Innehållsförteckning för 13 September 2024 från Guardian Weekly

Police are under pressure to accelerate the criminal investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire after an excoriating report found companies operated with “systematic dishonesty” and that all 72 deaths were avoidable. A seven-year public inquiry culminated last Wednesday in a report that laid bare “decades of failure” by central government and egregious behaviour by a string of multimillion-dollar firms involved in the tower’s disastrous refurbishment. Sir Martin Moore-Bick, who led the inquiry, found that firms that made the combustible materials used on the tower – Arconic, Celotex and Kingspan – “engaged in deliberate and sustained strategies to … mislead the market”. He identified incompetence, “cavalier” attitudes and “concealment” of wrongdoing, while Grenfell residents’ safety concerns were dismissed by their local authority and the landlord. After the publication of the long-awaited…

Hopes that tensions in the South China Sea might ease have been short lived. Just weeks after the Philippines and China struck a deal to try to stop dangerous confrontations at Second Thomas Shoal, a new flashpoint has emerged. Over recent weeks, Manila has accused Chinese personnel of ramming its boats, blasting them with water canon and firing flares at its aircraft, with incidents often centred on a new location, an atoll called Sabina Shoal. It comes as tensions in the South China Sea, a strategically important waterway that links the Indian and Pacific Oceans, were already at their highest in a decade. A series of escalating incidents has provoked warnings that an error of judgment at sea could inadvertently spiral into armed conflict. This would risk drawing the US,…

US officials last weekend insisted that a ceasefire in Gaza is close even as fighting raged unabated in the block-aded Palestinian territory and violence spirals in the occupied West Bank, where witnesses said an American-Turkish dual national was killed by Israeli forces last Friday. But pressure from the US and the two mediators speaking to Hamas, Qatar and Egypt, has done little to assuage the fighting or rising tensions. The US said it was urgently seeking more information about the killing of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, who witnesses said was shot in the head by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops during an anti-settlement protest in the West Bank. Several of Israel’s western allies have imposed sanctions on individuals and organisations associated with Israel’s settler movement, despite blowback from prime minister…

Each week, I write for a tech company worth billions of dollars. Alongside me are novelists, academics and other freelance journalists. The work-load is flexible, the pay better than we are used to, and the assignments never run out. But what we write will never be read by anyone outside the company. That’s because we aren’t even writing for people. We are writing for an AI. Large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT have made it possible to automate huge swathes of linguistic life, from summarising any amount of text to drafting emails, essays and even entire novels. These tools appear so good at writing, they have become synonymous with the very idea of artificial intelligence. But before they ever risk leading to a godlike superintelligence or devastating mass unemployment,…

Ticketmaster has a dream. A dream that one day, it will be “pleased to have partnered with” your child’s school, making it “easier for you to buy tickets” to the nativity play. Which will henceforth be known as the nativity experience. But listen – Ticketmaster wants to make the whole process run more smoothly, freeing you up to connect with the performers you love (your kids) while being “gifted” a paper cup as part of the package in these platinum seats (the tiny chairs from the classroom). No, none of the standard seat tickets are still available. But you can upgrade to the ultimate VIP package, meaning you have access to the Bethlehem lounge (the reception reading corner) an hour before. If you want to experience magic this Christmas, do…

Should you (that is, not can you) cook with extra-virgin olive oil? Antonio, Atlanta, Georgia, US There’s no blanket “should” to most things culinary, and the short answer is, it depends. There’s personal preference: budget (extra-virgin olive oil [evoo] is often a lot more expensive than regular olive oil, or indeed other oils); what you’re cooking and how; what role the oil is playing, and so on. If something is being cooked above a certain temperature, for instance, many people will insist that you absolutely should not cook with extra-virgin olive oil. It has a lower smoke point than some other oils (for instance, a light, refined olive oil or a blended vegetable oil), and some of its flavour and health benefits start to diminish when it’s subjected to heat over about…

✱ All solutions published next week Across 1 Deprived fellow wearing hat (6) 4 Male is leading bad behaviour (8) 9 Great to eat quiet meal (6) 10 Part of Shane’s cap is manufacturer’s fantasy (8) 11 Investment in Peruvian cattle development (7,7) 13 Hinted Iris could be cut off (10) 14 Froth starts to spill copiously upsetting mum (4) 16 Obnoxious person with a drink (4) 18 Reason proposal includes one tank (10) 21 Prepared sociable dinner of no great size (14) 23 Healthy rage secretary turned around getting drink (8) 24 Draw wine arranged in rows (6) 25 Last nurse embracing love completely (3-2-3) 26 Sell bike part on the radio (6) Down 1 Graduate having quiet party (4) 2 Put down regarding journalists (7) 3 Brief, short…

