The Guardian Weekly - 07.08.2026.pdf

世界生活一周 / 全球版 2026年8月7日 / 第215卷 第6期 / £6.50 / €9.95 # 《卫报周刊》 # 游戏 跨越国界 塞乌塔街头的混乱 15 # 之 克拉克顿的警报 法拉奇的选民如何看待英国 24 如果实话实说 埃隆·马斯克与媒体 48 # 无人机 乌克兰如何将战争延伸至天空

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目击者 圣多美和普林西比 摄影：DANIEL BELOUMOU OLOMO / # 战线 在普林西比岛的圣安东尼奥，扮演摩尔人和基督徒的角色准备在《弗洛里佩斯剧》中对峙。每年八月，整个岛屿都会参与这场受欧洲中世纪故事启发的戏剧节，其核心围绕着查理曼大帝及其骑士——法国十二勇士。 # 《卫报周刊》 创立于英格兰曼彻斯特 1919年7月4日 第215卷 / 第6期 《卫报周刊》是从英国、美国和澳大利亚的《卫报》数字版以及英国的《卫报》报纸中精选出的部分最佳新闻报道。本周刊具有国际视野，分为四个版本：全球版、欧洲版、澳大利亚版和北美版。《卫报》创立于1821年，《卫报周刊》创立于1919年。我们存在的目的是以公众利益之名监督权力，维护自由和进步的价值观，为共同利益而战，并建立希望。正如编辑C.P. 斯科特在1921年所阐述的，我们的价值观是诚实、正直、勇气、公正，以及对读者和社区的责任感。《卫报》完全由斯科特信托所有，该机构的目的旨在“永久确保《卫报》在财务和编辑上的独立性”。我们没有所有者或股东，任何利润都将重新投资于新闻事业。 --- # 《卫报周刊》 世界生活一周 2026年8月7日

# 4 # 全球报告 过去七天的头条新闻 英国 ... 8 科学与环境 ... 9 重磅报道 乌克兰 无人机旅将战斗延伸至俄罗斯天空 ... 10

# 15 # 聚焦 深度报道与分析 ✉ 西班牙 为何数万名摩洛哥人抵达塞乌塔 ... 15 日本 地震后浮现的生存与丧失的故事 ... 19 法国 消防员与特大火灾展开消耗战 ... 24 亚洲 极端降雨引发山洪和台风 ... 26 技术 如果路灯在监视你会怎样？ ... 30 美国 特朗普的贸易战可能难以停止 ... 33 # 34 # 特写 长篇阅读、访谈与随笔 克拉克顿的选民真正如何看待奈杰尔·法拉奇 作者：Tim Burrows ... 34 伊拉克在美国与伊朗之间危险的平衡行为 作者：Ghaith Abdul-Ahad ... 40 # 45 # 观点 Simon Tisdall 特朗普已将美国拖入一场新的“永恒战争” ... 45 Emma Brockes 我孩子面临的“安全帽与学士帽”之困 ... 47 ▼ Jane Martinson 在埃隆·马斯克与媒体之间，真相绝不能丢失 ... 48 即使权力人物反应糟糕，依然向他们提问，正是新闻业的本质

# 51 # 文化 电视、电影、音乐、戏剧、艺术、建筑等 ✉ 舞台 一部大胆的双人剧探讨“厄勒克特拉效应” ... 51 音乐 埃塞俄比亚爵士乐的“美丽科学” ... 55 书籍 如何重新养成阅读习惯 ... 57 书籍 一个逃跑的女人；我们的同类生物；重访略萨 ... 58 # 60

多瑙河水位下降导致反应堆关闭

由于多瑙河水位创历史新低，加剧了整个地区对能源危机的担忧，匈牙利和罗马尼亚被迫首次关闭由多瑙河冷却的核反应堆。罗马尼亚海军部队进行了一次受控爆破，以帮助将干旱的多瑙河中的关键冷却水重新引导至该国最后一个运行中的核反应堆；而预计匈牙利本周将需要完全关闭其唯一的原子能电站。这些非常规措施凸显了欧洲气候危机的规模，在那里的高温和干旱降低了河流水位，并引发了对供水和发电的担忧。在塞尔维亚，多瑙河水位创历史新低，导致该国关键的水电站仅以 20% 的容量运行。由于预计未来几周没有显著降雨，这条流经 10 个国家的河流的水位预计不会上升。在某些河段，水位已降至此前从未记录过的水平，露出了岩石、沉船、一枚第二次世界大战时期的炸弹以及一头猛犸象的遗骸。

3 美国

中期选举临近，特朗普支持率处于 34%

根据市场研究公司 SSRS 为 CNN 进行的一项民意调查，四分之三的美国人认为唐纳德·特朗普没有足够关注该国最重要的问题，三分之二的人认为他将个人利益置于美国的需要之上。该调查是在 11 月中期选举前不足 100 天时进行的。民调发现，特朗普的整体支持率为 34%，与其之前的最低点持平——那是他在 2020 年总统大选失利后，试图通过煽动 2021 年 1 月 6 日的骚乱以维持权力之后立即出现的情况。

5 加拿大

游客选择向西或向东，而非向南前往美国

最新政府数据显示，由于唐纳德·特朗普对北邻采取的敌对政策继续产生经济代价，加拿大人在 2025 年前往美国的旅游支出比 2024 年减少了 C33亿美元 (23亿美元)。2025 年赴美旅游的总支出为 C188亿美元。研究还表明，加拿大人并未减少整体旅游。与 2024 年相比，前往欧洲的访问量增加了近 14%，而前往亚洲的访问量增加了近 17%，这是对特朗普关税制度以及总统持续思考吞并加拿大的回应。

聚焦 第 33 页 →

《卫报周刊》 2026 年 8 月 7 日

英国头条 p8→

6 加拿大

安大略省火灾肆虐，呼吁制定国家森林火灾战略

随着加拿大境内 900 多场森林火灾在燃烧，引发了撤离令并使安大略省陷入有记录以来最严重的森林火灾季节，官员们再次呼吁国家通过创建联邦机构来制定国家森林火灾战略。加拿大是 G7 国家中唯一没有此类机构的国家。在 7 月份有有毒烟雾向南飘向美国后，省省长道格·福特（Doug Ford）呼吁针对森林火灾威胁采取全国性的应对措施。

7 秘鲁

纳斯卡附近旅游飞机失事导致 13 人死亡

警方表示，在秘鲁南部纳斯卡线附近的一次飞机失事中，包括外国游客在内的 13 人死亡。纳斯卡当局确认，一架 Cessna Grand Caravan 飞机在 Pueblo Viejo 坠毁，导致 11 名游客和两名飞行员死亡，坠毁地点距离纳斯卡市约 6 公里，距离纳斯卡线遗址约 12 公里。该飞机于当地时间下午 1 点左右（英国夏令时 7 点）从附近的皮斯科市起飞，准备飞越该前哥伦布时期的考古遗址（那里刻在沙漠中的地画覆盖面积近 1,000 平方公里），但几分钟后与控制塔失去联系。目前坠机原因尚不明确。

9 美国

RFK Jr 告知美国父母应接种麻疹疫苗

美国卫生部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪（Robert F Kennedy Jr）周日告知美国父母，他们应该让孩子接种麻疹疫苗，因为感染人数的激增达到了过去 35 年未见之水平。肯尼迪是一位领先的疫苗怀疑论者，多年来一直放大关于疫苗的误导信息，包括预防麻疹、腮腺炎和风疹（MMR）的疫苗。他在 CNN 的《国情咨文》（State of the Union）节目中发出了这一呼吁。他的这一言论发表之际，美国今年迄今已记录 2,371 例感染，超过了 2025 年的 2,289 例。过去两年美国麻疹感染人数超过了 21 世纪其余年份的总和。

8 体育

国际足联出售计划后詹尼·因凡蒂诺陷入危机

在欧洲足球国家大规模撤回对其再次当选该体育管理机构负责人的支持后，国际足联主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺（Gianni Infantino）面临的压力增加。在由私人支持的出售世界杯部分权益计划崩溃后，因凡蒂诺的统治陷入严重危机；该计划在欧足联（Uefa）成员协会威胁抵制未来的国际足联赛事后基本被瓦解。因凡蒂诺似乎决心留任，据信他正在全球范围内游说各个成员协会，以确保获得他们的支持。 聚焦页 32 →

10 乌克兰 / 俄罗斯

俄罗斯称度假胜地和克里米亚遭无人机袭击导致 11 人死亡

俄罗斯官员表示，乌克兰对黑海度假胜地和被吞并的克里米亚半岛的无人机袭击导致 11 人死亡；此前，俄方将莫斯科一家餐厅发生导致 5 人死亡的另一次爆炸归咎于基辅。 俄罗斯南部克拉斯诺达尔地区的危机工作组在社交媒体上表示，当“无人机碎片”击中阿尔希波-奥西波夫卡（Arkhipo-Osipovka）的一个海滩时，包括三名儿童在内的 7 人死亡。由莫斯科任命的州长谢尔盖·阿克肖诺夫（Sergey Aksyonov）在 Telegram 上表示，另有 4 人在针对克里米亚的袭击中死亡。 早些时候，俄罗斯将莫斯科一家餐厅的爆炸事件归咎于乌克兰，该事件导致 5 人死亡，且有猜测认为一名俄罗斯高级军事指挥官是预定目标。 深度报道页 10 → 2026 年 8 月 7 日 《卫报周刊》 ---

11 巴勒斯坦 / 以色列

以色列尚未接受特朗普的哈马斯解除武装计划

在唐纳德·特朗普通过社交媒体宣布谈判取得突破后，以色列尚未对一项旨在导致哈马斯解除武装并撤出以色列军队的拟议协议做出回应。 特朗普表示，该协议涉及哈马斯的“完全解除武装”，并且是“结束战斗迈出的里程碑式的一步”。 以色列将哈马斯未能解除武装作为其继续进行打击，以及以色列军队从 10 月商定的分界线向前推进的理由。

12 刚果（金）

埃博拉死亡人数上升至 1,.

截至 7 月 31 日，医护人员记录了 3,500 例以上的埃博拉病例，该疾病目前影响到刚果（金）东部的五个省，记录在案的死亡人数为 1,487 人。根据刚果卫生官员的说法，这代表整体病例致死率估计约为 45%。 由于许多地区存在冲突，对疫情的应对受到了阻碍。自刚果当局于 5 月 15 日正式宣布以来，该病毒的 Bundibugyo 毒株的传播速度快于该国之前的 16 次疫情。

14 肯尼亚

，肯尼亚野生动物服务局表示。该机构总干事埃鲁斯图斯·坎加（Erustus Kanga）表示，对从动物尸体中采集的样本进行分析后，发现了氰化物的痕迹。氰化物是一种在农业中用作捕食者控制毒药和害虫熏蒸剂的化学化合物，也被盗猎者使用。“如果大象摄入氰化物，它们无法生存一两天，”他说道。死亡事件发生在安博塞利国家公园周围的基马纳（Kimana）保护区和库库（Kuku）集团牧场区域。

13 伊朗

处决人数激增，囚犯发起绝食抗议

在德黑兰附近该国最大的监狱——格泽尔赫萨尔（Ghezel Hesar）监狱，至少 1,500 名死刑囚犯通过缝合嘴唇的方式发起了大规模绝食抗议。在流亡人权组织分享的一系列视频中，可以看到囚犯们坐在监狱走廊里，举着写有“反对处决”的标语，并高喊“成为我们的声音”。这是由囚犯主导的反对处决运动中的最新反抗行动，该运动始于 2024 年 1 月，并在死刑使用率急剧上升的背景下蔓延至伊朗各地的监狱。

聚焦 18 页 →

全球报告 深度报道 p10 → 7

15 韩国

城市连续五天出现 40℃ 高温，户外工作暂停

当局警告民众“立即”停止受破纪录高温影响区域的所有户外活动。东南部城市养山市上周日气温达到 42.5℃，这是自 1904. 现代气象观测开始以来报告的最高温度。该市一直是持续热浪的中心，周日气温连续第五天超过 40℃，而许多其他城市的温度则在 30s 高端。目前已记录到 16 起与高温相关的死亡事件。据国家媒体报道，朝鲜部分地区的温度也飙升至 40℃。在平壤，夜间温度已连续一周超过 25℃。

16 马来西亚

“迷路”登山者人数增加引发整治

在社交媒体趋势导致越来越多冒险者需要救援后，政府正在加强全国范围内的登山规定。马来西亚消防救援局告诉当地媒体，在 2026, 前五个月中，马来西亚发生了 52 起登山者迷路事件，与去年同期相比增加了近 30%。“hike-tok”户外影响力社区推广了“压缩登山”（compressed hikes），即高难度登山路线的简化版本。其他登山者则携带极少装备，以便在社交媒体上看起来像专业的越野跑者。

17 日本

高温阻碍地震灾区恢复

在一次 7.1 级地震导致 38 人死亡（包括一名在车内避难时疑似中暑死亡的人员）近一周后，首相高市早苗（Sanae Takaichi）访问了该国西南部的熊本县，那里的恢复工作正受到高温和水资源短缺的阻碍。超过 4.6万,000 户家庭仍然没有用水，许多人还面临酷暑。周一的温度高达 40℃。超过 8,500 人仍留在紧急避难所，其中许多避难所缺乏空调。高市周一乘坐陆军直升机飞越受灾地区，并访问了该地区设备最好的一个避难所，这在社交媒体上引发了批评，称她的访问扭曲了现实。熊本县知事木村隆（Takashi Kimura）在与高市会面时强调了“异常高温”。他表示，他寻求政府进一步支持以改善疏散中心的条件，并称其中许多中心缺乏清洁用水和医疗护理。

聚焦 19 页 →

18 瑙鲁

瑙鲁正式更名为瑙埃罗共和国

瑙鲁总统表示，这个太平洋岛国已将其国名改为瑙埃罗共和国（Republic of Naoero），以符合其国家语言的拼写和发音。该国的国际代码将从 NRU 变更为 NRO，其国民将被称为 dei-Naoero 而非 Nauruan。该国在国外通常被读作 Now-roo，而新名称的读音为 Now-ero。政府在 Facebook 账号上发布的一份声明称，此举使这个偏远的南太平洋岛国恢复了其传统名称。

19 缅甸

红十字会会见前领导人昂山素季

援助组织红十字国际委员会（ICRC）已确认，昂山素季于周一会见了一名该组织的代表。此前，外界多年来一直对其被拘押的 81 岁前领导人的福祉提出质疑；自 2021 年 2 月她领导的民选文职政府被军事政变推翻以来，她的下落和健康状况在很大程度上一直不为人知。缅甸军方支持的政府多次声称她“健康状况良好”。她的儿子金·阿里斯（Kim Aris）最近曾要求执政军政府提供生存证明，他在社交媒体上表示，希望这次会面能最终为他的母亲争取到更多的人道主义接触，并使其获得释放。

20 新西兰

英语被赋予与毛利语和手语相同的地位

议会通过了一项承认英语为官方语言的立法，这引发了语言学家和法律专家的嘲讽，以及一名毛利议员在网络上发表的猛烈抨击。该英语语言法案赋予了英语与 te reo Māori（毛利语）和新西兰手语相同的官方地位，而英语在全国的使用率达 95%。司法部官员此前曾建议立法者不应通过该法案，因为“没有证据支持关于英语作为官方语言的使用或地位存在问题的担忧”。

逝者

弗兰科·巴雷西 (Franco Baresi) 意大利国际足球运动员，其整个俱乐部职业生涯都在米兰度过。他于 31 July 去世，享年 66 岁。 文森特·帕斯托雷 (Vincent Pastore) 美国演员，因在电视剧《黑道家族》中饰演萨尔瓦多·邦彭谢罗而闻名。他于 1 August 去世，享年 80 岁。 格伦·汉萨德 (Glen Hansard) 奥斯卡获奖爱尔兰创作歌手。他于 29 July 去世，享年 56 岁。 维基·威克汉姆 (Vicki Wickham) 英国流行音乐经纪人，60 年代电视节目《Ready Steady Go!》的制作人。她于 1 August 去世，享年 87 岁。 尼尔马尔·普尔贾 (Nirmal Purja) 尼泊尔登山家。他于 30 July 去世，享年 43 岁。 卡齐米拉·普伦斯基内 (Kazimira Prunskienė) 后苏联时代立陶宛的首任总理。她于 30 July 去世，享年 83 岁。 王泉英 中国最后一位在世的长征女战士。她于 22 July 去世，享年 105。

7 August 2026 《卫报周刊》

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8 全球报告 英国

政治

法拉奇承认曾就回归领导职务进行磋商，使其此前关于500 万英镑m礼金的说法变得模糊

奈杰尔·法拉奇承认，在2024年大选前几个月，他曾就重新担任改革英国党（Reform UK）领导人的可能性进行过磋商，这可能会削弱他此前对自己接收一名加密货币亿万富翁赠予的500 万英镑 (670万美元) 礼金之相关情况的陈述。上周末有报道称，法拉奇已与该党当时的领导人理查德·泰斯（Richard Tice）以及被定罪的诈骗犯乔治·科特雷尔（George Cottrell）达成协议，重返政治前线。法拉奇此前曾表示，他无需申报来自克里斯托弗·哈博恩（Christopher Harborne）的500 万英镑m或来自科特雷尔的实物利益，因为在收到这些款项时他并不从事政治活动。下议院的行为准则规定，新任国会议员必须登记在当选前12个月内收到的所有“可登记利益”。在周一的一次新闻发布会上，法拉奇表示：“我当时并没有重返政治舞台或担任改革党领导人的意图，但在那一年的春天，我确实与理查德·泰斯讨论过，如果……我回到那个职位，会有什么样的责任。”法拉奇说：“如果你在接手一份工作时不去了解潜在的责任是什么，那你就是个傻瓜，而那些责任是非常巨大的。”议会标准监督机构正在调查法拉奇接受500 万英镑m且未申报是否违反规则，但在他辞去克拉克顿（Clacton）国会议员职务并引发补选后，该调查已暂停。投票将于13 August举行。

克拉克顿视角 Page 34 →

移民

伯纳姆将“不遗余力”地应对小船跨境问题

鉴于数万名移民进入西班牙领土塞乌塔（Ceuta），安迪·伯纳姆承诺将“不遗余力”地应对小船跨境问题，并表示为了打击走私团伙，必须为难民建立“安全通道”。这位首相表示，英国必须“处理这个问题，而不是利用这个问题进行政治操弄”，并做出能让公众安心的改变。上周三是今年以来英吉利海峡小船跨境最繁忙的一天，共有752人抵达英国。官方初步数据显示，今年迄今已有1.4526万,526人进入英国。这一数字比去年同期记录的人数（2.5436万,436）低43%。

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野生动物

鹳鸟在消失600年后重返德比郡

三只幼年白鹳已在德比郡的威灵顿湿地（Willington Wetlands）被释放，环保人士希望它们能开启这些鸟类在消失600多年后重返英格兰中部的进程。“我们的下一个目标是让它们成为一个可持续发展的种群，”德比郡野生动物信托基金会的景观官员凯蒂·拉斯（Katie Last）表示。

食品

洪水后遭遇干旱，农民警告将出现短缺

英国全国农民联合会（NFU）警告称，由于英格兰部分地区遭受严重的干旱，英国可能会面临某些食品短缺，与此同时，热浪继续影响该国大部分地区。农场在冬季受到了洪水的影响，导致播种极其困难，而现在许多地区由于干旱导致灌溉受限，无法获得水源。这是五年内的第三次干旱，农业团体表示，这已成为英国农业的新常态。由于农民正努力抢救尽可能多的农产品，英格兰正迎来有记录以来最早的收获季。

外交

伦敦居民将反对中国大使馆建设计划

在高等法院驳回邻居们的挑战后，一座备受争议的新中国大使馆建设获得了绿灯。皇家造币厂法院（Royal Mint Court）居民协会立即宣布计划对该决定提出上诉，此举可能会导致项目进一步延迟。近年来，关于规划许可的争论一直是英中关系中的一个痛点。今年1月，住房、社区和地方政府部批准中国建设这座巨大的外交据点。这将是北京在欧洲最大的大使馆。在规划申请从当地塔汉姆莱茨（Tower Hamlets）议会手中移交后，该决定被推迟了数月，该议会最初以安全理由拒绝了申请。随后，高级情报官员建议政府，对英国国家安全的风险是可以控制和处理的。

20 本月，少数几位访问巨石阵的游客将被允许近距离接触这座纪念碑，而不是在绳索隔离带后远距离观看，允许的时间为 20 分钟。这些幸运儿将随机选出。

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9 读者目击 薄雾笼罩 “在前往奥克兰市中心的怀赫基通勤轮渡上，早晨的浓雾将一次平凡的航行变成了一场野生动物、监控与海景之间不寻常的邂逅。” 作者：Valia Papoutsaki，新西兰奥克兰，怀赫基岛

科学与环境

污染

用电炉替代燃气灶可帮助哮喘患者

一项美国研究发现，当哮喘控制不佳的人员将燃气灶和炉灶更换为电炉后，住院人数以及请病假或请学假的天数下降了 70%。俄亥俄州的公立医疗机构 MetroHealth 于 2024 年 12 月启动了这项研究，但资金被接任的特朗普政府终止。令凯斯西储大学（Case Western Reserve University）的研究人员感到惊讶的是，在他们关闭项目时检测到了益处。在 0.5 的变化被认为具有临床意义的量表上，平均哮喘评分从 2.6 提高到 1.5。这包括请学假或请病假的天数减少。他们还发现喘息情况减轻，吸入器使用量减少，且表示哮喘在夜间将其惊醒的人数减少。研究人员对 44 户家庭的空气污染进行了测量。平均而言，二氧化氮下降了 70%。

水资源

随着全球变暖，雨云移动距离更远

研究表明，雨滴的移动距离比以往更远。温暖的空气可以容纳更多的水蒸气，这不仅改变了我们接收的降雨量，还改变了降雨的位置。怀俄明大学的 Travis Aerenson 对美国三十多年的大气水分运动进行了建模。他们的研究表明，大气中的水分在降雨前，其移动距离比 35 年前远了 50 到 80 公里。他们的研究结果发表在《地球物理研究快报》（Geophysical Research Letters）上，表明这一趋势将导致更多国家和地区的用水安全日益取决于其国境之外，需要邻国之间开展更广泛的合作。

海洋生物学

霍尔木兹海峡的船只构成“超级传播”威胁

自美国-以色列与伊朗战争爆发以来，霍尔木兹海峡的关闭为极端的全球生物多样性威胁创造了条件。一支海洋生物学家团队警告称，数千艘滞留的船只在重新起航后，可能会在世界范围内传播入侵性海洋物种。自28 February以来，超过1,500艘商船在海湾中停滞不前，其船体上附着了从微生物、藻类到藤壶的海洋生物。这项由马里兰大学环境科学中心马里奥·坦布里（Mario Tamburri）教授领导的研究，将这种情况描述为一次潜在的海洋“生物入侵超级传播事件”。

人工智能

根据欧盟规则，虚假内容必须强制标注AI

欧盟引入了新规则以遏制虚假内容的泛滥。公司必须确保人们在与AI驱动的聊天机器人互动，或查看经过篡改的图像或AI生成的文本时能够知情。“这也是一个保护民主的问题，”绿党欧洲议会议员谢尔盖·拉戈金斯基（Sergey Lagodinsky）表示。公司被鼓励对规则出台之前的AI生成内容进行标注，尽管这不是强制性的。

4.2 大西洋中体型最大的被标记雄性大白鲨“竞争者”（Contender）的长度（单位：米）。这头30岁的鲨鱼曾在美国北卡罗来纳州和缅因州的海岸被目击。

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重磅报道

国内纷争 基辅的政治难题 第13页 $\rightarrow$

特朗普的爱国游戏 对泽连斯基的态度回暖 第14页 $\rightarrow$

乌克兰战争

作者：卢克·哈丁（Luke Harding）

乌克兰 当太阳在一片高大的黄色向日葵田上落下时，麻雀在鸣叫，突然间，一阵类似轻便摩托车的轰鸣声打破了夜晚的宁静。噪音升高，降低，然后再次升高。雷（Ray）中校——一名乌克兰第414航空旅的指挥官——在长满叶子的水沟中寻找掩护。几秒钟后，一架乌克兰无人机咆哮着冲入紫色的天空。它以45度角猛然向上跃起，橙色火焰滋滋作响，随后平静地向前飞去。这个飞行物体像一架线条流畅的灰色双翼飞机，带有木制螺旋桨和尾翼。它身后留下了滚滚黑烟和一股火药味。

在弗拉基米尔·普京派遣坦克夺取基辅四年半之后，乌克兰战争已从地面转移到天空，演变成一场无人机之战。这场在战争史上前所未有的竞赛，以技术、创新和快速发展为特点。“我们在这里创造历史。这是民主击败极权主义的地方。就像乔治·奥威尔写的那样。但这一次，‘老大哥’输了，”雷在无人机消失在地平线时说道。它的目的地是克里米亚，一个拥有海滩和白色白垩山的风景优美的乌克兰半岛，在2014, 被俄罗斯窃取，随后被军事化。

接着，另外两架远程无人机疾速向前冲去。它们在暮色中翱翔，飞过日益昏暗的草原景观。每架无人机携带50-100公斤炸药。任务结束，乌克兰士兵迅速收拾，卷起白色电缆。10分钟内，人们就离开了。他们消失在一条两旁种满树木且布满坑洼的小路上。

远离前线的地方，其他小组正穿梭在乌克兰各地，根据精确的晚间时间表释放无人机。坐在电脑屏幕前的操作员引导它们向敌方目标靠近。该型号可飞行超过2,500公里，足以打击欧洲俄罗斯境内任何地方，以及西伯利亚的大部分地区。雷的那三架无人机的旅程较短。四小时后，大约凌晨1点，第一架 $\rightarrow$

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乌克兰 / 俄罗斯 11

“普京在恐惧”

将战火引向俄罗斯的无人机打击部队

在乌克兰农村的一个发射场，精锐的“马加亚尔之鸟”（Magyar's Birds）旅的成员们正将俄罗斯庞大的国土面积转化为其弱点。一名“马加亚尔之鸟”的成员在发射前检查一架FP-1深层打击无人机。VALENTYN OGIRENKO / 路透社

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12 深度报道

乌克兰战争 达到了它的终点：位于被占领的克里米亚南海岸的度假胜地阿卢什塔（Alushta）。无人机在灰色的公寓楼之间穿梭，撞进了一座110kV的变电站。火焰喷涌而出，刺破了城市浓黑的夜色。这些发生在7月21日的远程打击是乌克兰将其昵称为克里米亚“断电”行动的一部分：这是一场旨在将该地区与其电力和物流网络切断的行动。同一晚，无人机击中了13个电力节点。其中几个位于俄罗斯控制的扎波罗热和赫尔松省部分地区，克里姆林宫称这些地区已被其吞并。

自2022年以来，俄罗斯每晚对乌克兰的城市和城镇发动袭击。它派遣伊朗设计的“见证者”（Shaheeds）无人机以及弹道导弹和高超音速导弹。在唐纳德·特朗普去年重返白宫后，这些机群规模进一步扩大。它们混乱地倾泻而下，在恐怖袭击中杀害了公寓里的家庭。

乌克兰曾是西方援助的接收方，而现在则通过建立自己的军事制造基地予以回应。经过快速增长，该国已成为全球领先的无人系统强国。上周向克里米亚投掷的无人机是由基辅的一家国防技术初创公司制造的。该公司的代表参与了行动。

雷（Ray）的营——以古希腊机会、运气和转瞬即逝之神凯罗斯（Kairos）命名——已对俄罗斯进行了数百次深层打击。目标包括炼油厂、仓库和弹药库。它还打击了港口和码头，以及道路和铁路等军队物流路线。

在2026年，乌克兰无人机袭击了莫斯科和普京的家乡圣彼得堡，让俄罗斯总统难堪，并将战争带到了此前一直对此视而不见的普通公民家中。

“我认为普京很害怕，”雷表示，“他为这场战争给出的理由之一就是为了阻止乌克兰（可能）轰炸莫斯科。而现在，这正作为他行为的直接后果而发生。”

雷说，每当他的无人机升入月光笼罩的天空时，他都能感受到“复仇与正义”。“我们没有发动这场战争，”他说，“我们别无选择。我们是在为我们的独立、为我们的人民、为死者的记忆，以及为我们的未来而战。这是一场奴隶与自由人之间的较量。”

乌克兰组织严密的无人机行动被保密。一个分析部门负责寻找目标。西方合作伙伴提供部分情报，但大部分来自开源信息。无人机机组在最后一刻才会收到坐标。到目前为止，参与发射的人员中没有人受伤或死亡。

一名参与者表示：“你正在全球范围内创造改变。特朗普醒来就能看到结果。但与此同时，这非常孤独。你不能告诉任何人你在做什么，甚至不能告诉你的妻子，或者吹嘘：‘今天我们轰炸了莫斯科。’”他们补充道：“这是一项重要的工作。你会感受到巨大的满足感，并觉得自己是精英的一员。”

凯罗斯营是“马加亚尔之鸟”的一部分，该旅以其创始人——乌克兰无人系统部队负责人罗伯特·布罗夫迪（Robert Brovdi）的呼号命名。7月，布罗夫迪发起了一场摧毁亚速海和黑海油轮及其他船只的行动。到目前为止，已有200多艘船只被击中。俄罗斯人措手不及，他们的船只无法逃脱。

自上个月以来，该旅一直在焚毁俄罗斯的“亚马逊”——Wildberries公司所属的仓库，其中至少有九个被夷为平地。乌克兰方面表示，该公司销售军事产品。布罗夫迪表示：“对社会的社会心理影响比摧毁一座炼油厂更大。”他称，乌克兰的远程无人机已“显著削弱”了俄罗斯的防空力量。“我们已经摧毁了其中的大部分，”他说。他补充道，三天前，位于亚速海俄罗斯港口叶伊斯克的防空部队被夷为平地，使被击毁的系统数量达到305个。▲ 雷中校——第414航空旅的一名指挥官 ALESSIO MAMO “这是一项重要的工作。你会觉得自己是精英的一员”

俄罗斯巨大的国土面积已变成了弱点。布罗夫迪表示，惊慌失措的克里姆林宫已将“一定数量”的防空系统从前线转移到莫斯科以提供保护。这位指挥官表示，他希望阻止俄罗斯将克里米亚作为向乌克兰发射攻击的“跳板”，并驱逐在普京2014年接管该半岛后定居在那里的近100 万名俄罗斯居民或“殖民者”。克里米亚现在的燃料极少，以至于俄罗斯军事小组有时无法加油并起飞无人机。此外，还经常发生停电。一名呼号为“施魏克”的旅成员预测，粮食短缺很快就会发生：“我们将继续施压。他们将考虑生存问题，而不是进攻行动。”施魏克补充道：“这种情况对俄罗斯来说是屈辱的。克里米亚具有象征意义……现在全世界都知道俄罗斯真的很弱。”

并非所有乌克兰无人机都能抵达目标。据雷称，约有三分之一在被占领领土上空被击落。他承认，在俄罗斯上空的损失要高得多。尽管如此，乌克兰向俄罗斯经济施压的战略似乎正在奏效。布罗夫迪说：“必须耗尽他们的部队和资源，使他们无法继续战争。”这位指挥官承认，俄罗斯军队仍在东部的顿巴斯地区推进，并在科斯蒂安廷诺夫卡市进行战斗。“到目前为止，他们的进展与其为此付出的代价并不相称，”他说。他继续说道：“按照这个速度，如果他们打算夺取半个乌克兰，难道计划战斗100年吗？”

回到乡村，雷的同事“巴拿马”将最近的一次发射描述为成功。“那是10分之10，”他说，并补充道他使用目前的类双翼机型号已经一年半了。“刚开始我们使用外国无人机。有时会出现问题。现在我们没有问题了，”他说。唯一的挑战来自蚊子。“我们已经和它们成了朋友。它们不再烦我了。它们也是自由乌克兰的居民。它们可以随心所欲，”巴拿马说。“但如果它们激怒我们，我们就把它们发射向敌人。它们可以吃俄罗斯人。”

LUKE HARDING 是《卫报》的高级国际记者 --- 解释篇 乌克兰 13

内部真相

阁员洗牌揭露泽连斯基战时团队的裂痕

作者：Michael Segalov 和 Luke Harding

又是一周，弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基又取得了一次外交成功。他与英国新任首相安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）的首次会晤，确认了英国对乌克兰支持的延续性。随后，根据白宫的说法，泽连斯基与唐纳德·特朗普在华盛顿举行了一次“积极且富有成效”的会谈。美国参议院推进了一项广泛的俄罗斯制裁法案。泽连斯基从美国、欧洲和英国获得的数千亿军事和财政援助令人瞩目。但回到基辅，他面临着一场政治危机，自从国防部长米哈伊洛·费多罗夫（Mykhailo Fedorov）被解职以来，当地每天都在举行抗议活动。

围绕费多罗夫的争议是什么？

自今年1月接手乌克兰国防事务以来，这位35岁的前数字化转型部长兼副总理被视为一名现代化、精通技术的改革者，许多人认为他清理了深受苏联时代惯例和涉嫌腐败困扰的国防部。当费多罗夫在X平台上向埃隆·马斯克发送消息，请求关闭俄罗斯士兵使用的Starlink卫星互联网服务时，马斯克照做了。

