This week the Guardian Weekly shines a light on the scandalous conditions suffered by Australian asylum seekers in the country’s offshore detention centre on the Micronesian island of Nauru.
The Nauru files – first published on the Guardian Australia website last week – are the largest set of leaked documents published from inside Australia’s immigration detention system. They are a set of more than 2,000 incident reports from the Nauru detention centre, written by guards, caseworkers and teachers on the remote Pacific island. They set out every reportable “incident” on the island. Such events include attempts at self-harm, sexual assaults, child abuse, hunger strikes, assaults and injuries.
While some of these cases have been reported by the Guardian and other news organisations, the logs set out in detail the totality of harm caused by prolonged detention in Australia’s notorious offshore camps. The Weekly brings you extensive coverage and comment on this shameful state of affairs, and you can find full details and analysis of the Nauru files on the Guardian Australia website.
Elsewhere in the paper we hear from Germany about tough new anti-terror screening proposals targeted at refugees entering the country. In France, a backlash is gathering steam against Muslim-friendly swimwear on the nation’s beaches. There is news of a foiled terror attack in Canada, and the death in Syria of a UK schoolgirl who converted to Islamic State has prompted questions about a British youth anti-extremism programme. The new normal is well and truly with us, it seems.
From Ireland, we find out why communities in the north and south who have become accustomed to living in peace are concerned about potential renewed border controls arising from the UK’s Brexit vote. And in the US, after another week of rally performances alternating between shocking and baffling, we ask whether the wheels are finally coming off Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
From India we bring you the incredible tale of the activist who ended a 16-year hunger strike and is now planning a new life in politics. In Afghanistan, a brain drain of young people is hindering plans to rebuild the war-ravaged country.
Our Weekly review lead chronicles an inspiring Australian doctor who exposed the widespread practice of corporate investment in big tobacco. We also hear from Lagos in Nigeria, where a new law prohibiting street hawking is set to shake up the city’s economy.
There’s a definite mind and body feel to the back of this week’s paper. Discovery examines the beneficial effects of multilingualism on the mind, while Books charts the history of exercise culture and the enduring quest for the body beautiful. And if you’ve ever hankered after a career in performance comedy, check out the Culture feature about Philippe Gaulier, the demanding but effective clown teacher to the stars.
I can’t go without again mentioning our exciting new community project to map Guardian Weekly readers around the world. We’ve had an overwhelming number of requests to be included since launching the project last week, so please rest assured we are working through your responses even if you don’t appear on the map straight away! If you want to be included and haven’t already filled in the Guardian Witness form, please do so by clicking here, and we will get around to you eventually.
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