China has long been accused of taking a soft-touch approach to North Korea, much to the chagrin of regional neighbours concerned by the Hermit Kingdom’s nuclear programme. But last weekend’s 100-kiloton test, triggering a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that rocked buildings within China’s borders, can only have focused Beijing anew on the urgent security conundrum posed by Kim Jong-un.
With the world seemingly unable to agree on how to contain North Korean nuclear ambitions and with tensions rising by the day, many are again looking to China to diffuse the crisis. But which is the least-worst option realistically open to Beijing? For the Guardian Weekly’s cover story this week, Tom Phillips considers the moves available to China’s president Xi Jinping and the other major regional players in a game of nuclear bluff where North Korea appears to hold all the cards.
After weeks of devastating floods around the world, a special report from the Observer’s John Vidal ponders the relationship between urban development and climate change, asking whether population migration towards cities puts more people at risk from the effects of extreme weather.
We report on the fast-deteriorating humanitarian situation in northern Myanmar, and on the likelihood of a bleak ending to the long war in Syria. Africa correspondent Jason Burke reports from Zimbabwe where people are quietly starting to ponder life after the veteran president Robert Mugabe.
A gold rush of sorts is looming in Saudi Arabia as the Islamic kingdom, damaged by low oil prices, readies itself for a mass sale of state assets to the private sector. And Pope Francis, who rarely fails to surprise these days, pulls another one out of the hat with the news that he underwent psychoanalysis with a female Jewish therapist in his younger days.
If you’ve got this far and wondered if the end of the world might be nigh, skip to the Weekly Review where you’ll find a long read on the subject of why the Rapture narrative still exerts such a strong hold on some Christians.
Better news can be found on the Discovery pages with moves to protect the Slovenian “baby dragon”, a somewhat forlorn-looking aquatic salamander whose moment in the sun may have arrived at long last.
The Book reviews consider St Petersburg’s three centuries of murderous history. Culture looks at the changing nature of film soundtracks, as well as the west coast art of Ramiro Gomez.
In Sport, David Conn considers the frenzied state of the British football transfer market, where £50m now gets you an England defender – a bit like popping out to buy a Porsche and coming home with a Ford.
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