◀ 安迪·伯纳姆在泽连斯基访问英国期间与其同行 一名抗议者举着被解职的国防部长米哈伊洛·费多罗夫的剪纸像 SERGY DOLZHENKO / EPA

费多罗夫与乌克兰61岁的前军队首领亚历山大·瑟尔斯基（Oleksandr Syrskyi）之间的对比极其鲜明。两人发生了冲突。上个月，泽连斯基宣布政府进行洗牌，其中包括撤换费多罗夫。这是一个奇怪的选择。费多罗夫似乎并不构成政治威胁。他是关键盟友、前助手，也是泽连斯基的忠实追随者。现在，他成了一个潜在的继任者。民调发现，72%的受访者反对解雇费多罗夫，仅有5%表示支持。上个月底，在日益增长的公众压力下，泽连斯基改变了方向。瑟尔斯基被解职，费多罗夫被邀请回到政府中。费多罗夫拒绝了其他高级部长职位的邀请，而泽连斯基尚未重新向他提供国防部长的职位。

泽连斯基的判断力此前被质疑过吗？

2025年7月，基辅和其他城市爆发抗议，以回应政府剥夺两个反腐败机构独立性的提案。泽连斯基签署该法案使其成为法律，但在几个月后由于公众压力而撤回。随后，一个组织（Nabu——乌克兰国家反腐败局）对泽连斯基的幕僚长安德烈·叶尔马克（Andriy Yermak）展开了调查。这导致了叶尔马克的辞职。

乌克兰可能会举行选举吗？

战时戒严禁止举行选举，因此泽连斯基自2019年赢得绝对多数席位以来一直掌权。尽管面临弗拉基米尔·普京（以及有时是特朗普）要求举行新选举的压力，但民调显示，在和平时期之前进行投票的意愿较低，因为目前有600 万乌克兰人居住在海外，且俄罗斯的空袭仍在继续。尽管如此，有报道称政府曾探讨过今年举行（取决于停火情况）选举的方案。

战争状态如何？

虽然现在说乌克兰在与俄罗斯的战争中获胜还为时过早，但它正在迅速夺回主动权。费多罗夫（以及创建了乌克兰独立无人机部门的瑟尔斯基）已将重心从地面转向天空。俄罗斯在地面上继续缓慢推进，但代价是每月有3万,000名士兵死亡或受伤。

接下来会发生什么？对许多人来说，费多罗夫 / 瑟尔斯基的溃败代表了某种生存层面的冲突：一场年轻的西方进步一代与深受苏联影响、习惯于通过握手协议和某些腐败手段运作的老卫兵之间的斗争。对于公众爆发的挫败感，还有另一种解读。即便俄罗斯的袭击仍在继续，联合国的数据显示 6 月是乌克兰平民在四年来最惨烈的月份，但这表明人们正专注于在胜利后构建一个体面、公正、现代且前瞻性的社会。迈克尔·塞加洛夫（MICHAEL SEGALOV）是《卫报》的副时事通讯编辑 --- 14 西蒙·蒂斯道尔（Simon Tisdall） 阿富汗的回响令特朗普心有余悸 第 45 页 → # 分析 美国 / 乌克兰

故友重逢：为何特朗普与泽连斯基的关系正在回暖

作者：罗伯特·泰特（Robert Tait） 华盛顿

就领导人组合而言，唐纳德·特朗普与弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基并非天作之合。然而，在经历了糟糕的开局——2025年2月一次激烈的会面后，特朗普公开伏击并实际上将泽连斯基逐出白宫——美国总统与这位乌克兰同行之间的关系出现了一个出人意料的转暖趋势。

这种回暖与美以对伊朗的战争同步发生，且在特朗普努力结束这场冲突而陷入困境时，回暖速度似乎有所加快。

“毫无疑问，他对泽连斯基的态度有所缓和，”外交关系协会高级研究员、前白宫欧洲事务顾问查尔斯·库普钦（Charles Kupchan）表示，“现在已经进行了一系列进展顺利的会晤。”

上周，两人在白宫再次会面。此前，泽连斯基前往华盛顿参加林赛·格雷厄姆（Lindsey Graham）的葬礼。这位共和党参议员在乌克兰与俄罗斯的战争中坚定地支持乌克兰，而与此同时，特朗普及其“使美国再次伟大”（Maga）运动几乎完全倒向了俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京。

此次会面是在上个月安卡拉北约峰会会晤之后进行的。在那次会议上，特朗普赞扬了曾被他贴上“独裁者”标签的泽连斯基，并表示将授予许可，允许乌克兰开发自己的“爱国者”导弹拦截系统。

此外，在此之前还发生了一件可以说更为惊人的事情：泽连斯基在基辅与劳拉·卢默（Laura Loomer）会面。卢默是一位极右翼社交媒体影响力人物，已知对特朗普具有影响力，且此前曾公开支持俄罗斯。在与乌克兰领导人会面后，卢默表示自己被俄罗斯的宣传“欺骗了”，并承认此前相信了关于乌克兰的“许多不实之词”。她还表示，在会面后她给特朗普打了电话，且她的观点转变正在影响整个“使美国再次伟大”（Maga）运动的情绪。

这种剧变可能有多种原因，但一个潜在因素尤为突出：美国在结束由其与以色列于2月28日发起的对伊朗强硬伊斯兰政权的战争中，困难日益加深。德黑兰通过无人机袭击美国军事基地以及海湾盟国基础设施而进行的报复，阐明了基辅与华盛顿之间的共同利益。

在2022年俄罗斯入侵乌克兰的初期，德黑兰向莫斯科提供沙希德（Shahed）无人机后，乌克兰也遭到了这些无人机的持续攻击。此后，乌克兰通过成为防御性无人机技术的全球领导者予以回应。自从伊朗针对其领土遭受的军事打击而反击，导致美国及其海湾盟友遭到此类武器攻击以来，乌克兰一直向美方及其海湾盟友宣传这一创新。

泽连斯基在3月告诉英国议员，已有200名乌克兰军事专家被派遣到包括阿联酋、沙特阿拉伯、卡塔尔和科威特在内的11个海湾国家，就如何对抗沙希德无人机提供建议。

乌克兰的活动可能会产生重新定义伊朗战争的效果 ▼ 泽连斯基上周在华盛顿与唐纳德·特朗普会面 APA / SHUTTERSTOCK

上个月，乌克兰在里海袭击了一艘伊朗商业船只，被指责试图将这两场冲突合并。基辅对此次袭击辩称，该船被用于向俄罗斯运输武器。伊朗则表示此次袭击导致一名伊朗水手死亡，并威胁要进行报复。

在准备前往华盛顿会见特朗普之前，泽连斯基表示，伊朗通过向俄罗斯提供武器而“攻击”了乌克兰。泽连斯基还誓言分享乌克兰的情报，他称这些情报显示俄罗斯正在帮助德黑兰打击美国目标。

外交关系协会的库普钦表示，泽连斯基在说服特朗普乌克兰是一个值得支持的盟友方面扮演了一个“优秀的推销员”角色，通过提供美国需要的帮助，从而迎合了特朗普的交易本能。

“现在支持乌克兰的理由更加充分，因为乌克兰已经证明了它不仅是一个接受者，也是一个贡献者，”库普钱说道。然而，美国总统在爱国者导弹承诺上表现出的犹豫，表明争取特朗普始终取决于他那反复无常的性格。一些分析人士警告称，乌克兰面临着将两场局部战争演变为全球冲突的风险。国际政策中心研究员西娜·图西表示，乌克兰的介入加强了德黑兰的一种观点，即俄乌战争与伊朗与美国的对抗正演变为一场单一的、相互关联的冲突。“特朗普对泽连斯基表现出的热情只会强化这种认知，”他说。“可能的后果并非立即对乌克兰发动导弹袭击，而是德黑兰认为其可以合法地施加代价的范围将进一步扩大。”乌克兰的参与可能会产生重新定义伊朗战争的效果，使其不再被仅仅视为服务于以色列设定的议程，而被视为在帮助保卫乌克兰。

《卫报》美国特派记者

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15

法国

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西班牙

跨境混乱让塞乌塔的摩洛哥人陷入僵局

作者：Okba Mohammad 和 Javier Jennings Mozo 塞乌塔

上周，尤塞夫·埃尔·阿巴斯（Youssef El Abbas）看到了一个夺回七年前失去的生活的机会。有消息在流传，大约 400 人从摩洛哥游向邻近的西班牙飞地塞乌塔（Ceuta），该地距离西班牙本土经由直布罗陀海峡约 20 公里。对于这位 44 岁、育有四个孩子的摩洛哥父亲来说，这是一个返回西班牙的机会；2019 年他在毕尔巴鄂失业导致居留权过期，随后被驱逐出境。

埃尔·阿巴斯打了一辆出租车前往该飞地南部的特图安市（Tétouan）。在途中，他看到 Facebook 帖子和新闻报道称，摩洛哥当局正允许人们通过其一侧的边境。这意味着他可以通过陆路旅行，然后短距离游过边境，从摩洛哥领土进入西班牙领土，从而避开西班牙的边境管制。

他到达特图安时，发现这座城市已完全陷入瘫痪。当第二辆出租车将埃尔·阿巴斯送到与塞乌塔接壤的小镇夫尼德克（Fnideq）时，他意识到，那些原本防止没有欧洲证件的人员接近边境的封锁线和检查站已被撤除。

“摩洛哥警察在对我们大喊：‘走，走，走！快跑，快跑进西班牙，’”他说。尽管人群拥挤，但埃尔·阿巴斯注意到警察只允许摩洛哥人过境。“所有撒哈拉以南的移民都被强行推回。”

--- 16 Spotlight Europe

他于周三下午 2.45pm 到达边境。到下午 3 点，经过短距离游泳，他站在了西班牙的土地上。

并非每个人都如此幸运。“在水里的短短 1万 分钟里，我看到四个人死在摩洛哥海域漂浮着，”他说，“人们正在把他们的尸体拉上来。”他们是试图进入西班牙领土而溺亡或被挤压致死的至少 88 人中的一部分。

埃尔·阿巴斯只是上周进入塞乌塔的约 7万,000 人之一，西班牙首相佩德罗·桑切斯（Pedro Sánchez）将此次事件描述为“对西班牙领土完整性的侵犯”。

马德里将此次涌入归咎于“人口贩卖黑帮”，这些黑帮利用了西班牙最高法院最近的一项裁决。该裁决规定，那些在试图进入塞乌塔或梅利利亚（Melilla，位于北非海岸的另一个西班牙飞地）时在海上被拦截的人员，不能根据特殊规则被立即遣返。

但也有猜测认为，摩洛哥当局可能开放边境是为了表达对桑切斯近期访问阿尔及利亚的不满，而阿尔及利亚支持将争议领土西撒哈拉从摩洛哥占领下解放出来的努力。

摩洛哥驻西班牙大使卡里玛·本亚伊什·米兰（Karima Benyaich Millán）表示，拉巴特对这次大规模过境感到不满，并补充说希望在塞乌塔的人员能够返回。摩洛哥政府消息人士告诉 Europa Press 通讯社，进入塞乌塔的人员激增是由于“犯罪组织”所致，并坚称拉巴特与西班牙的合作依然是“典范”。

2021, 5 月，在马德里允许一名西撒哈拉独立领导人在西班牙接受新冠肺炎治疗而引发外交僵局期间，拉巴特放宽了边境管制，允许 10,000 人在两天内进入塞乌塔。

埃尔·阿巴斯说，他从未停止过返回西班牙的梦想，他在那里工作了 14 年。自 2019, 被驱逐出境以来，他与留在毕尔巴鄂的妻子和四个女儿分居，靠偶尔的工作勉强维持生活。

“我从未停止过想回来，”

▲ 西班牙当局将塞乌塔移民涌入的原因归咎于“人口贩卖黑帮” ▼ 上周五的塞乌塔当局，数千人从摩洛哥经海路抵达此处 MARIO MORAN / JNA / ZUMA / SHUTTERSTOCK

他说道。“在摩洛哥，我活着，但那并不算真正的生活。”埃尔·阿巴斯的经历绝非个例。尽管到周一为止已有超过 6.9万,000 人返回摩洛哥，但本周仍有数百人睡在公园和人行道上，等待机会继续前行或寻找休息之所。移民们似乎几乎不可能离开塞乌塔前往西班牙本土。来自卡萨布兰卡的 17 岁少年赛义德在听说边境开放后，同样加入了前往塞乌塔的人群。但欢欣鼓舞很快被现实取代，他现在拥有的只有一瓶水和一名当地居民给他的盒装酸奶。这名青少年表示，他在过境后被带到了一家无人陪伴未成年人中心，但那里没有空位，于是他最终回到了街头。赛义德和随行的其他青少年说，没有人愿意卖给他们食物，也不允许他们进入商店，因为他们不会说西班牙语。在涌入三天后，塞乌塔正缓慢地尝试恢复常态。许多留下的抵达者正由塞乌塔当地人照顾，他们走在街头分发瓶装水、毯子和衣服。然而，极右翼政治人物和一个新纳粹团体的到来威胁到了这种团结的展现，他们都渴望利用这场人道主义危机来实现自己的目的。塞乌塔议会议员法蒂玛·哈梅德·侯赛因担心，危机造成的压力加深了城市内部的分歧。“我们所经历的一切在邻里之间制造了紧张局势，”她说，“而这正是极右翼的养分。”当一群人返回边境时，赛义德在思考未来。他的目标很简单：在保护中心获得一个名额，用接下来的一年学习西班牙语，并在年满 18 岁后找一份理发师的工作。他最担心的是最终没有合法证件，导致这个计划在开始之前就崩溃。不过，离开并不在他的计划之内。“我需要的，”他说，“就是一个机会。”

OKBA MOHAMMAD 是一位常驻西班牙的记者；JAVIER JENNINGS MOZO 是一位视听记者

--- 17 解释 移民

边境突破

塞乌塔如何成为移民冲突的爆发点

由《卫报》记者报道

发生了什么？在哪里发生的？

摩洛哥与西班牙微型领土塞乌塔（Ceuta）之间的边境管制似乎在上周崩溃，导致数万人通过混乱且危险的场景进入西班牙境内，造成数十人死亡。抵达人数超过了塞乌塔常住人口的三分之二。西班牙官员周一表示，估计上周末抵达塞乌塔的 6.95万,500 人已返回摩洛哥。截至周一，据信仍有约 2,500 名跨境人员留在塞乌塔。

塞乌塔和梅利利亚（Melilla，另一个位于北非地中海沿岸向东 400 公里的西班牙领土）构成了欧盟与非洲唯一的陆地边界。塞乌塔自 1580 年起由西班牙拥有，居住着基督徒和穆斯林混合人口，其西班牙和摩洛哥居民及日薪工人生活在相对和谐的状态中。摩洛哥在官方上不承认塞乌塔和梅利利亚是西班牙领土，经常将其称为被占领土地。

为什么塞乌塔是移民冲突的爆发点？

对于寻求更好经济机会或逃离暴力的人来说，西班牙是进入欧洲的主要抵达点。塞乌塔和梅利利亚被高度设防，因为它们被视为那些试图从摩洛哥及非洲其他地区抵达西班牙的人的目的地。许多抵达塞乌塔或梅利利亚的移民被立即遣返，但其他人则被安置在移民收容所，同时在西班牙申请庇护。

为了抵达塞乌塔，人们经常从约 5 公里外的摩洛哥城镇夫尼德克（Fnideq）游泳前往。其他人则尝试从更近的贝柳内什（Belyounech）镇跨境。2022 年，约 2,000 人（主要来自撒哈拉以南非洲）尝试从摩洛哥进入梅利利亚，导致 23 人死亡；而在 2014 年，当 200 人尝试通过攀爬边境围栏或绕过防波堤进入时，塞乌塔海域至少有 14 人死亡。

抵达塞乌塔和梅利利亚的移民人数通常远低于通过加那利群岛和巴利阿里群岛抵达西班牙的人数。西班牙的移民人口在近几十年显著增长，在 5000 万 人口的国家中，约有 1000 万 人出生在海外。其中许多人来自哥伦比亚、委内瑞拉和摩洛哥，在包括农业和旅游业在内的关键部门工作。

至少从 20 世纪 90 年代中期以来，每年有数千人从北非国家和土耳其跨越地中海在欧洲寻求庇护。根据国际移民组织的统计数据，自 2014 年以来，地中海已记录 3.5153万,153 起移民死亡和失踪事件，其中 2026 年前七个月有 1,493 人死亡或失踪。

为什么这么多人能够跨境？

西班牙情报人士告诉《国家报》（El País），这次涌入的根源可能在于一个在西班牙最高法院一项裁决后迅速在社交媒体上传播的骗局

跨越水域：人们如何尝试抵达西班牙领土

冲突点 跨境死亡人数高企

3.5万 自2014年以来，地中海记录的移民死亡和失踪人数

1,493 2026年前七个月期间死亡或失踪的人数

报道团队 Ashifa Kassam（马德里）；Okba Mohammad（塞乌塔）；Lisa O'Carroll（伦敦）；Angela Giuffrida（罗马）

通过海路抵达的移民不能被简单地驱逐出境。随着这一谣言在网上发酵，摩洛哥的边境监控逐渐减少到最低限度，直到上周末被完全取消，导致数万人通过。然而，这次跨境行动可能与摩洛哥和阿尔及利亚之间的竞争，以及西班牙首相佩德罗·桑切斯（Pedro Sánchez）最近访问阿尔及尔有关。上一次大规模跨境发生在2021年5月，当时摩洛哥在与西班牙就西撒哈拉独立运动——波利萨里奥阵线（Polisario Front）发生外交争端期间放宽了边境管制。摩洛哥和波利萨里奥阵线都对西撒哈拉主张主权，该地直到1975年之前一直处于西班牙统治之下，随后殖民当局将该领土移交给摩洛哥和毛里塔尼亚。这场外交危机在2022年结束，当时马德里支持摩洛哥关于西撒哈拉的计划——此举导致马德里与支持波利萨里奥组织的阿尔及尔之间出现裂痕。桑切斯在7月访问了阿尔及尔，标志着关系回暖。分析人士认为，这可能触发了拉巴特的反应。塞乌塔领导人胡安·赫苏斯·维瓦斯（Juan Jesús Vivas）将此次跨境行为描述为对西班牙领土完整性的攻击，并认为这“即便不是由摩洛哥策划，至少也是由其鼓励或允许的”。西班牙国防部长玛格丽塔·罗布莱斯（Margarita Robles）似乎也暗示了拉巴特的参与。

各国政府如何反应？

在整个欧盟内部，这场危机似乎带来了一个清算时刻，因为少数几个欧盟国家在应对危机时呼吁暂停西班牙在申根自由流动区（Schengen free-movement zone）的资格。意大利表示，尽管塞乌塔不属于申根区，但其已暂停与西班牙为期一个月的申根免签旅行安排，而法国则加强了与西班牙的边境管控。在周二旨在解决此次危机的内政部长紧急视频会议之前，西班牙外交部长表示，由于在他看来有几个成员国的表现“未达到”预期，西班牙将要求欧盟成员国提供团结支持。

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18 聚焦^{}[] 中东 # 分析 伊朗

内部危机：内部的分歧是否比战争更具破坏性？

作者：帕特里克·温图尔（Patrick Wintour）

伊朗在与美国升级为期五个月的战争之中，继续在一次又一次的内部危机中踉跄前行——无论是关于公开处决、生活成本上涨，还是国家广播电台涉嫌偏见的问题。但随着战争的扩大，一种长期外交僵局的威胁正日益增长，这种僵局是由互不信任造成的，双方都不相信对方会遵守任何协议。

特朗普政府的部分成员以及伊朗反对派——包括被废黜前任国王之子礼萨·帕赫拉维（Reza Pahlavi）——从未放弃过这样一种信念，即伊朗政府正处于崩溃边缘。与此同时，伊朗总统马苏德·佩泽什基安（Masoud Pezeshkian）则不厌其烦地警告称，导致1月份血腥抗议的条件依然存在。在最近的一次最高司法委员会会议上，他主张：“伊朗正处于一场全面战争之中。今天的战争不仅仅是导弹之战……如果经济压力导致社会不满情绪形成且这种不满情绪蔓延，那么人民为支持体制而创造的巨大社会资本将会丧失。”

曾是佩泽什基安亲密改革派盟友的阿扎尔·曼苏里（Azar Mansouri）上个月在伊朗改革阵线的年度会议上警告称，有一个规模虽小但声音巨大的群体，似乎决心将与美国的谈判协议描绘成退缩或失败。她警告说，战争“不仅仅是军事力量和军队之间的对抗……最终，它威胁着国家的未来”。同样，一份由 268 名政治活动人士上个月签署的“我们不想要战争”声明表示，他们认为绝大多数民众反对战争，且这一点应通过全民投票来检验。另一封来自 1,000 名与前总统穆罕默德·哈塔米（Mohammad Khatami）有关联的活动人士的信函警告称，“伊朗的当代经验是战争没有赢家。那些主张谈判的人不应被诽谤。”

由于水果、鸡蛋和鸡肉的价格，伊朗人被迫改变饮食习惯 ▼

上周，德黑兰自由广场展出的导弹。MAJID ASGARIPOUR / WANA / REUTERS

这些倡议的共同点是对外交官们正在失去机会的恐惧，以及伊朗正被推向一场可能被描绘成“伊朗-阿拉伯战争”的“永恒战争”，而这样一场战争将有利于以色列。

伊朗-中国商会负责人马吉德-雷扎·哈里里（Majid-Reza Hariri）上周警告称，在接下来的六个月里，食品配给制度可能变得必要。劳工部副部长古拉姆侯赛因·穆罕默迪（Gholamhossein Mohammadi）表示，战争已导致超过 100 万个工作岗位流失。在某种程度上，配给——通过食品价格通胀的形式——已经开始了，因为伊朗人由于水果、鸡蛋和鸡肉的价格而被迫改变饮食习惯。

上个月，食品同比通胀率达到了 134%，这意味着普通家庭的每月食品预算在一年内增加了一倍多。整体通胀率为 84%。战争对经济的打击已蔓延到从互联网到旅游业的各个领域。

然而，最大的震撼弹是在国家电视台引爆的。国家审计机构——总监察组织（General Inspection Organisation）负责人扎比胡拉·霍代扬（Zabihullah Khodayian）揭露了所谓“信托基金”（高度机密的政府资助机构）中外汇腐败的规模。这些信托基金多年来植根于伊朗政治体制中，是旨在将伊朗石油收入转移到美国制裁网络之外的实体。显而易见，它们的运作方式不透明，并挪用公共资金。霍代扬证实了这一点，称其中一家信托基金被给予 2亿美元，不仅没有归还资金，而且相关人员已离开该国。他表示，另有 229 人共欠国家 270亿美元，而司法部门表示，目前正对近 50 人立案调查。

目前尚不清楚这些信托基金是基于什么标准被选中的，以及如何追究其责任。但一个可能涉及伊朗精英阶层的大规模丑闻即将被揭露的可能性正在增加。如果真是这样，所有关于跨阶层社会凝聚力的谈论都将显得非常空洞。帕特里克·温图尔（PATRICK WINTOUR）是《卫报》的外交编辑 --- 亚太聚焦 19 日本

致命地震后，生存与丧失的故事浮现

作者：Gavin Blair 东京

“坍塌的房子里传出声音，我看到了一只手，”志愿者消防员永田智英（Tomohide Nagata）告诉《熊本日日新闻》。 “我们的一名资深成员爬进去把他拉了出来。他的头部在流血，但我很高兴他活了下来。”

永田在日川（Hikawa）这个乡村小镇听到房屋内传出噪音，该镇靠近上周二日本南部发生的 6.8 级地震的震中。该镇是受灾最严重的地区之一，大量旧房坍塌。由于恐惧持续不断的余震，许多居民当晚在日川镇公所外的车内度过，工作人员在那里分发食物和饮料。

地震袭击九州岛后，至少 38 人死亡，数百人受伤。首相高市早苗（Sanae Takaichi）周一首次简短地视察了该地区。

据《每日新闻》报道，79 岁的岩冈茂美（Iwaoka Shigemi）和 77 岁的妻子道代（Michiyo）逃离了家，在日川的车里过夜。由于上周气温达到 35℃，他们担心中暑的风险。

熊本官员表示，近 2.3万,000 栋房屋断电，7.5万,000 栋房屋断水。约 1.5万,000 人被疏散到 400 个避难所。

防卫大臣小泉进次郎（Shinjirō Koizumi）表示，部署在该地区的近 5,000 名自卫队成员已向熊本的避难所空运了冷藏箱，同时自卫队舰艇正在运送水和食物。

“我们正在尽一切可能将拯救生命作为首要任务，努力运送救命物资，首先是水，”小泉说道。

79 岁的永田须美（Suemi Nagata）因为车库被毁而无法开车离开日川，但她与丈夫和姐姐一起抵达了镇公所。

“横向摇晃比 10 年前的熊本地震还要严重，太恐怖了，”她告诉该镇的报纸。“能保住性命就值得感激。”

救援人员搜寻了鹿岛（Kashima）镇的永旺（Aeon）购物中心，地震发生时那里有数千人出入。该公司表示，约 3,000 名顾客在购物中心另一处发生气体爆炸前被疏散到停车场。

永旺表示，所有被卷入爆炸的人都是在疏散后返回建筑内的店员。该公司总裁在上周三的新闻发布会上鞠躬道歉，称永旺未能预见到爆炸，目前正在调查原因。

一名在爆炸前瞬间随其他购物者逃出的 16 岁女孩告诉《朝日新闻》，她“一旦到室外就感到完全安全了”，但随后却因灰尘和烟雾而呼吸困难。

在同样经历了日本震度等级最高 7 级摇晃的宇城市（Uki City），居民讲述了侥幸逃生以及令人心碎的失败救援尝试。

◀ 应急工作人员在熊本县日川一座坍塌的房屋中进行搜救行动 共同社 / 路透社

地震热点 今年 4 月，熊本县纪念了 2016 年地震 10 周年，那次地震造成 275 人以上死亡并导致大范围破坏。在那个案例中，一次 6.2 级前震发生两天后，紧接着是一次致命的 7 级地震，这正是上周熊本数万名居民心中担忧的事情。

这个拥有约 1.25 亿 人口的群岛国家每年通常会经历数百次震动，约占全球地震的 18%。

一名40多岁的女性在用身体挡住掉落的家具以保护孩子后，成功带着三代家人抵达了避难所。由于当地防灾设施的天花板坍塌，丰野小学被用作避难所，她在那里告诉《熊本日日新闻》：“我在家里被一个抽屉柜压住了。我保护了孩子们，然后赶紧撤离。”上周二晚上，当邻居和亲戚试图互相确认情况时，宇城市浅川区的居民发现一栋房屋被夷为平地，屋顶瓦片散落在原址周围。在家属的注视下，几名志愿消防员试图营救被困在里面的一个老人。“那个男人是我儿时的好友，”当地一名明显心有余悸的70岁区长告诉这家熊本报纸，“我们试图把他拉出来，但余震接连不断，我们别无选择，只能放弃。”与日川一样，许多宇城市居民睡在车里，当地政府工作人员分发水和食物。由于受损的防灾设施无法使用，该市在停车场设立了一个临时响应总部。在日川南部的八代市，一名男子的生命可能因为他的日程安排而得以挽救，当时他的工作场所（一座单层木结构建筑）坍塌了。“那天是休息日，我没在上班，所以捡回了一条命，”这名63岁的个体经营者说道，他当晚住在搭建在花园里的帐篷中，“虽然我完全不知道从明天起该怎么办。”

GAVIN BLAIR 是一名报道日本的新闻记者 ---

目击英国

共同目标

2026年英联邦运动会于上周末在格拉斯哥闭幕，为期11天的激烈赛事圆满结束。来自74个国家和地区的约3,000名运动员和残疾人运动员在从草地滚球到游泳的各项赛事中展开了激烈的奖牌争夺。下一届运动会将于2030年在印度举行，届时将迎来该赛事的百年庆典。

摄影：TOM JENKINS

▲ 英格兰的艾米莉·坎贝尔（Emily Campbell）在庆祝她刷新英联邦运动会纪录并赢得女子+86公斤级举重比赛金牌。

▶ 格林纳达的安德森·彼得斯（Anderson Peters）在标枪比赛中获得第四名。斯里兰卡的鲁梅什·塔兰加·帕蒂拉格（Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage）摘得金牌。

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21

澳大利亚的乔治亚·戈德温（Georgia Godwin）在艺术体操女子全能决赛的 uneven bars（高低杠）项目上表现。澳大利亚队在加拿大和英格兰之前夺得金牌。

加拿大的约书亚·利恩多（Joshua Liendo）在男子100米自由泳半决赛中。他在100米蝶泳项目中赢得了金牌。

孟加拉国的拉基布·侯赛因（Rakib Hossain，红色）在与所罗门群岛的克林顿·特特卡纳（Clinton Tetekana）的雏量级拳击比赛中锁定胜局。侯赛因在四分之一决赛中被淘汰。

英格兰的彼得·库萨克（Peter Cusack）和澳大利亚的托马斯·克莱因（Tomas Klein）在男子3x3轮椅篮球决赛中展开激烈竞争。澳大利亚以19-13击败英格兰。

2026年8月7日 《卫报周刊》

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22

聚焦 欧洲

英国

强势开局能否引领伯纳姆走向持续成功？

作者：Jessica Elgot

安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）在担任首相的前两周里，处于一种极度活跃的冲刺状态。从巴士票价、商业税率、能源账单削减、国防、乌克兰到权力下放——这位新首相几乎无处不在。但在上周三他在北伦敦 Jewish Care 发表的演讲中，人们被残酷地提醒道，即使是最精力充沛的首相，想要赢得关注也可能如此之难。

养老院的一位居民询问伯纳姆他是否是当地的候选人，当被告知——再一次——出现了一位新首相时，该居民感到十分惊讶。

尽管出现了这个令人啼笑皆非的小插曲，工党议员们普遍对“伯纳姆反弹”感到乐观，且在两项上周发布的民调中，该党获得了自2025年3月以来的首次民调领先。这究竟是蜜月期，还是一个可持续的轨迹？

在《卫报》看到的一项针对1万,000多名选民的新 MRP 民调中，伯纳姆的投票意向比6月中旬反弹了6个百分点，使工党的支持率达到26%，领先于改革英国党（Reform UK）的23%。该民调显示工党在席位上领先，但距离过半数仍有一定距离。

根据该民调，工党将赢得245个席位，改革英国党174个席位，保守党99个席位，自由民主党67个席位。这意味着将出现一个悬浮议会。

来自 Convergent 的民调表明，这种反弹主要来自于大量流向绿党和自民党的进步派选民回归工党（在5月选举中投票给绿党和自民党的2024年工党选民中，现在有超过一半的人表示他们会再次投票给工党）。相比之下，在那些投票给

245 根据该民调，工党将赢得的席位数，使其成为悬峙议会中的最大政党。5月的改革英国党（Reform UK）可能已经回归该党。Convergent的联合创始人迪兰·斯皮尔曼（Dylan Spielman）在2024年大选期间领导了工党的数据科学团队。他表示：“安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）带来的反弹是真实的，但还不足以让工党重新回到获得多数席位的轨道上。到目前为止，这种恢复主要来自于进步阵营的重新统一。但工党在赢回改革英国党选民以及在关键摇摆席位中起决定性作用的保守党选民方面进展要小得多，而‘被挤压’的选民仍然是工党最薄弱的群体。能否维持这种恢复，将取决于工党能否继续证明其生活成本议程正在产生成效，并将其吸引力扩大到进步人士之外。”分析显示，工党在英格兰北部赢回了大部分阵地，特别是伯纳姆根基所在的西北部，以及约克郡和亨伯地区。但在威尔士和苏格兰，这种恢复到目前为止微乎其微——在5月惨败给苏格兰民族党（SNP）和威尔士党（Plaid Cymru）之后，伯纳姆今年夏天将在这些地区投入更多时间。工党还首次失去了对威尔士议会（Senedd）的控制权。但伦敦大学学院（UCL）政策实验室（Policy Lab）的詹姆斯·巴加利（James Baggaley）认为，统一该阵营是关键的第一步，该实验室曾与著名的民主党民调专家斯坦·格林伯格（Stan Greenberg）就工党的进步主义问题开展了大量工作。巴加利表示：“在安迪·伯纳姆进入唐宁街之前，我们的民调结果中令人震惊的一点是，尽管媒体高度关注，但西北部以外的大多数选民对他并没有清晰的认识。这意味着最初的几天和几周既是机遇也是风险。他显然迅速进入状态，传递出一种更充满希望且大胆的 --- 克拉克顿视角 p34→ 23 信息。但他也利用了进步选民更广泛的转变和结盟，将基尔·斯塔默（Keir Starmer）失去的绿党和自民党选民重新纳入麾下。当然，巨大的挑战将出现在他处理那些对进步人士而言更敏感的问题时——例如福利问题，而且显然他还没有与特朗普打交道。这位总统在潜在的工党选民中依然极不受欢迎；在那些时刻，他如何坚持关键的进步价值观，对于帮助重建一个获胜的联盟至关重要。”在内部，工党消息人士对前两周的精心安排感到欣喜，并将其与2024年斯塔默上任时进行了对比，当时整个夏天被削减冬季燃料补贴和免费礼品争议所主导，此外在 No 10 首相官邸玫瑰园发表的演讲也被广泛批评为过于消极，影响了商业信心。More in Common的负责人卢克·特里尔（Luke Tryl）表示，这是他很长时间以来第一次在焦点小组中遇到真正的乐观情绪，即使节省的金额对家庭而言相对较小，他们仍对生活成本措施印象深刻。特里尔说：“伯纳姆绝对主导了注意力经济。无处不在，全方位覆盖。这是实质内容与更好的传达者的结合。斯塔默是以负面切入，称这随后会带来正面结果。我认为通过先引导一些正面内容，伯纳姆能够随后处理那些更棘手的问题。”在最近的一次民调中，More in Common发现伯纳姆的人气显著增加，自他成为首相以来增加了+19，而此前许多人表示他们持保留意见。法拉奇的不认可度显著上升，包括此前认可他的人也产生了越来越多的怀疑，他现在是评分最低的政党领导人。特里尔表示，仍有许多因素可能会让伯纳姆脱轨——如英吉利海峡的移民跨境问题、关于福利的争端。“但从公众舆论的角度来看，就如何为自己创造最佳开局而言，很难想象还能比这更好。”

