Innholdsfortegnelse for 4 February 2022 i Guardian Weekly

Dancing on the ceiling Do not adjust your magazine … an upside down house in Guatavita, Colombia, has attracted hundreds of tourists since opening on 8 January. The attraction, outside the capital Bogotá, is the gravity-defying, Instagram-ready brainchild of Fritz Schall, who lives in Colombia, and saw a similar house in his native Austria in 2015. 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 in the name of the public interest, to uphold…

Before Zhang Hua goes down for breakfast, he puts on a mask and rubber gloves. He leaves his hotel room and walks through halls while keeping a safe distance from others. Then he boards a specially commissioned bus driven along dedicated lanes to his job assisting foreign broadcasters preparing for the Winter Olympics. In the media centre, he takes his daily Covid test, and he could eat a meal delivered by a robot. Depending on where he’s staying, Zhang may be allowed to visit his hotel gym, or go to another hotel’s restaurant. Otherwise this is the only journey he can take. This is life inside one of the “closed loop” bubbles set up by China in an attempt to keep the Winter Olympics, due to begin today, Covid-free. Zhang,…

Boris Johnson was this week desperately trying to shore up his premiership after Sue Gray’s report, as detectives were revealed to be investigating 300 photos and 12 events in Downing Street, including a party in the prime minister’s private flat. Johnson faced a wall of anger from Conservative MPs in the House of Commons after Gray’s investigation concluded that many of the 16 parties were “difficult to justify” and condemned “failures of leadership and judgment” in No 10 and the Cabinet Office. Scotland Yard officers have obtained more than 300 photographs and 500 pages of documents. The images include pictures taken at alleged parties and from security-system cameras showing people entering and exiting buildings, the Guardian understands. Tory grandees were among those who made stinging interventions criticising Johnson’s conduct, with…

Britain’s politicians and intelligence chiefs stepped up warnings about the likelihood of a Russian invasion of Ukraine last week, yet it was not clear, despite a drumbeat of activity, that a military attack is any more certain. That drumbeat has been matched in Washington, but, the concern is not shared in K yiv, where the belief is that Vladimir Putin’s goal is the long-term destabilisation of Ukraine, and that the Russian leader may have other objectives. Nevertheless, Liz Truss, the British foreign secretary, warned in January of a possible Kremlin coup plot in Ukraine, possibly in tandem with a military attack, involving five former Ukrainian politicians. British intelligence officials warned that Russia was “two to three weeks away” from assembling a 150,000-plus invasion force. Boris Johnson said last week there…

For more than two years, dozens of people in the Canadian province of New Brunswick have suffered from a distressing array of neurological symptoms, prompting speculation that they had fallen victim to an unknown degenerative illness. Provincial authorities are soon expected to release a report examining whether the cases are linked, or simply the result of misdiagnosis and clinical error. Victims have described a frightening deterioration of bodies and minds, compounded by an agonising wait for more information. Gabrielle Cormier, 20, dreamed of attending medical school. But in 2019, she began experiencing muscle pain, difficulty concentrating and vision problems. Her family initially suspected it was fatigue from sports. Soon, however, she could no longer keep her balance. Cormier can now walk only with a cane, has trouble speaking and is…

As Russian troops mass on the frontiers of Ukraine, threatening the largest war in Europe since 1945, the whole world is trying to guess Vladimir Putin’s intentions. But the strategic question the democracies of Europe and North America need to ask is: what are our intentions? Putin’s goal in eastern Europe is clear. He wants to restore as much as possible of the empire, great power status and sphere of influence that Russia lost 30 years ago, with the disintegration of the Soviet Union. It is only his tactics that keep us guessing. Since 2008, when he secured two secessionist chunks of Georgia by force, and most certainly since his seizure of Crimea in 2014, it has been evident that he is ready to use all means, from diplomacy and…

Anton Corbijn, speaking from his home in Kenya, holds a fried sardine between his fingers and positions it tantalisingly in front of his Zoom camera. “I’m sorry,” he says, “but somebody put these next to me and they smelled so good I had to take a bite.” Fried fish notwithstanding, Corbijn lives a “healthy life” in Africa. His latest exhibition – which can be seen at his studio in the Hague and online at de-pury.com – positions him as a portrait photographer across a wide range of stars and subjects. Is this because the man behind some of music’s most famous images, from Joy Division to U2, is frustrated at being pigeonholed? “No,” he says. “I’m very proud of what I did in that genre. I just don’t feel that…

