Kashmir in crisis / Carney's carnival: inside the 2 May Guardian Weekly
The covers of our Global and North America editions of the Guardian Weekly take different directions this week.
The North America edition showcases Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada, who achieved a remarkable victory in Monday's federal election. As our reporter in Ottawa Leyland Cecco explains, Carney reversed a huge Liberal party poll deficit after voters backed him over his conservative opponent, Pierre Poilievre, to stand up to the threats of Donald Trump. Can the dour but tough former central banker succeed in fending off the aggressive advances of his US counterpart?
For all other international editions of the magazine, the cover focuses on the crisis over Kashmir, where a terrorist attack on tourists last week brought relations between India and Pakistan back to boiling point. Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Aakash Hassan and Peter Beaumont report on the latest turmoil engulfing the Himalayan region.
Get the Guardian Weekly delivered to your home address
The big story | Kharkiv suffers in the shadow of a peace dealWhile US-led negotiations threaten to carve up Ukraine, deadly Russian attacks continue amid deep cynicism about the process. Luke Harding reports from a city under siege
Science | Why f ish farms on the moon aren't such a wild ideaThe Lunar Hatch project is studying whether aquaculture might be able to provide a source of protein for astronauts on space missions. Kim Willsher paid them a visit
Feature | The dirtiest race in Olympic historyHow did the 2012 Olympics women's 1500m get its reputation? Athletes cheated out of medals talk to Esther Addley about what happened – and how the results unravelled
Opinion | Will Pope Francis's compassionate legacy endure?Some, especially within the US, see the forthcoming conclave as an opportunity to establish a more conservative leader, says Guardian associate editor Julian Coman
Culture | The genius of Barrie Kosky and his Wagner phantasmagoriaHe put Carmen in a gorilla suit and had Das Rheingold's Erda represented by a naked elderly woman. What are the the opera director's plans for his edge-of-the-seat Die Walküre? Fiona Maddocks finds out
The photographs of Georgia and train travel pulled me into an inspiring piece on following the old hippie trail as far as it can now go. I'd happily follow in the writer's footsteps, but would stop in Tbilisi and then take the train back home by a different route. Isobel Montgomery, Guardian Weekly deputy editor
How did the niche UK publication Dogs Today score an exclusive interview with Barack Obama? And why did Somerset Life get much-coveted access to Johnny Depp? This strange and rare insight into the engine room of UK celebrity journalism is every bit as intriguing as the thought of Jack Sparrow tending his English country garden. Graham Snowdon, Guardian Weekly editor
Audio | Why did Just Stop Oil just stop?
Video | Could the West Bank become the next Gaza?
Gallery | Blackouts tip Spain and Portugal into darkness – in pictures
We'd love to hear your thoughts on the magazine: for submissions to our letters page, please email weekly.letters@theguardian.com. For anything else, it's editorial.feedback@theguardian.com
Facebook
Instagram
Get the Guardian Weekly magazine delivered to your home address
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
British photojournalist hit by non lethal rounds during Los Angeles protests
Nick Stern, a British news photographer based in Los Angeles, is set to undergo emergency surgery for a wound sustained during the standoff between police and anti-Ice protesters in Los Angeles on Saturday. Stern told the Guardian he had been covering the protest near a branch of Home Depot in Paramount, where immigrants workers are typically hired for day work, when he felt a sharp pain in his leg. 'I'm walking around taking photos and was untouched until around 9pm. I was walking across the road when I felt a mighty pain in my leg. I put my hand down and felt a lump kind of sticking out the back of my leg,' he said. Stern believes he was likely hit my a non-lethal round that deputies were using along with flash-bang stun grenades for crowd control. 'People came over to help and got me on the curb. A medic was called, who cut off my clothes. In my leg was what felt like a five centimeter hole with muscle hanging out of it and blood all down my leg. The medic put a tourniquet on it, and a journalist I was with took me to ER.' 'It hurt so much that I thought they might be firing live rounds,' he said. 'I've been with non lethal rounds before. They hurt like hell but generally don't break the skin. But the blood made me think it was a live round.' Stern is currently at the trauma center at Long Beach Memorial awaiting surgery. A doctor who looked at his X-rays said the dimensions of his wound indicated he had been struck by a non-lethal round. The LA county sheriff's department deployed more than 100 deputies in response to the protest. Sheriff Robert Luna estimated that the crowd grew to about 350 to 400 people and said it had become violent, with some of the protesters throwing objects at federal agents and law enforcement officers. During the protest police deployed teargas and other munitions. 'Anybody has the right to peacefully assemble, and exercise their first amendment rights, but when that crosses the line to where you are attacking other people, utilizing violence, or any destruction of property, that's where we as a department has to step in, warn people, and people may get arrested,' said Luna. 'Deputies will be defending themselves. I don't think anybody expects our deputy sheriffs to take rocks and bottles without defending themselves.' Stern said protesters appeared to be 'very angry' and chanting slogans including 'Ice out of LA!' 'There's a lot of large Hispanic population in Paramount,' Stern said. 'They gave the impression from what they were chanting that it was their town and they didn't want Ice there.'