杰西卡·埃尔戈特（JESSICA ELGOT）是《卫报》的政治副编辑

英国

塑料颗粒：数千人动员清理塑料

作者：Mark Brown

“你拥有一个真正关心海岸线的当地社区，”爱丽丝·拉弗蒂（Alice Laverty）在回顾那支巨大的志愿者队伍时说道。他们带着热情和最简单的工具，前往英格兰东北部遭受危机袭击的海滩。“他们每个人都带着簸箕、刷子、水桶和厨房筛子。”

从诺森伯兰郡的坎博伊斯（Cambois）到威尔赛德的西本（Seaburn），多达2,000名敬业的志愿者一直在筛沙子，以寻找像扁豆一样小的塑料颗粒。

这些被称为“nurdles”的塑料颗粒在7月19日南希尔兹（South Shields）的泰恩港（Port of Tyne）发生船只碰撞后被冲上海滩，导致10亿颗颗粒泄漏到水中。活动人士估计，泄漏量高达25吨。

此次泄漏引发了愤怒和抗议，东北部市长金·麦金尼斯（Kim McGuinness）承诺，将确保船东为她所称的“污染紧急情况”做出贡献。

自碰撞发生以来，许多海滩上的塑料颗粒漂浮物就像浓汤一样。

▼ 志愿者们聚集在海滩上协助清理工作 MARK PINDER

全球性问题 塑料颗粒是微小的圆盘状塑料颗粒，是制造大多数塑料产品的原材料。活动人士表示，动物很容易将其误认为食物，从而导致致命后果。致力于结束塑料污染的慈善机构 Fidra 表示，塑料颗粒是一个全球性问题。去年，该机构在英国 84% 的特别科学价值地点发现了塑料颗粒。

惠特利湾（Whitley Bay）的一家书店老板拉弗蒂说：“我看到了数百万颗颗粒在泰恩河下游漂浮的恐怖照片，于是我在傍晚去了海滩。”她说，“我是海滩上唯一一个拿着簸箕和刷子的人，我能感觉到人们看着我，心想……她在干什么？”

现在，海滩上已经有一支志愿者大军，通过筛沙子或抖动海藻来协助清理工作。尽管来自议会的官方建议是不接触这些颗粒，但拉弗蒂表示，有更重要的事业。“没有‘塑料颗粒仙女’能让它们消失，现在就必须清理干净，”她说。

来自克拉姆林顿（Cramlington）的商业学者海伦·查尔顿（Helen Charlton）表示：“这是我们的家。我是在东北部出生并长大的，我为这个地区感到无比自豪，同时也为这里的工业和商业感到无比自豪。并不是说泰恩河不应该有航运，因为我们绝对需要。但两者必须共存。”

来自惠特利湾的生活与工作教练卢·沙克尔顿（Lou Shackleton）表示，塑料颗粒带来了多重危险。“一切都是相互关联的。捕鱼的人需要鱼类存在且健康。海豹需要鱼。我听说昨天有一艘船因为塑料颗粒影响发动机而抛锚。现在是暑假，会有人们在海里，孩子们在玩耍。”

“我有一个五岁的孩子；我不希望他在10年后依然能在海滩上发现塑料颗粒。”

用户体验设计师艾米·艾什（Amy Ash）创建了一个Web应用程序，以帮助组织和动员志愿者。“我冲浪，我游泳，我有两个孩子，”她说，“这些东西出现在海滩上绝对令人心碎。我真的不希望这件事被遗忘。”

数十名志愿者使用脚手架布缝制了网袋，用于收集塑料颗粒。泰恩港、英国海事及海岸警卫队（HM Coastguard）、环境署、当地议会和专业承包商都参与到了这场被称作“协调的多机构努力”的泄漏后清理工作中。

截至上周日，这支“人民军队”已记录了约3,000个志愿者小时，估计回收了285公斤的塑料颗粒。一封公开信预计将于本周发出，呼吁允许经过培训的当地团队直接从河流（而不仅仅是海滩）中清理塑料颗粒。

MARK BROWN 是《卫报》的英格兰北部特派记者

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欧洲聚焦

法国与“超级大火”搏斗的一周

精疲力竭的消防员、林业员和志愿者在这场迫使 20万,000 人离开家园的烈火中展开一场“消耗战” 法国 作者：Jason Burke

勒波热（LE PORGE） ▲ 一名林业员在勒波热的一条道路上注视着燃烧的山火 STÉPHANE MAHÉ / 路透社 ▶ 烟雾缭绕的森林中立着一块标牌 ALBERT LLOP / NURPHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK

正午时分，到了休息时间。气温约为 35℃，空气中弥漫着灰烬、焦炭和烧焦木头的味道。在勒波热体育中心外，干枯的草地和沙地上，人们在日益缩小的阴凉处摆开了桌子，20万 名男子和少数几名女性聚集在此。消防员、士兵、警察、宪兵、官员、急救队、林业员和志愿者肩并肩地坐着，面前摆着香肠、牛排和土豆。

上周，这场在法国被称为“超级大火”的火灾在 6 公里外爆发，该村庄在火灾发生 14 小时后被紧急疏散。这场大火已吞噬了波尔多以西 4.2万,000 公顷的土地，其中主要是林地。尽管火势最终得到了控制，但每天仍有零星火点爆发，使应急服务部门以及前来援助的数百名志愿者承受了极限压力。

“我们已经度过了最艰难的时刻，但我们非常、非常疲惫。我们已经超越了自己认为可能的极限，”勒波热的一名高级消防员说道，他在不到一分钟的时间里喝掉了一升水。“我们曾直面深渊。”

头顶上，三架携带巨量水箱和阻燃剂的飞机低空飞向新的火点。附近有一架无人机在嗡嗡作响，这是由消防队派出的，旨在利用热成像摄像头探测潜伏在地下、被当地媒体称为“僵尸火”的阴燃火势——这种火势在接下来的几天、几周甚至几个月内都可能引发新的混乱。

在村庄周围，道路穿过一片烟雾缭绕、空无一人且焦黑的景象，被烧焦的树木依然挺立。在某些地方，森林完好无损，高大的松树排列成整齐的绿色队列；而在另一些地方，在飞速蔓延的火焰随机选择下，极目远眺之处已化为灰烬和焦炭。

“现在我们全靠肾上腺素支撑，但危机终将过去，到那时才是真正困难的时候。到那时我们会痛哭流涕，”46 岁的雷米·博松（Remy Bosson）说道。他的家在火灾中受损，现在他每天帮助在剩余的森林中开辟 200 米宽的防火带，以减缓未来可能发生的火灾。

上周末，法国其他地区的火灾也带来了类似但规模较小的破坏，约 200,000 人被迫离开家园。在瓦尔省，乔治·克鲁尼和阿迈尔·克鲁尼因附近山火燃烧而被迫撤离住所。在巴黎郊外著名的枫丹白露森林、在科西嘉岛以及第戎附近，火焰依然构成威胁。

整个欧洲的应急服务部门都在苦苦支撑。在英国，120 名消防员在萨福克郡连续几天与大火搏斗。在西班牙，2026 年至今的累计火灾数量创下了该年度同期的新纪录。在希腊，三名消防员在克里特岛丧生，数千名游客从度假胜地被撤离。

最新数据显示，整个欧盟的火灾天气打破了该年度同期的记录。科学家表示，气候变化模型早已预测到此类极端天气，尽管某些灾难的发生时间似乎比预期更早，强度也更大。

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25

“夏天还剩一个月或更多时间。我们需要雨，大量的雨，”勒波热的那位高级消防员说道。由于没有获得与媒体交谈的授权，他要求匿名。

法国领导人一直试图安抚担忧的社区，并避免政治危机。

“我们正在逐渐恢复正常，”新阿基坦大区及包括勒波热在内的吉伦特省省长索菲·布罗卡斯（Sophie Brocas）上周四表示。

总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙表示，在法国仍处于“全面战斗”状态时，现在还不是分析教训的时候。

没有人怀疑这场特大火灾的规模，但关于其起因以及扑救所需资源的可用性问题却存在激烈争议。在勒波尔日（Le Porge）临时食堂用餐的居民中，有当地的公共工程承包商尼古拉斯·迪·多梅尼科（Nicolas Di Domenico）。他是通过在索姆（Saumes）村附近工作的电工得知火灾的，电工打电话告诉他，一台用于清理高压电缆的故障机器产生的火花刚刚引发了一场猛烈的大火。46岁的迪·多梅尼科说：“那是短路或类似的情况，因为到处都太干燥了，瞬间就全部被点燃。在那里的伙计们尝试使用灭火器，但火势太猛了。我的员工们为了保命而逃跑，等消防队赶到时，火势已经非常巨大了。”大火最初让消防员措手不及，他们很难进入火势蔓延的森林深处。在六小时内，火势已蔓延6公里，抵达勒波尔日的郊区。次日清晨，居民们走上街头，红色的天空中飘落着燃烧的灰烬，随后当局决定进行疏散。“当局本应该停止森林中所有的工作。有人搞错了优先级，”迪·多梅尼科说。勒波尔日以及该地区其他许多地方的人指责当地政府在火灾发生前“在岗位上打瞌睡”，随后未能足够快速地投入资源。许多人质疑，为什么法国老旧的消防飞机机队没有被更换或得到充分加强。CGT工会消防部门负责人塞巴斯蒂安·德拉武（Sebastien Delavoux）表示：“我们长期以来一直担心这一点，特别是从2017年起就在就飞机问题发出警告。今年夏天表明，法国消防员的能力已经达到了极限。”勒波尔日市长表示，尽管多年来多次发出警告，但这次事件是无法预测的，该镇20%的房屋被毁。马蒂亚尔·扎尼内蒂（Martial Zaninetti）说：“今年的情况完全是异常的。我们从未见过这样的景象。你总可以说我们的资源不足，但这次的规模完全超出了我们之前的所有经验。”上周三晚上，在受火灾影响最严重区域边缘的一个基地，高级消防员聚集在一辆消防车侧面贴着的地图旁听取简报。这些经验丰富的部门指挥官被太阳晒成了古铜色，手里拿着笔记本，准备接收夜间的任务，因为夜间较低的温度和较高的湿度使得灭火更容易。年轻的团队成员仍穿着阻燃工作服，浑身覆盖着烟灰，看着上级用黑色幽默和哈瑞宝（Haribo）糖果袋互相问候。其中一人表示，与特大火灾的斗争现在正从动态且危险的“机动战”转变为漫长而缓慢的“消耗战”。▲▲ 消防员在勒波尔日的一片森林中准备进行受控焚烧操作 PHILIPPE LOPEZ / ▲ 特大火灾后被烧毁的汽车 FLORIAN PLAUCHEUR / 42k 以公顷计，迫使波尔多以西勒波尔日镇疏散的“特大火灾”所吞噬的区域面积。该村20%的房屋在火灾中被毁 他补充道：“起初我们处于防御状态，但现在火势不再蔓延。仍然有很多零星的火点让我们奔波，在每个人都精疲力竭的时候，这很艰难。因此，动员状态依然是全面的。”在穿过朗德省（Landes）的道路上，往来不再是通常的游客车流，而是消防车、救护车、警车以及各种杂乱的农业水罐车、安装了塑料容器的卡车，以及载着连接着花园软管的油桶的皮卡车。一些车辆为消防车运水，使消防员无需离开火点去补充水箱。另一些车辆则在路边或在森林中留下宽阔伤痕的新防火带上喷水。

上周五，区域首府波尔多的一座展览馆内，数百名被疏散人员开始撤离，尽管仍有许多人在等待许可。另外数万人则留在朋友、亲戚家中或酒店里。住在沿海村庄莱日（Lège）的55岁财务顾问弗雷德里克·法鲁吉亚（Frédéric Farrugia）通过家中的监控摄像头，看着消防队努力拯救这座建筑。最终，火焰被压制，但50米外的房屋被摧毁。他的妻子塞弗琳（Severine）在凌晨2点被宪兵唤醒，在与他以及他们的猫一同逃离时拍下了一张地狱般的火海照片，这张照片让一名好心人提供了临时住所。“我们当时在双车道公路上，火焰像一面墙一样沿着一侧延伸。那感觉有点像世界末日，”法鲁吉亚说。“我认为现在法国人会意识到气候正在变暖，而我们必须做出反应。”在拉卡诺（Lacanau）以及其他地方，许多人也谈到了气候危机带来的明显影响。该村的一名木匠安东尼·勒格朗（Anthony Legrand）表示，几十年来他见证了巨大的变化：潮汐导致绝美海滩的宽度缩减，绿藻出现，当然还有接连发生的火灾，包括2022年一场摧毁了他家附近大片森林的大火。“你会认为那是一个警告，但没人关注，”他说。“这次也会一样。他们的记忆力就像金鱼一样短。”

杰森·伯克（JASON BURKE）是《卫报》的国际安全记者 --- 26 亚洲聚焦

亚洲各地极端降雨引发洪水与台风

从阿富汗到台湾，前所未有的天气条件导致暴雨倾盆，凸显了气候崩溃带来的毁灭性影响 气候危机 作者：Natasha May 和 Jonathan Watts

▲ 上个月，人们在东京的暴雨中穿过街道 YUICHI YAMAZAKI/

“连续10天10夜不停地下雨——我从未见过这样的景象，”居住在阿富汗东部偏远地区杜尔巴巴（Dur Baba）的建筑工人阿纳尔·古尔（Anar Gul）说道。他村里的房屋是用石头和泥土建成的，这使得它们在暴雨面前极其脆弱。经过数日的降雨，古尔的厨房坍塌了，他的邻居赛义德·阿夫萨尔·萨达特（Sayed Afsar Sadat）则目睹了自家房屋的大部分被毁。

“像这样的降雨每年都变得更猛烈、出现得更早，”萨达特说，“它们摧毁了道路，冲走了我们的庄稼。这对我们产生了直接影响。”

上个月，暴雨和山洪冲毁了阿富汗的村庄和城镇，导致至少 31 人死亡，数百人失踪。邻国的情况也类似，季风雨在整个地区引发了混乱。印度、孟加拉国和巴基斯坦都出现了不稳定且突然的强降水。

杰斯敏·阿克特（Jesmin Akter）住在孟加拉国东南部沿海城市恰托格朗（Chattogram），该市在7月初的 24 小时内接收到了创纪录的 412.3mm 降雨，导致一场山洪席卷了他们居住的班什哈利（Banshkhali）地区。一夜之间，大雨夺走了他们仅有的一切：家禽死亡，稻田被淹，房屋坍塌，屋内的所有财物尽失。阿克特带着她的六个孩子在齐胸深的水中走到母亲家。

“我们失去了一切，”阿克特说。他们回到了家园的废墟中，但她的孩子们睡在铺在潮湿地板上的塑料布上，她担心他们的安全，尤其是卫生条件恶劣会导致疾病。

就在欧洲和北美山火肆虐的同时，其他地方的前所未有的大雨仍在继续。韩国在热浪和暴雨之间剧烈波动，而在日本和越南，暴雨导致了山体滑坡。

与此同时，根据水利部 7 月中旬的数据，中国自 4 月汛期开始以来，出现了多轮极端降雨。此后，已有 600 多条河流水位超过警戒线——比过去五年同期平均水平增长了 35%。在西南城市重庆，暴雨后发生的一起山体滑坡导致至少 11 人死亡，50 人失踪，救援工作仍在进行中。另外，甘肃省中北部一个露营地发生的山洪导致 10 人死亡，23 人受伤。

该地区的汛期因连续的风暴而加剧。据省政府部门称，今年迄今为止在中国登陆的最强台风“诺欧”（Typhoon Noul）促使广东省 89万,000 多人撤离。7 月初，台风“麦莎克”（Typhoon Maysak）淹没了广西部分地区，并席卷了商业蛇类养殖场，导致数百条蛇逃脱。

预报员警告称，更多潮湿天气即将到来。根据中国气象局的数据，包括北京在内的中国大部分北部地区预计降雨量将比平时增加 20% 至 50%，而预计台风数量将达到 4 到 6 个，高于 4.2, 的平均值。

位于西北太平洋台风路径上的台湾岛也出现了极端降雨的增加。据农业部称，6 月份的连续暴雨导致台湾全岛农业损失超过 NT3.3亿美元 (1020万美元)，而首都台北记录到了一个多世纪以来最高的月降雨量。

该地区极端天气显然与气候变化有关。气候科学家长期以来……

► 中国贵港清理洪水 CHEN GUANYAN / CHINA NEWS SERVICE / GETTY

27 预测，由于燃烧天然气、石油和煤炭导致的气候紊乱，亚洲大片地区将不成比例地遭受更剧烈的高温、高湿和干旱之苦。联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）最近的一份报告指出，气温升高增加了“南亚、东南亚和东亚季风区发生洪水，以及兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区冰川融化”的威胁。2025年，该地区出现了毁灭性的风暴和降雨。同时，海洋温度也升至历史最高点。到目前为止，今年已经出现了打破纪录的热浪。由于人类导致的气候崩溃，全球大部分地区——尤其是欧洲、亚洲大部分地区、北美中部和东部，以及南美洲、非洲和澳大利亚的部分地区——极端降雨变得更加普遍且剧烈。这是因为较温暖的空气可以容纳更多的水蒸气，因此这些地区的洪水极有可能变得更加频繁和严重。“更剧烈的降雨是我们通过燃烧化石燃料加热地球并在大气中积累更多二氧化碳的预期后果。更温暖的大气可以携带更多的水分，因此下雨时雨势更大。此外，更炎热的条件会导致空气上升更快，并驱动更剧烈的雷暴，”英国气象局哈德利中心（Met Office Hadley Centre）气候影响战略领域负责人理查德·贝茨（Richard Betts）表示。红十字会与红新月会国际联合会（IFRC）帮助《卫报》采访了受影响的人员。IFRC驻阿富汗国别代表团负责人霍萨姆·法伊萨尔（Hosam Faysal）博士表示，“这些是气候变化带来的非常真实的人道主义影响……且变得越来越不稳定”。法伊萨尔敦促各国政府确保增加对当地主导的准备工作和缓解措施的投资，以便在气候相关灾难发生前减少生命损失和痛苦。“即将到来的厄尔尼诺预测就是一个明显的例子，”他说。“如果等到我们预见到的极端需求出现后才做出反应，将会付出生命的代价。”娜塔莎·梅（NATASHA MAY）是驻曼谷的记者；乔纳森·瓦茨（JONATHAN WATTS）是《卫报》的全球环境记者。李宇辰（Yu-chen Li）的研究 印度 ▲ 印度奥里萨邦的一名农民 尼利玛·瓦兰吉（NEELIMA VALLANGI）

干旱演习

准备迎接超级厄尔尼诺的农民 作者：Neelima Vallangi

卡斯图里·加曼戈（Kasturi Gamango）和普拉米拉·萨巴尔（Pramila Sabar）在解释拉贾节（Raja festival）的一大亮点时忍不住咯咯直笑。几天前，她们与来自奥里萨邦（Odisha）甘贾姆区（Ganjam district）拉克希米普尔（Laxmipur）的其他20户农民家庭一起参加了这个节日。“节日期间我们三天不用干活，”她们说，“我们享受自由时间，而丈夫们负责做饭和打扫。”

拉贾节是印度东部森林茂密的奥里萨邦一个充满活力的农业庆典，旨在庆祝生育、女性身份以及印度教的大地女神巴苏马蒂（Basumati）。传统上，这一为期三天的活动在6月14日至16日举行，以标志着雨季的开始和播种的启动。但今年，田地依然未被触碰，天空晴朗。季风直到月底才到来。6月底的降雨量短缺了40%。在过去的50年里，该邦至少经历了19次干旱。

尽管条件干燥，拉克希米普尔的农民在6月的最后几天仍谨慎地在稻田中播种，希望能在发芽前及时下雨。45岁的曼加拉·萨巴尔（Mangala Sabar）回忆起2023-24年的厄尔尼诺年份，“那时每年两次的移栽尝试都失败了，我们损失了全部作物”。

极端天气 全球专家已正式宣布，今年将出现“超级”厄尔尼诺（一种极端版本的天气循环），并预计它将在7月至9月迅速增强。在印度，厄尔尼诺年份通常与季风疲软、降雨延迟且不均、干旱期以及极端气温相关联，从而导致农业干旱、能源使用增加，以及因水库枯竭而导致的水资源短缺。

“对于奥里萨邦的农民来说，干旱并非未知的风险，”政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）的主要作者、印度人类定居研究所（Indian Institute for Human Settlements）的气候适应研究员钱德尼·辛格（Chandni Singh）在谈到奥里萨邦农民时表示。

然而，与奥里萨邦农村社区合作的发展组织 Gram Vikas 的执行主任利比·约翰逊（Liby Johnson）表示，农业社区福祉以及应对气候危机的长期韧性的核心是水安全和天气的确定性。

在俯瞰东高止山脉（Eastern Ghats）的山丘上，由 Gram Vikas 安装的25个自动气象站之一就立在曼加拉·萨巴尔家的房顶上，位于拉克希米普尔村的入口处。外墙被变成了一块巨大的黑板，上面用当地的奥里亚语（Odia）写着七天降雨预报。他通过 WhatsApp 接收处理后的天气预报信息并更新黑板。

印度气象局去年启动了一项计划，旨在提前最多30天提供季风抵达的准确预报。目前，包括奥里萨邦在内的超过3800万名农民正通过短信和电话接收定制的预报。同样，政府发布了多项与厄尔尼诺相关的建议，建议农民延迟播种，选择生长期短或其他耗水量较低的作物，并采用抗旱品种。

然而，这些信息的采用率仍然有限。“认为仅凭数据就能影响农民决策的想法是有缺陷的。人们不是那样做决定的，尤其是那些每天都在面对不确定性的农民，”辛格说。

随着上个月全国部分地区出现强降雨，整体季风缺口已缩小至21%。但随着厄尔尼诺的增强，深层的不确定性依然存在。

然而，奥里萨邦的农民仍在坚持。“我们怎么知道是否会下足够的雨？担心那个没有意义。无论如何我们都会播种，因为我们是农民，”曼加拉·萨巴尔说。

NEELIMA VALLANGI 是一位来自印度的作家和纪录片导演。

--- 28 聚焦^{}[] 欧洲 亚美尼亚

埋在盐矿深处的哮喘诊所

作者：Pjotr Sauer 埃里温

对于大多数人来说，在黑暗的地下深处度过数小时似乎是一个奇怪的健康处方。然而，每天早晨，少数亚美尼亚人会下降到地下 250 米的一座活跃盐矿中，在由岩盐雕刻而成的巨大洞室里度过六个小时，希望地下的空气能让他们呼吸得更顺畅。

“我尝试了所有可能的治疗方法，只有这个有效，”哮喘患者米卡伊尔·托罗相（Mikayel Torosian）说道，“我以前认为这完全是胡扯，但现在我成了坚定的信徒。”

自 1987 年以来，患者们前往这座苏联时期的矿井接受一种名为“洞穴疗法”（speleotherapy）的替代治疗。该疗法基于这样一种信念：矿井中饱和盐分且无过敏原的空气可以缓解呼吸道疾病。但作为世界上仅有的几家位于深层盐矿中的医院之一，该诊所在亚美尼亚撤回国家资金后，现在陷入了危机，这引发了关于国家在支持替代医学中应扮演何种角色的质疑。

进入医院的旅程始于一部嘎吱作响的工业电梯，它将患者送至埃里温郊区一个住宅区深处的地下。迷宫般的隧道在岩石中延伸。洞穴看起来更像是一个冷战时期的掩体，而不是一家医院。在帘子后面，患者们在狭窄的床上打盹；其他人则在打台球、踱步、做呼吸练习或静坐。

“几天之后，人们开始享受这份宁静，”自 1989 年起就在该诊所工作的医生阿努什·沃斯卡尼扬（Anush Voskanyan）说道。

沃斯卡尼扬表示，建立该诊所的想法源于医生们注意到，盐矿工人尽管生活在地下，但呼吸道疾病的发病率异常之低。研究人员开始研究矿井的微气候，从而导致在苏联集团的部分地区建立了专门的诊所。

沃斯卡尼扬将健康益处归功于多种因素的结合：富含盐分的空气、全年 19℃ 的温度，以及没有过敏原、污染、噪音和辐射。“这是完美的居住气候。在这里你基本上不会衰老，”她说。

“这是完美的居住气候。在这里你基本上不会衰老” 阿努什·沃斯卡尼扬 ▲ 医生 ▼ 地下诊所的患者在进行台球和乒乓球等活动 SOFIA MARIA BERGMANN

患者通常在为期三周的疗程中，每天在地下度过六个小时。医生表示，第一周是让身体适应期，随后益处才会开始累积。

每年有数千名患者进入阿万（Avan）矿井，其中许多人通过亚美尼亚的医疗体系免费接受治疗。

“我们以前一次能接收 60 人，”沃斯卡尼扬看着基本空荡荡的洞室说道，“而今天，大概只有五个人。”

诊所的命运在 2019 年发生了变化，当时亚美尼亚政府撤回了国家资金，理由是洞穴疗法缺乏足够的科学证据来证明公共支持的合理性。曾经免费就诊的患者现在必须为每次治疗付费，费用约为 $26。

这一决定是在亚美尼亚开始改革医疗体系并准备引入全民健康保险之际做出的，这迫使官员们在哪些治疗应由国家承担方面做出艰难决定。

“我们正处于关闭的边缘，”沃斯卡尼扬说，“我们仍在运行，但勉强维持。”

沃斯卡尼扬坚持认为这种治疗有效，尤其是对于患有哮喘和过敏的儿童。“有些病例在仅经过一个疗程的治疗后，哮喘发作就完全停止了，”她说。

虽然洞穴疗法在东欧和前苏联地区已经实践了数十年，但开展的大规模研究相对较少，且大多数诊所此后都已关闭。许多呼吸科专家将其视为一种辅助疗法，可能缓解症状，但不应取代常规医疗手段。然而，对于支持者来说，缺乏决定性的研究并不能否定数十年的患者证词。“如果没用，我就不会回来了，”来自俄罗斯的阿尔瓦特·阿里哈尼扬（Alvart Alihanyan）说道，在10年间，他多次回到这家诊所。目前，每天早晨，电梯继续向叶里温地下深处下降。无论对其医疗益处的争论如何，这座矿井提供了地面上日益稀缺的东西：数小时的绝对安静，没有wifi，以及一次短暂地逃离外界喧嚣的机会。彼得·索尔（PIJOTR SAUER）是《卫报》的俄罗斯事务记者。

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非洲聚焦 29

科特迪瓦

艺术家在旧都寻找宁静与灵感

作者：Eromo Egbejule 大巴萨姆（GRAND BASSAM）

在科特迪瓦城市大巴萨姆的 La Fourchette de Rôze 酒店泳池边，一场生日派对正在进行。这座城市被埃布里泻湖（Ébrié lagoon）和大西洋夹在中间。在二楼的走廊上，艺术家 Nuits Balnéaires 站在角落的一幅巨作旁，透过窗户望向大西洋翻滚的波涛。

“这很富有诗意……海洋那巨大的能量也为我的作品提供了动力，”这位科特迪瓦视觉艺术家说道。在思考自己的名字（意为“海岸之夜”）如何与这里的氛围相契合时，他补充道：“自然元素是我艺术实践的精髓和基础。”

许多居住在西非国家商业首都阿比让（Abidjan）的家庭经常在周日前往东边仅 45 公里的大巴萨姆放松身心，Nuits Balnéaires 也是其中之一，他从小就经常造访这里，因此与这座城市有着深厚的联系。2019 年 7 月，他从阿比让的家中搬到了这里。

在过去的十年里，这条搬迁之路已变得十分普遍。随着阿比让生活成本危机导致租金持续上涨，人们开始重新审视在城市中的生活。

“对于许多艺术家来说，在城市中维持工作室空间变得越来越困难，”常驻阿比让的艺术收藏家 Ozong Agborsangaya-Fiteu 表示。“他们正在大巴萨姆等地寻找更实惠的替代方案，但大巴萨姆本身也在变得昂贵，这促使一些艺术家搬到更远的地方。”

这场阿比让大迁徙的最大受益者是大巴萨姆。这里曾是该国的首个首都，其殖民时期的建筑于 2012 年被列入联合国教科文组织世界遗产名录。凭借风景优美的海滩、更新鲜的食物、更便宜的市场、靠近机场以及废弃建筑中蕴含的怀旧感，这座城市成为了比热闹且混乱的阿比让更理想的替代选择。

对于出生于瓜德罗普（Guadeloupe）的艺术家 Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux 来说，这里是一个“安静且抚慰人心的地方，有利于工作和寻找灵感”。

大巴萨姆复兴的证据随处可见。去年，原殖民时期的海关和邮局大楼在经过修复项目后重新开放，成为 La Maison de l'Art——一家拥有雕塑花园和庭院咖啡馆的当代艺术博物馆。在启动仪式上，文化部长弗朗索瓦丝·雷马克（Françoise Remarck）表示，私营部门与公共部门的合作旨在保护当地历史并聚焦该国的现代艺术，这为这座古城带来了“新鲜的生命气息”。

“今天，我们所做的远不止是开放一个艺术空间，”她说。“我们是在采取一种认可和欣赏非洲艺术天才的行为。”

其他机构也在效仿。精品酒店 La Fourchette de Rôze 已成为一个创意中心：2023 年 1 月，它启动了一项艺术家驻留计划，吸引了包括 Nuits Balnéaires 在内的二十多位来自全球的艺术家和音乐家。位于市郊几分钟路程的蒙杜库（Mondoukou）有一个名为 La Cocoteraie des Arts 的创意空间，设有露天艺术工作室和画廊，同样提供艺术家驻留。

数十个工作室正在大巴萨姆各地涌现。今年，科特迪瓦裔法国摄影师 Aïcha Fall 将在其中增加一个。

◀ 艺术家 Nuits Balnéaires 在他位于大巴萨姆工作室的庭院中 AÏCHA FALL

易主 大巴萨姆曾是文化贸易和旅游中心，但随着阿比让变得更加国际化，艺术和娱乐机会增加，大巴萨姆在多年间失去了一些吸引力。2016 年的一场圣战分子袭击导致 19 人死亡，也损害了这座城镇的声誉。

“我在法国乡村长大，一直很喜欢安静的地方，”法尔（Fall）说道。尽管她对度过早年时光的阿比让仍有眷恋，但在2023年从巴黎返回后，她搬到了格朗-巴萨姆（Grand Bassam）。“巴萨姆代表了这一切。它能给你沉思的时间，而不像阿比让，那里总是喧嚣不已。”一些热衷于艺术界的追随者预测，在未来几年，这座城市可能会取代阿比让成为艺术避风港，或者至少能与之匹敌。不过，业内并非所有人都如此乐观。科特迪瓦的大多数画廊和艺术机构仍留在阿比让，许多收藏家、赞助人以及生态系统的其他要素也是如此。像阿比让艺术周（Abidjan art week）这样的节日依然能吸引来自整个非洲大陆的人们，且尚未在该国其他地方被复制。“这种地理上的转移并没有削弱艺术氛围，反而创造了一种不同的动态，”阿博桑加亚-菲特乌（Agborsangaya-Fiteu）表示。“艺术家们受益于更实惠且更具启发性的工作场所，同时又与城市保持足够近的距离，以便参加展览、开幕式和其他文化活动。”努伊特-巴尔内尔（Nuits Balnéaires）翘着腿，一边啜饮咖啡，一边表示赞同，并指出这种情况有点像“鱼与熊掌兼得”。“优势之一在于，在巴萨姆你可以感到非常脱离尘世，但与此同时，你与阿比让发生的事情并没有那么遥远。”

埃罗莫·埃格贝朱莱（EROMO EGBEJULE）是《卫报》的西非特派记者 --- 聚焦 科技 一家供应商声称，智能灯柱可以“兼作产生收入的分布式AI数据中心”，这引起了政策和技术专家的质疑 人工智能

