Guardian Weekly 21 January 2022

Bodies of work A view from below of Renascimento (Rebirth), an installation by the artist Siron Franco, at the Casa das Rosas cultural cent re, in Sao Paulo. The work is formed of 365 mannequins suspended by wires, paying tribute to the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic while also celebrating life. 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…

Boris Johnson has had some bad weeks as Britain’s prime minister, but last week, surely, will take some beating. As “partygate” revelations threatened to overwhelm his administration, he tried first to convince parliament that he had wandered unwittingly into a “bring your own booze” party in the Downing Street garden. The next day he was apologising to the Queen after it emerged No 10 staff had held a drunken leaving do on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral. Toby Helm reflects on a crisis from which few believe the prime minister can escape. There’s a look at the Tory runners and riders manoeuvring to replace Johnson – and John Harris explains why whoever may follow could prove much worse for the UK. Then, on the Opinion pages, the actor Rory Kinnear…

1 UNITED STATES Texas hostage taker had criminal record in UK A British man who flew to the US, acquired a gun and took hostages at a Texas synagogue had a criminal record and an extensive history of mental health issues, the Guardian understands. Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old from Blackburn, was killed after a tense 11-hour hostage standoff at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in the Dallas suburb of Colleyville last Saturday evening. All four hostages were unharmed. President Joe Biden declared the incident an act of terror and the British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said the UK government condemned “this act of terrorism and antisemitism”. In a statement to Sky News, Akram’s brother Gulbar asked how he had been able to acquire a visa to enter the US. “He’s known to police.…

SECURITY MI5 alert over Chinese agent with Westminster links A comprehensive review is to be held into how a suspected Chinese agent was able to get so close to senior British politicians, the security minister, Damian Hinds, has said. MI5, the domestic intelligence agency, took the unusual step last week of circulating a warning to MPs accusing Christine Lee – a prominent London-based solicitor – of being engaged in “political interference activities” on behalf of China’s ruling communist regime. The Chinese embassy rejected the claims, accusing the authorities of “smearing and intimidation” against the Chinese community in the UK, while a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said the British were “too obsessed with James Bond 007 movies”. However, Hinds said the security services had been aware of the activities of Lee–pictured below with former prime…

UNITED KINGDOM After another dreadful week for Boris Johnson that was dominated by news of yet more rule-breaking parties at No 10, the comedian Andy Zaltzman opened BBC Radio 4’s News Quiz last Friday by announcing his two teams. One he named “team apologise” and the other “team pack of lies”. Zaltzman added: “This show is best listened to when not at work. If you are unsure whether you are at work or not at work, please check whether anyone you normally work with has turned up with a bottle of wine and is getting hammered.” What followed was 20 minutes of relentless ridicule of the prime minister for trying to pass offa lockdown-busting bring-your-own-booze gathering for dozens of people in the garden of No 10 in May 2020 (which he attended with…

I fit is a political truism that a cabinet is all smiles when the ruling party is well ahead in the polls, it is equally the case that nothing highlights ministerial ambitions more than a vulnerable PM. With Boris Johnson on the ropes over lockdown party allegations, all eyes are now on his cabinet colleagues and other senior Tories. Most have offered him support – so far. But who will break cover, particularly if there are any new revelations? Here are the ones to watch: Rishi Sunak The chancellor’s endorsement of Johnson was one of the latest, and perhaps the most equivocal. Having spent last Wednesday 350km from the Commons on a visit to Devon, Sunak waited until eight hours after Johnson’s apology to tweet that this had been the correct thing to do…