Tag Archives: The Guardian Weekly

Culture, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – January 26, 2024

Leave a comment

The Guardian Weekly (January 25, 2024) – The new issue features ‘True Colours’ – What the AFD really wants for Germany; The fading hopes for Middle East Peace; Trump’s victory and DeSantis’s doomed campaign…

Events in the Middle East continue to unfold at a bewildering pace, with pockets of conflict opening up across the region. Diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour rounds up a week of flashpoints and assesses increasingly slim hopes for controlling the situation. And Oliver Holmes provides a revealing profile of Yemen, one of the most unchanging and least visited countries in the Middle East.

The Weekly went to press before news of Donald Trump’s victory in the New Hampshire Republican primary on Tuesday night, but you can catch up with all the latest Guardian coverage and reaction here. In the magazine, David Smith delivers a postmortem on Ron DeSantis’s doomed campaign, while Jonathan Freedland argues that Trump’s march to the White House can still be stopped.

Our long-read features take somewhat divergent paths this week. First, Charlotte Edwardes meets Gary Lineker, the former England footballer turned TV presenter whose penchant for regularly airing his liberal worldviews has made him public enemy No 1 for Britain’s anti-woke brigade.

Then, Chananya Groner unearths a remarkable story of factionalism and messianic fervour within New York’s Hasidic Jewish community, stretching back 30 years, which led to secret tunnels recently being discovered beneath a Brooklyn synagogue.

And in Culture, Charlotte Higgins meets the classical musicians Dalia Stasevska and Joshua Bell, who are resurrecting a long-forgotten Ukrainian concerto as a gesture of defiance to Russia.

Finally, we’re on the lookout for your best photographs of the world around us. For a chance for your picture to feature in the magazine, send us your best shot, telling us where you were in the world when you took it and why the scene resonated with you at that particular time.

Culture, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – January 19, 2024

Leave a comment
Image

The Guardian Weekly (January 18, 2024) – The new issue features ‘State Of Emergency’ – How drug cartels upended Ecuador; Why Houthi anger could spread war; Are aliens already among us?…

Not long ago, Ecuador was chiefly known for its volcanoes, wildlife and eco-tourism. It’s an image that may now need some rehabilitation after chaos and bloodshed sparked by the prison escape last week of Adolfo Macías, the country’s most notorious gang leader and drug lord.

With cartels from Peru and Colombia routinely funnelling narcotics through Ecuador’s ports en route to Europe, Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips reports on a rising problem that threatens to tear apart the once-peaceful Andean state.

In the Middle East, Yemen’s Houthi rebels could stymie the increasingly slim chances of preventing a regional war. With the US and UK bombing Houthi bases in response to attacks on commercial shipping, diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour recounts the Houthis’ rise and why military strikes against them may not lead to the desired outcome.

Culture, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – January 11, 2024

Leave a comment
Image

The Guardian Weekly (January 10, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Middle East on the brink’ – The threat of a regional war. Also, Inside the Post Office Horizon IT scandal…

The assassination of a Hamas chief in Lebanon. A terror attack on mourners of an Iranian former general. Commercial shipping in the Red Sea targeted by Yemeni rebels, and a US airstrike in Iraq. All were separate events in the Middle East last week but all were linked, in one way or another, to the presence of autonomous but Iranian-backed militia forces in the region.

When asked to visualise the threat of war engulfing the Middle East, for this week’s cover, illustrator Carl Godfrey took a literal approach. “I wanted to convey the tense and unpredictable situation,” says Carl, “and there’s nothing more tense than looking down the barrel of a gun. Especially when those barrels are pointing in all directions, and the risk of war is expanding in all directions.”

Culture, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – January 5, 2024

Leave a comment
Image

The Guardian Weekly (January 4, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Make or Break 2024’ – The biggest election year in history.

About 2 billion people have the opportunity to cast their ballots in polls that span the globe from the United States to Taiwan, and India to Mexico in 2024. The outcomes, as our analysts and correspondents explain in our big story, have implications for us all.