天空中的间谍

一个卑微的灯柱可以被用作为了社会利益而设立的监控工具，这个消息看起来像是进步——但谁来揭露所有这些数据的去向？

作者：Zoe Williams

如果你的社区灯柱能认出你的车，还能认出你的脸，你会有什么感觉？考虑到我们使用自动车牌识别和闭路电视（CCTV）已经这么久了，也许你并不在意。如果那个灯柱能通过自己的太阳能电池板供电，并将其产生的任何多余电能用于其他用途——那应该是好事，对吧？

这就是 Conflow Power Group (CPG) 对其 iLamps 的主张，这是英国首创的此类产品。但如果灯柱还具有整合新 AI 能力的潜力——比如步态分析、可疑行为分析——而这些你甚至从未听说过，那又如何？这些设备将采集的数据谁来拥有？

我现在位于沃里克郡（Warwickshire）的一个医院停车场，这里安装了一些这类“智能”灯柱，我希望能够解答其中的几个问题。

根据 CPG 的说法，并不多的人知道 iLamp 不仅由太阳能驱动，而且可以“兼作一个产生收入的分布式 AI 数据中心”，更不用说这意味着什么了。而且没有人知道这种潜在功能在英国型号中实现了多少——只知道 CPG 宣布的消息：该公司已与尼日利亚卡齐纳州（Katsina state）政府签署协议，向其供应 5万,000 个 iLamps，这些灯柱在车辆和面部监控方面具有额外的潜力。

CPG 主席 Edward Fitzpatrick 在接受 BBC 世界服务（BBC World Service）的《科技生活》（Tech Life）节目采访时表示，iLamps 最终可以用来追踪失踪人员或打击犯罪，但前提是这必须在与“相关部门”合作的情况下开发。该公司不接受进一步提问，并将媒体引导至其在线资料。

至于沃里克郡的灯柱，当地政府将所有问题转交给医院，而医院则没有回应。这很公平——毕竟它是一家医院。

ALAMY / GUARDIAN DESIGN --- 31

在附近的一个公交候车亭，当地居民愿意聊天。52 岁的 Karl 代表几乎所有人说道：“市中心已经到处是摄像头了，没关系。除非你做了坏事，否则你不会介意它们在那儿。”

无论提出多少诱导性问题——如果你现在做的事情合法，但一年后变得非法了怎么办？如果监控变成了预测性而非反应性怎么办？难道你不认为至少应该被询问是否想要这种监控吗？——都无法动摇人们的观点，即对于一个正直的公民来说，面部识别是可以容忍的。

同样在公交站的还有 41 岁的放射科医生 Tejal。看到 AI 在医疗领域的能力让她对 AI 整体感到焦虑。“我对我的孩子们感到焦虑，”她说。是担心他们找不到入门级工作吗？“那个，以及他们会失去庆祝和从我们曾经热爱的事物中寻找快乐的能力。”

隐私担忧似乎相对次要。

政策和技术专家对智能灯柱的一些主张持怀疑态度。Big Brother Watch 的高级法律和政策官员 Jaseen Chaggar 表示：“我们经常看到这种情况，地方议会或其他政府机构被……‘被骗’这个词太重了，但这些工具被当作万能药卖给他们，而它们实际能做的事情是有局限性的。”

东伦敦大学人工智能与数据创新中心主任 Rabih Bashroush 教授直言不讳地表示：“AI 数据中心？这绝对不可能实现：技术行不通，电力不足，经济上也不可行……”

他表示，利用太阳能让 iLamps 脱网运行在尼日利亚可能行得通，但在英国，灯柱产生的电量是“微不足道的”。至于面部识别的更大主张则“纯属炒作。别想了——这根本行不通。”

如果他听起来有些不耐烦，那是因为他确实如此。“现在想要获得一个独立的观点变得越来越困难，因为很多专家现在都在行业内部，他们的观点必须与所在组织保持一致，”他说。因此，一家公司可能会提出某种主张，其中包含几个 AI 流行词；工程师们不会反驳，而地方当局则无法理解。“面部识别不仅仅是被动地回溯某些东西，这与闭路电视（CCTV）不同，后者是你事后去检查的，”查加尔（Chaggar）说。“面部识别做的是实时身份核查：它更像是指纹或 DNA。它不像护照——你不能换一张脸。”查加尔表示，另一个问题是，“许多此类技术和基础设施具有后期增加功能的潜力。伦敦的哈默史密斯和富勒姆区（Hammersmith and Fulham）正在升级其闭路电视系统，而其中有可能嵌入面部识别、监控可疑购物行为、增加攻击性检测。因此，你只需要拨动开关，一夜之间这一切就全部实现了。”这引发了所有永恒的隐私担忧，而且有趣的是，许多人将闭路电视视为现代生活的一种既定事实，但会自发地表达他们绝对讨厌被手机窃听。那么，面部识别算法在检测攻击性和可疑行为方面究竟有多有效？“很多软件都是伪科学，”查加尔说。“一家公司可能会尝试销售情绪检测，[声称] 如果人们走在火车站里，你可以看出他们是否愤怒或即将产生攻击性。几乎没有证据表明这是准确的。”但查加尔认为，地方当局和任何国家机关应该问自己的真正问题是：“你愿意让你的政治对手拥有这些能力吗？因为你正在构建一个将长期存在的基础设施。”内政部在十多年前就批准了面部识别的使用，查加尔说，警察在“过去 10 年里基本上把公众当成了小白鼠”。今年早些时候，沙巴纳（Shabana）……政策和技术专家对智能灯柱的一些主张也持怀疑态度：“它们被当作万能药来销售，但它们实际能做的事情是有局限性的。”“好吧，如果你没有什么可隐瞒的，只要它们确实同时也是灯，我看不出这会有什么问题？”内政大臣马哈茂德（Mahmood）表示：“如果你不安全，你在任何国家都无法享受任何自由。”这种认为所有自由都次于国家作为保护者的权利的逻辑，对于一个据称是左翼的政府来说令人不寒而栗。但更令人担忧的是，现在似乎不是在监控技术上赌博的时机，因为我们对它的接受是基于一个假设，即未来的政府将是亲社会的且民主的。只要有数据的地方，就会产生谁拥有数据的问题。巴什鲁什（Bashroush）曾从事物联网相关工作，这是欧盟委员会试图将“物理世界与数字环境连接起来”的尝试。“我们遇到的挑战之一是一家供应商，他们基本上在荷兰收集家庭垃圾，然后根据习惯优化卡车行程并进行规划。运行该计划的议会对此非常满意，并试图在一年后开放招标以获得更具竞争力的价格，”他回忆道。“该公司说：‘没问题，但数据是我们的。’”合同条款制定得不完善，导致地方当局失去了数据。如果你想看看面部识别出错的情况，只需看看零售业，那里广泛使用该技术来防止商店盗窃。“我们见过警察误认身份的情况，”查加尔说，“但在零售业，当人们被误认时，情况简直像卡夫卡小说一样荒诞。你直接就被商店列入了黑名单。”

如果你被禁止进入一家商店却不知道原因，人们会在意吗？如果一家私营公司与你的医疗服务提供商签订了合同，吹嘘某种尚未投入运行且可能永远无法运作的技术——但没有人告知，更不用说征求你的意见，人们会在意吗？如果内政大臣认为国家之眼时刻监视着你是没问题的，人们会在意吗？《纽约客》的随笔作家特德·姜（Ted Chiang）一段时间前写到，人们习惯于将实际上与技术无关、而与经济系统有关的负面看法投射到人工智能（AI）身上，并得出结论：“资本主义就是那台为了防止我们将其关闭而会不择手段的机器。”我是否也将实际上关于威权政治的焦虑投射到了人工智能和监控技术上？“嗯，如果你没有什么可隐瞒的，”55岁的萨拉（Sarah）说道，“我不明白这怎么会是个问题。我假设它们实际上也是灯？”

佐伊·威廉姆斯（ZOE WILLIAMS）是《卫报》的特写作家和专栏作家 SHOMOS LUDIN, OSELOTE / GETTY --- 32 聚焦^{}[] 体育 足球

国际足联出售世界杯计划如何适得其反

作者：Paul MacInnes

那是震撼足球界的一周。上周二，当有报道首次披露世界足球管理机构国际足联（Fifa）将启动一个机构来控制世界杯的商业权利，并将该公司的一部分股份出售给投资者时，甚至连国际足联理事会（其核心决策机构）的成员们都感到措手不及。

问题出在哪里？

传闻称，国际足联计划在没有咨询且时间表紧凑的情况下“出售世界杯”。此外，关于这个名为“国际足联前行企业”（Fifa Forward Enterprise, FFE）的新机构究竟将做什么，也存在疑问。由摩根大通（JP Morgan）银行与国际足联共同准备的一份销售演示文稿中，重点强调了“不断增长的赛事组合”、“第三方资本来源和债务融资”，并优先考虑“高收益”的合作伙伴关系和活动。这对该运动中所有其他赛事组织者来说，无异于在心口捅了一刀。

国际足联如何回应？

国际足联表示，这家新企业将为其 211 个成员协会筹集 100亿美元 的额外资金，尽管参与完全是自愿的。一部分股份将出售给由约书亚·库什纳（Joshua Kushner，唐纳德·特朗普女婿的兄弟）领导的投资集团，但他们将“仅持有少数股权……且不会在运营中发挥任何作用”。国际足联主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺（Gianni Infantino）通过其 Instagram 频道坚称，FFE 仅仅是一个提案，而任何骚动都只是“民主咨询过程”的一部分。

谁反对该计划？

越来越多的利益相关者公开批评该计划。英格兰足协（English FA）抨击了 FFE，而欧洲足球管理机构欧足联（Uefa）则召集了其 55 个成员的紧急会议。上周四，他们一致投票决定，如果 FFE 方案继续推进，他们将抵制所有国际足联赛事。次日，亚洲足联（AFC）

因凡蒂诺现在面临来自国际足联理事会成员的反抗

▼ 西班牙在上个月赢得世界杯决赛击败阿根廷后庆祝 FANTASISTA / GETTY

以及管理北美和中美洲足球的中北美及加勒比足联（Concacaf）也加入了欧足联的谴责行列，尽管两者都未宣布抵制。

国际足联随后采取了什么行动？

针对欧足联的抵制，国际足联最初采取了强硬态度。国际足联表示，计划不会有任何偏差，并将争议归咎于媒体。国际足联称：“我们尊重公开表达的反馈和担忧，并重申我们致力于公开和民主的咨询。”在国际足联就该流程发布“澄清”后不久，因凡蒂诺最高级别的助手之一、前高盛银行家卡洛斯·科尔代罗（Carlos Cordeiro）辞职，理由是对该交易持有“毫不含糊”的反对意见。更多泄露的文件显示，国际足联还在 30 July 委托开展了一项快速研究项目，探讨在 2030, 将男足世界杯扩军至 64 支球队，这一计划将实现摩根大通简报文件中的一项关键目标。压力最终变得难以承受，到上周六凌晨，因凡蒂诺的提案宣告崩溃。在广泛的愤怒情绪中，国际足联主席承认该项目“造成了不再符合目标利益的分歧”。

因凡蒂诺现在还能生存吗？

周一，英格兰足协正式撤回了对因凡蒂诺连任国际足联（Fifa）主席的支持，此前该足协曾表示支持。在此之前，威尔士足协已经停止支持因凡蒂诺的候选资格。预计更多欧洲国家将效仿此举，试图迫使其辞职。因凡蒂诺还面临来自国际足联理事会成员的反抗，这些人正试图强制召开一次特别大会，这可能会演变成一场全面的领导权挑战。根据国际足联的规则，由 50% 或 37 名理事会成员中的 19 名提出的动议即可触发特别大会（EGM）。在理事会成员中，有 14 名来自欧洲和北美，因此需要来自亚洲的支持才能给因凡蒂诺施加真正的压力。

保罗·麦金内斯（PAUL MACINNES）是《卫报》的记者

---

聚焦北美 33

分析 美国

第338条 特朗普可能找到了贸易战的杀手锏 作者：Eduardo Porter

唐纳德·特朗普可能找到了一个可以随意惩罚各国的杀手锏：对这些国家向美国出口的商品征收关税。自2月以来，总统一直在寻找一种新工具，此前最高法院推翻了他基于《国际紧急经济权力法》（IEEPA）对几乎所有美国贸易伙伴征收的关税，而他当时征收关税的理由是美国面临各种国家紧急状态，这被认为是伪造的理由。预测他将部署什么样的法律依据来替代这些关税，已成为政策专家们之间的一种社交游戏。

上个月，他以美国贸易伙伴通过进口强迫劳动产品不公平地削弱美国公司为由，对所有人征收了轮流关税，这引起了广泛关注。但这些根据 1974 年《贸易法》第 301 条征收的关税，并未给特朗普提供他想要的全权委托书。一项指控所有外国都纵容强迫劳动并因此损害美国企业的概括性指控，在法庭上不太可能成立。

真正具有威胁性的先例来自特朗普在 7 月 20 日（在全球强迫劳动关税生效前）做出的决定，即对来自加拿大的进口商品强加 50% 的关税。白宫的借口是加拿大对美国乳制品、酒类和汽车存在歧视，而矛盾之处在于，这种歧视恰恰是对特朗普去年最初一轮关税攻势的报复。

特朗普用来攻击加拿大的权力令人不安：1930 年《斯穆特-霍利关税法》第 338 条。正是这部法律在 20 世纪 30 年代扼杀了全球贸易，并促使世界陷入大萧条。第 338 条为特朗普在一些模糊的论据下对任何他想要的国家征收贸易税提供了掩护。具体而言，它授予总统权力，可以对任何采取行动使美国“与任何外国贸易相比处于不利地位”的国家进行报复。

在特朗普之前，第 338 条主要被用作筹码，以确保其他国家对待美国产品与对待来自任何其他地方的进口产品相同。如果某个国家向邻国或盟友提供优惠准入 ◀ 唐纳德·特朗普上周在密歇根州通用汽车米尔福德试车场迎接支持者 ANDREW HARNIK / GETTY 表现强硬 一位热爱关税的领导人 50% 特朗普 7 月对加拿大进口商品征收的关税，据称是为了回应加拿大对美国产品的歧视 150 国际收支关税的法定天数限制，美国可以要求相同的条款，否则将采取行动。这一原则现在被称为“最惠国待遇”，它是世界贸易组织执行的多边贸易规则的核心。

然而，特朗普并不在意这些细枝末节。他心中有一个更具破坏性的议程。他决心推进他的贸易战。凭借如此广泛的授权，他可能很难被阻止。

当法院以 6-3 的多数票（包括两名由特朗普任命的法官）裁定他不能利用 1977 年的 IEEPA 随意征收关税时，美国的贸易伙伴们在 2 月份感到欣喜若狂。不过，结果非常接近。法院对总统表现出了几乎令人难以置信的顺从。法院并不反对特朗普援引国家紧急状态：包括由于来自加拿大、墨西哥和中国的非法药物导致的“公共卫生危机”；导致美国制造业“空心化”的贸易逆差；以及巴西因策划政变而监禁其前总统雅伊尔·博索纳罗。法官们仅仅反对他利用该法令征税，因为征税权属于美国国会。

尽管特朗普败诉，但他的威胁依然存在。自二月以来，他的亲信一直在搜寻美国历史上的法律条文，试图重新建立贸易障碍。国际收支危机已不复存在。然而，在最高法院败诉后，特朗普通过援引1974年法案的第122条对所有人征收10%的关税，该条款允许通过关税来防止此类失衡。幸运的是，国际收支关税有150天的期限限制。但特朗普尝试了其他策略。第301条已被多次使用，包括特朗普在首个任期内针对中国，以惩罚其工业补贴。特朗普还依赖1962年《贸易扩张法》的第232条，以保护国家安全的特定理由，对钢铁、铝、木材、半导体和汽车征收税款。然而，这些权限都没有赋予他第338条可能赋予的那种不受限制的全面权力。爱德华多·波特（EDUARDO PORTER）是一位专注于经济和政治的记者 --- 34 英格兰使我克拉克顿及其码头在火车将伦敦的游客带到这里后，发展成为了一个海滨度假胜地 --- 摄影：安迪·霍尔（Andy Hall）

克拉克顿视角

奈杰尔·法拉奇（Nigel Farage）所在的埃塞克斯郡海滨选区既有优雅的度假胜地，也有英格兰最贫困的村庄之一。随着本月晚些时候将举行补选，这里的居民如何看待改革英国党（Reform UK）的领导人、他的奇葩挑战者“垃圾桶伯爵”（Count Binface）以及这个国家的大环境？作者：蒂姆·巴罗斯（Tim Burrows）

“如果对方是那个‘铁皮人’，那我估计我会投给奈杰尔，”一名克拉克顿居民在被我问到在即将到来的补选中将投票给谁时这样说道。这位退休人员正缓慢地向海滨散步。“我宁愿要法拉奇，也不要那个铁皮人！”作为政治口号，这句话已经足够有力了。阳光炽热，但天空朦胧，这准确地描述了该选区自改革英国党领导人于7月7日辞去克拉克顿国会议员职务以来的氛围。这次辞职迫使该区进行补选，在威斯敏斯特引发了震动，而在英格兰东海岸的克拉克顿则带来了困惑。

我与摄影师安迪·霍尔（Andy Hall）在这里度过了几天时间，横跨了从西边的杰威克（Jaywick）到东边的沃尔顿-昂-纳泽（Walton-on-the-Naze）的海岸线。北海吹来阵阵不断的强风，海浪拍打着克拉克顿海滩。上午11点，尼基·弗赖戴（Nicky Friday）已经在她那家起名恰当的“海风”（Seabreeze）亭子里分发冰淇淋，她对这位改革党领导人的最新策略并不怎么在意。“这听起来可能很糟糕，但我忙于经营这家店并在这里工作，”她说，“我真的不怎么关注政治。”

在过去的夏天，我们中的许多人都像弗赖戴一样。议会休会期间的几个月被称为“愚蠢季节”，因为通常没有政治事件发生，导致记者们只能去追逐一些异想天开的故事。该选区最著名的夏季故事或许是2012年8月据报道在圣奥赛斯（St Osyth）出没的一头狮子，后来被证实其实是一只体型巨大的宠物猫。

直到法拉奇决定——

--- 36 克拉克顿视角

——去“花整个夏天与一个垃圾桶争论”，正如当时的财政大臣瑞秋·里夫斯（Rachel Reeves）所言。

“垃圾桶伯爵”（Count Binface，又名讽刺作家乔恩·哈维 Jon Harvey）自2019年与鲍里斯·约翰逊竞争以来，一直参加各类高关注度的选举。他的当选虽然离奇，但并非没有先例：2002年，一只猴子被选为哈特尔普尔（Hartlepool）的市长，当时担任当地足球队吉祥物的斯图尔特·德拉蒙德（Stuart Drummond）承诺，除其他事项外，将为学童提供免费香蕉。

“垃圾桶伯爵”承诺将“至少建造一套经济适用房”。总共有34名候选人竞争该席位——其中包括三名来自“怪物狂躁疯子党”（Monster Raving Loony party）的候选人，以及“人人皆神党”（Everyone is God party）的领导人，该党宣扬性积极主义并将粗鲁行为定为犯罪。

最近在被问到为克拉克顿做了什么时，法拉奇回答说，他已尽最大努力将其“推向地图”（使其出名）。克拉克顿的另一个名人——拥有155年历史的码头，可能会有不同看法。

“在旅游业出现之前，克拉克顿并不存在，”45岁的比利·鲍尔（Billy Ball）说道。他是克拉克顿码头的总经理，于2009年与兄弟埃利奥特（Elliot）共同买下了这里。“镇上的第一座建筑就是码头。当时来这里的唯一方式是蒸汽船。铁路是在很多很多年之后才建成的。”

鲍尔家族是资深的游乐场从业者。他们的祖父在20世纪40年代搬到克拉克顿，而他的外祖母的兄弟们认识另一个比利——比利·巴特林（Billy Butlin），他的度假村在让克拉克顿出名方面可能也贡献不少。

一旦铁路建成，海滨度假成为了逃离由工作主导的工业化城市生活的快速方案。伦敦人成群结队地来到这里寻求廉价的即时快感：码头东侧的乐队演奏台，以及曾在西海滩表演的皮埃罗（pierrot）剧团。

在位于码头主娱乐区上方的办公室里，鲍尔告诉我这里曾经有四家剧院，而夜总会在狂欢的90年代是主要吸引力。如今，这里充满了选择：保龄球馆、酒吧、酒馆、迷你高尔夫球场、软体游戏中心以及螺旋滑梯。看起来鲍尔一家利用了每一寸空间来帮助创造利润。“我们最大的弱点是这座码头的尺寸和规模，因为在北海之上有这么多需要维护的东西，”他解释道，“但这也是我们最大的优势之一，因为它让我们能够提供所有这些不同的服务。”鲍尔说，在克拉克顿码头的管理期间，他与曾服务于克拉克顿的三位国会议员都有过接触，但“唯一在第一天就联系我们的是奈杰尔·法拉奇”。不那么宽容的人可能会认为，法拉奇将克拉克顿最大的旅游景点视为他可以利用的政治工具，但鲍尔对他公开支持海滨老虎机印象深刻。

在码头外面，人们的感受略有不同。艾希莉是一名教学助理，正带着来自埃塞克斯北部学校的学生进行学期末旅行，她向我谈到了这次补选：“我不赞同。克拉克顿应该凭借自身所能提供的东西而闻名。它有很多值得提供的东西，人们确实喜欢来这里。”她觉得克拉克顿被利用了。“然后整个国家也是如此，被所有这些政治家利用，他们并不地道……”

克拉克顿已经走过了很长的一段路。在20世纪50年代的巅峰时期，巴特林度假村（Butlin’s）每周迎接6,000名新客人，拥有1,000多名员工；当时的学生通过在车站往返搬运行李来赚钱。那时大多数游客至少停留一周，但现在酒店们正苦苦支撑。鲍尔认为，如果服务质量能够提高，那么规模也会随之扩大。

我走进距离Wetherspoons酒馆仅几分钟路程的一条侧街，那里有一组澳大利亚新闻团队在徘徊，而我被一座被烧毁的建筑和路边一辆面包车的残骸惊到了。路对面的建筑被破坏者砸得粉碎。周围的围栏上潦草地写着：“是时候清理垃圾了：投票给垃圾脸（BINFACE）。”

“那辆面包车在那儿放了三周了，”66, 岁的卡罗尔·皮克特说，她经营着烧毁建筑隔壁的酒店。“对于走在那里的度假者来说，这看起来很糟糕，不是吗？”她在伦敦北部的恩菲尔德长大，但童年时家庭访问这里的美好回忆让她最终搬到了这里。直到过去几年贸易骤降之前，日子一直很不错。她说，外面的“客满”标志是为了威慑那些错过最后一班火车的醉汉；酒店绝非真的客满。“从伦敦来的人走过广场，那里到处是瘾君子和打架的人——这不是一个好的广告，对吧？”她说，法拉奇在担任国会议员期间，其缺席程度令人瞩目。“他从未来过，也从未访问过这里的任何一家小企业，”她说。

甚至没来喝杯啤酒？“我现在可能不会给他一杯。太晚了！”

“如果他愿意在Cameo上花80英镑说任何你想听的话，那么他会为了 500 万英镑 做什么？”彼得·霍尔问道。他指的是克里斯托弗·哈本向法拉奇提供的捐赠 (670万美元)，这引发了丑闻，导致法拉奇辞职并触发补选，以“让克拉克顿的人民决定”。50, 岁的霍尔在镇中心经营着一家世界粮食援助（World Food Aid）慈善商店，住在海滩附近的一套公寓里。我们走到岸边，向海岸线上的下一个定居点荷兰海（Holland-on-Sea）望去，上个月那里抵达了一艘载有六人的船——这是法拉奇选区中首次报道的小船入境事件。

尽管这里的移民水平较低，但移民问题是法拉奇政策中反响最广泛的——你甚至可以说这是他唯一的政策。霍尔在东伦敦的莱顿斯通长大。“我喜欢在周六早晨在街道上漫步，闻到不同房子里烹饪的不同菜肴的味道，”他说。霍尔在2024年与我见面时告诉我，搬到克拉克顿是一次文化冲击——这里仍然是英格兰种族多样性最低的议会选区之一。但他说，这里有“一个不断增长的不同国籍群体”，尤其是在市中心。“我认为很多人注意到了这一点，因为克拉克顿的人口主要还是96%的白人。关于移民和‘乘船而来的难民’一直存在这种分歧，我认为法拉奇非常擅长利用这一点。”霍尔的家人在政治立场上存在分歧：“父亲是保守党；哥哥是改革英国党（Reform UK）的支持者；而我一直支持工党。但我们可以就政治问题进行良好的对话，而不会演变成互相谩骂。”改革英国党的崛起让霍尔感到担忧。该党席卷了埃塞克斯郡议会，霍尔担心如果该党组建下一届政府，他患有脑瘫的母亲所获得的护理支持可能会受到影响。

“如果你认识那些合适的人，杰威克的人真的很友好。这里充满了活力和动力”

在克拉克顿西南部的定居点杰威克（Jaywick），36%的人患有残疾，是英格兰平均水平的两倍多。这里的许多房屋最初是作为度假小屋建造的，在北海的影响下难以维护。“这里非常潮湿，”76岁的琳达说，她是利用一次工业事故后的赔偿金购买的房产。在房产外的阳光下，她和70岁的丈夫罗伊微笑着迎接我们。“冬天，这里是你能住过的最冷的地方；而夏天则可能非常、非常热。有时你前后门都开着，还得开两三台电风扇，这非常耗电。”杰威克在2010年代变得臭名昭著，当时一部名为《海边福利》（Benefits By the Sea）的纪录片系列将贫困统计数据变成了毫无节制、漫画式的电视节目，其叙事完全集中在成瘾、犯罪和赤贫上。最近，TikTok的内容创作者为了点击量，纷纷前来拍摄标题为“英格兰最糟糕的小镇”之类的视频。杰威克的困境凸显了一种容忍衰落的政治文化——以及容忍嘲讽受衰落之苦的人的媒体——而没有尝试解决任何问题，没有表现出任何责任感，甚至没有表现出善意。但尽管媒体经常哀叹杰威克匮乏之多，他们却经常忽略了这里丰盈之多。“如果你能认识那些合适的人，杰威克的人真的很友好，”刚从娱乐大厅玩宾果游戏回来的琳达说，“他们太棒了。”尽管处境艰难，这里的人们依然拥有如此的活力、动力和目标感。Sunspot 试图利用这一点，它是一个社区中心和活动空间，其规划包括可负担的商业单元、有顶棚的市场、咖啡馆、公共厕所和会议室，以及一个社区花园和一个公交候车亭。Sunspot 的核心亮点是 Rainy Bakes，这是一个繁荣的咖啡馆、面包店和甜品店，由63岁的洛林·怀尔兹（Lorraine Wildes）和她的伴侣58岁的马克·汉蒙德（Mark Hammond）经营。在 Sunspot 开业之前，她是一家护理院的兼职厨师，业余时间做一些烘焙。当有一个店铺空出来时，怀尔兹获得了一笔“升级”拨款（levelling-up grant）来购买她的冰淇淋机和其他几件物品。此后，他们搬到了一个更大的单元，生意蒸蒸日上，这里还兼作社区中心，年长居民每周二可以来这里聊天，年轻人也可以在这里聚在一起喝奶昔。

我见到了 59 岁的罗伯特，他正在市场里出售二手鞋 ▲▲ 选举热潮 克拉克顿市中心的涂鸦表达了一位居民的投票意向 ▲▲ 码头地位 克拉克顿码头的所有者比利·鲍尔（Billy Ball）与该选区有着深厚的联系 ▲▲ 弗林顿视角 弗林顿与克拉克顿被一座高尔夫球场隔开，除了 Sunspot 之外，弗林顿被认为更为文雅。他 10 年前从伦敦搬到这里，因为他认为这里的海边空气对他儿子更有好处。罗伯特患有严重的哮喘，使用电动代步车，并且正在中风后恢复中。他说政治家们“说的话都一样”；安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）“可能还行”，而他则好奇法拉奇为杰威克（Jaywick）做了什么，但他说自己见过他一次，他“是个有礼貌的人。不过他们都很有礼貌。”他希望政治家能带来什么？“更多的住房，”他说，“我自己曾无家可归；我知道在伦敦是什么样子。”看到如今首都街头如此多的无家可归者让他感到震惊。在杰威克，无家可归的话题总是被提及。这并非一个理论问题，而往往是人们生活的一部分，是他们的历史，而杰威克相对较低的生活成本提供了第二次机会。“你不会被赶离海滩，”在 Rainy Bakes 工作且此前也曾无家可归的汉蒙德（Hammond）说道。他说海滩上总是有帐篷在搭建，尤其是在干燥晴朗的天气里。“我们曾遇到一位先生——他在那里住了三周——我经常帮他给手机充电宝充电。”汉蒙德安排他在 Sunspot 的场所洗澡，并筹集资金为他提供热餐。“你根本看不出他是无家可归者。”汉蒙德说他喜欢法拉奇的“勤奋”，并在法拉奇 2024 年访问咖啡馆时对他留下了深刻印象：“他走进店里，我身体前倾对他说道：‘我有 36 种口味的奶昔，’”他提到的是法拉奇曾被其中一种饮料袭击的往事，“然后他说：‘我他妈不想要奶昔。’” “杰威克是一个了不起的社区，” 45 岁的 HAT Projects 共同负责人哈娜·洛夫图斯（Hana Loftus）说道。她是一名建筑师，也是一名 --- 38 克拉克顿之见 作者，目前正在开展一个关于杰威克即将迎来百年诞辰的项目。“这里的很多人会说：‘不要叫我们贫困。我们热爱我们居住的地方。我们热爱这里。社区很棒，海滩很惊人，我的所有朋友和家人都在这里。’” 洛夫图斯在 Pera 与我们共进晚餐，这是一家最近开业的土耳其餐厅，足以与北伦敦的任何餐厅媲美。我们谈到杰威克度假区曾是房地产开发商弗兰克·斯特德曼（Frank Stedman）的项目，他关于在海边建立大型住宅区的愿景在排水现实面前碰了壁（毕竟这里曾是沼泽地），这使得重点从住宅转向了度假小屋。它作为克拉克顿 Butlin's 的竞争对手而变得流行，并提供了有趣的对比：一组由度假者拥有的平房，而非一个访客流动率高且提供短期租赁的营地。当 20 世纪 70 年代英国海滨的长假被海外套装旅游取代时，Butlin's 消失了，但杰威克幸存了下来，并最终成为了一个居住区。在那十年里，在克拉克顿城市区议会寻求强制购买令以拆除布鲁克兰兹（Brooklands）住宅区（那里大部分是小屋式住房）后，它为生存而战，但自由持有者协会（Freeholders Association）与他们对抗并获胜。议会被迫对其部分区域进行现代化改造。居民们表示，从那时起，他们为一切而战，得出的结论是，如果有些事情需要完成，他们最好自己动手。他们为自己的海堤筹集了资金。“那种抗争精神就像一种记忆，深深地烙印在这个地方。” ▼ 绝非工党 艾伦·塞恩蒂（Alan Sainty）认为奈杰尔·法拉奇是国家未来的最佳选择 ▼ 阴郁景象 克拉克顿市中心的一栋被烧毁的建筑迎接来自伦敦的访客

洛夫图斯说。“人们基本上仍然认为当局想要把杰威克从地球上抹去。”洛夫图斯带我们去见 40 岁的丹内尔·德里兰，她住在布鲁克兰花园，这里是该社区的核心地带——也是《海边福利》（Benefits By the Sea）大部分场景的拍摄地。2009 年，由于她的父母在她的街道上买了一系列房子，她从伦敦北部的埃德蒙顿搬到了杰威克。如今，她在一家社区中心担任清洁工，并在周日到“永不言败”（Never Say Die）酒吧做志愿者。她正在帮助她的女儿，19 岁的鲍比-简·霍尔斯-史密斯，后者正与德里兰 23 岁的妹妹德斯蒂尼一起组织杰威克的首次狂欢节，且霍尔斯-史密斯还是埃塞克斯郡的狂欢节女王。她说，狂欢节是一种反击针对杰威克之先入为主观念的方式。“这里的很多女孩因为来自杰威克而受到糟糕的对待，”德里兰说。“如果你问的话，这里 80% 的女性永远不会在简历上写杰威克。”18 岁的狂欢节公主莱西·米尔斯与 20 岁的青少年女王埃莉·赖利一同抵达。米尔斯表示，在学校遭受欺凌后，狂欢节增强了她的自信心。“我们在 TikTok 上无处不在。我们在社交媒体上无处不在。我们在 BBC 新闻上无处不在，”霍尔斯-史密斯说。“希望他们在 TikTok 或 Facebook 上展示的（关于狂欢节的）故事会是好的。”我们在太阳落下、黄昏转入黑夜之时交谈。德里兰九岁的儿子桑尼-李早产，患有严重的先天性心脏病。德斯蒂尼和霍尔斯-史密斯在她们分别只有 16 岁和 12 岁时就创办了一家名为“桑尼大军”（Sonny’s Army）的慈善机构，旨在为处于类似境地的家庭筹集资金。鲍比-简说，法拉奇 --- 39

