On our cover this week, some good news (finally). A study released last week suggests that planting one trillion trees would be one of the most effective – and cheapest – ways to tackle the climate crisis. It’s a rare spot of good news in the field of climate reporting (which is why we wanted to put it on the front cover). As ever, the question is whether mankind can organise itself enough to actually start planting. A problem that is highlighted by a Guardian investigation elsewhere in the edition about the surge in Amazonian deforestation under Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. Time for everyone to get digging …
This week’s big story comes from Hong Kong, where protests against a controversial extradition law continue. Last Sunday night, violence erupted after another peaceful march as Hongkongers pushed back again in defence of democracy. As Verna Yu details, a long post-handover push by China to bring Hong Kong to heel has pushed bands of young activists to breaking point. In addition, Simon Tisdall looks at how Britain’s attempts to support the protests have resurrected old resentments in China against the UK.
The rise of Syriza from anti-austerity firebrands to Greece’s party of government was one of the many subplots of the country’s financial crisis. Alexis Tsipras was elected in 2015 with a remit to go to war with the European Union’s financial institutions. Then, later that year, he faced down his own finance minister Yanis Varoufakis to accept the EU’s arduous bailout terms. After three more years of austerity, Greece finally exited the €86bn ($96bn) bailout last summer. But for Greeks that wasn’t enough. Last Sunday night the centre-right New Democracy returned to power with nearly 40% of the vote. Does the election of Kyriakos Mitsotakis signal a new era for Greece?