Washington bureau chief David Smith looks at the likely rerun of 2020’s Biden v Trump contest in November and explores what has changed and what has not in the US as the old adversaries square up. It is an almost foregone conclusion that Narendra Modi will be back for a third term as Indian prime minster, reports Hannah Ellis-Petersen from Delhi where analysts fear his victory will further imperil the country’s Muslim minority. And while Vladimir Putin will certainly continue as president in Russia, Pjotr Sauer explains why the man about to become fifth-time president might allow other candidates onto the ballot list. From Taiwan’s poll on 13 January to the 27-state European elections in June, how citizens vote will influence the geopolitical landscape for us all, while the conduct of campaigns will reveal how vulnerable democracies now are to misinformation and cyber interference from malign actors.

Culture, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – December 22, 2023

Leave a comment
Image

The Guardian Weekly (December 20, 2023) – The new issue features Two wars and a growing divide between the global west and south. Plus: Best culture of 2023.

World risks new age of empires where might makes right, warns Estonian foreign minister

Margus Tsahkna

International institutions seem powerless in face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, writes Margus Tsahkna, arguing they ‘cannot survive unchanged’

The international rules-based system needs urgent and fundamental change if it is not to collapse, the Estonian foreign minister has said, calling for “a new global conversation” to begin on how to reform the UN and the international criminal court.

Writing in the Guardian on Wednesday, Margus Tsahkna says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted flaws in the system that risk fatally undermining people’s faith in it.

_______________________________

Elsewhere, we shouldn’t forget there are plenty of reasons for hope. Having been expected to deliver little, the Cop28 climate summit turned out to be full of surprises – but was the final deal on fossil fuels just a ruse, asks environment editor Fiona Harvey.

Writers from the Guardian’s global development team reflect on the inspirational figures they met in 2023, from leaders to dancers to dads, who proved that humanity still has much to give. And leading conservationists and scientists tell us about the mysteries of the planet they wish they better understood.

The review of 2023 continues with the Observer’s selection of those we lost, recalled with affection by their friends. There’s also a dazzling range of images courtesy of the Guardian agency photographers of the year.

Last but not least, the Guardian critics’ top 10 rundowns of the best film and music of 2023, topped off with the Guardian Weekly team’s now-legendary television selections of the year.

Culture, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – December 1, 2023

Leave a comment

Image

The Guardian Weekly (November 29, 2023) – The new issue features the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas may have been weeks in the making – as detailed this week by Julian Borger and Ruth Michaelson – and led to the release of dozens of hostages on either side, but behind the scenes there was little expectation that it would lead to a longer-term pause in hostilities.

In a special report, almost two months after the deadliest attack on Israel in its 75-year history and as the world focuses on its retaliatory bombardment of Gaza that has seen around 14,000 people killed, Jonathan Freedland finds a country still convulsed with rage and sorrow, unable to see the pain of its Palestinian neighbours as it faces an uncertain future. As one senior Israeli military figure remarked: “It’s not yet post-traumatic stress disorder. We’re still in it.”

The far-right politician Geert Wilders stunned onlookers by finishing well ahead of the field in the Dutch election last week. But race riots in Ireland, a country previously thought immune to such extremism, were equally shocking. Rory Carroll, Lisa O’Carroll and Jon Henley report on contrasting manifestations of the rise of the far right across Europe.

Culture, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – November 3, 2023

Leave a comment
Image

The Guardian Weekly (November 3, 2023) – The new issue features Bletchley Park, the main center of allied second world war codebreakers, and it’s no coincidence that the English country house was chosen as the venue for this week’s landmark summit on safety in artificial intelligence. The age of AI brings opportunities but also significant risks, as a number of experts in the field outlined in an open letter last week.

Global technology editor Dan Milmo discusses the pros and cons with one of the technology’s leading thinkers, Demis Hassabis, the CEO of Google DeepMind, who says the rise of AI must be thought of as seriously as the climate crisis. Then, Observer columnist Sonia Sodha argues that calling for AI to be reined in is not simply a sign of luddism.

