Innehållsförteckning för 16th April 2021 från Guardian Weekly

Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh and the longest-serving consort in British history. He died on 9 April aged 99. Spotlight, p15 Shirley Williams British peer and one of the original “gang of four” Labour politicians who split to form the Social Democratic party. She died on 12 April aged 90. DMX New York rapper (real name: Earl Simmons) whose gruff tone electrified the US music scene in the late 1990s. He died on 9 April aged 50. Paul Ritter British actor and star of sitcom Friday Night Dinner, as well as Chernobyl and films including Quantum of Solace. He died on 5 April aged 54. Ramsey Clark The US attorney general in the Johnson administration who fought for civil rights before later representing the likes of Slobodan Milošević and…

Concerns have been mounting over reports of rare but serious blood clots in a small number of recipients of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. What are the potential side-effects from Covid vaccines? All medications, including vaccines, have side-effects. The most common with Covid jabs are mild and short-lived, including localised soreness, fatigue, aches and headaches. However, the AstraZeneca vaccine has been linked to a small but concerning number of reports of blood clots combined with low platelet counts (platelets help our blood to clot). These include a rare clot in the brain called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). In an unvaccinated population, it is rare: up to 15 to 16 cases per million people per year. Also highly uncommon is a combination of clots and sometimes unusual antibodies, which is at the…

A wealth tax to help pay for the cost of fighting the pandemic. An international agreement to prevent a race to the bottom on corporate tax. An insistence that recovery from the second severe crisis in just over a decade should be green and inclusive. A conviction that governments should spend whatever it takes to fend off the threat of mass unemployment. There’s nothing startlingly new about any of these ideas. What is different is that these are no longer just proposals put forward by progressive thinktanks or marginalised Keynesians in academia, but form part of an agenda being pursued by the International Monetary Fund and the US Treasury under Joe Biden’s presidency. This matters. From the 1980s onwards, the IMF and the US Treasury forged what became known as…

The terrible global cloud that is the Covid-19 pandemic offered the glimpse of a silver lining last week. New tax proposals by Joe Biden mean that the economic emergency caused by coronavirus could result in big multinational corporations having to pay the fair amounts of tax they have avoided for so long. A breakthrough at the 135-nation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development talks in Paris may produce an agreement. Giants such as Facebook and Google would then have to pay up – and not before time. Until Covid, the OECD corporate tax negotiations that began nearly a decade ago had been deadlocked, especially after the Trump administration refused to agree to anything that might raise taxes on US tech giants. Individual nations, notably in Europe, had started to impose…

‘Other people look; Taylor sees.” That was Zadie Smith’s assessment of American artist Henry Taylor. Thirty seconds into my Zoom call with him, I begin to understand what she meant, as he joyfully dissects the decor in my room. “Oh, you got a guitar back there?” he says. “What are you going to do, play me a song?” Then, noticing the slogan on my cap, he laughs and says: “I can’t be Free and Easy… peasy.” Suddenly, I’m wondering what else is in view. You might think this was an artist trying not so subtle unsettling tactics at the beginning of an interview. But Taylor is far too spontaneous for anything like that. A question about what he’s interested in at the moment prompts an answer that turns into a…

The author of some of the most indelible ghost stories ever written, MR James, gave a lesson in 1927 in how to do it: “Let us, then, be introduced to the players in a placid way; let us see them going about their ordinary business, undisturbed by forebodings, pleased with their surroundings, and into this calm environment let the ominous thing put out its head.” Mariana Enríquez has written stories that fit this pattern, but five pages in to the International Booker prize-longlisted The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, it struck me that breaking the rules can be just as productive as following them. Enríquez, who is from Buenos Aires, operates on the boggy ground between recognisable daily life and the dark-running streams of fear, rational and irrational, we all…

Israel, it has been reported, might be reaching its Covid “endgame”. This refers not to the 1957 absurdist play by Samuel Beckett but to potentially being coronavirus-free. Why “endgame” rather than “end”? In chess, the endgame follows the middlegame: forces are depleted, and one side is often attempting to promote a pawn. (You can also have queen endgames, and middlegames without queens.) It was coined thus in 1884 as “end game” by the chess writer Bernard Horwitz. Since an endgame can go on for a hundred moves or more, it is not a destination but only, as Winston Churchill had it, the beginning of the end. It has, though, acquired a metaphorical sense of a final aim, usually disguised. Let us hope the Covid virus itself, then, does not have…

Over the past couple of weeks, there have been scenes in the streets of Belfast that almost everyone with a stake in Northern Ireland hoped had been confined to the history books. Last Thursday, crowds clashed in west Belfast and rioters were dispersed with water cannon after nights of unrest in loyalist areas. Our Ireland correspondent Rory Carroll has been making sense of this latest surge in anger – fuelled by fears old and new about the changing nature of Northern Ireland. The big story Page 10 → In 1947, the Observer approved of a “gallant mariner” and his engagement to Princess Elizabeth. After the Duke of Edinburgh’s death last Friday just shy of his 100th birthday, Tim Adams reflects on Prince Philip’s many facets: stalwart husband, family confidant, poetry lover, mentor to…