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Spending plans for British Council may force it to close in 60 countries, sources say
Ministers have asked the British Council to draw up spending plans that would force it to close in as many as 60 countries, sources have told the Guardian, in the latest sign of the impact of Keir Starmer's decision to slash the aid budget. The council has been asked to draw up two sets of spending plans as part of Wednesday's spending review: one in which its funding would remain the same in cash terms and one in which it would be cut by 2% in cash terms each year. The scenarios are the same as those that have been demanded of the BBC World Service, and would mean the council having to shut completely in large parts of the world. The plans are likely to add to warnings that the government's cuts to overseas aid are at risk of damaging its soft power just as Russia and China are putting more resources into strengthening theirs. Scott McDonald, the council's chief executive, would not comment on the Treasury's demands, but said: 'The British Council plays a vital role in delivering UK soft power around the globe. 'Investment in soft power is imperative to any nation that wishes to be instrumental on the world stage. Over the last three years we have taken £180m of costs out of the organisation through a substantial transformation plan, but the amount of funding we receive from the UK government will have an impact on country closures.' McDonald has previously warned that financial pressures on the council could make it 'disappear' within a decade. The council receives £1bn in revenue each year, but 85% of that comes from selling its English-language services around the world. In 2024-25, it received £163m in a government grant, most of which came from the international aid budget. Earlier this year, the prime minister announced he would slash the aid budget from 0.5% of gross domestic product to 0.3%, freeing up about £6bn in extra spending for defence. The reductions to the aid budget are now being felt in Whitehall, with the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, having imposed what insiders say are swingeing cuts on the Foreign Office. As a result, institutions such as the British Council and BBC World Service are being asked to model major spending reductions. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Those close to the negotiations with the government say the council had asked for an additional £20m in funding per year, not least to help repay a £197m loan to keep it running during the pandemic. That loan, which was made on commercial terms, has now been rolled over for another 18 months, but insiders say the repayments are costing it £14m a year. If it receives no extra cash in the next few years, those close to the talks say, it will have to close in 40 countries. Cuts of 2% in cash terms would require 60 closures. Both of these would be on top of the 20 office closures that it announced in 2021, when it was told to reduce its budget by £185m over five years. The council's financial crisis is causing alarm among politicians and military chiefs, who say its activities boost Britain's national security. Dozens of high-profile figures recently wrote to the prime minister urging him not to cut the council's funding. They included the former home secretary James Cleverly, the former defence secretaries Grant Shapps, Ben Wallace and Michael Fallon, the former foreign secretary David Miliband, and the former military chiefs Richard Dannatt and David Richards. The letter warned: 'As we compete harder for global influence, the need for the British Council's unique contribution to our security is greater than ever. We call upon you to invest in this great national asset and force-multiplier, before it is too late.' Peter Ricketts, the former national security adviser who organised the letter, told the Guardian: 'A lot of defence people will tell you that a small investment in soft power such as the British Council is worth a lot of money on the military side.' A Foreign Office spokesperson said: 'Despite the tough fiscal situation, we continue to back the British Council with over £160m in 2025-26.' The spokesperson added that no decisions had yet been taken over its funding for the next few years.
Economist
4 hours ago
- Economist
Putin unleashes a summer offensive to break Ukraine
AFTER WEEKS of nebulous ceasefire talks at the urging of a semi-engaged President Donald Trump, the war between Russia and Ukraine is intensifying again in savage style and with escalating stakes. In the last two weeks there have been record-breaking Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and spectacular Ukrainian drone raids on Russia's strategic bomber force, deep inside its borders. But all this is merely a prelude to the main event: a large-scale summer offensive by Russia that aims to break Ukrainian morale and deliver president Vladimir Putin a symbolic victory at almost any cost.
