts, Hanna is part of the empire’s wealthy elite. Unlike them, he’s a Christian. Almost immediately, he becomes best friends with Zakariya, the son of his protectors. Over the next 70 years, Hanna and Zakariya’s friendship will be tested by every conceivable challenge.Their youth is spent entirely in pursuit of pleasure. They carouse in the red light district of Aleppo, run away to Europe and spend time in Venice. On their return, they commission a friend, a Jewish architect, to build them a pleasure palace.Marriage…2 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023ReviewsFILMTalk to MeDirs: Danny Philippou, Michael PhilippouThe Philippou brothers, Michael and Danny, are young film-makers from Adelaide who started as production runners on Australian horror classic The Babadook and achieved a cult following for their film spoofs on YouTube under the handle RackaRacka. In their debut feature, they have let rip with gleeful anarchy. It’s a chilling adventure with an undertow of pathos, its title an ironic twist on the emotional pain involved in not talking about your feelings.Like all the young people in the’burbs, Mia (Sophie Wilde) and her friends are obsessed with rumours of an occult craze. A bunch of kids have a china hand; if you take hold of the hand and say “Talk to me”, you see a dead person and, if you invite them in,…2 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023№ 229 Tomato galette with basil chilli drizzlePrep 15 minCook 1 hr 15 minServes 4Ingredients1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced Salt 500g ripe tomatoes 1 x 400g block puff pastry, rolled into a rough 30cm circle on baking parchment 50g cheddar, grated 1 tsp dried oregano 1 egg, beatenFor the basil chilli drizzle1 small bunch of basil 50ml olive oil ½ tsp chilli flakes ½ garlic clove, peeled and crushedThis is my puff-pastry ode to a cheat’s pizza, and a brilliant way to use slightly soft tomatoes, or ones lacking in flavour. I love the word “galette” – it makes it sound terribly fancy, but really it is just a free-form tart, so the more rustic, the better. The salting of the tomatoes is an important step to avoid a soggy-bottomed pastry. You…1 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Turmoil in Israel, Odesa de-Russifies and a check on chatbotsThe Knesset vote last week to curtail the power of Israel’s supreme court deals a blow to the country’s status quo.For months, ordinary Israelis have been on the streets protesting against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rightwing government’s plans. Now thousands of army reservists are threatening to refuse duty. Our Jerusalem correspondent Bethan McKernan reports on why reservists are hanging up their boots in protest and what acts of civil disobedience mean for Israel’s stability and security. And Jonathan Freedland looks at the parallels between Netanyahu and Donald Trump, both strongman leaders facing criminal trials and determined to use political processes to circumvent personal responsibility.The big story Page 10 →We return to Odesa after last month’s terrible airstrike on the cathedral to discover how Moscow’s determination to break the…2 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTINSECTSLab tests verify medicinal qualities of ant honeyAustralian honeypot ants produce honey with antibacterial and antifungal properties, researchers have found, in a discovery that brings western science up to speed with Indigenous knowledge.Camponotus inflatus honey has been used by First Nations people in their traditional medicine for thousands of years.Analysing its properties, researchers found that the honey is highly effective against Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, commonly known as golden staph.“It was quite amazing that the activity of the honey was so specific against some pathogens and not others,” said Dr Kenya Fernandes, of the University of Sydney, a co-author of the study published in the journal PeerJ.CLIMATE EMERGENCYAlarm sounded over early shutdown of Gulf StreamThe Gulf Stream system could collapse as soon as 2025, a new study suggests. The shutting down…2 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023What is the judicial overhaul vote about? And what happens next?Israel’s far-right and ultrareligious government has finally succeeded in passing an element of its wide-ranging changes to the judiciary. Legal action, a general strike and possible refusal from upwards of 10,000 military reservists to report for duty are on the cards as the country’s largest ever domestic crisis enters a new chapter.What happened?After seven months of debate, the government on 23 July managed to scrap the “reasonableness” clause that allows Israel’s unelected supreme court to overrule government decisions, after a final vote of 64-0. Every member of the coalition voted in favour, while opposition lawmakers abandoned the Knesset plenum in protest.Earlier in the year, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appeared more willing to cut a deal with the opposition and temper the judicial proposals, but he was believed to be…4 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Egypt calls on Putin to revive Black Sea grain dealEgypt’s leader, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, urged Vladimir Putin to return to the Black Sea grain deal during