“奈杰尔·法拉奇有魅力。任何神志清醒的人都不会给一个垃圾袋投票”，但她并未看到布鲁克兰（Brooklands）的这一面；她说他应该参加狂欢节的活动，这样他才能“接触人们——但他没这么做。他没有花时间真正去了解这里运作的方式。”由于我无法参加狂欢节，我在一周后给德里兰（Dreelan）打了电话，询问情况如何。她说简直“疯了”。从 Rainy’s 到 Never Say Die，每家店都生意兴隆，德里兰在这一天的最后，站在酒吧的椅子上，对着麦克风唱起《Freed from Desire》，周围环绕着喜悦的居民。在对话结束时，我突然意识到还没问她是否会在补选中投票。“我会无视它，”她说。她告诉我，在 2024 年大选期间，她在酒吧里遇到了法拉奇并问了他一个问题：“您打算如何让未来的选民——也就是现在的孩子们——相信您将要做的事情？”他看着我，然后说：“我会再回复你的。”

在我来到这里的第二天，风停了。住在克拉克顿的历史学家萨拉·伊丽莎白·考克斯（Sarah Elizabeth Cox），39 岁，在喝咖啡时聊到了她即将出版的关于维多利亚时代拳击手的书，书中包括了比利·鲍尔（Billy Ball）的曾祖父阿尔夫（Alf）。她在 2022 年 12 月搬到这里，因为在伦敦生活了 10 年后，她厌倦了频繁搬家。她选择克拉克顿是为了离她的侄子近一些，后来她自己也生了一个孩子。她热爱这里的一点是，可以一路长途步行走到沃尔顿（Walton），她的父亲杰夫·考克斯（Geoff Cox）小时候经常来这里度过房车假期。杰夫，74 岁，是一名记者，从 17 岁起就在卢顿（Luton）的一家当地报纸工作。他和妻子安妮（Anne）搬到了弗林顿-昂-希（Frinton-on-Sea）的一个死胡同里，那是沃尔顿旁边的一个度假胜地，为了靠近他们的孙辈。他花了很多时间才与邻居们熟络起来。“他们很友好，”他说，“只是非常、非常内敛。”他们买了一栋平房，但杰夫说他的许多邻居是寡妇，住在拥有四个卧室的大房子里，远超她们的需求。

如果说克拉克顿是“快亲我”（KISS ME QUICK）和“更好的日子”（BETTER DAYS），而杰威克（Jaywick）是面对偏见浪潮的勇气，那么弗林顿就是草坪、俱乐部和精心维护的礼节。将克拉克顿和弗林顿分开的，远不止一个自然保护区和一个高尔夫球场的物理边界。考克斯住在离弗林顿父母家 15 分钟路程的地方，但却像在另一个世界：“我住在 1960 年代的公寓楼里，叫海洋法院（Marine Court），而弗林顿的海边也有一栋 1960 年代的公寓楼，同样叫海洋法院。”她在 2022 年花 £18.7万,000 买了她的公寓，而弗林顿那个版本中规模相当的公寓可能能卖到 £35万,000 左右。“我想我的视野可能更好，”她说。

喝完咖啡后，我们前往出租车候车区。媒体经常将出租车司机描绘成朴实的改革英国党（Reform UK）选民，但根据本周末在克拉克顿看到的证据，只有四分之一的司机会投票给法拉奇。70 多岁的司机特里·查普曼（Terry Chapman）并不是他的粉丝。“我认为投票率会很低，而且我认为法拉奇的胜出优势会缩小，”他说。他可能会投票给“垃圾脸”（Binface），以示“嘲讽”。

当我们到达弗林顿时，海滨挤满了享受阳光的人们，潮水迅速上涨。凯（Kay）带着家人和朋友来到他们租了一天的海边小屋，他们从代德姆（Dedham）附近康斯特布尔（Constable）地区的中心地带赶来，这听起来很诗意，直到她告诉我，她之所以来到海边，是因为斯图尔河（River Stour）里充满了污水。他们通常来弗林顿，或者去萨福克郡的南沃尔德（Southwold），或者北诺福克（但绝不会去杰威克，想到就厌恶）。凯说她对选举没有任何想法，“除了想到又要看一场法拉奇秀就想呕吐”。

向西走，我们见到了 82 岁的戴维·凯特勒（David Ketterer），他是一名退休招聘人员，在弗林顿（Frinton）住了 44 年。他说法拉奇是被“逼入”这次补选的。他的妻子托妮（Toni）表示赞同。“《卫报》，”凯特勒说，“每个人都反对他！”我问，那么 GB News 或《每日邮报》呢？他肯定还是有几个支持者的吧？“是的，但也就那样了，”他说。凯特勒一直到撒切尔时代都是保守党人：他认为她绝不应该把北海石油的资金用于降低税收。他说挪威在建立主权财富基金方面要明智得多。但法拉奇那些私有化计划，难道不像撒切尔吗？“这是一种替代方案，而我的年纪足够大到可以说：‘让我们尝试一种替代方案吧’，”凯特勒说。凯特勒夫妇曾在网球俱乐部见过法拉奇，这起到了一定的作用。“他有魅力，而其他人都没有，”戴维说。这难道不是低估了宾脸伯爵（Count Binface）吗？您认识任何可能会投票给法拉奇主要竞争对手的人吗？“他们说他们会。但他们不会的，”托妮说，“任何神志清醒的人都不会给一个垃圾袋投票！”我们沿着海滨大道行走。阳光灿烂，我们交谈的人对法拉奇的评价则稍显激烈。“他要么得坦白承认自己犯了错并继续担任国会议员，要么就彻底滚蛋，”80 岁的保罗·安德鲁斯（Paul Andrews）说，他是一名退休工程师，正与妻子琳（Lynn）在他们的小屋旁晒太阳。“但说实话，我反正不喜欢他说的那些话……而且法拉奇在说很多大话。他绝不可能实现他所承诺的事情。”尽管有这样的总结，安德鲁斯说他在 2024 年仍然投票给了法拉奇。“那还有什么替代方案？”琳说。“确实，”保罗同意道，“没有替代方案，不是吗？”他们以前喜欢伯纳姆（Burnham），“但我们现在非常讨厌他了，”琳说。首先，他们不喜欢“北区 10 号”这个想法。“直到几周前，他甚至还不是一名国会议员！”无论如何，他们绝不会投票给工党，尤其是自该党对私立学校征收 20% 的增值税（VAT）以来，他们这样说道。我见到了 69 岁的艾伦·塞恩蒂（Alan Sainty），他是一名半退休的油漆工和装饰工，正与妻子及其朋友在海边小屋外喝酒，享受阳光。他出生在东伦敦的沃尔瑟姆斯托（Walthamstow），成年后搬到了弗林顿。他的父亲曾在达格纳姆（Dagenham）的福特工厂工作。“我父亲去年去世时 96 岁。他总是告诉我投票给工党。但托尼·布莱尔上台后，工党就走偏了。所以从那以后我就再没投过工党。”相反，他说现在是“全天候支持奈杰尔·法拉奇”。在这里，我交谈的许多人都认为法拉奇是一个可以追求的目标——他很成功；他不介意赚钱。法拉奇的财务状况或任何违规行为会影响塞恩蒂未来投票给他吗？“听着，他们都一样，对吧？让我们看看他能做些什么。”塞恩蒂暗示，如果他不能成为我们的下一任首相，这个国家就完蛋了。“斯塔默（Starmer）根本没为我们做过任何事，不是吗？”伯纳姆怎么样？“不，对我来说不行。”他对任何政治家都不太热衷。“听着，我快 70 岁了。我这一辈子有人为我做过什么吗？”你有过政治偶像吗？“没有，没有真的有过……绝对不是撒切尔，因为她取消了工会。”塞恩蒂投票支持脱欧，然后投票给约翰逊；他说法拉奇是最后的孤注一掷，仅仅是因为在他看来，其他任何方法都没有奏效。他提到了他视若珍宝的海边小屋的高昂租金，以及无聊的孩子们时不时闯入其中，而警察却没有任何反应。在经历了这么多年的经济低迷之后，这种社会漂泊感在解读当今英国政治时至关重要。为了总结他为什么认为法拉奇可能是国家未来的最佳选择，他说：“总得有人做点什么。” ● 蒂姆·伯罗斯（TIM BURROWS）是一名常驻英格兰埃塞克斯（Essex）的记者 ---

伊朗 美国

伊拉克的绝境

随着今年伊朗与美国之间战争的爆发，巴格达在两个敌对势力之间维持的平衡之举已经崩溃，暴露出了一个极其脆弱的国家状态 作者：Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

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一艘油轮在3月被伊朗袭击后在伊拉克巴士拉附近起火

在美国和以色列杀掉阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊并引发区域战争一周后，无人机开始在伊拉克南部的巴士拉上空飞行。它们的目标是伊拉克的石油工业。它们袭击了一个由BP运营的油田，以及巴士拉机场的一个货运终端和一个容纳服务于石油部门的外资公司的大型园区。3月6日的另一次袭击击中了同一个园区，击中了哈里伯顿（Halliburton）和KBR的办公室和仓库，这两家美国公司自2003年入侵以来一直留在伊拉克。这次袭击引发了一场巨大的火灾，照亮了夜空。在更广泛的战争中，这并不是一个特别值得关注的日子——但在伊拉克，这些袭击揭露了国家已经变得多么虚弱，以及正如一名伊拉克高级安全官员对我所说的那样，“主权是多么容易被侵犯”。

40年来，美国、伊朗和以色列处于一种既非和平也非战争的不稳定平衡之中。随着这种状态突然且剧烈地结束，伊拉克发现自己陷入了其中。针对伊拉克能源基础设施的袭击接踵而至。3月11日，一艘伊朗无人船在巴士拉港口外袭击了两艘油轮，使其起火并导致至少一名船员死亡。在接下来的几天和几周里，接连不断的无人机袭击击中了更多由外国公司运营的油田。来自美国、欧洲和中国公司的数百名能源部门员工离开，其中许多人通过陆路旅行，因为该国领空已关闭。数千名伊拉克工人被遣送回家。除了伊朗承认的对油轮的袭击外，没有人对这些袭击负责。

巴格达的中央政府和巴士拉的地方当局异常安静，仅发布了关于主权的空洞官方声明以及调查的承诺。事实是，这些袭击大多并非来自伊朗。它们是由在伊拉克领土上行动的伊拉克人实施的——是该国强大的、由伊朗支持的什叶派民兵组织的分支所为。

“这是叛国行为，”巴士拉石油部一名明显感到震惊的高级官员告诉我。在秘密交谈中，多位官员告诉我，石油袭击是由伊拉克伊斯兰抵抗组织（IRI）实施的，这是一个什叶派准军事组织的伞形团体，最初由伊朗培训并装备，以便在2003年入侵后与美国人作战。IRI的分支也是人民动员部队（法国国家赛马博彩公司 (PMU)）的成员——这是一个由伊朗支持的、主要由什叶派组成的伊拉克民兵集合，于2014年组建以对抗伊斯兰国。从理论上讲，法国国家赛马博彩公司 (PMU)隶属于伊拉克政府，但实际上它执行自己的议程，在建筑和农业方面的投资为其提供了经济权力来源。

虽然以什叶派为主的伊拉克表面上似乎有一个由巴格达运行的单一统一政府，但实际上，在2003年入侵后形成的具有不同独立程度的多个团体发挥着巨大的影响力。今天，该国存在两种类型的准军事民兵。一种是利用武器保护其经济利益——即他们多年来培养的国家合同和业务——的民兵，以及——

42 伊拉克的绝境

▼ 顶部表格

伊拉克总理阿里·扎伊迪（Ali al-Zaidi）在白宫会见唐纳德·特朗普 ANDREW THOMAS / CNP

“战争证明了伊拉克的弱点。我们的领空被双方所利用”

▼ 最后的旅程 7月，哀悼者在纳杰夫抬着阿里·哈梅内伊的灵柩 ANMAR KHALIL / AP

那些主要由意识形态驱动的人，深切致力于伊朗击败以色列并将美国驱逐出中东的计划。2026年，这种不稳定的平衡爆发了多年未见的暴力冲突。一方面，美国 / 以色列对伊朗的战争促使强硬的意识形态准军事组织向德黑兰提供援助，不仅攻击伊拉克的石油基础设施，还攻击美国军事基地和美国驻巴格达大使馆。另一方面，一名由美国支持的新任伊拉克总理阿里·扎伊迪（Ali al-Zaidi）提高了筹码，给全国所有民兵组织设定了9月30日的期限，要求其解除武装并将战斗部门并入伊拉克国家体制。这是为了满足美国长期以来减少伊朗在伊拉克影响力的野心。虽然扎伊迪取得了一些成功，但核心激进组织拒绝放弃武器。只要美国在伊拉克存在，只要以色列的战机在空中飞行，伊朗伊斯兰共和国（IRI）就将继续战斗。

与伊拉克政府官员交谈，你听到的只有对石油基础设施遭到攻击的愤怒和疲惫。“被攻击的设施位于伊拉克领土上，由伊拉克出资，所有被毁设备也是如此，”其中一人告诉我。他补充说，受损的不是美国公司——它们会向伊拉克收取被毁资产的费用——而是伊拉克经济、石油部门以及伊拉克作为安全商业地的声誉。他还指出，袭击者拥有高度精准的情报，可能是内部泄露的，知道袭击哪里以及摧毁哪栋建筑或仓库。他以及巴士拉的其他石油部门官员告诉我，袭击的目的在于扰乱石油生产，推高全球价格，并加大对美国政府停止对伊战争的压力。战争开始后几周内，巴士拉的产量下降了三分之二，出口基本停滞。“也许他们想把这些西方公司赶走，用与他们更一致的国家公司来取代，”该官员说。

显而易见的是，在停火协议崩溃后剧烈升级的伊朗战争，给伊拉克带来了深远的影响，暴露了一个在战争两大主要敌手之间危险分裂的国家之弱点。

在巴格达的一家高档餐厅里， 一位政府顾问斜靠在沙发上。他说，直到最近，伊拉克政府还能够控制住国内的大部分民兵派系。在加沙战争肆虐期间，甚至在2025年以色列与伊朗之间为期12天的战争期间，他们通过对话和谈判被遏制住了。但阿里·哈梅内伊的遇刺改变了一切。“你不能再要求这些派系不参与了，”他说。“这是一场生存之战，也是一项宗教义务。”

这位顾问能理解伊朗及其在伊拉克的支持派系为何这样做。伊拉克的领空和美国在伊拉克的基地正被用来对伊朗发动空袭。伊朗官员告诉他，在最近的反政权示威期间，有4万,000台用于绕过伊斯兰共和国互联网封锁的星链（Starlink）设备从伊拉克走私进入伊朗。“我们应该庆幸他们没有全力以赴地报复袭击伊拉克，因为他们可以轻易地烧掉这个国家的一半，”他说。“而我们有什么能用来防御他们？”

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在巴格达的另一个区域，我会见了一位多年来与美国人密切合作的高级安全官员。他几乎没有心情去共情伊朗的焦虑，但他也呼应了关于伊拉克军事无能的分析。

“这场战争证明了伊拉克的弱点。我指的不止是军事上的。我们的国家被所有人侵犯，我们的领空被双方利用。”他说，国家甚至无法在“我们遭到民兵袭击时保护自己的士兵和军官”。“军方指挥部的每个人都清楚地知道[袭击者]是谁。也许我们不知道操纵无人机的人叫什么名字，但我们知道是谁下达的命令，知道指挥链以及无人机是从哪里发射的。”他向附近停着的一辆警车点点头，警察正站在车周围，并提到安装在街道拐角处的所有摄像头。“有些火箭弹和无人机是从巴格达市中心发射的。谁能带着火箭发射器穿过城市？你怎么可能通过所有的检查站，或者像视频里显示的那样开车进入乡村并开火而没被发现？”

为了解释这一点，对话转向了腐败问题。他承认，伊拉克安全部队中确实有正直的指挥官，但许多最高级别的职位只有在军官向其上级支付费用后才会授予。“如果你支付 500万美元 来接管一支部队的指挥权，”他说，“那么首要任务就变成了通过避免冲突来保护这项投资——而这简直是一场灾难。”之所以称其为投资，是因为高级安全职位是一种赚钱的方式——通过欺诈、贪污和收受贿赂。“当军官们看到他们的指挥官运行自己的计划来抽走资金时，这会影响整个安全部队。”

经济因素在一定程度上解释了较早期的民兵组织与在伊朗伊斯兰共和国（IRI）旗下的新兴强硬派派系之间的分歧。前者在很大程度上已经接受了总理关于将其并入伊拉克国家的法令。5 月下旬，具有高度影响力的什叶派神职人员穆克塔达·萨德尔（Moqtada al-Sadr）呼吁将其民兵置于国家指挥之下，另外两个派系也随之效仿。但这一举动遭到了强硬派准军事组织的嘲讽和蔑视，他们宣称其武器是神圣的，在末日到来之前绝不会上缴。实际上，他们是在表达自己是在为意识形态事业而战，而早期的民兵组织仅仅是在追求自身的经济利益。

On 7 April，伊朗和美国达成一项为期两周的停火协议。次日，伊朗伊斯兰共和国（IRI）宣布在停火期间也将暂停行动。（尽管程度较低，但战斗仍在继续。）同一天，伊拉克和沙特阿拉伯的技术团队举行了一次在线会议，探讨重新开放伊拉克-沙特管道的可能性，该管道自 1990. 年入侵科威特以来一直关闭。他们正在寻找一种让伊拉克石油绕过霍尔木兹海峡瓶颈的新方法。

随着石油工业近乎停摆，加油站外排起了长队，让人想起 2003 年战争后最混乱的那些日子。石油部在一份声明中将短缺归咎于外国工人离开该国后部分炼油厂的关闭，以及无法出口未经精炼的重燃料油。对于一个如此依赖石油销售（这支撑着 400 万 名公共部门雇员的工资）的国家来说，亲伊朗民兵袭击自身经济的决定看起来可能像是自杀行为。

“不一定，”巴士拉市的一位民权活动人士告诉我。“许多人认为石油公司在剥削这个国家，他们认为这些袭击是合理的。”巴士拉是世界上污染最严重的城市之一，人们呼吸着油井燃烧火炬排放的毒素，饮用着咸水。与此同时，这里的公民被石油财富的迹象所包围——汽车经销店、高级寿司餐厅、昂贵的房地产——而这些仅为少数人所享有。因此，许多人在听到石油公司资产遭到袭击时耸耸肩，也就不足为奇了。

战后伊拉克为何未能利用其巨大的石油财富为人民提供更好的生活？在2003年美国入侵前夕，经过数十年的战争和联合国制裁，该国的石油基础设施几乎毁于一旦。设备陈旧，生产仅靠资深工程师维持。入侵之后，抢劫和破坏行为几乎导致整个行业崩溃。由于缺乏独立重建该部门的资金和能力，伊拉克转向国际公司，与包括BP、埃克森美孚（ExxonMobil）和壳牌（Shell）在内的主要石油公司签署了合同。签署的协议并非外国公司想要的利润分成协议——伊拉克对其在1972年将石油工业国有化仍深感自豪——而是利润较低的固定每桶服务费。巴格达曾公开表示，其目标是在2017年之前每天抽油量达到约12m barrels a day，这一水平将足以与沙特阿拉伯相媲美。但这一目标从未接近实现，在2010年代后期达到峰值，接近每天4.5-5m barrels a day，并一直维持在该水平。

逐渐地，围绕伊拉克石油潜力的战后亢奋情绪冷却下来，几年之内，各公司开始放弃其项目。微薄的利润使伊拉克成为这些公司运营地中盈利能力最低的地方之一，但撤离的主要驱动因素是政治不稳定、合同纠纷以及政府付款的严重延迟。延迟发生的原因是多层官僚体制，表面上是为了防止腐败，但在实践中却成了提取贿赂以简化流程的瓶颈。受反腐败法约束的跨国公司通常拒绝支付此类贿赂，导致其费用被拖欠。巴士拉的部门官员和商业内部人士向我描述了一个合同体系——正如在伊拉克其他地方一样——由政党、宗族以及有时是武装团体主导，他们通过利用与承包商和分包商的协议来中饱私囊。

5月下旬，负责该国炼油厂的石油部副部长阿德南·贾迈利（Adnan al-Jumaili）因腐败指控被拘留——这是新任总理反腐行动的一部分。电视画面显示，贾迈利穿着一件黄色连体衣，周围环绕着数十挺机枪和据报道在其家中发现的弹药箱。调查人员表示，他们还追回了$10m现金、30亿 dinars（约230万美元）和1.5kg黄金。随着调查范围扩大，安全部队拘留了47人，其中包括13名国会议员和高级官员，并没收了数亿美元的现金和黄金。在同一波逮捕行动中，另一名石油部副部长也被捕，此前他已因涉嫌转移伊拉克石油以使伊朗获益而受到美国制裁。

对于许多伊拉克人来说，石油工业与其说是国家自豪感的象征，不如说是该国所有问题的缩影，这并不令人惊讶。今年7月，伊朗最高领袖阿里·哈梅内伊（Ali Khamenei）的葬礼在伊朗举行——尽管队伍也跨越了伊拉克边境，根据官方数据，仅在纳杰夫就有380 万 people走上街头。与伊朗精心编排的仪式不同，在酷热的夏天，伊拉克的大规模人群推搡着试图靠近灵柩。穆拉（mullahs）的白色头巾在与人群挤撞中散开了；人们伸出双臂，痛哭流涕，而那些无法靠近的人则将披肩和围巾扔向灵柩，以求获得祝福。

远离人群的地方，灵柩（包括一个较小的灵柩——44 为与哈梅内伊一同遇难的孙女准备的）被迎入伊玛目阿里神庙，这是什叶派伊斯兰教的一处圣地。伊拉克领导人，包括新任总理阿里·扎伊迪（Ali al-Zaidi），与伊朗总统一同肃穆地默哀。

六天后，仿佛为了完美地诠释伊拉克政治的双刃剑特质，同一位总理坐在椭圆形办公室里，在唐纳德·特朗普身边面带笑容，听着这位美国总统宣布两人之间有“极佳的化学反应”，且伊拉克得到了“非常充分的代表”。阿尔-扎伊迪再次承诺将解除民兵武装并打击腐败，并邀请美国公司在伊拉克投资。一位人脉广泛的政府内部人士告诉我，多年来，美国人与伊拉克历任总理坐在一起，重复着同样的要求：解除与伊朗结盟的民兵武装并结束腐败。“这种情况已经持续了不知多久，”他说，“他们与海德尔·阿巴迪、阿德尔·阿卜杜勒-马赫迪、穆斯塔法·卡迪米、阿尔-苏丹尼、阿尔-马利基，以及每一任总理都谈过。在所有这些年里，伊拉克得到了美国的大量支持，但却完全没有采取任何行动来改变其与伊朗的关系。相反，伊朗的影响力随着时间的推移反而扩大了。”那么，为什么今年似乎发生了变化，阿尔-扎伊迪竟然告诉那些由伊朗支持的民兵组织，他们需要放弃武装？美国

“许多人认为石油公司在榨取这个国家”

巴格达市民欢迎四月的停火。抗议者在四月冲击了位于巴士拉的科威特领事馆。压力与经济危机同步而至。霍尔木兹海峡的关闭以及对其石油设施的袭击，使伊拉克处于破产边缘。华盛顿也利用了其对伊拉克经济拥有的巨大杠杆。根据一项追溯到二十年前的协议，伊拉克的石油收入由纽约联邦储备银行持有。加元实物通过飞机从美国运往巴格达，以便政府支付工资并维持国家运转。四月，美国采取了停止这些加元运输的非常之举。伊拉克政府接收到了信号：al-Zaidi 在六月命令亲伊朗民兵交出武器，加元运输随后在七月恢复。

在巴士拉的一个春季夜晚，沿着阿拉伯河（Shatt al-Arab River）的滨河大道上挤满了往来行走、享受傍晚微风的人们：带着气球的孩子和他们的家人；穿着合身 dishdashas（长袍）或牛仔裤的年轻人；女性中，有的穿着黑色 abayas（大袍），有的穿着海湾风格的长袍并戴着头巾，还有少数人穿着长裤，腰长的头发随风飘动。随着音乐在空气中律动，一群摄影师生意兴隆，人们排队在河中的喷泉前拍照。在街道的另一侧，一张该市省长 Asaad Al Eidani 的巨幅肖像挂在一栋五层楼上，慈祥地俯视着下方。2017 年就任后，Al Eidani 发起了重大公共工程：铺设道路、扩展下水道网络并确保巴士拉拥有更长时间的电力供应。（他的批评者指责他从公共合同中获利，并将重大项目授予其亲信，他对此予以坚决否认。）他还与邻近的海湾国家建立了关系，放宽了前往科威特和沙特阿拉伯的贸易与旅行，举办了一场吸引数千名地区访客来到巴士拉的海湾足球赛，使这座城市转向其阿拉伯邻国及其利润丰厚的市场，同时维持其与邻国伊朗的文化和政治联系。

沿着滨河大道，矗立着科威特领事馆的空壳。四月，在民兵的煽动下，当地人在回应一次疑似导致数名伊拉克人死亡的科威特空袭时冲击了该馆——伊拉克官员表示，这次空袭本身是对此前民兵从伊拉克领土发起的袭击的报复。这座被遗弃的建筑提醒人们，伊拉克试图同时与伊朗和海湾国家维持密切关系的希望已经破灭。

走在巴士拉，我不禁在想，想象伊拉克的亲伊朗战士会放弃武器是多么不可信；想象伊朗在需要集结所有资产与美国和以色列作战的时刻，会抛弃其盟友是多么不可信；而想象那些在二十年间榨干伊拉克的腐败政客和商人，会听从一位缺乏经验的新任总理的要求而放弃他们的财富，更是不可信。

行走时，我遇到一位穿着白色 dishdasha、头戴针织无檐小帽的老人。他说，伊朗是保护伊斯兰教和捍卫阿拉伯民族主义的最后一块棋子。他补充道，支持伊朗是伊拉克人的职责。当我问他是否担心在没有石油销售的情况下，伊拉克经济可能会崩溃时，他说 la（不）：美国不会放弃它在伊拉克的事业。它会确保我们的经济不会崩溃。

就这样，寥寥数语，道出了伊拉克无法摆脱的困境——终身依赖于两个誓死敌对的国家。

● GHAITH ABDUL-AHAD 是一位伊拉克记者

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评论自由，事实神圣 CP Scott 1918 45

EMMA BROCKES

我想让我的孩子上大学，这难道错了吗？ 第 47 页 →

观点

美国 唐纳德·特朗普陷入了一场他无法获胜的新“持久战” 西蒙·蒂斯道尔 (Simon Tisdall) 卫报设计；AARON SCHWARTZ/

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46 观点

本月恰逢美国军队从喀布尔混乱撤离五周年。在 2001 年 9 月 11 日纽约市和华盛顿特区遭受恐怖袭击后，由北约支持的对阿富汗的入侵和占领，如今被广泛认为是一次失败。这次行动导致 2,400 多名美国士兵和 450 名英国士兵丧生，以及数万名平民（确切人数未知）。尽管基地组织恐怖分子被击溃，但其东道主塔利班在 2021 年重新掌权后，再次实施了压制性的、厌女的伊斯兰主义统治。阿富汗成了鲁莽的西方干涉主义和国家建设的代名词。它是典型的“持久战”（forever war），这个词最早出现在越南战争期间。

如果这个警示故事有任何持久的价值，那就是它能威慑那些试图在没有正当理由、没有明确且可实现的目标以及没有退出战略的情况下，就鲁莽地卷入无期限冲突的政治家和将军。令人沮丧的是，持久战的教训在伊拉克不得不重新学习一遍——美国和英国在 2003 年入侵伊拉克，并在 2011 年撤离，期间造成了巨大的伤害，而收益却微乎其微。当时以及此后，人们充满激情地呐喊着：“绝不再犯！”

然而，在唐纳德·特朗普做出攻击伊朗这一令人难以理解的愚蠢决定后，同样的灾难性模式似乎正在重演。一场被他称为“小规模出击”的战争已进入第六个月，且在迅速升级。这场战争同样给人一种“持久”的感觉。

怎么会这样？答案可能在于美国对外部威胁程度和范围的持续夸大和误解，其中掺杂了政治上的不诚实、民族自大、天真以及错位的理想主义。

回顾美国在阿富汗的惨痛经历，曾在赫尔曼德省和喀布尔担任美国军队文职顾问的国家战争学院教授卡特·马尔卡西安（Carter Malkasian）认为，在阿富汗驻军 20 年的基本前提——即相信如果不这样做，该国将再次成为国际恐怖主义的避风港——是致命的错误。

“根本没有发生那样的事。在过去的五年里，没有任何一个总部设在阿富汗的组织对美国实施过恐怖袭击，”马尔卡西安写道。“华盛顿在战争中花费了大约 1 万亿美元。超过 77.5万,000 名美国军人被部署……这一切都是为了防御一个后来被证明是被夸大的威胁。五年后，最大的危险不是阿富汗可能再次出现恐怖分子避风港，而是一个更严重的威胁，即集体遗忘的风险。”

简而言之，“当下的恐惧”不应掩盖对无止境持久战长期代价的记忆。

就像之前的布什一样，特朗普和内塔尼亚胡夸大了伊朗威胁的生存性质

如果说阿富汗战争是基于一个错误的假设而进行的，那么对石油富国伊拉克的入侵则更加如此。乔治·W·布什在 2002 年声称萨达姆·侯赛因政权拥有可随时使用的化学和生物武器储备，并正在寻求核弹，事实证明这是不真实的。时任副总统迪克·切尼声称伊拉克“援助并保护”基地组织的说法同样不真实。随后的占领和叛乱成为了一个更大规模持久战的一部分——即布什的“全球反恐战争”。

在恐怖事件的压力下，事后去评判关于战争与和平的决定很容易。但那些为了政治、军事和商业目的而进行的虚伪追求，以及对情报和公众舆论的操纵，则更难被原谅。美国坚称其参加越南战争是为了支持民主并阻止共产主义的传播——即已被唾弃的“多米诺骨牌理论”。但实际上，这在很大程度上关乎美国例外论和全球霸权。从这个意义上说，几乎没有什么改变。

还有什么会让美国政治人物冒险卷入那些他们无法控制且通常会失败的代价高昂的海外战争？ 不安全感——即恐惧——是一个共同点。就像在他之前的布什一样，特朗普和以色列领导人本雅明·内塔尼亚胡都极大地且有意地夸大了伊朗威胁的紧迫性和生存威胁性质。就像 2003 年的伊拉克一样，伊朗并不拥有核武器，而且没有任何确凿证据表明它正试图获取核武器。特朗普对委内瑞拉、古巴、哥伦比亚、巴拿马和格陵兰等较弱邻国的傲慢敌意也具有一种“永恒”的特质。这根植于一个基础性的神话，即美国拥有监督世界的独特使命和权利。同样，贪婪也是永恒的。特朗普抛弃了推广民主的利他主义想法，寻求在经济和地缘政治上同时实现主导。他试图将乌克兰和加沙的战争货币化。他对霍尔木兹海峡的关注表明，安全政策与金融及商业利益总是交织在一起。缺乏有效的联合国调解和维和行动；美国外交的空心化（在特朗普那唯唯诺诺的国务卿马可·鲁比奥领导下这种情况有所加速）；以及对军事必然性的顽固拒绝，这些因素共同将美国主导的冲突变成了 * 西蒙·蒂斯代尔（Simon Tisdall） 难以摆脱的泥潭。就特朗普而言，自我意识也是一个因素。他似乎宁愿再杀死数千名平民，也不愿承认自己在伊朗问题上错了。这种极端行为揭示了“永恒战争”的另一个有害方面：其完全的毫无意义在根本上是不道德的。没有终点的战争是希望的死亡。有一天，特朗普在谈论谈判；第二天，他便发起大规模的、杀戮性的暴力。伊朗那些不可调和的强硬派对此困境感到幸灾乐祸并不断施压，发起民兵袭击以及令全球经济恐慌的无人机和导弹袭击。特朗普徒劳地试图通过轰炸来摆脱麻烦，同时又渴望达成一项能够被某种方式宣传为胜利的协议。这两个选项都行不通。血腥的污点、责备和耻辱，即便战争结束，也将永存 ● --- 47 社会

我在“安全帽”与大学之间纠结，但仍希望孩子上大学。这不对吗？

艾玛·布罗克斯 (Emma Brockes)

一段时间以来，我一直在与朋友们进行一些在几年前几乎无法想象的对话。部分原因是当我们试图想象孩子的生命轨迹与我们不同时，我们往往倾向于过于保守。但这也与世界的改变有关。我认识的一位才华横溢的年轻人离开学校后参加了实习，随后将其转化为正式工作；现在她二十出头，没有债务，并在一家大型时尚公司拥有一个很棒的职位。