ARCHAEOLOGY ‘Lost golden city’ is the most vital find since Tutankhamun Archaeologists have hailed the discovery of what is believed to be the largest ancient city found in Egypt, which experts say is one of the most important finds since the unearthing of Tutankhamun’s tomb. The Egyptologist Zahi Hawass announced the discovery of the “lost golden city”, known as Aten, saying the site was uncovered near Luxor, home of the Valley of the Kings. The 3,000-year-old city dates to the reign of Amenhotep III, and continued to be used by Tutankhamun and Ay. After seven months of excavations, several neighbourhoods have been uncovered, including a bakery complete with ovens and storage pottery, as well as administrative and residential districts. CARTOGRAPHY Engraved stone could be Europe’s oldest 3D map Archaeologists in…

The Queen, newly widowed, will find it “difficult” without the support she had in more than 73 years of marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh, but royal observers have dismissed any speculation that she might step down. The former prime minister, Sir John Major, said it was “a very lonely position” as monarch. He told the BBC: “There are a limited number of people to whom she can really open her heart, to whom she can really speak with total frankness, to whom she can say things that would be reported by other people and thought to be indelicate.” She could “unburden herself” on Philip. When facing “a sea of problems”, or when feeling overwhelmed and needing to share decision-making, one needed “someone who can metaphorically – or in the…

Our cities are dominated by glass-faced edifices that overheat like greenhouses then guzzle energy to cool down. Instead, we could have buildings that are connected to the living systems that have evolved with us, that celebrate the human-nature connection central to our wellbeing. Bringing nature into our cities is a key part of establishing and rebuilding that connection. As well as bringing beauty into urban environments, we know people are healthier when they are connected to nature. Research also shows crime rates decrease in areas with street trees and that property values increase. Fortunately, we are seeing projects emerging in cities around the world that demonstrate the possibilities. High-profile projects such as the High Line in New York City provide examples of how leftover spaces in cities can be transformed…

A Volkswagen joint venture in China is buying green car credits from Tesla to help stay within local environmental rules, according to a Reuters report. The deal, the first of its kind to be reported between the two companies in China, highlights the scale of the task VW faces to transform into an electric vehicles specialist to rival Tesla. The deal was confirmed by three sources. Shares in VW have soared as investors warm to its plans to go electric. But the German company is still heavily reliant on internal combustion engine vehicles. China is the biggest market for cars. It runs a credit system to encourage carmakers to improve fuel efficiency or make electric cars. Manufacturers of less-polluting vehicles earn green credits that can offset negative credits for more-polluting…

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Anna, a young woman from Bradford, UK, was waiting for surgery for endometriosis. The surgery was cancelled, leaving her in excruciating pain. She was forced to close her business, a small tattoo studio that she had opened two years earlier, at the age of 24. She could no longer pay for the weekly counselling that had been helping her deal with her troubled childhood. Her partner lost his job. Anna was convinced that if she caught Covid, she would die. “I was in a terrified bubble, having the news on constantly, crying, worrying, panicking,” she told me. For weeks, she waited for news about support for businesses. The cash, when it finally came, fell far short. Other business expenses went on her credit…

Getting in a flap about flags since Kipling’s time Divisions over the union jack date back even further than Tim Adams suggests (Spotlight, 2 March). In his short story The Flag of their Country, Rudyard Kipling describes how an MP invited himself to give a lecture on patriotism in about 1880 to a school clearly based on Kipling’s own, the United Services College in Devon, where the majority of the boys were the sons of military officers and destined for the armed services. At his peroration, the speaker produced a union jack and waved it before the audience, expecting a thunder of applause; he was greeted with silence and disgust by the boys, who disapproved of what we would now call “virtue signalling”. For his pains they christened him a…

1 One way of writing 1/5 as the sum of two reciprocals is as follows: 1/10 + 1/10. What is the other way? 2 Wordpool Find the correct definition: PRUINOSE a) interferingb) covered with white powdery granulesc) soft and crumblyd) like a prune PELMA a) sole of the footb) soft alloyc) card gamed) girl’s name PERCOID a) stubby and perkyb) member of suborder of bony fishc) uppityd) more like Perky than Pinky 3 E pluribus Rearrange the letters of BIG TURTLE to make a single word. 4 Dropouts Replace each * with a letter to make a word: B*A*N*K 5 Cryptic Cooked in ovens? (7) King coin? (9) 6 Missing Links Find a word that follows the first word in the clue and precedes the second. Eg the answer to…

