As I was commuting home Monday night on London Underground’s Northern Line, I noticed a woman seated opposite me pull an edition of Guardian Weekly from her bag and begin reading. It was satisfying to encounter someone delving deeply into the paper, and be so focused amid the usual commuter chaos.
With this week’s pages spinning, as I write this blog, from printing presses here in London, as well as in New Jersey and in the Sydney suburbs, it’s good to be reminded of why we put our utmost into each edition.
We had some discussion for this edition of our cover story. In early planning, I thought we’d showcase the xenophobic rage that swept South Africa last week as violence exploded against migrant workers there. Africa correspondent David Smith turned in a super piece of reportage on the unrest.
In the end, a story of migration did command the front page, but one more focused on northern Africa: the tale of hundreds of migrants drowned in the Mediterranean, and Europe’s handwringing response. With the “sailing season” for crossing the Med just kicking off, the number of deaths so far this year has risen 50-fold compared with a year ago, leaving Europe dismayed, and pledging a tough response. European editor Ian Traynor gets a helping hand from staffers in London to consider the issue.
Elsewhere in Europe, trade diplomacy has allowed Paris to rebuild ties with India, our partner paper Le Monde reports. And we profile the rising star of France’s far right, 25-year-old Marion Maréchal-Le Pen.
From Asia, our Phnom Penh diary finds the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge still casting a long shadow over Cambodia. From South Asia, meanwhile, former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa plots a comeback. And on our Finance page, Finns feel the chill of austerity as a centrist technocrat wins prime ministerial elections.
Our Comment offering features Timothy Garton Ash (always a Weekly favourite) on the nature of empire and Russia, Jane Corbin on the persecution of Christians in Middle East, and James Ball recommending we challenge the dominance of Google now – while we still can. This last piece resonates with me.
Our deeper-read Review section asks if the global economy can survive without fossil fuel, a piece of reporting in the Guardian’s Keep It in the Ground climate change campaign. Thanks to the Weekly’s design team for making this content look as good as it reads.
Shifting gears, we visit the Mexican resort of Acapulco to find the party continues despite gang violence and military patrols. In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, cinemas may be banned, but film makers continue to defy religious opposition to practise their art.
The Books pages include a review that’s great fun, looking at fashion and the body. Think codpieces and corselets!
Our Good to Meet You reader-contributed column is penned by Vernon Jensen, who has been with the Weekly since 1948. That must be some kind of record! Thanks, Vernon, for reading (and if you’d like to appear in the space, please drop us a line here).
Which puts my mind back to the woman on the train with the Weekly. I considered chatting with her to explain what we had included in the edition to hand, and why. Instead, I quietly exited at my north London stop feeling pleased about a job well done.
I hope this edition keeps you informed, enlightened, and amused. I am always happy for feedback, which you can email to me by clicking here.
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