1 ENVIRONMENT Almost 200 environment defenders killed last year At least 196 people were killed last year for defending the environment, with more than a third of killings taking place in Colombia, new figures show. From campaigners who spoke out against mining projects to Indigenous communities targeted by organised crime groups, an environmental defender was killed every other day in 2023, according to a new report by the NGO Global Witness. Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and Honduras were the most deadly countries for people trying to protect their lands and ecosystems, making up more than 70% of all recorded killings. Global Witness said it was often difficult to establish a driver of the killings, with many going unpunished, but mining was the biggest factor last year with 25 killings related to the…

After the final report of the Grenfell fire inquiry was published, Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the blaze, said: “We did not ask for this inquiry … It’s delayed the justice my family deserves.” Although he thanked the inquiry for its findings, Choucair was devastated that the police had to delay their criminal investigation until it had concluded. A decision on prosecutions is now not expected to happen until the end of 2026 at the earliest. His reaction, which was echoed by others, raises questions about what public inquiries are for and whether they can offer closure. Jason Evans, founder of the Factor 8 group, campaigns on behalf of those affected by the contaminated blood scandal. His father, Jonathan, died in 1993 after contracting HIV and hepatitis…

SUVs and saloon cars pass slowly along McLeod Ganj’s narrow one-way Jogiwara Road, blaring horns at pedestrians and scooter riders and playing loud music. The powerful vehicles soon get stuck in the traffic near Kalachakra temple, the place of worship of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. “You can be stuck in this traffic easily for two hours,” said a frustrated taxi driver, not keen to share his name. McLeod Ganj, a Himalayan town famed for temples, meditation courses and ashrams, is witnessing an influx of domestic tourists seeking refuge from rising temperatures in dry and tropical states across India. Many come to enjoy cricket matches with a view of the Dhauladhar mountain range over the newly built stadium. Once monks in burgundy red robes dominated McLeod Ganj’s main market.…

Polls for the US presidential race have been upended since Kamala Harris took over from Joe Biden to run against Donald Trump. While Biden was trailing the Republican former president nationally and in many crucial swing states, Harris has gained about three points in national polls since becoming the nominee. The Guardian’s poll tracker assesses polls over a rolling 10-day period. Last week – before this week’s televised debate was taken into account–it had Harris leading nationally by about two points. But when comparing this with previous elections, data from RealClearPolitics reveals Harris’s lead over Trump is weaker than those of his previous opponents. As of 30 August in their respective campaigns, Hillary Clinton led Trump by five points in 2016 and Biden was ahead of him by 6.3 points…

It should have been an Instagram-perfect wedding image, but it turned out to be something more embarrassing. In the picturesque village of Geiranger, the jewel of Norway’s fjords and a Unesco world heritage site, Princess Märtha Louise was hurried to a tent, covered by sheets to thwart rival photographers. The photo rights of her marriage last month to Durek Verrett, an American shaman, had been sold exclusively to Hello! magazine. Netflix was presumedly present as well because it holds the movie rights to the love story between the princess and the shaman. Whether the newlyweds – infamous for their promotion of pseudo-scientific quackery, royal profiteering and, in Verrett’s case, a belief that he’s a hybrid reptile from Andromeda who can cleanse spiritual imprints in promiscuous women’s vaginas – have found…

Bruno Lacombe, in his youth an ally of the 1960s revolutionary intellectual Guy Debord, is now self-exiled to a cave complex in the limestone regions of southern France. The caves are like a kind of political rhetoric in themselves, a message convoluted and endless. Their vanished inhabitants obsess him. Since the Neanderthal extinction, “the wedge between human beings and nature” has become “far deeper than the wedge between factory owners and factory workers that created the conditions of twentieth century life”. The left, he believes, needs to properly understand this. Meanwhile, shadowy French authorities have decided that Lacombe and the “Moulinards” – the post-Debordian eco-commune he mentors by email – need to be steered out of their less than utopian rural domesticity and towards some act of serious terrorism, so…

Across 1 Plunder by force (6) 4 Pivot (6) 8 Half a semibreve (5) 9 Pipe for liquid or gas (7) 10 Erupting or dormant mountain (7) 11 Of birth (5) 12 Imaginary instrument (3,6) 17 Bathroom washer (5) 19 Snuff etc (7) 21 Pretence (7) 22 Light dullish brown – shy (5) 23 Lager/lemonade tipple (6) 24 Bully (6) Down 1 Strike out (6) 2 Ordinary (7) 3 Greek letter, of rays? (5) 5 Fastener turned by finger and thumb (4,3) 6 Boast (5) 7 Piddly (6) 9 Fried ball (9) 13 East Midlands ceremonial county (7) 14 Conscript, e.g. (7) 15 Old counting instrument (6) 16 Maker of archer’s weapons (6) 18 Excitement and emotion (5) 20 Dessert (in melon-shaped mould) (5) Solution No 16,945…

