Since the EU elections in 2014, Europe has been rocked by the apex of the refugee crisis, populist revolts and, of course, Brexit. The fact of the UK’s leaving (or not) makes this one of the most interesting British EU elections ever – but across the continent firebrands such as Matteo Salvini hope to drag the power centre of Europe rightwards. Our reporting team look at the state of play in Italy and France and, on page 15, Jennifer Rankin profiles one of the centre-right figures hoping to stop Salvini et al: Germany’s Manfred Weber. We also feature an important essay from Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash on why saving the European project is so vital.
It will come as no surprise – though it may strike fear into rational economists’ hearts – but it’s likely that Donald Trump’s battle plan for a trade war with China is based upon a book he may not have actually read. It also came as no surprise that China reacted to $200bn worth of new tariffs on its exports by slapping its own on US goods on Monday. Global stock markets reacted despairingly on Tuesday morning and the question for business owners in both countries is – as ever with Trump – who will blink first? Philip Inman looks at the cost of Trump’s strategy.
Last week was a miraculous one for English football. Liverpool won 4-0 to knock out Lionel Messi’s Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate in the Champions League. Tottenham Hotspur repeated the trick with a last-second winner to knock out Ajax and meet Liverpool in the Madrid final in June. Arsenal and Chelsea also booked a meeting in Baku for the Europa League final. Cue soaring flight and hotel prices. This lesson in market pricing is also one of environmental folly, writes our economics editor Larry Elliott.
In our features section, we visit the Atlantic island of São Miguel where, in 2001, more than 500kg of high-grade cocaine washed up on its shores. The effects of this Whisky Galore!-style payload, reports Matthew Bremner, are still being felt nearly two decades on. In culture, Rachel Cooke heads to the marital home of Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock and reports on why the art world has belatedly woken up to Krasner’s genius.
