Innehållsförteckning för 18 April 2025 från Guardian Weekly

French revolutions The pack of riders cycles during the fifth edition of the Paris-Roubaix women’s race, 148.5km between Denain and Roubaix in northern France on 12 April. Olympic mountain bike champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot became the first French winner of the race, which is renowned for its rough terrain and cobblestones. The Guardian Weekly Founded in Manchester, England 4 July 1919 Vol212 | Issue№ 16 Guardian Weekly is an edited selection of some of the best journalism found in the Guardian and Observer newspapers in the UK and the Guardian’s digital editions in the UK, US and Australia The weekly magazine has an international focus and three editions: global, Australia and North America. The Guardian was founded in 1821, and Guardian Weekly in 1919. We exist to hold power to account…

Full bloom ‘Bird’s eye view over a damson orchard in full blossom, in the Lyth valley, near Kendal, Cumbria. This area was synonymous with the production of many tonnes of damson, or the Westmorland prune, until its decline in popularity in the 1970s. ’ Do you have a recently taken picture you’d like to share with Guardian Weekly? Scan the QR code or visit theguardian.com/pictures-guardian-weekly and we’ll print your best submissions…

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, warned there would be “no winners” in a trade war and that protectionism “leads nowhere”, as he began a three-nation trip to south-east Asia starting in Vietnam on Monday. Xi’s tour, which kicked off in Hanoi, included rare visits to Malaysia and Cambodia and sought to strengthen ties with China’s closest neighbours as a trade war sent shock waves through global markets. Writing in an article published in Vietnam’s Nhân Dân newspaper on Monday, Xi urged Vietnam to “resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment”, Beijing’s Xinhua news agency said. He added that a “trade war and tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead nowhere”. Xi’s visit is expected to emphasise…

British Steel is scrambling to find enough raw materials to keep steel production going at Scunthorpe, after the government took control of the plant in Lincolnshire. If the materials do not arrive in time then the end of production at least one of the steelworks’ two blast furnaces could come very shortly. The rush to secure materials such as coking coal and iron ore has put the spotlight on the workings of the UK’s last two blast furnaces. Why is there a race to find materials? Scunthorpe’s “four queens” – a quartet of blast furnaces named Bess, Anne, Victoria and Mary – have towered over the town for decades. However, only two – Bess and Anne – are still in operation, and even those are faced with closure unless they…

Even by the warped standards of wartime, Russia’s attack on Sumy was astonishingly brazen. Two high-speed ballistic missiles, armed, Ukraine said, with cluster munitions, slammed into the heart of the border city mid-morning last Sunday as families went to church, waited for a theatre performance or were simply strolling about on a mild spring day. At least 35 people were killed, including two children. It was reckless, cruel and vicious and its consequences entirely predictable to those who gave the order. This attack reflects a Russian culture of impunity that has been allowed to endure without effective challenge. Washington’s approach, under Donald Trump, has been to try to negotiate an end to the war by talking directly with Moscow, while remaining mostly silent on Russian attacks on civilians. Talks between…

The view from the plastic chair in which Fatou Samba sits, looking out to sea, takes in many of the elements of the sorry tale of Senegal’s lost men. She can see the shapes of the industrial fishing ships and tankers from Europe and China strung across the horizon. Closer to shore are dozens of pirogues, Senegalese wooden fishing boats, rocking idle on a sea mostly denuded of fish. On the beach, where the small waves break, bringing in their crust of plastic waste, is a heap of masonry rubble. “That was the mosque,” Samba said. The ends of her own house, a U-shape with the arms facing out to the beach, have crumbled. “On 19 August, the sea took it, the bed and the walls,” she said, nodding at…

I’ve broken just one bone in my 61 years – my fibula, the smaller of the two that connect your knee to your ankle. I was skiing, I caught my left foot on some ice and the rest of my body just rotated around it until something snapped. I made a full recovery, but I’d rather not break anything else. I definitely don’t want to become so frail that just sneezing or coughing might fracture a rib. Like broken hips and wrists, these are all possibilities with the bone disease osteoporosis. In Britain, an estimated 3.5 million people live with porous and fragile bones – and one in two women and one in five men over 50 will have a fracture as a result, according to the Royal Osteoporosis Society…

For me, visiting the now infamous Stedsans eco-retreat in Halland, southern Sweden, was the apotheosis of the Scandinavian dream: apple-cheeked children running barefoot on the forest floor, a lake for swimming, a sauna to warm up in, simple cabins for sleeping and dinner served in the evening on a long table surrounded by trees. When I booked to stay back in 2022 to celebrate my wedding anniversary, it felt like I was going to be walking straight into my Instagram feed, flower-strewn dishes and all. Only now, it seems like that was as fantastical as it first appeared. Last week, a joint investigation by the newspapers Dagens Nyheter in Sweden and Politiken in Denmark found the owners of the eco-conscious retreat, chef Flemming Hansen and food writer Mette Helbæk, were…