a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg marked by concerns about the global economic fallout from the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.In a speech during a plenary session of African delegations attended by the Russian president, Sisi said it was “essential to reach agreement” on reviving the deal, which had allowed 33m tonnes of Ukrainian grain to reach markets, many in developing countries in Africa.Moscow said that it had quit the grain deal because its own agricultural exports were still being blocked. But a number of African countries, including Kenya and Egypt, a key importer of Russian grain enduring an acute food crisis, have struck out angrily at Russia as the Kremlin seeks them as…3 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Neighbours ‘may use force’ to reinstate the presidentA powerfulbloc of west African states suspended ties with Niger following last week’s coup and authorised the possible use of force if the country’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, is not released and reinstated within a week.The ultimatum was delivered by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) as France warned that any attacks on French citizens or its interests in Niger – a former colony – would provoke an “immediate and stringent” reaction.France’s embassy in Niamey was targeted during pro-junta and pro-Russia protests last Sunday. Thousands of protesters marched through the capital waving Russian flags, chanting the name of Vladimir Putin and forcefully denouncing France. According to a witness, a crowd congregated outside the embassy and a door was set on fire.There’s no political or security situation to…3 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Return to the narrow gaze of a pioneering naturalistThe Rev Gilbert White became the first person to identify the chiffchaff, willow warbler and wood warbler as three distinct species. The Hampshire parson was also the first, more than 230 years ago to describe the harvest mouse, the noctule bat, and swifts mating in flight, something not recorded again until the 1930s. He was fascinated by his pet tortoise, Timothy, and why he needed so much sleep.White’s careful, vivid and seemingly trivial descriptions of the wildlife he encountered around the village of Selborne as he walked between parishes made him a pioneering naturalist. His Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, first published in 1789, has never been out of print.Generations later, farmers and volunteers have spent five years walking the same land and discovered 88 of the 120 bird…6 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Bamboo to the rescue as villages rebuild after the floodsA year ago, Shani Dana’s mudbrick house was swept away in the worst floods on record to hit Pakistan. More than 1,700 people were killed and 900,000 homes damaged or destroyed. Sindh province, where Dana lives, was the most badly affected.While waiting for government money to rebuild her home in Wasram village, in the Tando Allahyar district, word reached Dana that the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan (HFP), founded by a renowned architect, Yasmeen Lari, was building one-room homes in neighbouring Pono village. The buildings “looked like rounded chauhras [traditional huts], but were octagonal in shape and the walls were much sturdier,” said Dana.The foundation agreed to help Wasram rebuild and in March the HFP team joined villagers to construct 50 homes. Prefabricated bamboo frames were built on metre-high raised platforms.…4 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Legal bind Further charges strengthen Trump’s resolve for 2024 runA tunnel lit by torchlight. An attempt to delete incriminating camera footage. A “boss” who must be obeyed. And all to no avail.The latest criminal charges against Donald Trump, the former US president, conjure images of the hapless Watergate burglars or a mob movie with elements of farce.But while they deepen Trump’s legal perils, analysts say, they will only harden his determination to regain the White House as his best chance of staying out of jail. Opinion polls show he remains the runaway frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2024. Trump, who left office in January 2021, pleaded not guilty in Miami in June to federal charges of unlawfully retaining classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and obstructing justice. Prosecutors allege that he put some of the…3 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Stormzy’slearningSTORMZY SAUNTERS AMIABLY into a west London photo studio. “Whatsup, everyone,” he says, nodding around solemnly at the scattering of people setting up the shoot. His team arrived a little earlier, and he’s drawn into conversation about an event, possibly his forthcoming 30th birthday party, more on which later. Someone has been spreading invitations around. He’s animated, speaking with his trademark booming voice. “I’m a f*ckin’ talker,” he tells me later, almost sheepish.From the outside, it might seem as if Stormzy, otherwise known as Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr (or Big Mike), has never been afraid to use his voice. As his ascension to global superstardom has progressed, the musician has gone from grime trailblazer to a political figurehead for progressives and the Black British