Guardian Weekly 11 March 2022

On the piste Vanesa Gaskova, of Slovakia, competes in the para alpine skiing women’s super combined slalom standing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics in Yanqing. The International Paralympic Committee banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing, following the invasion of Ukraine. The Guardian Weekly Founded in Manchester, England 4 July 1919 Guardian Weekly is an edited selection of some of the best journalism found in the Guardian and Observer newspapers in the UK and the Guardian’s digital editions in the UK, US and Australia. The weekly magazine has an international focus and three editions: global, Australia and North America. The Guardian was founded in 1821, and Guardian Weekly in 1919. We exist to hold power to account in the name of the public interest, to uphold liberal and progressive values, to fight for the…

For many people, the true horror of Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine was revealed last weekend, when shocking images showed a family of four killed by Russian mortar fire while fleeing the town of Irpin. Yet, despite the dire conditions for civilians trapped in cities such as Kharkiv and Mariupol, determination to resist the Russian invasion stayed firm. Indeed – in refusing to leave Kyiv, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has epitomised courage and dignity in the face of Moscow’s onslaught. Our coverage in this edition focuses on the Ukrainian resistance, with Luke Harding reflecting on a week that felt as though decades had gone by. The diary of a Kyiv parent details a world turned upside down in a few days. Captured Russian soldiers express confusion and regret, while on Ukraine’s…

UKRAINE Russia holds up threat of rocketing energy prices Moscow stoked fears of an energy war by threatening to close a major gas pipeline to Germany after the US pushed its European allies to consider banning imports of Russian oil over its invasion of Ukraine. In an address on Russian state television on Monday, Russia’s deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, said: “A rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market.” He claimed the price of oil could rise to more than $300 a barrel. Novak cited Germany’s decision last month to halt the certification of Nord Stream 2, saying: “We have every right to take a matching decision and impose an embargo on gas pumping through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.” Analysts at Bank of America have said prices…

Shirley Hughes English author and illustrator behind more than 60 books, including Dogger and the Alfie series. She died on 25 February, aged 94. Shane Warne The greatest leg-spinner in the history of cricket and an Australian icon who transcended sport. He died on 4 March, aged 52. Appreciation, p28 Rod Marsh Another fiery Australian cricketing legend who was wicketkeeper for the national side in the 1970s and 1980s. He died on 4 March, aged 74. Alan Ladd Jr Oscar-winning film producer who as a 20th Century Fox executive gave the go-ahead to Star Wars. He died on 2 March, aged 84. Roger Graef Acclaimed TV documentary maker in the US and UK, specialising in social justice topics. He died on 2 March, aged 85.…

ASTRONOMY Black hole close to Earth now revealed as ‘stellar vampire’ Astronomers who thought they had discovered a black hole on our cosmic doorstep have said they were mistaken, instead revealing they have found a two-star system involving a stellar “vampire”. The system, known as HR 6819 in the constellation Telescopium, was in the headlines in 2020 when researchers announced it contained a black hole. At just 1,000 light years from Earth, it was the closest yet found to our planet. At the time the team behind the work said the presence of a black hole was necessary to make sense of the movement of two stars in the system, suggesting a black hole and one star orbited each other while the second star moved in a wider orbit. Dietrich Baade, an emeritus…

Ten days ago Kharkiv was a flourishing metropolis and home to 1.5 million people. It was, as resident Galina Padalko put it, “a beautiful place”. There were parks, a new German architect-designed zoo, thriving cafes and restaurants and a monumental central square, once adorned with a statue of Lenin. The city had several universities, international students, a ballet theatre and a cathedral that had withstood the past century’s darkest moments. In a few savage days, Kharkiv was transformed into a living hell. Many inhabitants shelter underground in basements, metro stations and ground-floor corridors. Russian forces have relentlessly bombarded the city, pulverising apartment blocks and other civilian targets and threatening to turn Kharkiv into a new Aleppo, which also faced Russian bombing, or a 21st century Guernica. It has borne the brunt…