Aimee Lou Wood has been one of the standout stars of the third series of The White Lotus, stealing almost every scene with her character’s wild one-liners and wide-eyed obsession with astrology. But the Bafta winner from Stockport in England has in recent weeks been getting as much attention for her teeth as for her winning turn in the hit show set in a luxury resort. Vanity Fair and the New York Times have been notable fans of Wood’s natural look but there has also been a backlash, with beauty magazine Allure saying that “fawning over a rejection of perfection is misplaced”. Gary Archer doesn’t know what the fuss is about. “They look all right to me,” he says of Wood’s teeth. He would know, because after working on 350…

In that dimple of European history between the French Revolution and the coronation of Queen Victoria, there lived a not inconsiderable number of men – usually young, dumb and full of opium – whose foremost ambition was to set sail for the Americas. There, in their parcels of cheap and plentiful wilderness, they found utopian communes where society could be forged anew in accordance with the principles of enlightenment. It certainly didn’t hurt that these endeavours would enable – even necessitate – quite a lot of shagging. Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his mates Roberts Southey and Lovell laid plans, between blasts of nitrous oxide and versification, for the foundation of a commune on the banks of Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River, chosen for its “excessive beauty and its security from hostile Indians”.…

1 UNITED STATES Recession fears mount as Trump hails tariff war Donald Trump insisted his trade war with much of the world was “doing really well” despite mounting fears of recession as Beijing hit back and again hiked tariffs on US exports to China. The White House maintained that the US economy is on the verge of a “golden age”, and that dozens of countries – now facing a US tariff of 10% after Trump shelved plans to impose higher rates until July – are scrambling to make deals. Beijing raised Chinese tariffs on US products to 125% last Friday – the latest salvo of its escalating trade dispute with Washington – and accused Trump of “unilateral bullying and coercion”. The White House excluded some electronic products from steep reciprocal tariffs…

 Last week, Mao Ning, head of China’s foreign ministry information department, posted a blurry black and white clip of a moment in history. In 1953, the late Chairman Mao made a defiant speech of resistance to what he called US aggression in Korea. Kim Il-sung, the North Korean leader and founder of the Kim dynasty, now in its third generation, had invaded US-backed South Korea. When Kim’s attempt to unite Korea by force appeared to be failing, China threw nearly 3 million “volunteers” into the war and succeeded in fighting to the stalemate that has prevailed ever since. There was no mistaking the symbolism of the image. As Donald Trump bragged to his acolytes in Washington that foreign leaders were lining up and “kissing my ass”, Beijing was announcing a…

It is 11.20pm, and in an instant the emergency centre comes alive. Doctors and medics are conjured up from somewhere nearby to treat two wounded Ukrainian soldiers who have arrived together – one with serious shrapnel injuries to his right eye, the other who had a pile of bricks fall on his chest after a drone strike. Yet it is the third, who arrives on a stretcher, who is the worst affected. The dark “panda eyes” signify a brain injury, while his back is studded with bloody red wounds from drone or mortar fire. He has to be stabilised by half a dozen medics before being transported to a hospital in the rear. Though the US is trying to broker a ceasefire to end the full-scale war that has run…

Joe Biden plans to write a book about his presidency that ended in his historic withdrawal from the 2024 election, pushed out by senior Democrats convinced he was too old and infirm and replaced by his vice-president, Kamala Harris. Sources close to Biden told news outlets the book could be published next year, by which time Biden will be 83. But readers have not needed to wait for an inside look at Biden’s time in power. This month has seen the publication of two books containing explosive reporting on Biden’s downfall, and coming months will bring two more: so far the picture is a damning one for Biden, his top aides and the Democratic party. The books have detailed a president increasingly unfit for the task of taking on Donald…

‘He’s really gone and done it this time. Now everyone can see what a disaster he is.” How many times have we heard this about Donald Trump? And how many times has it been proved wrong? Well, maybe this time he really has overstepped. After all, his clowning around with tariffs, sparking trade wars, then suddenly reversing his position, could provoke a global recession. Surely his supporters will disown him? But I’m not banking on it, and this is why. Already, Trump has waged war on everything that builds prosperity and wellbeing: democracy, healthy ecosystems, education, healthcare, science, the arts. Yet, amid the wreckage, his approval ratings still hold between 43 and 48%. Why? I believe part of the answer lies in a fundamental aspect of our humanity: the urge…

What are the best sides to pair with lamb at Easter? “Lamb has a deep, rich flavour; it’s distinctive, but it’s versatile, too,” say Jay Claus and Syrus Pickhaver of Rake at the Compton Arms in north London. “As long as you render the fat slowly and fully, so the flavour is released and the lamb is tender, you can take it in all sorts of directions.” Something “with good salinity”, be that gherkins or anchovies, is a good start in their book, as is erring towards a “Greek vibe” for Anna Hedworth, author of Service (think “yoghurty, fresh or sharp things, such as tzatziki or salsa verde”). Lamb also lends itself “ to an abundance of fresh herbs, and to spring produce – asparagus, wild garlic, peas, fennel and…