working class. His bars…10 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Sharks are showing up at the seaside – but there’s no need to panicAs a marine conservationist, if I see another headline along the lines of “Menacing man-eating shark lurking off the coast of Britain” accompanied by a photo of a basking shark – a species that exclusively consumes plankton – I think I might scream. It seems all a shark needs to do these days is push its dorsal fin above the ocean waves and panic immediately ensues. Just last week, that’s exactly what happened off the French coast. A blue shark – a species typically found in the open ocean with an extremely low record of unprovoked attacks on humans – was spotted close to the shoreline. Instant drama ensued, with lifeguards closing the beach and swimmers watching from the water’s edge.There are more than 500 species, yet you’ve probably only…4 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023WRITE TO USLetters for publicationweekly.letters@theguardian.comPlease include a full postal address and a reference to the article.We may edit letters. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions, see: THEGUARDIAN.COM/LETTERS-TERMSEditorialEditor: Graham Snowdon Guardian Weekly, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UKTo contact the editor directly: editorial.feedback@theguardian.comCorrectionsOur policy is to correct significant errors as soon as possible. Please write to guardian.readers@theguardian.com or the readers’ editor, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UKThe left can learn from Spain’s election resultAs a Spaniard, I have felt quite proud of my compatriots (The big story, 28 July). Indeed, we proved ourselves sensible enough to realise the danger implied in a government including an extreme-right party.However, Pedro Sánchez will have to prove again his snake-charming capabilities to attract the…4 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Parallel lives‘But she is mad!” said General de Gaulle. It was the autumn of 1942 and the leader of the Free French movement in London had just received a proposal from a fearfully weak and emaciated woman, practically blind without her glasses, to head a special mission of French nurses to provide first aid at the front. Simone Weil hoped to become, as Wolfram Eilenberger puts it, “a kind of female anti-SS in the spirit of the Maid of Orléans”.The 33-year-old Jewish philosopher wrote: “The challenge would be all the more conspicuous because the services would be performed by women and with a maternal solicitude … It would illustrate with supreme clarity the two roads between which humanity is faced today.”She was prepared to die for her ideals, but feared De…4 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023BOOKS OF THE MONTHIs That Your Mama?By Patrice Lawrence and Diane EwenTired of intrusive questions, Josie wonders whether her family should look more alike – then her parents give her a globe to mark where all her relatives were born. A heartfelt picture book celebrating mixed heritage.Tiny, the Secret AdventurerBy Aisha BushbyThis illustrated series for 6+ features an adorable tiny person living among the sunflowers in a school garden. At first, the creatures mistrust her – until Frog is in danger and it’s up to Tiny to save the day.The Destiny of Minou MoonshineBy Gita RalleighOrphaned Minou lives with her grandmother. In alliance with the rebels, can she fulfil her mysterious destiny? Set in an alternative India, this steampunk-laced story is a remarkable debut for 9+. Poetic, imaginative and gripping.Safiyyah’s WarBy Hiba Noor…2 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023My husband has stopped spending time with his friendsI have been with my husband for 20 years. During the first few years, he would occasionally hang out with about four friends. I’ve always been lucky enough to have a lot of friends and I really value them.In contrast, my husband no longer has any friends. He occasionally goes for a run with one local dad we know, but never goes for a coffee or a meal. The husbands of my friends are all really nice guys, but there is something wrong with each of them in my husband’s eyes; their idiosyncrasies irk him.My husband’s lack of friends means he puts pressure on me to “entertain” him. However, I work, albeit part-time, we have two fairly young children to care for, a dog etc, and I feel the load…3 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023COUNTRY DIARYThe suburban country diarist, away from suburbia, must seize every opportunity. Here on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight, the birds are different (skylarks, lapwings, black-tailed godwit); the butterflies are different (marbled white, wall, white admiral). But the night sky is, frankly, unrecognisable.London’s dirty orange glow is replaced by a clarity of light and a depth of dark that is unimaginable for a city dweller. There are fewer and fewer places free of the creeping spectre of light pollution – and we are staying in one of them.We find a place. We sit. We wait. The rookery over the road settles down for the night, caw of rook and chack of jackdaw fading into silence. Light wind, few clouds, no moon. Good stargazing conditions for us.I wonder at…1 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023The Weekly cryptic No 