“也许我也不去上大学了，”我的一个孩子说道，同时观察着我的反应，而我则若有所思地点头，试图平复内心的恐慌。

安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）上周宣布，大学不应成为英国所有年轻人的唯一奋斗目标。这一表态时机恰到好处，陈述方式稳健，且不应听起来像现在这样激进。当然，这是对现有规范的一种修正——即“全民大学”是一个正当的国家目标，且是衡量个人抱负和成功的唯一决定因素。相比之下，伯纳姆在上周二表示，这个国家应该“像重视毕业帽一样重视安全帽”，他在谈到量身定制技术和职业培训以满足当地就业需求并解决青年失业问题时这样说道。

证据表明，一种文化转变已经在进行中，而伯纳姆只是在验证一个既有趋势。

我目前在美国，这里的大学成本回报比严重失衡，导致学生人数多年来一直在下降。播客上的聪明人们引导年轻人选择州立大学，其费用仅为那些名牌私立大学的一小部分（常春藤盟校除外，因为它们可以为年收入低于 $40万,000 的家庭提供补贴，但那些年学费高达 $8万,000 的小型文理学院则因学生人数减少而一直在关闭）。

在英国，过去两年大学人数也略有下降。这部分是人口结构变化的结果——家庭规模缩小意味着离开学校的 18 岁年轻人供应量减少——部分则与成本有关。

问题在于，这如何影响人们对上大学是否有用的看法，而我们知道，上大学不仅仅是为了赚钱潜力。在美国和英国，大学毕业生的平均中位数收入仍然高于非毕业生。但虽然中产阶级会开玩笑说他们的水管工可能比他们赚得多，但事实依然是，其他因素——上大学带来的文化和社会资本——强化了这种特定的偏见。

因此，尽管“低价值”学位几十年来一直是嘲讽的目标，但当你深入挖掘人们为什么希望孩子上大学时，这与社会效益的关系与学术成就一样密切。如果不是在三年的时间里，一边看着上午时段的电视，一边慢慢成熟为成年人，他们什么时候能遇到那些能陪伴他们一生并为他们孩子做教父母的朋友？这些友谊每年值 10 千英镑吗？

具体来说，你如何给非学术的东西定价？我总是想起唐·德里罗（Don DeLillo）曾经说过的一句话，关于尊重那种需要花几年时间“喝咖啡并观察世界”的需求，这在当前的经济环境下听起来像是一种奢侈。然而，对于许多 18 岁的人来说，这仍然是一次有价值的尝试。

但并非所有人如此。目前关于大学的思考问题在于其过于单一，而伯纳姆演讲的主要启示在于提醒人们，做事不止一种方式。你可以上大学，也可以不上大学，或者在 35 岁而非 18 岁时才去上大学，所有这些选择都应被视为平等的。与此同时，围绕大学的整个讨论，仅仅是关于工作模式变革这一更大讨论的一部分。从目前的证据来看，Z 世代证明他们不愿重复父辈那一代的经历去从事办公室工作——而 X 世代则对此持有额外的抵触情绪，他们觉得自己在办公室体制中成长，在那里学到了各种有用的东西，比如如何与那些让他们觉得基本上无法忍受的人共事。在面对如何生活这些问题时，我们每个人都带有这样的偏见。我上过大学，并希望我的孩子们也能这样做。我的母亲曾渴望上大学，但她必须在 16 岁时离开学校，我相信这其中也起到了影响。但当家里讨论到大学教育的问题时，我努力尝试让自己脱离代际的“自动驾驶”模式，不再如此死板地受先例束缚，并认真考虑另一种选择 ● GUARDIAN DESIGN / GETTY --- 48 观点 MEDIA

在埃隆·马斯克与媒体的博弈中，真相绝不能成为输家 简·马丁森 (Jane Martinson)

埃隆·马斯克与《经济学人》主编的这场长访谈，极好地代表了当前两个世界之间的冲突。一方是一家拥有182年历史、倡导经济自由主义与自由的新闻机构的主编；另一方则是全球首位万亿富翁，他在自己的社交媒体平台上向数亿追随者传播误导性信息。这场交锋堪称一场大师课，揭示了记者在AI、规避事实和网络攻击的新世界中所面临的挑战。

赞尼·明顿-贝多斯 (Zanny Minton Beddoes) 与马斯克的对话，其冲突点始于定义。马斯克称，明顿-贝多斯所定义的“极右翼”和“边缘”群体（她提到了德国的选择党 AfD）实际上只是“普通人”。双方在马斯克削减美国国际开发署 (USAID) 资金的速度是否导致发展中国家出现不必要的死亡问题上产生分歧——她认为，马斯克关于“没有导致死亡”的说法不仅违背了统计数据，也违背了她驻地记者的证据。当被问及是否是种族主义者时，他举例称自己与一名“半印度裔”女性有4个孩子。在一次尴尬的交流中，当明顿-贝多斯问他是否反穆斯林时，马斯克表示他反对“持有截然相反观点的人来到一个国家……我反对强奸和谋杀”。

当明顿-贝多斯指责马斯克传播关于欧洲、尤其是她的家乡伦敦的误导性信息，并告诉他统计数据表明伦敦比大多数美国大城市更安全时，语气发生了转变。面对马斯克拒绝承认暴力犯罪率远低于其所述、且诱拐团伙并未在街头制造恐怖的所有证据，她显得由衷地恼火。在她询问马斯克是否明白为什么这会让人们厌恶他之后，对话变成了像操场上的口角。马斯克指出，他在X上拥有如此之多的追随者，他一定很受欢迎。此外，“他们恨你远比恨我更多”。她承认媒体正在失去信任。这次交流不仅揭示了两位参与者的特质，也揭示了我们媒体生态系统的现状。

GUARDIAN DESIGN; MANDEL NGAN/

卫报观点 (The GuardianView) 成立于1821年 由斯科特信托 (Scott Trust) 独立所有

这场访谈似乎以双方同意保留各自意见而结束；甚至在马斯克拍照时，他们仍在继续聊天。当明顿-贝多斯在X上推广这次访谈时，马斯克转发了该内容，并加上一句“与赞尼的一次古怪 (zany) 访谈”。她非常喜欢这句话，于是转发了他的转发。在一些追随者发布了关于媒体的粗鲁言论后，他加入了攻击，称传统主流媒体是“扭曲现实的噩梦之镜”。到周末时，他称她为“西方的叛徒”。

上周四，她承认对这种“日益激进”的反应感到“困惑”但并不害怕。她在接受BBC Radio 4采访时表示，她已经学会不再查看网络评论。“如果你滚动浏览并阅读数百条说你有多糟糕的评论，那感觉并不愉快，所以不要这么做。”

鉴于英国政府支持的最新一项关于记者安全的调查发现，许多记者承认出于担心受到攻击而对右翼抗议等争议性议题的报道进行自我审查，现在审视从中可以吸取什么教训似乎尤为及时。 报告发现，针对记者的随意且充满恶意的评论，与线上线下的攻击行为增加直接相关。女性记者承受了这种攻击的最沉重打击。向在线和视频新闻的转型，或者可以说，日益严重的“名人化”，使得更多记者具有可识别性，从而担心自己的安全。明顿-贝多斯再次成为了一个极佳的例子

政府被告知，由于资金紧张，公共服务必须缩减。然而，税务正义网络（Tax Justice Network）的一份新报告称，各国无需提高企业税率，每年即可多获得 5000 亿美元的税收。答案是对跨国公司的利润在实际经济活动发生地征税——即所谓的统一税制（unitary taxation）。这并不会创造新的利润，而仅仅是将收入从利润被“入账”的避税天堂，转移到工人生产、客户消费的国家。

本雅明·内塔尼亚胡和塔克·卡尔森。马斯克对真理的看法，正是这场对话比类似的对抗显得更重要的原因。即便权力人物反应激烈，依然向其提出质疑，这正是新闻业的本质。在上周给时事通讯订阅者的简短回复中，明顿-贝多斯承诺将深入探讨采访中提出的问题。她告诉他们，可以期待新的报告，这些报告将调查有关关闭美国国际开发署（USAID）影响的事实、英国诱导犯罪团伙的受害者人数以及欧洲城市的暴力犯罪情况。

新闻业的行为并不总是像它应该的那样符合伦理。但数据和实地报道是击败虚假信息的唯一途径。你可以像马斯克那样声称在英国行走太危险——尽管他已经好几年没访问过那里——或者你可以像《经济学人》在一段获得 7.3万,000 次点赞的社交视频中所做的那样，寻找数据来证明，总体谋杀率甚至刀具暴力犯罪率都远低于美国的大城市。拥有自己的平台和无穷的财富可能给了马斯克一个扩音器，但这种传统报道才是世界需要的公共服务。尤其是如果马斯克真的是他自称的那个预言者卡桑德拉，且人工智能将在十年内超越人类，那么把握住现实将变得更加困难 ●

特朗普不会喜欢这一点——但各国必须夺回$500bn的全球企业税奖金

将这一原则变为全球税务标准，取决于本周在纽约开幕的联合国谈判。该方案以联合国气候机制为模型，一个财政框架公约将创建管理机构和程序，而议定书则提供详细规则。联合国希望在2027.年底前达成协议。唐纳德·特朗普领导的美国去年退出了谈判，并敦促其他国家效仿。但没有国家这样做。当企业在人们工作的地方而非利润消失的避税天堂纳税时，富裕国家获益最多。英国每年将额外收取约130亿英镑 (175亿美元)的税收——相当于一个NHS风格社会护理系统成本的三分之二。欧盟政府可以筹集足够的资金，将气候适应支出增加到四倍。报告还计算出，全球南方国家在一年内将获得1560亿美元。几十年来，跨国公司将首次在其实际开展业务的地方被征税。为20世纪20年代企业世界（当时国家工业巨头占据主导地位）制定的规则，将最终面对如今围绕无形资产和全球供应链组织的公司。1929, 通用汽车赚取的利润相当于47亿美元。苹果公司去年的利润为1120亿美元。报告中所称的瑞士和荷兰等“多样化”避税天堂可以通过提高税率来抵消损失。而像开曼群岛这样的纯账目中心则无法做到。谈判表明，各国正开始收回在全球化进程中交给企业律师和私人法庭的权力。一项议定书将允许各国在无需等待企业设立国内办事处的情况下，对跨境服务征税，从而削弱特朗普的贸易威胁。另一项议定书可能会走得更远，将税务争议从秘密的投资者-国家仲裁转移到一个更公开、更负责的联合国主导系统中。爱尔兰预计每年将损失$11bn税收，已经开始拨出部分“意外企业税收入”——这承认了该收入无法持久。印度和尼日利亚已经立法，规定从其经济中获利的公司不应仅因跨境运营而逃避税网。英国迟到地支持由联合国主导的向对实际活动征税的转变。美国可以缺席谈判，但它无法保护美国公司免受其他国家规则的影响。这些谈判的成功在很大程度上归功于非洲国家坚持共识或多数原则。在印度、巴西和其他发展中大国的支持下，一个由非洲领导的联盟现在可以提出一个简单的诉求：各国应有权对其经济内部创造的价值征税 ●

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50 / 观点信件

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| | | | | | 写信给我们 / 气候危机是时候认真对待了

我认为你们的文章是认真对待气候变化的一小步（《揭穿关于热浪的迷思与谎言》，焦点，7月 17 日）。

什么是经济增长？可用收入的微小增加，用于购买奢侈品——经济增长的绝大部分流入了已经丰厚的口袋。

然而，似乎对经济有利的事情对环境不利。地球无法支撑更多的奢侈品。

新自由主义经济学没有应对气候变化（或海洋塑料、森林砍伐）的机制，因为应对这些问题被衡量为成本而非收益。

目前，适应气候变化的影响（热浪、火灾和洪水）已经变得非常昂贵。缓解气候变化将会更加

更加昂贵。如果我们想要缓解气候变化，仅仅购买电动汽车和转向风能是不够的。我们将不得不放弃许多奢侈品。例如战争。例如消费主义。（这两者对经济有利，但对环境有害。）认真对待气候变化意味着承认我们正处于一场生存危机之中。 爱德华·巴特沃斯（Edward Butterworth），加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省维多利亚市

英格兰北部不仅仅有曼彻斯特 听到新任英国首相试图通过在曼彻斯特开设一个 No 10 North 来使我们以伦敦为中心的政府去中心化，确实令人耳目一新（《你可能会嘲笑廉价的巴士票价，但伯纳姆知道自己在做什么》，评论，7月31日）。 然而，他似乎将曼彻斯特等同于“北部”。他必须意识到，英格兰北部远不止曼彻斯特都市区，而且将单中心模式改为双中心模式，本身并不能实现他改善全国每个邮政编码区域的目标。 汤姆·卡尔（Tom Carr），英国英格兰纽卡斯尔一个泰恩河畔

● 无论你如何看待安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）上任初期的表现，你必须承认他的手段。有多少人是在开始新工作后立即将办公室搬到离家更近的地方？佩服。 玛丽·福利（Mary Foley），英国英格兰伦敦

AI的军事用途需要紧急关注 罗伯特·P·贝尔德（Robert P Baird）的文章在结尾处思考 AI 是否可能会“促使我们重新思考成为人类意味着什么”（《道德与机器》，特写，7月10日）。 我更担心的是，它可能会促使我们重新思考成为“非人类”意味着什么。虽然提及较少，但 AI 军备竞赛包括一场字面意义上的军事 能力军备竞赛。多久之后，国家、派系或恐怖组织等恶意行为者会将 驱动的武器释放到平民目标上，并以“这是算法干的”为由主张免责？犯下包括种族灭绝在内的战争罪行会变得多么容易？为什么对 的军事用途关注如此之少？ 安特·唐尔森（Ant Donaldson），英国英格兰曼斯菲尔德

来自大西洋彼岸给林肯郡的启示 关于林肯郡一家农场进行再野化（rewilding）的文章提到，他们希望夜莺在消失 30 年后能回到那里（《再野化的生意》，特写，7月24日）。 Nattergal 公司（丹麦语意为夜莺）参与其中真是太恰当了。到目前为止，这些努力似乎导致了大量杂草生长，包括蓟、千里光、酸模和刺芹。 在上个世纪不列颠哥伦比亚省的荒野中，人们注意到原住民村庄周围的植物群与欧洲定居点产生的植物群之间存在差异；后者出现了大量杂草，尤其是豚草，带来了严重的花粉热。 让我们希望，农田的“再野化”与“再杂草化”之间存在区别。引入海狸应该会有所帮助。 安东尼·沃尔特（Anthony Walter），加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省科尔德斯特里姆

更正 此前击败 2600+ 分对手的最年轻棋手并非朱迪特·波尔加（Judit Polgár），而是历史排名 No 2 的女性候逸凡（Hou Yifan），她在 12 岁 11 个月时击败了尼基塔·维蒂乌戈夫（Nikita Vitiugov）（《国际象棋》，消遣，7月31日）。波尔加的胜利是对阵特级大师拉约什·波蒂施（Lajos Portisch）的侄子加博尔·波蒂施（Gabor Portisch）。

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贝基·巴尼科特（BECKY BARNICOAT）论千禧一代的生活

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F 电影、音乐、艺术、书籍及更多 51 音乐 当 Wham! 在中国走红时 第 54 页 $\rightarrow$

文化 澳大利亚导演本尼迪克特·安德鲁斯（Benedict Andrews）在伦敦的新剧将索福克勒斯与英格玛·伯格曼融合在一起。这部剧能告诉我们关于当今生活方式的什么？

击中与神话 --- 52 文化 Stage 作者：Mark Lawson 封面照片：Antonio Olmos / Jet Swan / Guardian Design ▲ 瑞典之梦 比比·安德森在 1966 年由英格玛·伯格曼执导的电影《人格面具》中 ALAMY ► 成为布兰奇 吉莉安·安德森在 2014 年本尼迪克特·安德鲁斯于伦敦执导的《欲望号街车》中 JOHAN PERSSON

在 约公元前 420 年，索福克勒斯上演了《厄勒克特拉》，剧中的主角为父亲被母亲克吕泰斯特拉谋杀而复仇。1966, 瑞典电影导演英格玛·伯格曼首映了《人格面具》，讲述了一名精神科护士阿尔玛照顾伊丽莎白的故事，后者是一名在饰演厄勒克特拉时精神崩溃的演员。这两部创作于 23 个世纪之隔的戏剧，现在在国家剧院的一部迷人的新作品中共享舞台。在《厄勒克特拉 / 人格面具》中，导演本尼迪克特·安德鲁斯将这两个故事分别安排在中场休息之前和之后，并通过上半场结束时一个令人震惊的剧场反转（coup de theatre）将两者联系起来。

“《人格面具》是现代主义电影的巅峰，伯格曼对我来说是一颗北极星，”安德鲁斯说。“我长期以来一直被将《人格面具》搬上舞台的这种（以积极意义上的）不可能性所吸引，因为它在很大程度上依赖于镜头、沉默和特写：将面孔视为一片地形。而且我一直对伯格曼为什么选择让伊丽莎白在饰演厄勒克特拉时崩溃感到好奇，所以我想要将它们放在一起。我认为在排练中已经很清楚，整个夜晚是一个关于悲伤的循环。”

在早期，安德鲁斯（出生于澳大利亚，现居冰岛，自称为“冰澳人”）曾有一个想法，让凯特·布兰切特和妮娜·霍斯轮流饰演《厄勒克特拉》中的厄勒克特拉和克吕泰斯特拉，以及《人格面具》中的伊丽莎白和阿尔玛——谁在上半场饰演厄勒克特拉，谁就以伊丽莎白的身份再次出现，而饰演克吕泰斯特拉的人则以阿尔玛的身份再次出现。最初的计划是让布兰切特和霍斯在演出开始时在舞台上掷硬币，但汤姆·斯托帕德的《罗森克兰茨和吉尔登斯特恩已死》中，硬币连续 92 次正面朝上，这使得该策略变得具有风险。

“而且，”安德鲁斯说，“我对凯特和妮娜说：‘为了发挥出最佳水平，你们是否需要在早晨起床后研究你们的《厄勒克特拉》或《人格面具》剧本？’她们说也许需要。最终她们会有一个时间表，每晚轮换，但观众在第一个人走进来之前不会知道谁在扮演谁。”

那么，如果我对票务处说我已经看过一种组合，想看另一种，他们不会告诉我时间吗？安德鲁斯停顿了一下。“不会。”

尽管他以执导经典剧作的激进新版本而闻名——包括 2024 年在唐马仓库剧院上演的契诃夫《樱桃园》，以及 2014 年在年轻维克剧院使用旋转舞台上演的田纳西·威廉斯的《欲望号街车》——但《厄勒克特拉 / 人格面具》是一个大胆的项目。另一位编剧兼导演艾伦·艾克本曾说过，在导演过程中，他发现自己经常咒骂编剧交给他的任务。安德鲁斯是否理解为了准备各种排列组合，实际上必须将两部戏各排练两次意味着什么？

“是的。排练时间很长，”他笑着叹了口气。“昨天很不寻常，我们一整天都在排《厄勒克特拉》，但我最后还是花了一个小时排《人格面具》。我认为每天两部都排一遍非常重要。尽管它们需要截然不同的能量。这不是一部双剧目演出；而是一部铰接在一起的作品。上半场有来自伯格曼的穿孔，下半场则有来自索福克勒斯的穿孔。”

到了这个阶段，安德鲁斯认为自己仅仅是一名导演：“我们和演员之间有一个关于曾经存在过一名编剧的玩笑。我们叫他多米尼克。他曾在这里被锁在桌子旁两周进行修改，但现在我们已经把他送上一艘拖网渔船回冰岛了。”

我最近看了一场热门演出，当时由替演出演——他们模仿了缺席的演员，这在那种情况下是标准做法。但布兰切特和霍斯之间会有不同的互动吗？

“绝对会有。她们

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是两位同样令人惊叹但演绎方式不同的女演员。凯特和妮娜关系很好，曾合作拍摄电影《塔尔》（Tár），在片中妮娜饰演凯特的妻子。所以我认为让他们合作会很棒。她们看起来不像，但彼此之间有一种共鸣——她们可以像姐妹一样。在排练中，你会看到她们在思考：“哦，他们在那个片段里那样处理？我是沿用那个，还是做自己的诠释？”我们正在寻找一种方式，让她们各自演绎场景的逻辑，但呈现方式可能各不相同。”当我告诉他，我在唐马仓库剧院（Donmar Warehouse）两次观看《樱桃园》时，发现两次完全不同，他热情地颔首，尽管有些导演会对这种情况发起公开调查。“太好了！”他说。“在排练和演出中，我看了几十次洛帕欣和瓦莉亚之间的[浪漫拒绝]戏，而且每次都不同。我鼓励这样做，因为最终你希望每晚演出的都是那个时刻的真实感。作为导演，你建立了一个永动机，演员们可以继续对其进行开发。”安德鲁斯正处于一个古希腊时期，他之前的作品是在冰岛上演的埃斯库罗斯的《俄瑞斯忒亚》（The Oresteia），该剧与《厄勒克特拉》拥有共同的角色，包括克吕泰斯特拉、俄瑞斯忒斯以及厄勒克特拉本人。那么，他接连上演的两部希腊悲剧之间是否有很大的重叠？“巨大。我在两场演出之间移动了一些部分。去年大部分时间我都在为《俄瑞斯忒亚》编写文本。然后在排练开始前有一段空档——为了将其翻译成冰岛语——期间我写了《厄勒克特拉 / 人格》（Electra / Persona）。我没预料到这部剧会这么快上演。我没预料到自己会和这个疯狂的该死家庭生活这么久！”两部剧都是室内剧——在雷克雅未克由五名演员出演，在伦敦由四名演员出演——因此除了《厄勒克特拉 / 人格》中的角色互换外，还有角色扮演，即演出戏外角色的背景故事：“这有时像是一种格式塔疗法游戏，你扮演你的压迫者。而‘persona’（人格）这个词是指面具，指我们扮演的角色。国王和法官穿上那些长袍，扮演那些角色。这是一部铰接的作品：前半部分是伯格曼，后半部分是索福克勒斯。戏剧如何批判所有这些权力关系？但从另一种方式来看，戏剧如何允许我们审视我们在自己的生活、心理和梦境生活中扮演的所有那些角色？”从我们交谈的国家剧院会议室出发，步行不久即可到达BFI南岸中心观看克里斯托弗·诺兰的电影《奥德赛》（The Odyssey），或者去桥剧院（The Bridge）观看西蒙·斯通的《俄瑞斯忒亚》。如果古希腊作家的后代能拿到版税，他们现在应该都拥有私人飞机。“是的！我认为他们现在正在回归，因为在这些巨大的政治和道德危机时代，我们需要他们。。而我们现在正通过美国帝国主义目睹这一切。我们成长于这样一种观念：美国——我们的罗马，我们的雅典——不仅是军事强国，也是文化强国。而它正在分崩离析。所以我们回归到一种经历过战争但同时也赋予我们哲学和戏剧，并给弗洛伊德提供俄狄浦斯神话以剖析家庭的文化。而这些剧作也应该让我们质疑法律和正义的概念。”

在伦敦，澳大利亚导演的影响力正日益增强。除了斯通（Stone）——他的《俄瑞斯忒亚》（Oresteia）继《费德拉》（Phaedra）和《海边之女》（The Lady From The Sea）之后上演——基普·威廉姆斯（Kip Williams）也经常在这座城市工作，近期执导了《多里安·格雷的画像》（The Picture of Dorian Gray）、《德古拉》（Dracula）和《女仆》（The Maids）。安德鲁斯（Andrews）是否和他的同乡外派人员有 WhatsApp 群组或团聚烧烤活动？“并不怎么有。但基普曾是我的助理导演。西蒙（Simon）曾在我的一个作品中出演，在《谁害怕弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫？》（Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?）中他被安置在一个玻璃盒子里旋转。我们彼此都认识，并且有共同的合作者。”安德鲁斯、斯通和威廉姆斯在视觉或结构上都对经典文本进行了颠覆——这是澳大利亚人的特质吗？某种文本上的反殖民主义或共和主义？“当我在悉尼执导我的第一部《三姐妹》（Three Sisters）时，[契诃夫]的传统仍然是蕾丝和亚麻。我收到信说：‘你把可口可乐倒进了一桶优质麦芽威士忌里。’巴里·科斯基（Barrie Kosky）当时也在做类似的事情，我们那时可能成了冲击澳大利亚州立剧院保守主义的一把破城槌。但我曾在德国工作过很长时间，在那里，激进的重新思考正是导演的工作，所以对我来说，‘忠实’于经典从来没有意义。那到底意味着什么？我不认为这是在颠覆经典。我是在尝试挖掘作品中的神话力量，对内在含义进行 X 光扫描。” ● 马克·劳森（MARK LAWSON）是《卫报》作者及一名广播员。

《厄勒克特拉 / 人格》（Electra / Persona）将于 8 月 19 日至 10 月 10 日在伦敦国家剧院上演。

2026 年 8 月 7 日 《卫报周刊》 --- 54 文化^{}[] 屏幕

当流行乐坛的年轻枪手前往中国 1985年，Wham! 成为首个在中华人民共和国巡演的西方团体。安德鲁·里奇利回忆起这次旅行以及最初的纪录片 作者：克里斯·特里霍恩（Chris Tryhorn）

▼ 把它做大，“我认为这算是一次历史事件”……Wham! 乐队在长城

PETER CHARLESWORTH / LIGHTROCKET / GETTY

Wham! 乐队 1985 年的中国之行一直带有一种超现实感。乔治·迈克尔（George Michael）和安德鲁·里奇利（Andrew Ridgeley）在北京街头看起来就像外星访客，他们蓬松的发型和华丽的装束，使他们与所遇到的中国民众穿着的毛装和单调的制服截然不同。如今，这部迷人的纪录片《! 在中国的 10 天》（! 10 Days in China）探讨了这对组合短暂旅程中全部的奇异之处，这次旅程使他们成为首个在中国演出的西方流行乐团。该片使用了此前从未公开的档案素材，并采访了许多参与此次巡演的人员，展现了 ! 的两场演唱会对中国观众产生的非凡影响，同时也提供了一个处于巨大变革前夜的国家快照。

然而，对于迈克尔和里奇利来说，这次巡演与其说是为了拓展文化视野，不如说是基于冷酷的商业逻辑：在他们的经纪人西蒙·纳皮尔-贝尔（Simon Napier-Bell）的精心策划下，这次行程旨在制造巨大的国际轰动，从而让他们无需经历 90 场体育馆巡演的艰苦磨练，就能直接跃升至美国的顶尖地位。

“而且它奏效了，”现年 63 岁、已满头白发的里奇利在我们在伦敦市中心一个温暖的夏日见面时说道。“当这个想法最初向乔治和我提出时，我认为它根本没有半点机会……但它最终实现了我们的目标。我们登上了美国的国家新闻，出现在了报纸上。”

电影展示了 ! 在北京和广州演唱热门歌曲的场景，以及他们如何应对其他许多要求——例如，必须在与中国官员的宴会上发表礼貌的演讲。迈克尔显然很难忍受在英国大使馆的一次招待会——“那种形式主义、客套话，以及会面的虚伪性质，”里奇利说。就里奇利而言，他对媒体的要求感到厌烦，在长城的一次拍摄中拒绝摘下太阳镜。

北京的演唱会现场确实有一种奇怪的氛围：观众们几乎不知道该期待什么，被告知必须留在座位上，乐队在沉默中登场；虽然有些人站起来跳舞，但一名男子因过于兴奋而被警察带走。甚至演唱他们的歌曲《自由》（Freedom）都可能被解读为一种政治行为。

但对于一些中国粉丝来说，这次巡演让他们揭开了西方音乐的神秘面纱。“我认为这算是一次历史事件，”程方圆说道，这位歌手在分发给持票者的磁带中演唱了 ! 歌曲的中文版本。“这就像是打开了一扇窗户。”

之所以有如此多关于此次巡演的原始素材，是因为 ! 的管理层安排拍摄一部纪录片。在电影史上最奇特的雇佣行为之一中，他们选择监督这部电影的人是林赛·安德森（Lindsay Anderson），这位执导过《体育生活》（This Sporting Life）和《幸运儿》（O Lucky Man!）的高傲导演当时 61 岁，正处于事业的低谷期。

事实证明，这次合作并不愉快：安德森和 ! 互不相投，六个月后，当乐队拒绝他提交的电影时，这位导演被解雇了。“我认为那简直荒谬透顶，”里奇利说。“像他这样具有电影血统的人，根本不适合 !。他纯粹是为了钱才接的活——他在相关信件中写得很清楚。”

安德森本人也出现在新片所使用的素材中。随后出现了一个极其露骨的时刻：安德森拄着拐杖从后面走近迈克尔，拍了拍他的肩膀，而此时这位巨星正处于众人的簇拥之中；迈克尔非常明显地没有转身理会他。

安德森团队拍摄的原始素材被存放了数十年。直到导演迈克·克里斯蒂（Mike Christie）在2024年9月开始工作，才有人重新打开那100多个装有Super 16毫米电影胶片原卷的罐子。他和他的团队发现了超过20小时的素材。《Wham! 10 Days in China》是近年来关于该乐队的第三部纪录片，此前还有Netflix的《Wham!》(2023)和BBC的《!: Last Christmas Unwrapped》(2024)。里奇利（Ridgeley）希望能有进一步的项目来让Wham!的音乐保持活力。“幸运的是，我们拥有一个非常出色的歌曲目录，这在这方面给了我们很大帮助。所有优秀的音乐都能超越世代，!的音乐也不例外。”

CHRISTYHORN 是一位媒体与文化记者 《! 10 Days in China》正在全球院线公映，并在英国的BBC iPlayer上线

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文化 音乐 55

“埃塞爵士是一种美丽的科学” 穆拉图·阿斯塔特克（Mulatu Astatke）花费数十年时间打造了他那独特且迷人的声音。在 82 岁高龄，他仍在探索新的方向——并且他希望他的国家在文化产出方面获得认可。

作者：Geneva Abdul

▲ 处于咒语之中 2024 年拍摄的“埃塞爵士之父”照片 ALEXIS MARYON

▶ 低音的愉悦 1972 年专辑《Mulatu of Ethiopia》的一次录音 session MULATU ASTATKE

“你知道 Metro 俱乐部吗？”

面对 82 岁的埃塞爵士之父穆拉图·阿斯塔特克，我假装认出了那个地方。他比我更了解伦敦那些已经消失的聚集地（那家位于苏豪区的场馆在几十年前就关闭了）。那时，他已沉浸在 60 年代的伦敦爵士乐场景中，与罗尼·斯科特（Ronnie Scott）以及萨克斯管演奏家乔·哈里奥特（Joe Harriott）结交，偶尔在苏豪区的俱乐部里与他们以及来自非洲和加勒比地区的音乐家一起即兴演奏。此后，全世界的观众都陷入了他那超凡脱俗的音乐魔力之中。

我们在阿斯塔特克 6 月在伦敦皇家节日大厅（Royal Festival Hall）演出几天后见面，这次演出预计将是他最后一次在英国的演出。就像他的大部分音乐一样，起初很难将他定义在某个具体类别中。他身着全黑服装，融入在北伦敦一家带有装饰艺术风格的酒店那近乎空荡的休息室的一把扶手椅中。

他告诉我，看到满座的观众欣赏埃塞俄比亚爵士乐，这种感觉很美。但尝试创造一些新东西并不容易。他在十多张专辑中构建的爵士乐具有迷人的魔力，将埃塞俄比亚传统音乐独特的五声音阶与西式爵士、放克以及极具感染力的非裔拉丁节奏层层叠加。他将传统乐器——krar（克拉尔琴）、masenqo（马森科琴）和 kebero（凯贝罗鼓）——以及可以追溯到 4 世纪的宗教赞美诗编织其中。

“埃塞爵士是一种美丽的科学，”他向后靠在椅子上说道，“你可以听到爵士，可以听到 12 分音符，可以听到 5 分音符，所有这一切结合在一起。”

在这位埃塞俄比亚巨匠磨练其声音很久之前，他在 16 岁时被父母送到北威尔士雷克瑟姆（Wrexham）的一所寄宿学校，致力于学习航空工程。在那里，他接触到了小号，并被鼓励从事音乐事业。随后，他先后就读于伦敦的三一音乐学院（Trinity College of Music）和波士顿的伯克利音乐学院（Berklee College of Music），成为该校有史以来第一位非洲学生。

在 60 年代后期，阿斯塔特克往返于纽约——他的组合“埃塞俄比亚五重奏”（Ethiopian Quintet）在那里录制了专辑《Afro-Latin Soul 1 & 2》——和亚的斯亚贝巴之间，他在 1969 年开始为该国第一家独立厂牌 Amha Records 录制单曲。

“我真的很想变得与众不同，我想成为我自己，我想成为穆拉图，”在谈到磨练声音的那些年时，他说道，“一旦我创造了埃塞爵士，我就成为了我自己。”

他的埃塞爵士根植于一个国家的音乐文化中，这个国家与许多邻国不同，在过去 2,000 年的大部分时间里都享有独立（除了 1936 年至 1941 年期间短暂的意大利占领）。阿斯塔特克带着自己的颤音琴和电子键盘回到亚的斯亚贝巴，正值海尔·塞拉西皇帝统治下夜生活和音乐的黄金时代（例如萨克斯管演奏家 Getatchew Mekurya、歌手 Mahmoud Ahmed 和键盘手 Hailu Mergia 等），这为实验提供了肥沃的土壤。