CRIME Starmer launches knife crime project with Idris Elba Keir Starmer hosted the actor and campaigner Idris Elba along with police, officials and charities to launch a project intended to tackle knife crime among young people. The Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime will involve campaign groups, young people and community leaders, and the families of people affected by knife crime. It will also bring in technology companies, sports organisations, police and educators, according to a Home Office announcement. While there are as yet no policy commitments connected to the initiative, beyond an already-promised ban on the sale of so-called zombie knives, the Home Office and No 10 hopes to create momentum in taking action over the issue. The announcement said the group will seek to generate evidence about the factors…

One recent morning, historian Yevhen Murza and comedian Feliks Redka, both from the city of Sumy in eastern Ukraine, hitched a lift into Ukrainian-occupied Russia. Their mission was to record an episode of their long-running podcast dedicated to popularising Ukrainian history. On arrival in Sudzha, the town that has been at the centre of Ukraine’s push into Russia’s Kursk region, Murza and Redka quickly set up their equipment and began recording. “This is not just entertainment content,” said Redka, at the start of the podcast. “Today we are making a historical document … We will tell you about the Ukrainian roots of the town of Sudzha.” The occupation of Sudzha, which until the incursion had a population of 5,000, has been one of the most remarkable twists in the 10…

‘Call me Yakov,” the burly, red-bearded settler told the Palestinian villagers. They should, it was understood, consider him their mukhtar, their chief, mayor and sheriff. It was only after he was singled out for sanctions by the US government last week that they learned his real name: Yitzhak Levi Filant. On paper, Filant is merely the security coordinator (ravshatz) of the Yitzhar settlement, perched on a West Bank hilltop south of Nablus overlooking a string of ancient Palestinian villages on the steep slopes below. However, with the frequent and arbitrary use of force, he has made himself a warlord of the whole Jabal Salman valley. He has stood out from a phalanx of brutal settler bosses to earn himself the title of “specially designated national” from the US Treasury and…

The local fishing crews had been finishing their long night’s work catching lobster and crab off the northern French port of Boulogne-sur-Mer when the mayday alert came in. Axel Baheu and Gaëtan Baillet immediately rushed to their two boats to assist in the rescue. A small inflatable dinghy had ripped apart in the Channel with at least 60 people, mostly from Eritrea, on board, hoping to reach England. What the fishers saw would haunt them for ever, they said. Twelve people died in the disaster last Tuesday; at least half of them were under 18, and 10 were female. Baheu, in his lobster boat, the Murex, pulled three bodies from the water. He told the Voix du Nord newspaper that his crew had wept as they had pulled in the…

The helicopter swooped into one of the most in-accessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from it into the caiman-inhabited waters below. Their target, lurking in the woodland along Brazil’s Bóia River, was a hulking steel mining dredge, caught drilling into the riverbed in search of gold. Onboard, troops from the national environmental agency, Ibama, and the federal highway police found tools from this illegal industry. They also found a sleek white receiver made by Elon Musk’s satellite internet firm Starlink, which is at the centre of a showdown between Brazilian authorities and the US billionaire that last month resulted in his social network X being blocked in South America’s biggest country. “It’s a satellite internet antenna that provides communications to this whole criminal network,” a…

Once again the gap between politics and media, on one hand, and the general public, on the other, continues to be revealed in its scale. Survey after survey bring us the news that things are changing. That the British public is becoming more progressive in attitude towards refugees and asylum seekers, immigration, unions and industrial action, net zero targets and, most recently, British history. The National Centre for Social Research’s British social attitudes survey shows a country that has become less nationalistic and jingoistic and, most sharply, less “proud” or “very proud” of British history. Along with that, there were also declines in pride in Britain’s democracy, its political influence and its economic achievements. The only spheres where pride remained constant and high were sport, and art and literature. Some…

On my way to Hard Graft, a new exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London, I sat beside an employee with a lanyard round her neck like a chain whose exhortatory instruction read: “Straight-forward, purposeful, collaborative behaviours” – but to what end I had no idea. Jobs come with added sententiousness these days, as employers burden workers with the requirement to be “passionate” about their job. Pret recruitment says: “We hire passionate people and teach them to make sandwiches.” When I worked in a primary school kitchen outsourced to a catering conglomerate, every wall was posted with an instruction: “Always happy, never sad.” Your labour is not enough. They want your passions too. That spirit of oppression infuses Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights. Wellcome shows stand out for blending…

This has been a spectacular ragwort summer. Tall, flat-topped candelabras of egg yellow have lighted long stretches of road verge, filled sunny corners of pasture and erupted in the middle of less-mown lawns. But it’s a controversial plant, characterised by some as a “deadly daisy”. All parts contain toxic alkaloids, which if eaten will cause cumulative liver damage in horses and cattle, sometimes with fatal results. Even a light brush against the leaves and stems releases a strong odour, which has inspired descriptively uncouth names, including mare’s fart and stinking willy. The pong has a practical purpose, helping to deter herbivores from grazing on it. Yet ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris) is also a valuable source of late-summer food for more than 80 invertebrates. Around 35 UK insect species depend on it,…

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