29,131Across9 This lot managed 18 around Hoylake on vacation (5)10 Management of Real Betis is most unfocused (9)11 A peripheral role in return game (5,4)12 Scrap pile somewhere in London (5)13 Topless experience in bar is heavily criticised (7)15 Setter’s construction is most succinct (7)17 Nerve of pilot changing direction (5)18 Teachers’ paperback collection (3)20 Bet24 sponsors (5)22 Dozens of mischievous creatures chasing short couple (7)25 Restless Cooler King escapes totally exhausted (7)26 Game of skill caught old Nazi (5)27 Having no issue with Kid Rock initially in charge (5-4)30 Expenditure of friendly society (9)31 Threads to stitch contrary wrapping paper (5)Down1 New York squad turning up to make arrest (4)2 Scoffed following retrospective gun control (8)3 Black coffee ultimately providing spring (4)4 Pushes forward version of Bros duet (8)5…1 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Quick crossword No 16,604Across1 Green-and-white herby cheese (4,5)8 Molten rock flowing from a volcano (4)9 Kind of edible pea (5,4)10 Duo (4)13 Scale (5)15 Trivial (6)16 Horse of a colour between light brown and brownish orange (6)17 Electric generator (6)19 Devoted (6)20 My word! (2,3)21 Desire (4)24 Julius Caesar’s last words when being stabbed to death, according to Shakespeare (2,2,5)25 Deprive of by deceit (4)26 Derogatory term for someone pretentiously interested in culture (informal) (4-5)Down2 Tuba (anag) (4)3 Flair (4)4 Without breaking sweat (6)5 German romantic composer, d. 1897 (6)6 Clumsy (9)7 Blasphemous behaviour (9)11 Preliminary preparation (9)12 Primitive weapon – thin gloss (anag) (9)13 Little piece (5)14 Chest (5)18 Small edible muscle on each side of a fowl’s back (6)19 Opulence (6)22 Elaborate solo song (4)23 Editing mark to cancel a correction…1 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Global report1 UKRAINE/RUSSIADrones brought down over Moscow and outskirtsRussian air defences shot down “several” drones targeting the Moscow region, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Tuesday, with one hitting a tower that had been struck last Sunday.The Russian defence ministry said two drones had been destroyed by air defence systems in the Odintsovo and Naro-Fominsk districts near Moscow, while a third was jammed and crashed in the capital, according to the state news agency Tass. The ministry blamed the attacks on Kyiv.The strikes come two days after Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelenskiy said that the war was coming to Russia, although Ukraine has not acknowledged responsibility for the attacks.Zelenskiy said on Monday that more than 350 people were working on a rescue mission in Kryvyi Rih after what he said were two Russian…10 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Global report United KingdomFOSSIL FUELSSunak to ‘max out’ North Sea oil and gas reservesRishi Sunak has pledged to “max out” the UK’s oil and gas reserves as he revealed a new round of intensive North Sea drilling, which experts said could be catastrophic for the climate. Unveiling a plan to authorise more than 100 new North Sea licences on a visit to Scotland, the prime minister also indicated he would approve drilling at the UK’s largest untapped reserves in the Rosebank field, which hold 500m barrels of oil.Speaking to reporters on a visit to a Shell gas terminal north of Aberdeen, Sunak insisted the plan was compatible with net zero commitments. He said: “My view is we should max out the opportunities that we have here in the North Sea, because that’s good…3 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023No to Netanyahu Israelis’ defiance is a lesson for anyone who cares about democracyBeware the strongman leader who fears prison. Donald Trump is running for president in part because he sees a return to the White House as a literal get-out-of-jail-free card: reinstalled in the Oval Office, he would be able to pardon himself for the mounting pile of serious federal crimes for which he is indicted. His legal strategy is his political strategy.But the exemplar of the phenomenon is the man who was Trumpian before Trump: the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. It is Netanyahu – and the war he is waging against his own country – whom all those who care about the wider future of democracy should be watching. For Israel has become the test case in the global fight against ultranationalist populism.Netanyahu’s coalition passed a law last month…4 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Graduates unconvinced by calls to toil in the countrysideWanted: recent graduates keen to gain experience in a teaching environment and an adventure far from home. Perks of the role include hands-on experience, CV fodder and, most importantly, job security. Cons include long hours, low pay, limited social life and poor infrastructure in remote locations (running water cannot be guaranteed).This is the offer facing China’s graduating class of 2023: decamp to work in impoverished rural areas. But many young people are not convinced.More than 11.5 million students will graduate this summer looking to move into a jobs market where youth unemployment is at a record high. In June, 21.3% of 16-to 24-year-olds in urban areas were out of work, according to official statistics. Some economists reckon that figure is understating the reality.A