Historically, Britain has been timid about table condiments. Salt and pepper are the standard duo in the UK, while an exhilarating array of flavourings is deployed globally to tweak cooked foods. What could be better than sprinkling a dash of colour across your meals? Dehydrated chicken skin “It will transform chips, fish, boring salads, anything,” enthuses Sam Grainger, the chef-owner at Belzan in Liverpool. On a greaseproof tray, flatten chicken skin, salt it and scatter with garlic and thyme. Place baking paper on top and a tray to weigh it down. Oven roast at 170C (150C fan)/gas 3½ for 40 minutes, until the skin is crisp. Remove the top tray and paper, and continue to dry the skin in the oven at about 75C fan for eight hours. Let it…

The first full moon of the year has fallen like a dream in a clear spell. Its other name – wolf moon – evokes a folk memory of bone-deep hunger and boreal chill, which, if my social media bubble is anything to go by, still has the power to draw us outside, to our back gardens and city streets, to beaches and mountain tops. We are moon gazers still, and this night in particular is feeding an urge to make fire, immerse in water or get high, one way or another. My little family is doing so literally, with a walk on the northern edge of the North York Moors. It’s not a place I enjoy much by day – too scoured in the name of management – but it…

Sochi in 2014, Seoul in 2018 … and now Beijing in 2022. In recent years the Winter Olympics has gained an intriguing reputation for pitching up in geopolitically sensitive places. With concerns about human rights issues, and an Omicron outbreak disrupting preparations, the big story this week considers how China still hopes to stage manage the Games to its political advantage. And, amid rising global temperatures, there’s a fascinating look at the long-term future of the Winter Olympics, given the fast-declining number of cities with reliably cold enough weather to host the event. The big story Page 10 → A redacted report into the lockdown party culture in Boris Johnson’s Downing Street operation was released this week. Despite a police-enforced lack of detail, the “update” compiled by civil servant Sue Gray conveyed heavy…

Hosting the Winter Olympics during a pandemic was always going to test the Chinese government, by putting its ever-growing ability to exercise political control and virus containment on a collision course with its enthusiasm for international prestige and status. The 2022 Winter Games, which run until 20 February, are being held at a time of particularly intense western criticism of China over human rights abuses, from the mass persecution of Uyghurs in far western Xinjiang – labelled a genocide by the United States – and other groups including Tibetans, to the crushing of Hong Kong’s freedoms. China denies human rights abuses, but activists have dubbed the gathering in Beijing the “Genocide Games”, and western powers from the US to the UK last month announced a diplomatic boycott of the opening…

In the Alps – home to many Winter Olympics, including the first one in 1924 – even if greenhouse gas emissions are dramatically reduced, only Albertville, France, at 2,100m above sea level, would remain a reliable host for the Games by mid-century Threat of global heating on winter games Reliable Marginal Unreliable 2000s Of 21 Winter Olympics cities, only one would be reliably cold enough by the end of the century, if global greenhouse gas emissions stay on the current trajectory 2050s If emissions are reduced in line with the Paris agreement, nine cities would still be reliable in the 2080s 2050s 2080s 2080s Locations are based on the finish line for downhill skiing events. The year is the last time that Winter Olympics were held at this location. Source:…

When Boris Johnson addressed MPs an hour after the release of Sue Gray’s redacted report, he will have hoped his apology would travel far beyond the Commons chamber and reached places like Tonge Fold, on the outskirts of Bolton. But the immediate reaction suggests the prime minister may be in trouble. “It’s just extremely disappointing and very frustrating. There’s no other words for it,” said Adele Warren, a Conservative councillor, after watching Johnson’s Commons statement with party colleagues. “I’m a Conservative because I have Conservative values,” she said. “However, that doesn’t mean that I will blindly endorse acts that I think aren’t honourable, and I don’t think these actions have been honourable.” Warren said she now believed Johnson should resign. His premiership risked damaging the Conservatives in upcoming local elections,…

The sheer elation on Rafael Nadal’s face last Sunday as he completed an incredible comeback to beat Daniil Medvedev in the men’s final of tennis’s Australian Open told its own story. After a foot injury left him wondering if he would even make it to Melbourne, not to mention a bout of Covid, which also interrupted his preparations, Nadal is a champion again and the most successful of all. Winning his first grand slam at 19 – the French Open in 2005 – had been a “super-special” moment but to be 35, and to have not known six weeks ago whether he would be able to play in the tournament, gave his latest win an added piquancy. “It has been more emotional than the first one, no doubt,” the Spaniard…

