Election results on either side of the Atlantic made for an interesting comparison this week. In France, Marine Le Pen’s far-right Front National party made stunning gains in regional polls. A world away in Venezuela, meanwhile, voters took a significant step back from the socialist rule of President Nicolás Maduro in their parliamentary elections.
On our cover, Simon Tisdall focuses on the wider implications of results in France, analysing the growth of populist nationalism in almost every European country, and what the trend portends for the future stability of the EU.
Venezuela’s shift away from the left comes in very different circumstances, with the country in economic turmoil after 16 years of socialist government. Inside, Sibylla Brodzinsky reports from Caracas on what could be a hammer blow for the “21st-century socialism” project first instigated by the late Hugo Chávez.
After the San Bernardino shootings, America was struggling to come to terms with another gun crime catastrophe that bore the possibility of a link to Islamic State. Meanwhile, a chilling piece of reporting from the Observer’s Chris Stephen shines a light on Libya, where the international battle against Isis could soon be heading.
A sunken treasure haul off Colombia that could be worth as much as $17bn has – perhaps not surprisingly – set off a legal tussle over ownership rights. In Canada, the new Liberal government has raised republican hopes of loosening the country’s historic ties with the British queen.
Elsewhere we reveal why China’s Communist party has turned on some of its own cadres in the restive provinces of Xinjiang and Tibet. In India, Delhi politicians have been driven to partially ban cars in a bid to reduce the city’s terrifying air pollution levels.
It was an eventful week in Britain, where politicians of all hues voted to extend airstrikes on Isis to Syria, and record rainfall caused catastrophic flooding in north-western areas of the country. Catch up on our UK news pages.
Did you know that half of all the EU’s 9m farms are in Romania? Neither did I before setting eyes on our Weekly Review lead, a gripping long read charting a history of vicious local disputes over tiny Romanian smallholdings that often end with murder. There’s also a visit to Patagonia, where a controversial hydroelectric project is raising temperatures, and to China, where the artistic community is struggling to fend off a new bout of state harassment.
Notes & Queries wonders about the pluses and minuses of splitting the atom. Good to Meet You hears from a displaced Zimbabwean reader with a long and fascinating relationship with the Weekly.
Here in the office we’re already working hard on the holiday double edition of the Weekly, which will be the next one you receive after this. We’ll be reflecting on a dizzying news year past and casting an eye ahead to a 2016 that promises to be equally momentous. It’s going to be an edition well worth the wait!
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