slow economic rebound after Covid and a…3 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Stalemate drags on as socialist party loses crucial seatSpain’s socialist party has suffered a setback in its efforts to form a new leftwing coalition government after last month’s inconclusive election as a count of overseas votes handed a crucial seat across to the opposition conservatives.The result means the left and right blocs are now neck and neck as MPs prepare for a vote in congress that will determine who gets to govern.The left’s hopes of remaining in power now rest even more firmly on Junts, the centre-right Catalan pro-independence party led by Carles Puigdemont, the former regional president who fled Spain to avoid arrest over his role in the failed unilateral bid for independence almost six years ago.Although the rightwing People’s party (PP) won the snap election, it fell well short of expectations and only narrowly beat the…4 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Island fights to save its Caribbean heritageThe first thing that strikes visitors arriving on Old Providence is the island’s deep serenity. There are no cars and little noise except for the reggae playing at beach bars. Unlike most of Colombia’s tourist hotspots, there are no hawkers; visitors are left to laze on the powdery white sands of the beaches alone.“We don’t have a lot here. No big hotels, no museums, none of that,” says Ferma Livingston in a thick Caribbean English as she emerges from her restaurant kitchen in Manzanillo Bay. “But what we do have is peace and tranquillity.”Providence’s laid-back lifestyle and local customs have been preserved by the tiny island’s isolation. Though it is part of Colombian territory (and known in Spanish as Providencia), the volcanic island sits 725km north of the mainland and…3 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Benju boss Musician goes global in his 70sWhen Daniyal Ahmed set off on a road trip from Karachi into the neighbouring province of Balochistan in early 2022, his only contacts were a few distant connections he hoped would lead him to a legendary musician. After circling villages near Pasni, a fishing port on the Arabian sea about a six-hour drive from Karachi, Ahmed by chance spotted Ustad Noor Bakhsh on the side of a lonely road sitting next to his broken motorbike, waiting for help.Ahmed, an anthropologist who teaches at Habib University, had been chasing down masters like Bakhsh in remote regions across Pakistan. Bakhsh was already well known within Balochistan as a solo benju (a type of zither) player and as Balochi vocalist Sabzal Sami’s accompanist for three decades. Ahmed was alerted to Bakhsh’s talents after…3 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Remarkable Washington hearing on UFOs buoys beliefAs the world heard tales of recovered alien bodies, crashed extraterrestrial spaceships, and an apparently violent plot to conceal both, not everyone was willing to believe.The Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, swept up in last week’s remarkable UFO congressional hearing in Washington through her role on the House of Representatives oversight committee, seemed determined to not get carried away by a surge of interest in UFOs.Speaking afterwards, the leftwing congresswoman sought to characterise her colleagues’ quest to uncover the government’s alleged alien coverup as an investigation into national security and military furtiveness.“This committee has encountered instances before where either defence activity has not been forthright,” Ocasio-Cortez told the Guardian. “I do believe that there is a very large question about what is being disclosed and we have a responsibility to pursue…3 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Hard work and desireAs the first recipients of the Stormzy Scholarship to Cambridge in 2018, Drew Chateau and Joseph Vambe didn’t know what to expect. They had already been accepted at the university, to do law, and human, social and political sciences respectively.After graduating, Vambe, 23, joined the Labour party as an administrative secretary before being elected as a Labour councillor last year, making him the youngest councillor in Southwark, London. Chateau, 24, is completing her legal training at an international law firm and hopes to specialise in property law. Sitting alongside Stormzy, they reflect on their time at university, their upbringings, and what it means to give back to the place you’re from.When did Cambridge come on to the horizon?Drew Chateau I wanted to go to Cambridge, but realised it might be…5 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Has Nigel Farage become Britain’s most inf luential politician?Whatever one thinks of Nigel Farage, back in the news for bringing about the resignation of NatWest’s chief executive Alison Rose and Coutts boss Peter Flavel, he has been instrumental in changing Britain. Few observers would argue that his campaign to remove the UK from the European Union has led to a beneficial change, but almost everyone would agree that it’s been a profound one.In Britain, where the first-past-the-post voting system neuters small parties, single-issue politics tends to be the preserve of eccentrics and obsessives, carrying about the same parliamentary influence as the Monster Raving Loony party. The glaring exceptions are