On Tuesday, much of the world woke up to the extraordinary sight of peaceful protesters outside the White House being teargassed so that the president could pose with a bible outside the nearby St John’s Church.
The scenes were staggering – the latest images in an ugly week which began with Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killing Floyd with his knee and ended with the biggest scenes of protest in the United States since the late sixties. This week we examine how police violence remains endemic in American society before our Washington bureau chief David Smith looks at how the protests, which reached the White House last weekend, have exposed a president who, according to his critics, has completely failed his country amid the triple jeopardy of a public health disaster, financial collapse and mass social unrest. Indeed, writes Robert Reich, this is a presidency that is already finished.
Since we sent the magazine to press on Tuesday, scenes of anger, violence and excessive police force have continued. Joe Biden has addressed the nation; Donald Trump has continued to fan the flames and tweet. Across the world, people of colour have mourned Floyd’s death – alongside hundreds of others killed by police forces. Six years since Ferguson, the message that black lives matter has never been shouted so loudly. Will those in power – in the US and elsewhere – address these concerns?The Guardian’s US team of reporters have been covering the protests around the clock. You can read live coverage on our rolling US news blog here. There is also heartfelt and strong opinion from Cornel West; Carol Anderson and others on our opinion site. We will of course return with more analysis and voices on the protests next week.
In Europe, nations are slowly opening up to a new reality of a life lived alongside coronavirus. Our reporters from across the continent speak to business owners and community leaders about how they have coped (often ingeniously) during the crisis. We also look at the huge pressures the lockdown has heaped on women across the world. Will another victim of coronavirus be decades of progress in equality?
Meanwhile, in the UK, the government has ridden out the storm of Boris Johnson’s key adviser Dominic Cummings breaking lockdown rules. But the impact of this extraordinary defence of an unelected official has been, writes Jonathan Freedland, to destroy the most precious commodity in a pandemic: public trust. Before that we tell the behind-the-scenes story of an affair that could define No 10’s response to coronavirus.
Elsewhere this week, Amelia Gentleman, the Guardian reporter who exposed the Windrush scandal, speaks to the stars of a new BBC drama about one of the men whose story she told. We also look at the science behind the breakout star of lockdown: the sourdough loaf; Simon Hattenstone speaks to the parents of Harry Dunn to discover the strain of their quest to bring their son justice and Linda Rodriguez McRobbie tells the extraordinary story of one of the last people in the world to still use an iron lung.
