For the second week running, this week’s Guardian Weekly magazine has two separate covers depending on where in the world you read the magazine.
Our Australia edition features Anthony Albanese, the Labor prime minister who defied early expectations to trounce his lacklustre Coalition opponent Peter Dutton in the country’s federal election. Guardian Australia’s politics team unpacks a result that felt like a huge vote of confidence for centre-ground politics over the Trumpist right.
Speaking of which, the Weekly’s cover in other parts of the world focuses on the US president, who has at last been feeling the pull of domestic political gravity. Trump’s chaotic first 100 days in office – marked last week – have featured a blitz of sweeping and vengeful changes to America that have been hard to fully compute. But as the US economy falters and his poll ratings sink, David Smith asks whether the seemingly unchallengeable president is showing some signs of vulnerability.
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Five essential reads in this week’s edition
Spotlight | Russia’s new sabotage campaign in Europe
Moscow’s intelligence services have launched a new type of attack on the west, violent but piecemeal and hard to prove, writes Shaun Walker
Spotlight | Palestinians face difficult decisions over future in Gaza
As Israel’s aid blockade rumbles on and humanitarian zones disappear, fears of a ‘second Nakba’ are being realised. Bethan McKernan reports
Feature | How Ticketmaster ate the live music industry
From grassroots gigs to stadium shows, there’s no escaping the ticketing giant, making billions from increasing prices (and whacking on fees). Dorian Lynskey investigates who is really to blame for the great rock’n’roll rip-off
Opinion | We recall the joy of VE Day. My worry is what we forget
In 1945, Sheila Hancock’s street party tea was a muted celebration, full of uncertainty. Then, as now, we faced a long struggle towards a better world
Culture | Black Sabbath on reconciling for their final gig
Heavy metal’s godfathers are preparing a star-studded farewell – but will Ozzy Osbourne be well enough to perform? In their first interview for two decades, the original lineup talk to Alexis Petridis
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What else we’ve been reading
• I loved this piece celebrating Sir David Attenborough’s 99th birthday, where 99 nature lovers, including Barack Obama and Margaret Atwood, tell us how he has inspired them over the years. It shows the breadth of his influence, and there are some interesting insights in there, like the fact that even though he has travelled so much, Britain is his favourite country. Jade Lovitt, Guardian Weekly business manager
• It wasn’t just the arresting design of three pieces that marked Press Freedom Day on 3 May that caught my attention but the fact that Trump’s America was the subject of the first. Michael Savage’s detailing of how the White House decision to withdraw funding from Voice of America had been welcomed in both Moscow and Beijing took me back to tuning into a crackly shortwave radio to hear about the collapse of communism from VOA and the BBC World Service when I was living amid it. More chilling are pieces from India and Ethiopia, written by journalists who couldn’t be identified for the writers’ safety. Isobel Montgomery, deputy editor
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Other highlights from the Guardian website
• Audio | How Kneecap became the most controversial band in the UK
• Video | It’s complicated: Why unlimited green energy is closer than people think
• Gallery | Cliff-divers, floating drinkers and billion-dollar flies: everyday moments on Earth
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