Farage’s Ukip and the Brexit party, which between them helped deliver the harshest of Brexits.An almost anachronistically English figure with his beer and blazers, Farage is an easy man…4 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023In other words…PHOTOGRAPHYAn exile’s view of his Hong Kong homelandPage 58 →THERE WAS A BUZZ IN THE ROOM at this year’s International Booker prize ceremony in May, as some eye-opening – and encouraging – numbers were shared by the organisers. The figures, from a broad survey of book buyers, showed that sales of translated fiction increased by 22% last year, compared with 2021 – and that the category is most popular among readers under 35, who account for almost 50% of translated fiction sales. This is much higher than the 31% share of overall fiction sales bought by these readers – and the figures have grown year on year. For translated fiction, the future looks bright. I spoke to the people involved in publishing, translating and reading translated fiction to find out…11 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Homespun happyAnn Patchett’s fourth novel, the hostage drama Bel Canto, propelled her to literary fame in 2001, winning the Women’s prize for fiction. Two solid novels followed, Run and State of Wonder, but Patchett has produced the best fiction of her career in recent years, with the magnificent family dramas Commonwealth (2016) and The Dutch House (2019), a finalist for the Pulitzer prize. There has been nonfiction, too, with two essay collections, including These Precious Days (2021), the centrepiece of which is a Harper’s magazine article that went viral about Patchett’s lockdown friendship with Tom Hanks’s assistant, Sooki Raphael. Raphael moved into Patchett’s Nashville home to start a clinical trial for the recurrent pancreatic cancer that would ultimately end her life, and Patchett turned this into a deep exploration of kindness,…4 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Lost city state of mind‘This is my farewell letter to Hong Kong,” says Wong Chung-Wai, when I ask about the title of his astonishing photobook, Hong Kong After Hong Kong. “I wanted to use photography to preserve what’s left in my brain, as evidence of having lived in the city, as I don’t know if I could ever return.”Wong recalls that, in 1980, his parents “waited for the guards at the border to rotate their positions” before swimming across Shenzhen Bay in mainland China to Hong Kong. Forty years later, Wong, like many Hongkongers, decided to leave the city after China introduced the national security law in June 2020, which has triggered continuous crackdowns and threatened civil liberties in the former British colony.I videocall Wong two days after June’s summer solstice, and our conversation…4 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Put your own spin on shop-bought treats for simple, snappy dessertsWhat summer desserts can I make that don’t require turning on the oven?Beth, London, England, UKThere are a few ways to approach this, Beth. First, says Nicola Lamb, the pastry chef behind the Kitchen Projects newsletter, you’ve got “the lazy assembly job”. That might involve “getting ice-cream and cookies from the local shop to make ice-cream sandwiches”.Other shop-bought items that are crying out to be spruced up are a chilled bowl of custard (“swirl in some macerated fruit, then crunch over amaretti,” Verena Lochmuller, the Ottolenghi development chef, says), or a good-quality pound or lemon drizzle cake: “Fancy that up with a dollop of yoghurt or creme fraiche, some berries or ripe figs and maybe some toasted almonds.”There is also good stuff to be had if you want to make…2 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023DiversionsQUIZThomas Eaton1 Where in London is the world’s longest single-span roof structure?2 Who was the first female caddy to win a golf major?3 Shot in California, the Patterson-Gimlin film is said to show which creature?4 Which celebration can be al-Fitr or al-Adha?5 Which writer won the 1974 Somerset Maugham award?6 What might feature a conning tower?7 Which primate is the loudest land mammal?8 Who established the Uraniborg observatory and alchemical lab?What links:9 Contained Ten Commandments; Mesoamerican quartz head; Antikythera mechanism?10 Northern Union; Virginia Slims Circuit; PDC; LIV; WSC?11 Hundred Flowers; Four Pests; Destruction of Four Olds; Down to the Countryside?12 North; St George’s; Bristol; English?13 Oryza sativa; Solanum tuberosum; Triticum; Zea mays?14 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Che Guevara?15 NY (2); CT, MA, NH, NJ, PA and RI (one…3 min
Guardian Weekly|4 August 2023Open up your world viewThe Guardian Weekly takes you beyond the headlines to give you a deeper understanding of the issues that really matter. Subscribe today and take your time overhand picked articles from the Guardian and Observer, delivered for free wherever you are in the world.Visit theguardian.com/gw-bp or scan the QR CodeGet up to 35% off the cover priceSubscription rate is a monthly subscription payment of £13.75/€23.50, or annual rate of£165/€282. In the Rest of World, monthly subscription is $30, and annual subscription is $360. Currency will vary outside these regions. For full subscription terms and conditions visit theguardian.com/guardian-weekly-subscription-terms-conditions.…1 min