塞拉西时期那著名的狂野夜生活在 1974 年皇帝被马克思主义政权废黜时宣告结束，随后在德格（Derg）统治下的近二十年里进入了一个压抑时期，期间有数十万埃塞俄比亚人被杀害、监禁或流放。

当我问到阿斯塔特克为塞拉西演出的情况——以及在埃塞俄比亚共产主义军政府统治下的生活时，他表现得十分谨慎：“我没有参与军队，我没有参与政治，我没有参与任何人的事情。我平静地生活。”

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56 文化 音乐

Astatke 希望确保埃塞俄比亚的文化贡献不被忽视。与这位音乐家交谈足够长的时间，每次对话最终都会不可避免地转向这个国家的“丛林之人”（bush people）。在 20 世纪 90 年代，Astatke 访问了埃塞俄比亚的多个原住民社区——南部的德拉舍（Derashe）以及尼罗-撒哈拉语系的阿努阿克人（Anuak）居住的甘贝拉（Gambella）。他对他们的高度尊重显而易见：“丛林之人创造了 Mulatu，因为我是通过聆听 musengo 才成为一名音乐家的。”他的经理与我们同桌而坐，拿出笔记本电脑，播放了一段 Astatke 与德拉舍部落成员一起表演的欢乐场景，该部落是他在 20 世纪 90 年代带到录音室的几个社区之一。第二段来自 20 世纪 70 年代的视频显示，他正与演奏 krar 的传统音乐家一起表演。“我是通过聆听这些人而成为音乐家的，”他说，“他们创造了我。”Astatke 将很快返回亚的斯亚贝巴，他期待在 2013 年开设的 African Jazz Village 迎来观众，该场所目前由他的儿子经营。▼ 良好的氛围 Astatke 在 1972 年的时代广场 MULATU ASTATKE 提供 场地吸引了国际游客，并让当地音乐家成为焦点。接下来要做什么？他考虑在亚的斯亚贝巴的这家俱乐部演奏新音乐。他最近的一张专辑《 Plays 》是他与英国乐队对他经典作品的重新编曲，但他的下一张专辑将邀请来自“丛林”以及亚的斯亚贝巴的音乐家参与。不过他坚持说，这个项目还没有名字——它仍处于筹备阶段。“向世界推广埃塞俄比亚，推广我们的文化人群，这让我感到如此伟大和快乐，”他说。“我花了年复一年地努力，但最终我们成功了。”直到那时，我才在 Astatke 严肃的神情下看到一丝微笑。“尊重非洲，”他再次说道，“以及丛林之人。”

GENEVA ABDUL 是《卫报》新闻记者 《 Plays 》现已由 Strut Records 发行 评论 音乐

《法外之徒雪莉·李及其他西部故事》

Shaboozey (American Dogwood / Empire)

即便 Shaboozey 再也不发布任何音符，他在历史上的地位也已然稳固。在客串碧昂丝的专辑《Cowboy Carter》之后，他的《A Bar Song (Tipsy)》成为了 2024 年销量最高的乡村单曲。这样的成功促使他在这张包含 20 首曲目的概念专辑中大胆尝试——该专辑配有一部三期的漫画，并包含间奏曲以及演员杰米·福克斯、特亚娜·泰勒和萨姆·艾略特的旁白。虽然风格从流行转向了乡村音乐的核心地带，《Cowgirl》和《Born to Die》是试图复制其最大热门单曲的迷人尝试。与此同时，《Bullets and Blades》是与 R&B 明星 Kehlani 的一次绝美合唱，而《If I Was an Outlaw》则带有沙龙酒吧钢琴风格，《Sweet Revenge》则走乡村摇滚路线。随着他决定降低人声中的说唱影响，Shaboozey 的部分独特卖点（USP）也随之消失；从受嘻哈启发的《Til Sunday》中能感受到兴奋感的跃升，但《The Outlaw Cherie Lee》听起来不像是一个被巨大热门单曲搞得心神不宁的艺术家，而是一个准备长期深耕的艺术家的作品。 Alexis Petridis

电影

《蜘蛛侠：崭新之日》

导演：德斯汀·丹尼尔·克雷顿 ★★★★☆

汤姆·赫兰在饰演蜘蛛侠这个角色时日趋成熟。但这个角色是否也随之成熟？这部电影是一次重启。在上一部电影《蜘蛛侠：英雄无归》的结尾，彼得·帕克（赫兰 饰）抹去了所有人关于他是蜘蛛侠的记忆，包括他憨厚的好友内德·利兹（雅各布·巴塔隆 饰）和他一生挚爱 MJ（赞达亚 饰）。所以现在他回到了原点。蜘蛛侠必须应对一个占据重要人物身体的邪恶实体——例如反派蝎子（迈克尔·曼多 饰）——旨在渗透由比尔·梅茨格（由优秀的特拉梅尔·蒂尔曼饰演，出自电视剧《人生切割术》）领导的损害管制部。与此同时，帕克面临着新的生理和心理健康问题。头痛似乎将我们的英雄带入了一个我只能将其描述为大卫·柯南伯格风格的领域。为了应对这些危机，帕克 / 蜘蛛侠咨询了黑寡妇（由令人愉快的弗洛伦斯·皮尤 饰）和年迈的布鲁斯·班纳博士（马克·鲁法洛 饰），即绿巨人。此外，蜘蛛侠发现自己与弗兰克·“惩罚者”·卡斯尔（乔·伯恩萨尔 饰）陷入了一段紧张而狂热的“兄弟情”。赞达亚拯救了这部电影，将其从愚蠢以及始终威胁着要将其击沉的通用既视感和过度熟悉感中解救出来。她天生放松的风格为剧情带来了提升。导演德斯汀·丹尼尔·克雷顿充分挖掘了她的潜力。除此之外，蜘蛛侠世界的一切依然如故。而且《崭新之日》像所有漫威电影一样，倾向于那种末日式的但又是暂时的破坏。这是一场令人愉快的视觉盛宴，但需要一次更彻底的重启。 Peter Bradshaw 公映中

本周播客

《积极分心播客》（The Positive Distraction Podcast）

虽然亚历山大·麦考尔·史密斯以其 No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency（第一名女士侦探社）系列小说最为出名，但他对短篇故事情有独钟。他的新系列包含一些原创短篇作品，他希望这些作品能让听众对世界感到更好，第一篇故事的灵感来自一位朋友的微型直升机停机坪。 Hannah J Davies

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文化书籍 57 评论

开启新篇章，重新学习阅读

我们阅读书籍的数量比以往任何时候都少——这要归咎于我们的智能手机习惯——那么，阅读领域是否也需要一个类似于“从沙发到5公里”的循序渐进计划？ 作者：Naomi Alderman ▲ 长文

放下手机，拿起一本书 ALINA RUDYA / BELL COLLECTIVE / GETTY

你是否觉得现在阅读比以前更困难了？当然，不是指阅读电子邮件、短信和社交媒体帖子，我们整天都在读这些。而是指很难静下心来沉浸在一本书中？你上一次坐下来把一份周末报纸从头到尾读完是什么时候？你是否觉得你曾经拥有一个维持生命般的阅读习惯，涵盖从轻松的“爆米花”小说到严肃的非虚构作品，从经典到当代，涉及多种体裁和作家，但不知为何，这一切都消失了？这感觉不像是一个你做出的决定，而是一次自然而然的发生。

我也有这种感觉。我是一名小说家，在BBC主持关于思考的节目，但即便是我也发现，我的阅读量比以前减少了。我讨厌这种感觉。我依然保持着收集书籍的习惯：购买它们、从图书馆借阅、收到他人寄来的书。我也依然在阅读。与许多人相比，我的阅读量可能依然巨大，但我知道这不如以前多了。

我知道时间都花到哪里去了。当然，就是那些该死的手机。前几天，我与一位身为医生且是公共卫生专家的朋友坐在一起——也就是说，他研究的是那些可能让数百万人地健康状况微幅提升的大规模干预措施。我发现自己脱口而出：“我认为智能手机的大小和形状与一包香烟几乎一样，这绝非巧合。”

我们讨论了烟草引发的真正大规模公共卫生危机是如何由廉价的大众市场香烟的出现而导致的——你可以无休止地抽烟，而无需经历清理、清洗和填充烟斗的繁琐仪式，而且它们不像雪茄那样昂贵。我们讨论了人们在第一次世界大战期间开始抽那些廉价的大众市场香烟时，并不知晓它们会有多么致命。

这不是我们的错。在第一次世界大战的战壕里，士兵们抽烟是为了稳定情绪。在疫情期间，当我们无法面对面交流时，我们所有人都被粘在了智能手机上。这不是我们的错，但我们现在必须解决这个问题。

人们不阅读所带来的问题已有详尽的记录。据称，进入大学的学生竟然无法读完一整本书。经合组织（OECD）的一份2024年报告发现，大多数发达国家的读写能力有所下降或停滞不前。詹姆斯·马里奥特（James Marriott）在他即将出版的新书《新黑暗时代》（The New Dark Ages）中，追溯了读写能力缺失给社会带来的问题。马里奥特认为，当我们不再阅读时，我们将越来越无法跟上复杂的论证，也无法发现其中的问题。我们倾向于更容易被那些持有简单口号、可以被我们重复的漫画式人物所左右。我们会相信流言蜚语，而不是深入思考知识性的观点。这是一场关于智力健康的公共卫生危机。

我想到了一个针对阅读的“从沙发到5公里”计划。当我在我的Substack时事通讯《Whatever Works》中提到这个想法时，读者们兴奋地积极响应。这件事突然显得非常紧迫。

于是我设计了一个计划。为期八周，分为三条不同的路径。在八周的时间里，我们将努力恢复到每天阅读半小时的状态，并在每周安排两到三个较长时间的阅读时段。此外，还设有为期每天阅读20分钟的路径，以及为那些意识到自己在逃避想要挑战的艰深内容的读者所设计的路径。

反响极其热烈。在第一周之后，人们已经表示，由于不再在起床后第一时间刷手机导致大脑昏沉，他们发现早晨的例行活动现在进行得更快了；在压力巨大的时期，阅读让他们感到更平静；而且他们可以看完一部长电影而不会被诱惑去查看手机。在共同实践短短两三天后，他们正在重新发现被一本好书深深吸引的简单快乐。粉丝们还制作了自制的数字化和可打印的追踪表，以保持动力。教师们已经在询问我如何将这个想法引入学校。发现纠正这一点如此简单，真的令人兴奋。该计划目前正在运行，现在加入还不晚。放下手机，拿起一本书，阅读10分钟。这就是第一天。书籍中蕴含着如此多的快乐，而这一切依然在那里等待着我们。我们所要做的，就是一次阅读一天，将其从技术亿万富翁手中夺回来。娜奥米·奥尔德曼（NAOMI ALDERMAN）是一位作家、广播员和游戏编剧 --- 58 文化^{}[] 书籍

小说

她自己的小屋*

半个世纪之后，这部关于逃离家庭的母亲的里程碑式小说依然具有令人震撼的原创性 作者：Anne Enright

本周推荐书目 《赢得阵地》（Gaining Ground） 作者：Joan Barfoot

关于母亲逃离的文学作品正日益增多：这些小说讲述的女性不仅离开了丈夫，还离开了她们亲手抚养的孩子。在现实世界中，男性是更频繁的抛弃者；父亲与家庭生活的联系被视为偶然的，而母亲身份则被尊崇为一种内在状态。这意味着，那些选择“取消母亲身份”的女性是在做一件不可能的事情：因为女性与孩子之间的联系不仅是情感上的，更是创造性的。

Joan Barfoot 理解母亲义务逻辑中那种颠倒的本质：“她创造了这些人以及他们对她的需求，”《赢得阵地》中那个抛弃孩子的母亲 Abra 说道，“而现在她必须满足这些需求。”

Abra 忽略了去满足她的孩子或他们的需求。这部小说严谨且沉思地探讨了分离这件事，而分离同时也是成为一个独立且完整自我的过程。

《赢得阵地》于 1978 年在加拿大出版，书名为《》，随后于 1980 年由 Women’s Press 在英国以目前的书名出版。那段时间，Barfoot 的加拿大同胞 Alice Munro 开始创作关于通奸和逃离的女性角色，她们对自由的本能与当时的女性主义高度契合。然而， 摆脱家庭生活并非出于对另一个男人的渴望，她也没有像 Elena Ferrante 的《迷失的女儿》中的 Leda 那样，在花费多年找回失去的东西后重新回到孩子身边。

更接近于 Cathy Sweeney 最近的作品《崩溃》（Breakdown）中的主角，后者对于为何离开过去的生活没有单一的答案：Sweeney 写道，在日本，“有如此多的人失踪，以至于有一个专门的词来形容他们——johatsu（蒸发者）。”

这些小说无法完全抵御这样一个质疑：那个逃跑的母亲究竟是一个怪物，还是社会期待的受害者。《赢得阵地》写于所有这些作品之前，而 Barfoot 已经足够睿智，拒绝接受这种辩论的条款： 从未质疑过成为真实自我的道德性。

小说开始于一名年轻女性来到 森林小屋的时刻，此时距离她开车离开旧生活已经过去了九年。 几乎不记得这个女孩是谁，也不记得自己曾经是谁。接着，一个认出的瞬间——那是她 18 岁的女儿 Katie。

Katie 的到来让 回想起她在多伦多那个可爱且井然有序的家；她的婚姻；以及她的两个孩子。她的第一个孩子是个儿子，引发了强烈的依恋感。第二个孩子看起来则没那么像奇迹：“她是个婴儿，很漂亮，她是我的和 Stephen 的，是我们创造了她，但现在这似乎成了自然而然的事”。

这个故事可能是关于母亲的矛盾心理、抑郁以及意义的丧失，但它始终围绕着真实与伪装的概念展开。 的生活感觉不“真实”。Barfoot 呈现了大约 16 种不同类型的解离状态，且没有重复自己的足迹或重复同样的话。 离开前的铺垫具有一种累积的、不懈的现代主义效果，但作者成功地使其保持了人性，或在人性范围之内，以至于当 第一次看到那座小屋时，我们完全相信那里就是她的“家”。

她没有带时钟，也没有带镜子，并且极力避免与他人交谈。在开垦菜园的第一天，她的头发让她感到麻烦，于是她盲目地将其剪掉。艾布拉（Abra）努力耕种食物，收集木材，在漫长的加拿大冬季中维持生存。她只思考眼前的事。对工作、自然世界和季节更替的描述，让人想起安妮·迪拉德（Annie Dillard）或梭罗（Thoreau）那种自力更生的精神，他们写作于一种超然的精神传统之中。然而，艾布拉的启示并非关于上帝的无限威严，而是一种“褪去”的过程。她想要创造一种生活，在这种生活中，她可以慢慢失去“我的名字，我的记忆，我曾使用的标签，以及我对所有词汇的感知”，从而抵达一个喜悦之境。

本周有声书 《Helm》 作者：莎拉·霍尔（Sarah Hall） “Helm”是英格兰北部奔宁山脉（Pennines）强风的名字。莎拉·霍尔的《》是一部雄心勃勃的小说，它从风的视角，以及那些在不同时代被“”带来混乱的人们的视角讲述故事。这些人物包括一名正在建造石圈的新石器时代部落女性兼先知；一名“巫师祭司”；以及一名测量大气中微塑料的气候学家。他们的故事跨越数世纪，被交织在一起，每个人都由天气联系在一起。演员露易丝·布里利（Louise Brealey）作为讲述者，挖掘出了《》中俏皮且富有诗意的时刻。 菲奥娜·斯特吉斯（Fiona Sturges）

当凯蒂（Katie）从一个“到处都是动机和愤怒”的世界到来时，艾布拉试图分享她关于“空白”的发现。她思考起自己曾经看待丈夫的方式，并好奇：“是我虚构了他吗？”答案是她虚构了所有人：“我简化了他们。然后我对我想象出来的东西做出反应，表现得就像我虚构的东西是真的那样。”对于一本试图探讨“虚无”的书来说，很难找到一个结尾，因此巴福特（Barfoot）能为凯蒂的访问安排一个动人且具有戏剧性的结局，这在很大程度上值得称赞。《Gaining Ground》是一本极佳的慢热之作，即便在近半个世纪之后，巴福特的原创性和掌控力依然令人兴奋。很高兴看到这次重新出版将这部小说置于核心地位，这正是它应在的位置。 安妮·恩赖特（ANNE ENRIGHT）是一位爱尔兰作家。

科学 # 身体正向关于我们的同类生物如何与周围世界建立联系的优雅探讨 作者：Edward Posnett 《活着：生物世界的隐藏智能》 (Alive: The Hidden Intelligence of the Living World) 作者：Melanie Challenger

格兰顿港（Granton harbour）的东防波堤长近1公里，游泳者可以沿着它弯曲的指尖，直接游向福斯湾（Firth of Forth）。一个周四的中午，我想：为什么不试试看呢，于是我向堤坝的顶端游去。我感到很冷，但随着前进，我似乎变得奇怪地温暖起来。我没有注意到身体发出的抱怨：从手指蔓延到肘部的渐渐麻木，以及尿液的冰冷。直到我离开水面，双脚像内翻足一样僵硬，双手像爪子一样蜷缩时，我才意识到自己陷入了低温症。这次鲁莽尝试的讽刺之处在于，我的游泳袋里放着 --- 59 一本由 Melanie Challenger 撰写的名为《活着：生物世界的隐藏智能》的书。这是一部对身体智慧的雄心勃勃的考察，是一本根茎式的指南，不仅针对我们自己，还针对我们周围所有的生命形式：从细菌到黑猩猩。她的观点是，我们忽视或误读了身体的能动性和目的，而这损害了我们自身；在某种程度上，这是一次倾听身体的恳求。我希望在这次不理智的游泳之前读过这本书。Challenger 指出，她的书源于“狂野的好奇心”，以及一种感觉，即“我们给自己讲述的故事……既傲慢又缺乏说服力”。对她而言，我们对灵魂、基因或心智的关注是对现实的扭曲，相反，我们应该将注意力转向我们的身体，而身体一直被边缘化，或许是因为它们提醒了我们自身的脆弱和死亡。并不是说 Challenger 否认基因的重要性；她质疑的是我们解读世界的视角。Challenger 是一位诗人，她的描述通常非常优美。她将冰川冰描述为“像眼球一样闪烁着蓝色光泽”，将洪堡乌贼描述为“一块银色的菱形糖”。她认为，通过贬低或忽视身体，我们对其他生命形式的复杂性视而不见，没有给予它们应有的尊重；我们在破坏栖息地时，很少考虑居住在那里的非人类生命。根据 Challenger 的说法，亚里士多德是最早领悟身体智能的人，尽管他缺乏支持其直觉的科学手段。我很难想到还有哪本书的主题能让我感到如此多的共鸣和兴奋。但作为一名外行读者，我发现自己几乎被文本搞得晕头转向。我非常想跟随我的向导，但由于作者冲入了一片由思想和科学研究组成的浓密丛林，我总觉得被抛在了后面。当我离开水面，脸色灰如尸体且浑身发抖时，两名经验丰富的女性游泳者迎接了我，她们给了我一杯茶和一些中肯的指导。我很感激她们，以及她们能够安静地解读自己的身体以及我的身体，并巧妙地将它们与周围的世界联系起来的方式。在某种程度上，这本书是邀请读者做类似的事情：抛弃我们继承的有害解读，并避开我们自身的自我毁灭。EDWARD POSNETT 是一位常驻费城的作家 # 传记

右转：一部关于秘鲁诺贝尔奖得主政治轨迹的卓越批判性传记

作者：Pratinav Anil

马里奥·巴尔加斯·略萨（Mario Vargas Llosa） 作者：Gerald Martin

“秘鲁究竟是在哪个精确时刻把事情搞砸的？”《大教堂里的对话》（Conversation in the Cathedral）开篇页上的这段话，宣告了一位作家的到来，他意识到国家历史可以成为小说的组织原则。就在拉丁美洲发现魔幻现实主义那令人陶醉的可能性之时，马里奥·巴尔加斯·略萨却选择了老派的现实主义。Gerald Martin 在这部语气亲切且分析冷静的传记中指出，这既是政治问题，也是感性问题。他追踪了一位小说家的路径：此人起初以手术般的精准剖析寡头政治，最终却愉快地跻身于寡头之列，完成了文学史上最壮观的政治迁移之一。

然而，Martin 的修正主义观点是，巴尔加斯·略萨跨越的意识形态距离比人们通常想象的要短。在游击队的时尚外壳下，Martin 在巴尔加斯·略萨身上发现了一种古老的、对等级制度持有自信的贵族心态。正如他的一位大学同窗所言，这种“出厂缺陷”是先天性的：巴尔加斯·略萨从未停止做一个“利马阔少”。

在 2010 年获得诺贝尔奖后，巴尔加斯·略萨越来越多地将自己的声望借给极右翼，支持秘鲁那位好战且未经选举的统治者迪娜·博卢阿尔特（Dina Boluarte），以及智利反对同性恋、反对堕胎的十字军战士何塞·安东尼奥·卡斯特（José Antonio Kast）；他谴责女权主义是文学的“最坚定敌人”，并将每一次向左转的选举波动视为“回归考迪罗主义（caudillismo）”。

加夫列尔·加西亚·马尔克斯（Gabriel García Márquez）是本书的对照组：他是巴尔加斯·略萨这个现实主义者对应的魔术师，是一个在对方这个较弱的竞争对手背弃左翼时，依然坚守左翼的人。Martin 现在是两人的传记作者，他处于一个独特的位置，可以重构文学史上最著名的一次“右勾拳”。1976, 巴尔加斯·略萨在一次冲突中将加西亚·马尔克斯击倒在地，据称是因为他指责对方在自己的婚姻破裂期间安慰其第二任妻子帕特里夏（Patricia），行为过界。这次出拳标志着不仅仅是个人关系的破裂，它还敲定了意识形态的分歧。加西亚·马尔克斯后来评论道，菜单上只有“两种汤”：资本主义和社会主义。而巴尔加斯·略萨在余生中一直贪婪地享用前者。

PRATINAV ANIL 是一位历史学家和作家

最适合海滩阅读的书籍 作者们揭秘他们的假期读物

TOM GAULD

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60 生活方式

唯一奏效的改变 作者：George Francis Lee

我放弃使用洗发水，这让我的头发焕然一新

当我停止洗头时，前两周是最难熬的。但我决心听从理发师的建议……

到 2025 年，我已经大约五年没有花钱理发了，更倾向于让前任在浴室里用厨房剪刀帮我修剪。但现在我快 30 岁了，而且还是单身，我觉得是时候让自己看起来更成熟一些了。由于对护发一窍不通，我觉得早该去一次那种提供不仅仅是“后脑勺和两侧剪短”服务的理发店了——那种时髦的、中产化的场所，修剪一次就要花掉 50 美元。

“你需要停止洗头，”我的理发师直截了当地告诉我。当他们揉搓我那团没有形状、长得过分的乱发时，我被警告不要使用过多的洗发水，因为这会让头发变得干燥、毫无生气且粗糙。

我坐在旋转椅上，感到有些尴尬。理发师的话与其说是警告，不如说是一次诊断。我被指示立即停止使用洗发水，至少持续两周。如果我实在渴望清洁感，可以使用干洗产品；或许还可以偶尔用一点护发素作为奖励。但绝大多数时候，水就是我全部的护理方案。

令我母亲欣喜而令我青少年时期沮丧的是，我拥有一头浓密的红发。多年的嘲讽，加上一个以字母 G 开头的名字，让我和我的红发成为了不可分割的整体。无论好坏，我的头发通常是人们注意到我的第一个特点。我想让自己的头发成为一种骄傲，而意识到自己一直在无意中抽干头发的生命力，这让我感到很震惊。

和大多数人一样，我发现每天挤一点洗发水就像刷牙一样是一种仪式。放弃它感觉违背直觉。

前两周是最糟糕的。“无洗发水”（no poo）方法的倡导者——他们主张用清水或自制混合物取代洗发水，理由是商业产品会对发丝造成重复且不必要的损害——经常告诉你，情况在好转之前会先恶化。他们说，在享受无洗发水护发带来的好处之前，你必须通过某种“肮脏阈值”。

这比我想象的要困难。我会走进淋浴间，把头浸在水下，然后伸手去拿瓶子。一团苹果味的洗发水会渗到我的头皮上，然后我不得不把它刮掉。

▲ “意识到自己一直在无意中抽干头发的生命力，这让我感到很震惊”……乔治·弗朗西斯·李（George Francis Lee）

在享受无洗发水护发之前，你必须先通过一个阈值。几天过去了，我的头皮渴望泡沫。但我决心听从理发师的建议。我坚持了下来，数着日子直到我可以洗头。

但慢慢地，我觉得不再需要洗了。两周变成了三周。三周变成了四周。最终我失去了计数。

“我不记得上次洗头是什么时候了，”我对最好的朋友说，他觉得这听起来有点恶心。

但我的头发从未感觉如此良好。它变得更有波浪感，更弹润，更有光泽。在前两周一直挥之不去的肮脏、发痒的感觉消失了，突然之间，我觉得在经历了多年的无休止洗涤后，我的头发终于找到了自然的平衡。

在那之前，我没有意识到我的头发曾经有多干燥。我的头皮以前经常感到刺激，但这属于那种除非滚雪球般恶化成更麻烦的问题，否则我们通常都会保持沉默的小问题。洗发水似乎一直在洗掉本应滋润和保护我头发的天然油脂。

显然，每个人的发质都不同。我听说发质细软或油性的人无法在不需要洗发水的情况下坚持太久。但对于像我这种发质的人来说，洗发水并非必要。

一年多以后，我的头发比以往任何时候都更亮、更卷。每季度理发时洗一次头对我来说就足够了，而且我可能还能坚持更久。

一年前买的那瓶苹果味洗发水，依然原封不动地摆在我的浴室架子上。

乔治·弗朗西斯·李（GEORGE FRANCIS LEE）是一名斯科特信托（Scott Trust）奖学金记者。

斯蒂芬·柯林斯（STEPHEN COLLINS）

斯蒂芬·柯林斯（Stephen Collins）

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厨房助手 作者：安娜·贝里尔（Anna Berrill）

准备，起跑：最好的明胶素食替代品是什么？我该用什么素食凝固剂来替代明胶片？

萨拉，来自阿伯丁

“事实是，明胶没有完全相同的替代品，因为它的质地极其独特，”爱丁堡 Timberyard 餐厅的糕点主管理查德·菲利普斯（Richard Phillips）表示。目前有许多植物基凝固剂——“琼脂（agar-agar [或简称 agar]）、结兰胶（gellan gum）、果胶（pectin）、卡拉胶（carrageenan）、刺槐豆胶（locust bean gum）、vege-gel……名单很长，”菲利普斯说——但结果永远不会完全一样。

“使用这些替代品所需的温度与明胶不同，”《Beyond Baking》一书的作者菲利普·库里（Philip Khoury）表示，因此他的解决方法是制定不需要凝固剂的食谱。“例如，如果我要制作一种浓稠的、可挤花的奶油，我会使用玉米淀粉，”库里说，并通过调整来获得不同的质地。以他的第一本书《A New Way to Bake》中的意式奶冻（panna cotta）和法式烤布蕾（creme brulee）食谱为例：“从基本上相同的食谱中，你可以得到两种截然不同的质地。唯一的区别在于，如果你将卡仕达酱倒入托盘并冷藏，它会凝固；而如果你用搅拌器打发，它会变成一种浓郁、奶油般且刚好凝固的质地。”

但并非一种替代品能适用于所有情况。“针对特定的东西有特定的替代方案，”菲利普斯说：“用可逆果胶做淋面；用葛粉（kuzu [根淀粉]）勾芡酱汁；用果胶制作果冻，并根据所需的凝固程度使用不同的剂量。”与此同时，库里在制作果冻时更倾向于使用琼脂。

但不要指望能得到与明胶相同的结果。正如哈罗德·麦基（Harold McGee）在《On Food and Cooking》中所解释的：“琼脂在比明胶更低的浓度下即可形成凝胶，重量占比不到 1%。琼脂果冻略显不透明，且质地比明胶果冻更易碎。”用琼脂制作的果冻不会有那种令人愉悦的入口即化感。

即便如此，伦敦 Mount St 餐厅的首席糕点师里斯·卡拉（Reece Kallah）在她的香草卡仕达凝固甜点中，仍会在水果泥凝胶中使用琼脂。“作为一个通用指南，使用液体重量 0.5% 的琼脂——例如，每 1 升液体使用 5g 琼脂。”卡拉将琼脂与少量糖混合“以帮助其均匀分散”，然后将其搅拌入沸腾的液体中，倒入托盘或小烤碗中，静置凝固。“我仍然更喜欢明胶——由于熔点较低，它具有更柔软、更细腻的质地。”

名声不一定总是名副其实，库里补充了一句警告。“如果萨拉采取‘我想把明胶换成其他东西’这种方式，那么它不会奏效；如果她想成功，就应该遵循一个本身不含明胶的食谱。”而且这样做可能也更省事。

安娜·贝里尔（ANNA BERRIL）是一位美食作家。 有烹饪难题？请发送邮件至 feast@theguardian.com

本周食谱 作者：安洁拉·哈特内特（Angela Hartnett）

第 377 号

烤番茄酱 Gnudi（意式素面团）

准备 10 分钟 冷藏 8 小时 + 烹饪 1 小时 10 分钟 分量：4 人份

原料

烤番茄酱： 500g 成熟的李子番茄 2 瓣大蒜，去皮并轻轻拍碎 几根百里香 海盐和黑胡椒 特级初榨橄榄油 少量红葡萄酒醋

Gnudi 面团： 250g 高品质里科塔奶酪（ricotta），充分沥干 50g 细刨帕玛森干酪，另留部分用于点缀 新鲜肉豆蔻 250g 粗粒小麦粉（semolina） 白胡椒

最后点缀

罗勒叶 优质橄榄油

制作番茄酱：将烤箱预热至200℃（风扇烤箱180℃） / 燃气档 6。将番茄与大蒜、百里香放入烤盘中，充分调味并大量淋上优质橄榄油。烘烤 35-40 分钟，直到番茄塌陷并轻微焦糖化。取出并丢弃百里香，然后将番茄搅拌或压碎至你喜欢的浓稠度。加入少许醋以提升风味，随后检查调味并放在碗中保温。

与此同时，制作 gnudi（意式里科塔奶酪团）：将里科塔奶酪搅拌至顺滑轻盈，然后拌入帕玛森芝士，并根据口味磨入少量肉豆蔻。充分调味，然后冷藏 30 分钟。将一半的粗粒小麦粉铺在烤盘上，另一半铺在干净的工作台上。将一勺勺的里科塔混合物搓成短的、厚度约为 1½ 厘米的香肠状，然后切成小块并轻轻揉成球形。在操作过程中，将 gnudi 在工作台的小麦粉中轻轻滚一遍，然后将它们排列在铺有小麦粉的烤盘上。当所有 都放在烤盘上后，在上面大量覆盖剩余的小麦粉，使其几乎被掩埋。如果可能，冷藏过夜，或至少冷藏数小时。

准备一锅大锅盐水并使其微沸，然后分批放入 ，煮三到四分钟，直到它们浮到表面。用漏勺小心捞出，放在厨房纸上沥干。将温热的番茄酱舀在盘中，将 摆在上面，最后点缀罗勒叶、更多帕玛森芝士和少许橄榄油。

GORCHITTZA2012 / GETTY / ISTOCKPHOTO

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62 娱乐

笔记与疑问 这一长跑系列邀请读者就任何事情发送问题和答案

测验

Thomas Eaton

1 哪个山脉拥有世界第二高峰？ 2 哪位概念主义先驱退出了艺术界去下棋？ 3 唯一一位成为教皇的耶稣会士是谁？ 4 哪种古代鲨鱼能长到约 18 米长？ 5 棒球是哪个南美国家的国球？ 6 哪家全球新闻机构总部位于卡塔尔？ 7 在一场丑闻之后，谁将她的家族姓氏改成了 Holland？

▲ 高尔夫球、腌牛肉三明治和口琴之间有什么联系？ ALAMY

8 齐纳卡（Zener cards）被用来测试什么能力？

关联项：

9 班珠尔；拿骚；圣萨尔瓦多？ 10 埃弗特 (5)；耶格尔；曼德利科娃；格拉夫；加里森？ 11 腌牛肉三明治；高尔夫球；口琴？ 12 祭坛石；奥布里孔；跟石；屠宰石；车站石？ 13 尼姆埃和薇薇安；弗洛伦斯·南丁格尔；天尼森笔下的阿斯托拉特的伊莱恩；本内特的玛丽·谢泼德？ 14 1; 4; 3; 11; 15; 13; 17; 43?