On the streets and snow-covered lawn in front of Ottawa’s parliament building, thousands gathered last weekend to hold a loud but peaceful protest against prime minister Justin Trudeau’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates. The so-called “Freedom Convoy” started out as a rally of truckers against a vaccine requirement for cross-border drivers, but turned into a demonstration against government overreach during the pandemic with a strong anti-vaccination streak. “I’m not able to work no more because I can’t cross the border,” said Csava Vizi, a trucker from Windsor who explained he was his family’s sole breadwinner and spoke from inside his truck. “I refuse the vaccine,” he said, calling it dangerous. Last month, Canada began requiring any truckers arriving from the US to be fully vaccinated against coronavirus. Those who are not vaccinated…

‘It’s like a little Puerto Rico – we’re basically run by the US,” said Allan, as we drove around San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in Honduras and the country’s largest manufacturing centre, one day. “Here there is more ‘freedom’,” he added, doing air quotes. Allan had spent most of his adult life working as a production manager for companies such as Gildan and Hanes, making socks and underwear for American bargain shoppers. All of this garment manufacture now takes place behind the gates of Honduras’s export processing zones (EPZs). When EPZs proliferated in the 1980s and 90s, their supporters claimed that the employment opportunities inside them would lift up local economies. Allan’s story showed the holes in that argument. After all, he wasn’t just a low-paid garment worker:…

Coronavirus has stopped us in our tracks and forced us to rethink our position as the rulers of the world. You could say it has done us a favour. For about 2,000 years most humans have imagined themselves to be the Earth’s “apex predators” – smarter, faster and more deadly than any other creature with which we share the planet. An article in a 2018 special issue of Scientific American praised our species for “the richness of our subjective experience” and “better cognitive skills and bigger brains” – although elephants have bigger brains and no one has worked out how to measure the “subjective experience” of non-human animals. Our species has not always been so conceited. If we go back 200,000 years, we would find the earliest Homo sapiens shivering…

Gary Shteyngart’s contribution to the burgeoning genre of the lockdown novel is very, very Russian – in the best possible way. The premise is that a group of old friends are to spend a month in the country (well, several months) riding out New York’s pandemic in an ad hoc colony in the Hudson valley. The cast is a collection of privileged, mournful lishnii cheloveks (as the “superfluous men” of 19th-century Russian literature were known) in late middle age, squabbling in rural exile, wondering what the world is coming to and regretting the past. The host at what comes to be called the “Dacha of Doom” is Sasha Senderovsky, a dishevelled Russian-Jewish-American author who, like Shteyngart, has had considerable success with a series of comic novels about the Russian-Jewish-American experience.…

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1 UNITED STATES Biden will nominate Black woman to supreme court Joe Biden intends to announce his nominee to become the first Black woman to sit on the US supreme court by the end of February. The president was speaking at a formal White House event to mark the retirement of the liberal-leaning justice Stephen Breyer, who he lauded as a “model public servant at a time of great division in this country”. Biden pledged to replace him with someone worthy of Breyer’s “legacy of excellence and decency”. He said the nominee would have “extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity, and that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States supreme court.” He added: “It is long overdue in my view.” Biden’s confirmation that he is…

Emails at odds with No 10 version of animal airlift Boris Johnson’s battered credibility was thrown further into question after new Foreign Office emails appeared to contradict his insistence he did not authorise the rescue of cats and dogs during the fall of Kabul. The release of two emails by the cross-party foreign affairs select committee prompted claims the prime minister had lied, as he faces separate accusations about misleading parliament over the Downing Street parties scandal. The first email, from a Foreign Office official working in the private office of Zac Goldsmith, a Tory peer, is dated 12.20pm, 25 August, and lobbies a colleague to help a second animal charity because the prime minister had recently agreed to the airlift of staff and animals from the Nowzad charity, run…

The Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936 The Games were awarded to Berlin before the Nazis took power. A mooted international boycott came to little, with the Olympics drawing a then-record 49 countries. But Adolf Hitler’s plans to use it for racist propaganda were badly damaged when the American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens won four gold medals. The International Olympic Committee also forced the German government to include Jewish athletes in their team. Germany and Japan banned, USSR boycott London 1948 Britain hosted the first Olympics after the second world war. The defeated powers Germany and Japan were not invited to send a team, and the Soviets refused to take part. The Games were held in a city badly battered by the blitz, and German prisoners of war still being held years after…