NOTES & QUERIES Speaking in tongues is a personal preference Which is the most marvellous language you ever heard? The most marvellous language I ever heard is my native language, Welsh. There is beauty in its poetry and song. An old form of Welsh was spoken across much of Britain even before the Romans came. Following an attempt to suppress it during the 18th and 19th century, its use is banned in the seat of government of Britain. But, “Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth, ’da ni yma o hyd” (despite everyone and everything, we are still here). Gwydion MorleyUwchmynydd, Wales, UK • An old friend who served in the Royal Navy during the second world war told me about the most marvellous language he had ever heard. Simultaneously sacred and…

1 UNITED STATES Fury in Minneapolis over shooting of Daunte Wright Police clashed with protesters for a second night in the suburbs of Minneapolis on Monday after the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in a police shooting. Law enforcement officers swarmed the suburb of Brooklyn Center to disperse hundreds of people who had gathered outside the police headquarters. The clashes occurred hours after police released body-camera footage, which showed the unarmed Black man’s death. Police described the shooting last Sunday as “an accidental discharge” after the video appeared to show the officer, later identified Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force, threatening to use her Taser before opening fire. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden, under pressure to act after a slew of mass shootings, has announced his first steps to curb…

CORONAVIRUS Vaccine programme on track despite Oxford issues The UK’s vaccination programme is expected to be effectively completed shortly after that of the US, and several weeks ahead of the EU’s effort, despite falling up to six weeks behind because of problems affecting the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab. Airfinity, which tracks vaccination programmes worldwide, forecasts that 75% of the population can be fully immunised in the UK by the first week in August, a level where herd immunity arguably begins to take effect – though variants and the potential need for booster jabs could impact this significantly. That would be about a week and a half behind the US, which can reach the same level by late July, but six weeks ahead of the EU, which the company estimates will achieve the…

1 This is a Facebook post on the Azerbaijani news Page Azad Soz. It’s about activists being sentenced to eight months in prison for writing critical things about Azerbaijan politicians. More than a thousand people commented on the post – most of them in support of the Azerbaijan government. 2 But if we dig further, there’s something suspicious happening. The top comment is from someone named Zeyneb Babayeva. If we click through, we see that this is not a user account. It’s a Facebook Page for a coffee shop. And it was created less than two weeks before the comment on this post. 3 Facebook has a rule that each person should only have one account. But this Page exploits a loophole. A single user can easily make multiple Pages…

Across the world, 800 million children are still not fully back in school, Unicef is warning, with many at risk of never returning to the classroom the longer closures go on. There are at least 90 countries where schools are either closed or offering a mix of remote and in-person learning. The UN agency’s chief of education, Robert Jenkins, told the Guardian that the closures are part of “unimaginable” disruption to children’s education. “I didn’t imagine the scale of the closures when schools shut last year, and I didn’t imagine it going on for so long. In all our scenario planning for disruption, this possibility was never raised,” he says. “At the peak of the pandemic 1.6 billion children were not in school and here we are, a year later,…

Almost as soon as the word Covid is coined, my parents update their “advance decision” documents. They’re constantly adjusting them, fine-tuning their wishes for future medical treatment. “Like a dowager with an elaborate will,” I tease them, blowing the ink dry on yet another signature. When they first completed their advance decision documents, 20 years ago, they were mostly concerned with not being resuscitated should they have a stroke, perhaps while shopping in the market or cycling home. Now, aged 8 4 and 8 2 and debilitated by multiple illnesses, they’ve had to give up their bikes and those hopes of a dramatic end. “We look like the old people road sign,” says my mum, bent over her walking aid, handing my dad his stick. And they do. Frail as…

Music has been a lifeline during this year of Covid, but we haven’t all dabbled in drumming or taken up the trombone. Instead we’ve sparked up Spotify, soundtracking our constricted lives with a mood-changing playlist of uplifting beats or chill-out classical. This surge in listening has been little comfort to professional musicians, struggling while venues are shuttered. Lockdown has boosted streaming by 22%, but with digital distributors keeping the lion’s share of the proceeds, some artists are left to deliver takeaways or stack shelves. As Michael Spitzer points out, this shift towards isolated listening is only the latest stage in a transition from active participation in music to passive consumption that has been going on for thousands of years. Spitzer splits his global history of music into three movements. He…

Prep 15 min Cook 1hr 30 min Serves 4 Ingredients 3 heads of new-season garlic 3 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed (about 800g net weight)6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil4 shallots, peeled and quartered through the stem100g smoked pancetta or lardon cubes (optional)2 bay leaves ¼ bunch thyme, pickedZest of 1 lemon2 x 400g tin cannellini or haricot beans, drained and rinsed150ml white wine250ml chicken stock For the crisp topping 100g dried breadcrumbs20g caster sugar60g parmesan, finely grated My aunt Penny once made us a memorable lunch of Yotam Ottolenghi’s fennel gratin with a mouthwatering spring lamb. Never before had I tasted such a silky mass of sweet, caramelised fennel, and I had three helpings. I was trying to imagine a not-quite-vegetarian cassoulet, and that gratin sprang to mind. This can easily…