Ireland on the financial brink, Korea in conflict and Catholics left confused. It wasn't easy to decide which story to put on the front page of Guardian Weekly this issue.
In the end, the puzzlement prompted by Pope Benedict XVI remarking on condom use seemed to most merit front-page play. With HIV and Aids rampant in Africa, and the number of Catholics there expected to rise by 2025 from 158 million to 230 million, the Vatican's stance on condoms is critical to the continent's wellbeing. Even as I write, headlines online continue to reflect both confusion and clarification. It's not an issue that'll go away anytime soon.
We cover economic catastrophe in Ireland on the finance page, as that country accepts a rescue package from the EU and IMF. A meltdown in finances there has market-watchers wondering which EU member state might be next. Watch this space for more.
Then there's Korea, a story that was breaking just as we put the edition to bed on Tuesday. Shots fired in waters disputed by both the North and the South, South Korean soldiers killed and the rhetoric of war ratcheting ever upward. We'll bring you thoughtful analysis of what's happening, and why, in the next issue.
Our UK news pages catalogue the horrors of spending cuts in Britain, the comment section showcases the writing of one of our regulars, Timothy Garton Ash, this time on Burma, while on the letters page, you reflect on the juxtaposition of articles on noise and silence. In my book, silence wins out every time.
Elsewhere we uncover armageddon in the forests of Indonesia, witness the birth of a black hole, consider the lure of recreational drugs and spend time with author and neurologist Oliver Sacks, who finds the tables turned. Check out the books pages for the full story.
Food looms large on the Shortcuts page. I must have been hungry when I put it together. A cabbage shortage causes concerns about kimchi, the Irish are urged to eat cheese, and the magnificent grizzly gets fat and lazy, lolling in the fields eating oats alongside the elk, as children nearby play. That's too close for comfort. Well, it would be if the grizzlies were hungry.
Quote of the week: "The pope does not morally justify the exercise of disordered sexuality."
Fact of the week: The average ransom paid to Somali pirates is now about $3 million. Some companies consider it the cost of doing business in the Gulf of Aden.
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