Rising temperatures caused by the escalating climate crisis mean future Winter Olympics will struggle to find host cities with enough snow and ice, according to a study. Only one of 21 previous Winter Olympics locations would be able to reliably host the Games in future if global greenhouse gas emissions remain on their current trajectory. The findings, which come as the world’s top winter sports athletes prepare to compete on artificial snow at the Beijing Games this month, show that cities such as Vancouver, Turin and Pyeongchang may become unsuit able locations for the Winter Olympics by the end of the century, with global heating leading to increasingly unsafe and unfair competition conditions. In the Alps – home to many Winter Olympics, including the first one in 1924 – even…

When Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, shook hands on a coalition deal with his liberal-green partners in December, they energetically vowed to “risk more progress”. However, a little less than two months on, Berlin’s allies in Kyiv, Washington and neighbouring European capitals worry that it remains stuck in passive old ways. As tension mounts on the border between Russia and Ukraine, they fear Scholz is falling back on foreign policy instincts honed by his most recent centre-left predecessor, the ex-chancellorturned-lobbyist Gerhard Schröder. A restrictive attitude to exporting weapons is one source of frustration. In spite of being one of the biggest exporters of arms, Germany says it cannot send lethal weapons into conflict zones for historic reasons, instead supplying Ukraine with 5,000 military helmets, a gesture that Kyiv’s mayor described…

From snatching sea lions off beaches to stunning fish with a strike of their tails, orcas are renowned for their highly specialised hunting techniques passed down generations. Now, for the first time, killer whales have been recorded hunting the planet’s largest animal – the blue whale – in coordinated and brutal attacks. Female-led pods of killer whales, also known as orcas, have been recorded killing and eating blue whales in three separate attacks off the coast of Australia since 2019, according to a paper published in Marine Mammal Science. Previously there were reports of these apex predators “chasing” blue whales – which grow up to 33 metres long – but authenticated attacks are extremely rare. This research is the first to officially document these killings, including details about how orcas…

Donald Trump is travelling the country, backing Republican candidates for midterm elections who pass a specific litmus test: reinforcing his debunked claims of voter fraud. At a rally in Conroe, Texas, last Saturday, Trump pledged that if he decides to run for president again and wins, the 6 January insurrectionists will be treated “fairly” and could receive pardons, prompting cheers from the crowd. He falsely asserted: “The 2020 election was rigged and everyone knows it. You know who knows it more than anyone else? The Democrats.” He vowed: “Texas is never, ever turning blue [Democratic]. That is, unless they rig the election like they’ve been doing in numerous states.” The state’s Republican party has slashed gun controls, enforced the most rigid abortion limits in the country and taken a draconian…

Until the spring of 2020, Rebecca Handford’s then two-year-old daughter Eadie was happily spending three days a week being looked after by her grandparents, enjoying trips out, and going to cafes. But then came the first lockdown, and her world closed in overnight. The family, who live in a small village on the border between Cheshire and Derbyshire in northern England, felt lucky to have a garden for Eadie to play in – although, as Handford ruefully puts it, while she was trying to work from home, “Mr Tumble did a lot of the heavy lifting”. Eadie is an only child, and her language came on in leaps and bounds due to spending so much time with her parents. But Handford worries that she missed out on learning to socialise.…

It’s two years since the UK left the European Union, slightly more than one since it exited the single market and customs union. Yet, as one prominent Brexit supporter has pointed out, no one seems to have starved to death. A low bar, admittedly, but one takes what one can in these pandemic-ravaged times. However, while we still have food on the shelves, Brexit has begun to act as a drag on the UK economy. It seems clear this will persist, though the implications for the ongoing Brexit debate are less clear. Think back to the febrile atmosphere of the referendum and its aftermath. There was plenty of loose talk on all sides. Claims such as the £350m ($470m) on the bus or George Osborne’s warning of the need for…

My dad died two years ago, exposing a sea of secrets and lies. He had a degenerative condition, but was totally in denial – and while it was a known excuse for his bad moods and lack of interest in his family, he did little in his lifestyle to mitigate its effects. After he died, we discovered there was a dominant gene he could have passed to his children. My brother and I have been tested – my sister does not want to be – and my brother was found to be positive. My mum, sister and I barely acknowledge his diagnosis – a lifetime of denial drilled into us. After I had my genetic test, I was advised to contact our extended family. Thinking I was being honest, I…