Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc around the world – with Italy on lockdown and the global economy in turmoil. This week, we look at how the virus preys upon human error in order to spread; explore how China appears to have got a grip on the virus; look at reasons to be cautiously optimistic; round up some of the key disruptions so far and look at how a town in Colorado escaped the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918.
After the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, former US vice-president Joe Biden looked finished in the race to take on Donald Trump in November. No more! The new comeback kid, boosted by black voters in the American south, swept Super Tuesday – and this week won another string of key primaries, including the vital state of Michigan, in a major blow to his rival, Bernie Sanders (check out the latest news here). Adam Gabbatt headed to Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, to find out why the future now looks so bright for Biden.
In Opinion, Ai Weiwei laments China’s other illness: authoritarianism. Yair Wallach suggests that after yet another inconclusive Israeli election, Palestinian voters now hold the balance of power and Moira Donegan is moved by the end of Elizabeth Warren’s campaign – proof, she fears, that the United States will not elect a female president.
Last week the Guardian launched This is Europe, our new strand of reporting dedicated to covering the continent in a post-Brexit world. In this edition we have more from the series, including an exclusive interview with Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The Ukrainian president tells Andrew Roth and Shaun Walker about his wild ride from TV comic to real-life president – via a starring role in Trump’s impeachment). We also feature a report on the rise and fall of Golden Dawn, the Greek neo-Nazis who became a genuine political force and, in Culture, Ellen E Jones dons her fair isle jumper and investigates the new wave of Nordic TV, before Peter Bradshaw examines how an exceptional generation of Polish filmmakers are pushing back against an exceptionally conservative government.