As Israeli forces entered Gaza this week, Bethan McKernan and Rory Carroll report for us on the increasingly unbearable nature of life in the besieged enclave, and there’s expert analysis and commentary from Julian Borger, Peter Beaumont and Jason Burke.

Culture, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – October 27, 2023

Leave a comment

Image

The Guardian Weekly (October 27, 2023) – The new issue features International security corespondent Jason Burke traceing the possible route to a wider war or, in the other direction, to at least a pause in hostilities.

Elsewhere, Ruth Michaelson and Julian Borger hear from terrified Gazans who have been pushed south, while Emma Graham-Harrison, Julian and Ruth consider the likely consequences of a “victorious” Israeli ground offensive.

There’s also a report on rising antisemitism against Jewish people across Europe since the 7 October Hamas terror attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli bombardment of Gaza. And in the Opinion section, Jonathan Freedland and Nesrine Malik offer powerful perspectives on the conflict.

With much attention ranged on the Middle East, the war in Ukraine has fallen a little from the spotlight. Pjotr Sauer reports from Belgrade, where some young Serbs have been signing up to fight for Russia despite the risk of prosecution at home.

Tributes were paid this week after the death of Sir Bobby Charlton, the former Manchester United and England footballing legend. The Observer’s former football correspondent Paul Wilson remembers a player who became virtually synonymous with the English game.

Culture, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – October 20, 2023

Leave a comment

Image

The Guardian Weekly (October 20, 2023) – The new issue features escalating events in Israel and Gaza that continue to cause deep distress and alarm, with several thousand people known to be dead or wounded on either side of the border. US president Joe Biden was expected to visit Israel this week, amid growing expectations of a ground invasion of Gaza and fears of a wider regional escalation.

Also, a primer on the historical background to events by Chris McGreal, while on the opinion pages the Israeli author and historian Yuval Noah Harari and Guardian US columnist Naomi Klein provide thoughtful and grounded perspectives.

There was sadness for many Aboriginal Australians after a move to recognise Indigenous people in the country’s constitution was rejected in a referendum, as Sarah Collard and Elias Visontay report. Also from Oceania, Henry Cooke examines what aspects of Jacinda Ardern’s political legacy might survive after New Zealand elected a new conservative government.

From Egypt to Hong Kong, the 2010s were a decade when mass protest movements looked set to change the world. But in most cases, the hope embodied by many massive street demonstrations was soon crushed by authoritarian regimes. Vincent Bevins asks organisers and others who were there where it all went wrong.

Culture, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – October 13, 2023

Leave a comment

Image

The Guardian Weekly (October 13, 2023) – The new issue features Hamas militants’ devastating incursion into Israel  from Gaza resulting in thousands of deaths, provoking a declaration of war and upending the fragile diplomacy of the Middle East.

The swirling composite of images on the magazine’s cover this week tries to encapsulate the human chaos and grief of civilians, both in Israel and Gaza, caught in the chaos of war. The central image shows a vast explosion filling the sky above Gaza City, an ominous portent of many violent acts still to come.

As the region faces its worst conflict for 50 years, Bethan McKernan reports from a kibbutz ransacked by militants and finds shocked residents still struggling to process events. Guardian correspondents Harriet Sherwood, Patrick Wintour and Peter Beaumont provide context and analysis, while international affairs commentator Simon Tisdall argues that the ultimate blame lies with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s controversial prime minister.

Ahead of this weekend’s elections in Poland that could give the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party an unprecedented third term in office, Shaun Walker goes on the campaign trail with Donald Tusk whose centre-right Civic Coalition is hoping to reverse the country’s slide away from democratic norms. And Brussels correspondent Lisa O’Carroll reports on the EU’s Granada summit where Hungary’s Viktor Orbán accused fellow leaders of attempting to impose a “diktat” with a proposal on a bloc-wide agreement on migration.

With global temperatures for September described as “gobsmackingly bananas” by leading climatologist Zeke Hausfather, our interview with the president of Cop28 could not be more timely. Sultan Al Jaber explains to environment editor Fiona Harvey how he believes he can square his job as the chief of the United Arab Emirates’ national oil company with leading a global conference focused on net zero carbon emissions.