Trailing Trump in polls and facing doubts about his age, the President voices defiant confidence in his prospects for reëlection.
By Evan Osnos
One night in 2014, a group of young men from a rural teachers’ college vanished. Since then, their families have fought for justice.
The Guardian Weekly (February 22, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Ukraine’s Lonely Road’ – After two years, is there a way out of Putin’s war?…
Shaun Walker reports on this week’s big story, the fall of the strategic town of Avdiivka to Russian troops has come at a grim time for Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. While the army is struggling to hold ground, war fatigue is setting in among parts of the population and disagreements among the leadership have been spilling into the open.
At the same time, the death of the jailed Russian critic Alexei Navalny last week – widely seen as another political assassination – appears to emphasise the strengthening hand of Vladimir Putin, who is expected to secure another six-year term as Russia’s president in tightly controlled elections next month. Amid a familiar wave of international outrage, our Russia affairs reporter Pjotr Sauer asks what Putin might do next.
Coupled with the possibility of a Donald Trump victory in the US elections later this year, it all makes for a deeply worrying outlook for Ukraine, reflected in the Kyiv-based illustrator Sergiy Maidukov’s haunting cover artwork for the magazine this week.
“This war is the hardest test of my life, similar to an endless ultramarathon,” writes Sergiy. “It is good to try to not think about the finish when running long distance. This is important knowledge to endure.”
Russian aggression and American wavering reveal just how ill-equipped the continent is
Russia is becoming more dangerous, America is less reliable and Europe remains unprepared. The problem is simply put, but the scale of its solution is hard to comprehend. The security arrangements based on nato that emerged from the second world war—and have prevented a third—are so much part of Europe’s fabric that remaking them will be an immense task. European leaders urgently need to jettison their post-Soviet complacency. That means raising defence spending to a level not seen in decades, restoring Europe’s neglected military traditions, restructuring its arms industries and preparing for a possible war. The work has barely begun.
Pre-budget thoughts for Jeremy Hunt from a fictitious Treasury adviser
The flimsiest of the cases is set to go first, and all face delays
There is no substitute for military aid to Ukraine
There was more to the period than violence, superstition and ignorance, argues a new book
It’s dangerous and it’s spreading. Liberals need to find a way to stop it
The ex-president’s invitation to Vladimir Putin to attack American allies is an assault on NATO. Ultimately, that is bad for America
It’s dangerous and it’s spreading. Liberals need to find a way to stop it
The ex-president’s invitation to Vladimir Putin to attack American allies is an assault on NATO. Ultimately, that is bad for America
They are reshaping the balance between humans and technology in war
Investors at home and abroad no longer trust China’s policymakers
The arsenal of hypocrisy
Their cynicism over Ukraine weakens America and makes the world less safe
The Guardian Weekly (February 8, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Final Straw’ – What’s eating Europe’s Farmers?; Joe Biden’s Middle East masterplan; Can anything stop the AI deepfakes? and The Pet Shop Boys are back in town…
If you live in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland or Greece, you may well have already run into one of the numerous roadblocks or protests formed in recent weeks by furious farmers. If you’re in Spain and Italy, take cover – because they are coming to you soon, if not already.
In this week’s cover story, we explore what has proved to be the final straw for Europe’s farmers. A combination of rising costs, environmental rules and grievances over EU policies, coupled with more localised complaints, seem to be the factors driving the convoys of tractors. But far-right and anti-establishment parties, who could make major gains in forthcoming European parliament elections, have also picked up on the protests as part of their agenda against EU influence.
Paris correspondent Angelique Chrisafis and Europe correspondent Jon Henley delve into the protests (if not the piles of steaming dung being dumped on the continent’s roads, as illustrated wonderfully by Neil Jamieson on this week’s cover), and ask what can be done to placate them.
As Facebook turns 20, politics is out; impersonal video feeds are in
Britain’s armed forces are stretched perilously thin
What four more years of Joe Biden would mean for America’s economy
The feud between Ukraine’s president and army chief boils over
AI holds tantalising promise for the emerging world
A warming planet threatens the world’s favourite drug
The government has yet another plan for a nuclear renaissance
Pleasure cruises, golf and tracing the family tree are not that fulfilling
But it should keep its markets open to cheap, clean vehicles
The war against the Houthis is part of an escalating struggle for the seas
Germany is unable and unwilling to lead Europe
Boomers Daily 