✱ All solutions published next week Across 8 After short dash caught fish that’s come too close (8) 9 Does some housework, run off feet (6) 10 Comes into lots of land: who from abroad is squatting? (8) 11 Gift of story book (6) 12 Spread animosity at uni, filthy swine? I already knew about that (2,4,4,2,3) 15 Competitor, one who has turned up without filling in card (5) 16 Check on a rod for fish (5) 20 Tusker has to be in pain, carrying round this on the face? (6,9) 21 Gap that all can see in ruined canal (6)  23 Abjuring alcohol, holding parties sadly’s ending in farce (8) 25 Hours on knees ultimately enthusiastic about ancestor worship (6)  26 Put hands together on mouth creating gibberish (8)…

INDUSTRY Ministers under pressure to review Chinese investment Senior Labour figures have urged the government to review Chinese investment in UK infrastructure in the wake of a crisis over the future of British Steel, warning that a rapprochement with Beijing could risk national security. Government officials insisted on Monday the country remained open to funding from Chinese companies even after a dramatic weekend during which ministers wrested control of the Scunthorpe steelmaking plant from the Chinese owners, Jingye. Both Downing Street and the Treasury said they believed the row over the plant to be an isolated commercial dispute, even though the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has not ruled out deliberate Chinese sabotage. Ministers are now coming under mounting pressure to reconsider their drive to secure further infrastructure investment from China,…

John Todd remembers the moment he knew he was really on to something: “There was no question that it was at the Harwich dump in 1986,” he recalls. This was in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, close to where Todd still lives. Hidden away from the beaches was the town landfill, including lagoons of toxic waste from septic tanks, which was left to seep into the groundwater below. So Todd, then a 45-year-old biologist, decided to design a solution. What he was “on to”, he realised, was not just a natural way of removing pollution from water, it was a holistic approach to environmental restoration that was way ahead of its time, and possibly still is. Todd’s solution was both beautifully simple and unfathomably complex. Next to the lagoons, he assembled a…

A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg’s film about two cousins on a heritage tour of Holocaust-related sites in Poland, has been largely embraced by Polish audiences, who appreciated its understated humour and conspicuous good intentions. Within a month of its release, the film had grossed more than $1m at the Polish box office – no small feat for an indie production in Poland. “There was a collective sigh of relief,” said Vogue Poland film critic Anna Tatarska, “that here was a Hollywood Holocaust narrative that didn’t cast Poles as historical villains.” Poland’s fraught relationship with Holocaust narratives has made films touching on it into political battle-grounds for at least a decade. Since the nationalist backlash against films such as Aftermath (Pokłosie) in 2012, and Ida a year later – both of…

There is only one building in North America, probably in the world, where one can browse bestsellers and children’s books by crossing an international border and then sit for an amateur theatre troupe in a regal opera house with each half of your body in two different countries. Standing near the Tomifobia River, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House straddles the border of Canada and the US. Constructed more than a century ago as a deliberate rebuttal to borders and division, the imposing building split between Quebec and Vermont has become a beloved and fiercely protected part of communities in both countries. But in recent months, the library has become the latest casualty in the transborder feud that has strained relations between the two nations. Peter Lépine began volunteering…

You’d think a sleep room would be cosy, but the one on Ward 5 of the Royal Waterloo hospital in London, back in the 1960s, was dark and airless, a twilight zone where up to six patients – almost always young women – would lie comatose on grey mattresses for weeks, even months on end. They had come in with schizophrenia, anorexia or a youthful waywardness their parents hoped could be cured. For William Sargant, the psychiatrist in charge, the cure lay not only in prolonged narcosis but insulin shock therapy, ECT and, if need be, lobotomy. Afterwards, the patients had no memory of what had been done to them. The Sargant method was to wipe their minds clean. Celia Imrie, later a famous actor, was admitted to Ward 5…

It’s early morning and the sky is a billowing parachute of blue, bursting its seams with sunshine and the fluffiest white clouds. A cool wind blows up Loch Insh, roughening the water and bearing the scent of spring. In the forest, the birch trees carry no hint of leaves but are shaggy with moss and lichen, their twigs falling in soft fronds, wine-coloured and beaded. The trunks are irregular, curving and bent, sometimes two or three growing from the same base. In contrast, the pale aspens grow up as straight as telephone poles. All their branches rise in upturned spikes, bare but for the tiny ink strokes of twigs. At the centre of the woods is a stand of vast oaks, last year’s dry leaves still spilling across the moss…

Across 1 Man or mouse? (4) 3 Tent’s outer part (8) 8 Direction of travel (4) 9 One holds a sword (8) 11 Protective eyewear (10) 14 One’s badly behaved (6)  15 Victorian undergarment (6) 17 Mormon religious building (10) 20 Not probable (8) 21 Part of a doorframe (4)  22 Slump (8) 23 It’s said to be very dry (4) Down 1 Pretty as (anag) – a (woven) picture (8)  2 Inspire awe (8) 4 Type of grasshopper (6) 5 Later – UN bequests (anag) (10) 6 And more besides (2,2) 7 Large (sum of money) (4) 10 It sells second-hand goods (4,6)  12 Toccatas (anag) – the opposite of flowing (8) 13 Look like (8) 16 Wine collection (6) 18 Large amount (of something) (4) 19 Weak spot…