谜题

Chris Maslanka

1 词池

寻找正确的定义： MANJAK a) 类似于山竹的水果 b) 汤姆、迪克或哈里（泛指普通人） c) 来自巴巴多斯的沥青 d) 最后幸存的人

2 关键差异

识别在所示字母上有所不同的单词： O (ban / 禁止) E** (ban 的反义词)

3 多中合一

将 A BIG THYLACINE 的字母重新排列，组成一个单词。

4 隐喻谜题 自动传记？(3, 4) 昆虫运动 (7) 草本植物给女孩带来花朵 (8) © CMM2026 答案 1 卡拉科ラム山脉 (K2), 2 马塞尔·杜尚, 3 教皇方济各, 4 巨齿鲨, 5 委内瑞拉, 6 半岛电视台, 7 康斯坦斯·劳埃德 (均为奥斯卡·王尔德相关)。 8 渗出感知, 9 名称中带有定冠词的国家首都：冈比亚, 巴哈马, 萨尔瓦多。 10 温布尔登单打决赛失利 11 在美国国家航空航天局 (Nasa) 任务中进入太空的 Simpyard, 12 巨石阵遗址的部分区域, 13 夫人... 湖中夫人 (有多种称呼), 提灯女士 (虚构 )。 答案处于防守状态。在某个时间点，这位国际大师 (IM) 经历了一场艰难的胜利，但错过了它。这场比赛耗时 6 小时，经过 99 步才完成。获得国际大师 (IM) 标准的最低表现分是 2450，而 Sivanandan 在面对 2420 分的对手群体时，表现分为 2463。她还超过了获得第二个女子特级大师 (WGM) 标准所需的 2400 分要求。如果在 12 岁 4 个月之前获得第三个 WGM 标准，Sivanandan 将获得 WGM 头衔，打破由俄罗斯的 Kateryna Lagno 创下的年龄纪录。 3 橡木将死 4035 1 Re71 Que7 2 Ba6f Ks46 # 国际象棋 Leonard Barden 英格兰 11 岁的天才 Bodhana 在上周六努力争取又一项世界年龄纪录。 在法国埃克斯-普罗旺斯举行的 Dole 奖杯赛中，以一项历史性的首次国际大师成绩收官。在第一轮击败现任法国冠军 Marc'Andria Maurizzi 后，面对包括两名特级大师和一名国际大师在内的对手，她的战绩一度下滑至 2 / 5，随后在最后四轮发力。 在第九轮也是最后一轮与美国新锐国际大师 Samrug Narayanan 的对局被证明是一场史诗级的平局。一场后兵开局演变成了马拉松式的车和轻子力残局，其中 处于 4035 法比亚诺·卡鲁阿纳 (Fabiano Caruana) 对阵 鲁斯兰·波诺马廖夫 (Ruslan Ponomariov)，多特蒙德 2014。白方走子并获胜。

国家日记 爱尔兰，梅奥郡，安纳马什 (ANNAGH MARSH)

几周前的一个晴晨，爱尔兰鸟类观察组织 (BirdWatch Ireland) 的保护区管理员戴夫·萨达比 (Dave Suddaby) 带领我穿过 machair（平原），前往红颈蛎鹬筑巢的地方。“仙鸟 (Fairy bird)”是爱尔兰自然学家罗伯特·劳埃德·普雷格 (Robert Lloyd Praeger) 在 20 世纪初于该地区发现该物种后为其起的名称。当我们行走时，那项让这种微小的涉禽在缺席 3007万 多年后于 2015 年重新回到这里繁殖的栖息地修复工程，已经让我深深着迷。空气中充满了金眶潜鸭、红脚鹬、秧鸡和扇尾鹬的鸣叫声。当那只鸟出现时，它轻快地飞向空中，眨眼间便俯冲向水面。它像软木塞一样轻盈，像舞者一样优雅，在芦苇丛中穿梭，用针状的喙像镊子一样夹起无脊椎动物。几分钟后，它轻快地飞回隐藏在丛生苔草中的巢穴。当它消失在掩体下时，我才重新地呼吸。然后等待。难怪看到仙鸟的感觉如此神奇。红颈蛎鹬是一种远洋物种，一年中的大部分时间都在海上以浮游生物为食。它通常在北极苔原筑巢——安纳马什是其在全球范围内最南端的繁殖地。异常的是，雌性颜色更鲜艳，而雄性在卵产下后承担所有的育雏工作。爱尔兰的蛎鹬加入在西半球繁殖的鸟群，沿着北美东海岸向南迁徙至热带太平洋。“我的”那只蛎鹬在 6 月下旬成功孵化了 4 只雏鸟。现在，它的后代应该已经在飞越海洋了。

玛丽·蒙塔古 (Mary Montague)

插图：克利福德·哈珀 (CLIFFORD HARPER)

--- 63

所有答案将于下周公布

每周纵横字谜 (The Weekly cryptic)

第 3.0064万,070 号

由 Pangakupu 出题

横向

1 橄榄球运动员缺乏重量，被置于阴影中？ (9) 6 生活准则，最初并非颠倒 (5) 9 比如乔 (Joe)，允许一件填充夹克 (5) 10 呼唤季风？孟买居民匆忙中去掉一个 (4,5) 11 母虎，带着“好吃 (Yum!)”，折磨抱怨者 (6,4) 12 某些慈善机构，也许，会很亲切 (4) 14 表现出渴望拥抱一个在化妆中？ (7) 15 美国律师准备接受信息感谢 (7) 17 一个目标几乎完全确保在联赛中获得第一名，通常而言 (2,5) 19 公爵的衰落很大程度上涉及法国丑闻中的未知人物 (7) 20 渴望失去，丢弃钻石 (4) 22 允许风格合适，但并不精细 (10) 25 傲慢的联合主义者阻挡了一个胆小的，大部分？那是价值可疑的 (9) 26 我支持的朋友投资于一次成功 (5) 27 家庭团体中的大噪音使几乎所有人疏远？ (5) 28 过去饮用的饮料促成了岛屿上的氛围 (9)

纵向

1 邮票是如何粘贴的？天哪！ (2,3) 2 星光熠熠的巴黎人是政治团体中的活跃分子 (9) 3 大学引入罕见头衔，奇幻写作 (10) 4 从垃圾中抢救的书，女儿存储 (7) 5 奇怪的扭曲才智由谈话提供者托管？ (7) 6 带有节拍和韵律的方法？ (4) 7 像鱼一样，在鱼很容易被射杀的地方？ (5) 8 立体声倾向于扭曲音乐作品 (9) 13 美国女演员吞下威士忌向上——顺便说一句，它很有启发性 (6,4) 14 一个家伙对经文课程感到不安，表现得虚伪 (9) 16 推广我们，紧随蛋糕装饰，显得足够 (9) 18 亿万富翁调查工作单位很快 (7) 19 主演角色涉及部分削减，扰乱了那个老女人 (7) 21 政府委员会的坚定支持 (5) 23 未经精炼的帝国度量衡？ (5) 24 渴望看到名字从奖牌上被移除 (4)

第 30,064 号答案

快速纵横字谜 (Quick crossword)

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[数据参考] 以下原文数字因单位格式转换可能未在译文中完整体现（供参考）：350000、187000、775000、890000、400000、23000

A week in the life of the world | Global edition 7 AUGUST 2026 | VOL.215 No.6 | £6.50 | €9.95

The Guardian Weekly

GAME

Beyond borders

Chaos on the streets of Ceuta

15

OF

Clacton klaxon

What Farage's voters think of Britain

24

If truth be told

Elon Musk and the media

48

DRONES

HOW UKRAINE TOOK THE WAR IN THE SKIES TO PUT IN

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Eyewitness

São Tomé and

Príncipe

PHOTOGRAPH:

DANIEL BELOUMOU OLOMO/

AFP/GETTY

Battle lines

Moorish and Christian characters prepare to face off in the Auto de Floripes in Santo António, on Príncipe Island. Every August, the entire island participates in the festival of theatrical performances inspired by European medieval tales, centred around the Emperor Charlemagne and his knights, the Twelve Peers of France.

The Guardian Weekly

Founded in Manchester,

England

4 July 1919

Vol 215 | Issue Nº 6

Guardian Weekly is an edited selection of some of the best journalism found in the Guardian's digital editions in the UK, US and Australia, and the Guardian newspaper in the UK. The weekly magazine has an international focus and four editions: global, Europe, 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 common good, and to build hope. Our values, as laid out by editor CP Scott in 1921, are honesty, integrity, courage, fairness, and a sense of duty to the reader and the community. The Guardian is wholly owned by the Scott Trust, a body whose purpose is "to secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity". We have no proprietor or shareholders, and any profit made is re-invested in journalism.

---

The GuardianWeekly

A week in the life of the world 7 AUGUST 2026

4

GLOBAL REPORT

Headlines from the last seven days United Kingdom ... 8 Science & Environment ... 9 The big story Ukraine Drone brigades taking the fight to Russia's skies ... 10

15

SPOTLIGHT

In-depth reporting and analysis

✉ Spain

Why tens of thousands of Moroccans arrived in Ceuta ... 15

Japan

Stories of survival and loss emerge after earthquake ... 19

France

Firefighters wage a war of attrition against megafire ... 24

Asia

Extreme rainfall brings flash floods and typhoons ... 26

Technology

What if lamp-posts were watching you? ... 30

United States

Trump's trade war may be difficult to stop ... 33

34

FEATURES

Long reads, interviews & essays What voters in Clacton really think about Nigel Farage By Tim Burrows ... 34 Iraq's precarious balancing act between the US and Iran By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad ... 40

45

OPINION

Simon Tisdall

Trump has dragged the US into a new 'forever war' ... 45

Emma Brockes

A hard-hat v mortar-board dilemma for my children ... 47

▼ Jane Martinson

With Elon Musk and the media, the truth must not get lost ... 48

Asking powerful people questions even when they react badly is the essence of what journalism is about

51

CULTURE

TV, film, music, theatre, art, architecture & more

✉ Stage

A bold double-hander explores the Electra effect ... 51

Music

The 'beautiful science' of Ethio-jazz ... 55

Books

How to get the reading habit back again ... 57

Books

A runaway woman; our fellow organisms; Llosa revisited ... 58

60

LIFESTYLE

The one change that worked 'No poo' saved my hair ... 60

Kitchen aide

Vegetarian jelly wobbles ... 61

Recipe

Gnudi with tomato sauce ... 61

Join the community

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SPOT ILLUSTRATIONS: MATT BLEASE

On the cover Four years after Vladimir Putin sent tanks to seize Kyiv, the war in Ukraine has moved to the sky - turning into a battle of drones that is unprecedented in the history of warfare. As Ukraine has become the world's leading produced of unmanned systems, Luke Harding spent time with its elite drone strike force.

Cover: Guardian Design; Vyacheslav Prokofyev/AFP/Getty

---

4

Global report

Headlines from the last seven days

1 UNITED STATES/IRAN

Latest talks are 'last chance' to avoid war escalating

New talks between Washington and Tehran were the "last chance" for Iran to forge a deal and avoid an escalation of US strikes, Donald Trump said on Monday.

Trump said he expected negotiations this week to reopen the strait of Hormuz and create a pathway for Iran to address the US's concerns about its nuclear programme. Trump reiterated that he was running out of patience. "This is the last chance for them to sign a good document," he said.

Tehran's foreign ministry spokesperson said Iran had held discussions with Oman about the creation of a temporary route through the strait that would allow commercial shipping to resume, but that it had not yet revived talks with the US.

Trump claimed he had held off from launching the biggest strike on any country "since world war two" last weekend after Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, rang him to urge diplomacy. Trump said the cancellation was conditional on Iran reaching a deal quickly.

It was thought to be the 12th time in the war between the US and Iran that Trump has called off threatened strikes.

Spotlight Page 18 →

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2 SPAIN

Stronger EU borders needed, says Ursula von der Leyen

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, called for action to strengthen Europe's borders after tens of thousands of people arrived and quickly left the Spanish territory of Ceuta, triggering a furious row between Madrid and other European countries. She praised Spain's swift handling of the crisis, after Spanish officials began installing a 500-metre-long floating barrier at the border with Morocco.

By Monday, Spain said about 69,500 migrants had returned to Morocco after arriving in the enclave in north Africa last Thursday. Authorities in Ceuta said 88 people had died trying to reach the territory, while at least 11 deaths were recorded in Morocco.

Spotlight Page 15 →

4 HUNGARY/ROMANIA

Reactors shut down as Danube runs low on water

Hungary and Romania have been forced to shut down nuclear reactors cooled by the Danube for the first time, as record-low water levels deepen fears of an energy crisis across the region.

Romanian naval forces carried out a controlled explosion to help redirect vital cooling water from the drought-hit Danube to the country's last working nuclear reactor, while it was expected Hungary would this week need to entirely shut down its only atomic plant. The extraordinary measures underlined the scale of the climate crisis in Europe, where heat and drought have lowered river levels and raised concerns about water supplies and power generation.

In Serbia, record-low Danube levels have pushed the country's key hydroelectric plant to operate at only 20% capacity. Water levels are not expected to rise on the river, which passes through 10 countries, in the coming weeks as no significant rainfall is forecast. In some stretches it has fallen to levels never previously recorded, revealing rocks, shipwrecks, a second world war bomb and the remains of a woolly mammoth.

3 UNITED STATES

Trump's approval rating at 34% as midterms loom

Three-quarters of Americans believe Donald Trump is not paying enough attention to the country's most important problems, and two-thirds think he places himself above the needs of the US, according to a CNN poll, conducted by the market research company SSRS. The survey came less than 100 days before November's midterm elections.

Trump's overall approval rating was 34%, the poll found, matching his previous lowest immediately following the 6 January 2021 insurrection he incited trying to cling on to power after losing the 2020 presidential election.

5 CANADA

Tourists head west or east rather than south to US

Canadians spent C$3.3bn ($2.3bn) less on travel to the US in 2025 than in 2024 as Donald Trump's hostile policies towards his northern neighbour continue to incur an economic cost, new government data shows. Total US travel spending in 2025 was C$18.8bn.

The research also indicates that Canadians are not bucking travel overall. Visits to Europe increased by nearly 14% compared with 2024, while visits to Asia increased by almost 17%, in a rebuke to Trump's tariff regime and the president's continued musings on annexing Canada.

Spotlight Page 33 →

The Guardian Weekly 7 August 2026

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UK headlines p8→

6 CANADA

Call for national wildfire strategy as Ontario burns

As more than 900 wildfires burn across Canada, prompting evacuation orders and pushing Ontario into its worst wildfire season on record, officials are renewing calls for the country to develop a national wildfire strategy through the creation of a federal agency. Canada is the only G7 country that does not have such an agency.

After July saw poisonous smoke travelling southward through the US, the provincial premier, Doug Ford, called for a countrywide response to the wildfire threat.

7 PERU

Thirteen dead after tourist plane crashes near Nazca

Police said 13 people, among them foreign tourists, were killed in a plane crash in southern Peru, near the Nazca Lines. Authorities in Nazca confirmed that 11 tourists and two pilots died when the Cessna Grand Caravan crashed in Pueblo Viejo, approximately 6km from the city of Nazca and roughly 12km from the Nazca Lines site.

The plane had departed the nearby city of Pisco at about 1pm local time (7pm BST) to fly over the pre-Columbian archaeological site where geoglyphs etched into desert sand cover an area of nearly 1,000 sq km, but minutes later lost contact with the control tower.

The cause of the crash is at present unknown.

9 UNITED STATES

RFK Jr tells US parents to vaccinate against measles

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, on Sunday told American parents that they should get their children vaccinated against measles, as the surge in infections reached numbers not seen in the past 35 years.

Kennedy, a leading vaccination sceptic who has spent years amplifying misinformation about vaccines, including the shot that protects against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), made his call on CNN's State of the Union.

His remark came as the US recorded 2,371 infections so far this year, surpassing 2025's tally of 2,289. The past two years have seen more measles infections in the US than the rest of the 21st century combined.

8 SPORT

Gianni Infantino in peril after Fifa sell-off plan

Pressure increased on the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, after a mass withdrawal of support from European footballing nations for his re-election as head of the game's ruling body.

Infantino's reign is in severe peril after the collapse of his privately backed scheme to sell off chunks of the World Cup, which was largely scuppered when Uefa member associations threatened to boycott future Fifa competitions.

Infantino appears determined to stay on, and is believed to be lobbying individual member associations across the globe to ensure he retains their support.

Spotlight Page 32 →

10 UKRAINE/RUSSIA

Drone attacks on resort and Crimea kill 11, Russia claims

Ukrainian drone attacks on a Black Sea resort and the annexed Crimea peninsula killed 11 people, Russian officials said, after blaming Kyiv for another explosion that killed five people in a Moscow restaurant.

Seven people, including three children, were killed when “drone debris” struck a beach in Arkhipo-Osipovka, the crisis taskforce for Russia’s southern Krasnodar region said on social media.

Another four people were killed in a strike on Crimea, the Moscow-installed governor, Sergey Aksyonov, said on Telegram.

Earlier, Russia blamed Ukraine for a bombing at a restaurant in Moscow that killed five people, amid speculation that a senior Russian military commander was the intended target.

The big story Page 10 →

7 August 2026

The Guardian Weekly

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11

PALESTINE/ISRAEL

Israel yet to accept Trump's Hamas disarmament plan

Israel has yet to respond to a proposed agreement that would lead to the disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, after Donald Trump declared a breakthrough in negotiations via social media.

Trump said the agreement involved the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and was “a monumental step toward ending the fighting”.

Israel has pointed to Hamas’s failure to disarm as justification for its continued strikes, and for Israeli forces’ edging forward from the demarcation line agreed in October.

12

DR CONGO

Ebola death toll rises to 1,500 in fastest ever spread

The latest numbers of confirmed cases of Ebola has made this latest outbreak the fastest growing in the known history of the virus.

As medics recorded more than 3,500 Ebola cases as of 31 July, the disease is now affecting people in five provinces in the east of the DRC, with 1,487 deaths recorded. This represents an overall case fatality rate estimated at about 45%, according to Congolese health officials. Responses to the outbreak have been hampered by conflict in many areas.

Since officially declared by the Congolese authorities on 15 May, the Bundibugyo strain of the virus has spread faster than any of the country’s 16 previous outbreaks.

14

KENYA

Cyanide linked to the deaths of 15 elephants

The deaths of 15 elephants in southern Kenya were likely caused by the animals ingesting pesticides used on tomato farms, the Kenya Wildlife Service said.

Erustus Kanga, the agency’s director general, said analysis of samples collected from the carcasses had found traces of cyanide, a chemical compound used in farming as a predator control poison and a pest fumigant, which has also been used by poachers. “If elephants consume cyanide, they cannot survive a day or two,” he said.

The deaths occurred in the Kimana sanctuary and Kuku Group ranch areas around Amboseli national park.

13

IRAN

Prisoners stage hunger strike as executions soar

At least 1,500 death row prisoners at the country’s largest jail, Ghezel Hesar, near Tehran, have sewn their lips shut in a mass hunger strike. In a series of videos shared by rights groups in exile, prisoners are seen sitting in a prison hallway, holding placards reading “No to Executions” and chanting “Be our voice”.

It is the latest act of defiance in the prisoner-led campaign against executions, which began in January 2024 and has spread across prisons in Iran amid a sharp rise in the use of the death penalty.

Spotlight Page 18 →

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Global report

The big story p10 →

7

15 SOUTH KOREA

Halt to outdoor work as city sees 40C heat for five days

Authorities warned people to “immediately” stop all outdoor activities in areas affected by record-breaking temperatures. The south-eastern city of Yangsan saw the temperature reach 42.5C last Sunday, the highest temperature reported since modern weather observation began in 1904.

The city has been the centre of an ongoing heatwave, where temperatures exceeded 40C for a fifth consecutive day on Sunday, while many other cities are seeing temperatures in the high 30s. There have been 16 heat-related deaths recorded.

North Korea also endured temperatures soaring as high as 40C in some regions, state media reported. In Pyongyang, night-time temperature has exceeded 25C for a week.

16 MALAYSIA

Growing number of 'lost' hikers prompts crackdown

The government is tightening hiking rules nationwide after a social media trend left increasing numbers of adventurers needing to be rescued. In the first five months of 2026, Malaysia saw 52 cases of lost hikers, an increase of nearly 30% compared with the same period the previous year, the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department told local media.

The “hike-tok” outdoor influencer community, has popularised “compressed hikes”, shortened versions of demanding hikes. Other hikers carry minimal gear to appear like professional trail runners on social media.

17 JAPAN

Recovery of earthquake-hit sites hampered by heat

The prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, visited Kumamoto in the south-west of the country, where recovery efforts are being hampered by heat and a lack of water supplies, almost a week after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake killed 38 people, including one person who died of apparent heatstroke while taking shelter in a car.

More than 46,000 households remain without water and many also face sweltering heat. Temperatures were as high as 40C on Monday. More than 8,500 people remain at emergency shelters, many of which lack air conditioning.

Takaichi on Monday flew over the affected areas in an army helicopter and visited one of the area’s best-equipped shelters, triggering criticism on social media that her visit distorted reality.

The governor of Kumamoto, Takashi Kimura, in his meeting with Takaichi, stressed the “abnormal heat”. He said he sought further government support to improve the conditions at evacuation centres, claiming many of them lacked clean water and medical care.

Spotlight Page 19 →

18 NAOERO

Nauru officially changes its name to Republic of Naoero

The Pacific Island country of Nauru has changed its name to the Republic of Naoero, its president said, matching the spelling and pronunciation in the national language.

The country’s international code will change from NRU to NRO and its people will be known as dei-Naoero instead of Nauruan. Commonly known abroad by the pronunciation of Now-roo, the new name is spoken as Now-ero.

The move returns the remote South Pacific island nation to its traditional name, a statement posted on the government’s Facebook account said.

19 MYANMAR

Red Cross visits former leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday met a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the aid organisation has confirmed. The meeting followed years of questions over the wellbeing of the 81-year-old detained former leader, whose whereabouts and health condition have been largely unknown since the elected civilian government she led was ousted by a military coup in February 2021.

Myanmar’s military-backed administrations have repeatedly claimed she is in “good health”.

Her son, Kim Aris, who had recently demanded the ruling junta provide proof of life, said on social media that he hoped the meeting would lead to greater humanitarian access to his mother ultimately her release.

20 NEW ZEALAND

English given same status as Māori and sign language

Legislation recognising English as an official language has been passed by parliament, prompting derision from linguists and legal experts and a viral broadside from a Māori MP.

The English language bill gives English, which is spoken by 95% of the country, the same official status as te reo Māori (Māori language) and New Zealand sign language. Ministry of justice officials had recommended that lawmakers should not pass the bill, because there was “no evidence to support concerns about the use or status of English as an official language”.

DEATHS

Franco Baresi Italian international footballer who spent his entire club career with Milan. He died on 31 July, aged 66.

Vincent Pastore American actor best known for his role as Salvatore Bonpensiero in the TV series The Sopranos. He died on 1 August, aged 80.

Glen Hansard Oscar-winning Irish singer-songwriter. He died on 29 July, aged 56.

Vicki Wickham British pop manager and producer of 60s TV show Ready Steady Go!. She died on 1 August, aged 87.

Nirmal Purja Nepali mountaineer. He died on 30 July, aged 43.

Kazimira Prunskienė First prime minister of the post-Soviet Lithuania. She died on 30 July, aged 83.

Wang Quanying China’s last surviving female participant in the Long March. She died on 22 July, aged 105.

7 August 2026 The Guardian Weekly

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8

Global report United Kingdom

POLITICS

Farage admission blurs his earlier account of £5m gift

Nigel Farage admitted he held talks about the possibility of returning as Reform UK's leader months before the 2024 general election, potentially undermining his own account of the circumstances in which he received a £5m ($6.7m) gift from a crypto billionaire.

It was reported last weekend that Farage had struck a deal with the party's then leader, Richard Tice, and the convicted fraudster George Cottrell to return to frontline politics.

Farage had previously said he did not need to declare the £5m from Christopher Harborne or benefits in kind from Cottrell because he was not in politics at the time they were received. The House of Commons code of conduct states that new MPs must register all "registrable benefits" received in the 12 months before their election.

At a press conference on Monday, Farage said: "I had no intention about returning to politics, or as leader of Reform, but in the spring of that year I did talk to Richard Tice about what the liabilities would be if ... I was to come back to that position."

"You would be a bit of a mug if you were to walk into a job and not find out what the potential liabilities were, and they were substantial," Farage said.

A inquiry by parliament's standards watchdog into whether Farage broke the rules by accepting the £5m and not declaring has been paused after he triggered a byelection by standing down as the MP for Clacton. The vote will be held on 13 August.

The view from Clacton Page 34 →

IMMIGRATION

Burnham will be 'relentless' on small boat crossings

Andy Burnham pledged to be "relentless" in tackling small boat crossings in the light of tens of thousands of migrants entering the Spanish territory of Ceuta, and he said "safe routes" for refugees were necessary to tackle trafficking gangs. The prime minister said the UK had to "deal with the issue rather than play politics with the issue" and make changes that would reassure the public.

Last Wednesday was the busiest day for small boat crossings across the Channel so far this year, with 752 people arriving in the UK. Official provisional figures suggest 14,526 have entered the UK so far this year. This is 43% lower than the number recorded by this time last year (25,436).

Spotlight Page 22 →

WILDLIFE

Storks return to Derbyshire after 600-year absence

A trio of juvenile white storks has been released in Willington Wetlands in Derbyshire, and conservationists hope they will kickstart the return of the birds to the Midlands after an absence of more than 600 years.

"Our next aim is to get to the point where they're a sustainable population," said Katie Last, the living landscape officer for Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

FOOD

Farmers warn of shortages as drought follows floods

Britain could face shortages of certain foods after punishing drought in parts of England, the National Farmers' Union warned, as a heatwave continued to affect much of the country.

Farms were affected by floods over the winter, making planting extremely difficult, and now in many areas they do not have access to water as irrigation is being restricted due to drought.

It is the third drought in five years and farming groups say this is the new normal for agriculture in Britain. England is seeing its earliest ever harvest as farmers battle to salvage what they can of their produce.

DIPLOMACY

London residents will fight plans for Chinese embassy

Construction of a controversial new Chinese embassy was given the green light after the high court dismissed a challenge from neighbours. The Royal Mint Court residents' association immediately announced plans to appeal against the decision in a move that could cause further delays to the project.

The debate over planning permission has been a sore point in British-Chinese relations over recent years. In January the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government gave permission for China to build the vast diplomatic outpost. It would be Beijing's biggest in Europe.

The decision was delayed for months after the planning application was taken out of the hands of the local council, Tower Hamlets, which had originally rejected it on security grounds. Senior spy officials later advised the government that the risks to UK national security could be controlled and dealt with.

20

The amount of time, in minutes, that a handful of visitors to Stonehenge will be allowed to get up close to the monument this month instead of from a distance behind a rope cordon. The lucky people will be chosen at random

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Do you have a recently taken picture you'd like to share with Guardian Weekly? Scan the QR code or visit theguardian.com/pictures-guardian-weekly and we'll print your best submissions

9

Reader's eyewitness Misting over 'On the Waiheke commuting ferry to downtown Auckland, morning fog transformed an everyday crossing into an unlikely meeting of wildlife, surveillance and seascape.' By Valia Papoutsaki, Waiheke island, Auckland, New Zealand

SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT

POLLUTION

Replacing gas stove with electric can help asthmatics

A US study has found a 70% drop in hospital admissions and days off from work or school when people with poorly controlled asthma had their gas stove and hob replaced with electric.

Ohio's publicly owned MetroHealth began the study in December 2024 but funding was terminated by the incoming Trump administration. To the surprise of researchers at Case Western Reserve University, benefits were detected when they shut down the project.

The average asthma score improved from 2.6 to 1.5 on a scale where a change of 0.5 is considered to be clinically significant. This included fewer days off school or work. They also found less wheezing, less use of inhalers and fewer people saying that their asthma had woken them during the night. Air pollution was measured in 44 of the homes. On average, nitrogen dioxide dropped 70%.

WATER

Rainclouds are travelling farther as world gets warmer

Research shows raindrops are travelling even farther than they used to. Warmer air can hold more water vapour, and that is changing not only how much rain we receive but also where it falls.

Travis Aerenson, of the University of Wyoming, modelled atmospheric moisture movements in the US over more than three decades. Their research showed that moisture in the atmosphere travels 50 to 80km farther than it did 35 years ago before falling as rain.

Their findings, published in Geophysical Research Letters, show that the trend will result in the water security of more countries and states falling increasingly outside their borders, requiring greater collaboration between neighbours.

MARINE BIOLOGY

Ships in strait of Hormuz pose 'super-spreader' threat

The closure of the strait of Hormuz since the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran has created conditions

for an extreme global biodiversity threat, with a team of marine biologists warning that thousands of stranded ships could spread invasive marine species across the world once they begin sailing again.

More than 1,500 commercial vessels have been stuck motionless in the Gulf since 28 February, their hulls becoming encrusted with marine life from microbes and algae to barnacles. The study, led by Prof Mario Tamburri, of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, describes the situation as a potential marine "bio-invasion super-spreader event".

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

AI labels to be compulsory on fake content under EU rules

New EU rules have been introduced to stem the flood of fake content.

Companies must ensure people know when they are interacting with an AI-powered chatbot or viewing a manipulated image or AI-generated text. "It's also a matter of democracy protection," the Green MEP Sergey Lagodinsky said. Companies are encouraged to label AI-generated content predating the rules, although this is not compulsory.

4.2

The length, in metres, of Contender, the largest tagged male great white shark in the Atlantic Ocean. The 30-year-old shark has been sighted on the US coast off North Carolina and Maine

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The big story

Domestic strife Kyiv's political puzzle Page 13 →

Trump's patriot games Warming to Zelenskyy Page 14 →

Ukraine war

By Luke Harding UKRAINE

Sparrows were cheeping as the sun set over a field of tall yellow sunflowers when a moped-like growl suddenly disturbed the evening calm. The noise rose, dipped, and rose again. Lt Col Ray - a Ukrainian commander with the 414th aviation brigade - took cover in a leafy ditch.

Seconds later a Ukrainian drone roared into a mauve sky. It jerked upwards at a 45-degree angle, orange flames fizzing, and then motored serenely onwards. The flying object resembled a sleek grey biplane with a wooden propeller and tail. It left behind clouds of billowing black smoke and a whiff of gunpowder.

Four and a half years after Vladimir Putin sent tanks to seize Kyiv, the war in Ukraine has moved from the earth to the sky, turning into a battle of drones. This contest - unprecedented in the history of warfare - features technology, innovation and rapid development.

"We are making history here. This is where democracy beats totalitarianism. It's like George Orwell. But this time Big Brother loses," Ray said, as the drone vanished over the horizon. Its destination was Crimea, a scenic Ukrainian peninsula of beaches and white chalk mountains, stolen by Russia in 2014, and militarised thereafter.

Next, two more long-range drones hurtled forward. They soared into the twilight, above a darkening steppe landscape. Each carried 50-100kg of explosives. Mission over, the Ukrainian soldiers packed briskly, winding up white cables. Within 10 minutes the men were gone. They disappeared down a tree-lined and potholed track.

Far away from the frontline, other crews were crisscrossing Ukraine, releasing drones according to a precise evening schedule. Operators sitting in front of computer screens nudged them towards enemy targets. The model can fly more than 2,500km, far enough to pummel anywhere in European Russia, and much of Siberia as well.

The journey made by Ray's trio of drones was shorter. After four hours, at about 1am, the first →

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UKRAINE/RUSSIA

11

'Putin is afraid'

The drone strike force taking the fight to Russia

At a launch site in rural Ukraine, members of the elite 'Magyar's Birds' brigade are turning Russia's vast size into a weakness

A member of Magyar's Birds checks an FP-1 deep-strike drone before its launch VALENTYN OGIRENKO/REUTERS

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12

The big story^{}[] Ukraine war

reached its endpoint: the holiday resort of Alushta on the southern coast of occupied Crimea. The drone weaved between grey apartment blocks and crashed into a 110kV electricity substation. Flames erupted, pricking the city's inky blackness.

These remote strikes on 21 July were part of what Ukraine has nicknamed the Crimean "switch off": a campaign to disconnect the region from its power and logistics networks. The same night, unmanned drones hit 13 electricity nodes. Several were located in the Russian-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces, which the Kremlin says it has annexed.

Since 2022 Russia has carried out nightly attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns. It sends Iranian-designed Shaheeds as well as ballistic and hypersonic missiles. After Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, these swarms grew. They rain down chaotically, killing families in their apartments in a campaign of terror.

Once a recipient of western assistance, Ukraine has responded by developing its own military manufacturing base. After rapid growth, the country has become the world's leading unmanned systems power. The drones hurled last week at Crimea were built in Kyiv by a defence technology startup. The firm's representatives take part in operations.

Ray's battalion - named after Kairos, the ancient Greek god of opportunity, luck and the fleeting moment - has carried out hundreds of deep strikes against Russia. Targets have included oil refineries, warehouses and munitions depots. It has also struck ports and harbours, as well as routes used for army logistics such as roads and railways.

In 2026, Ukrainian drones have struck Moscow and Putin's home city of St Petersburg, embarrassing Russia's president and bringing the war home to ordinary citizens who have previously ignored it. "I think Putin is afraid," Ray suggested. "One of the justifications he gave for his war was to stop Ukraine from [potentially] bombing Moscow. It's happening now as a direct consequence of his actions."

Ray said he felt "revenge and justice" every time one of his drones ascended into the moonlit heavens. "We didn't start this war," he said. "We have no choice. We are fighting for our independence, for our people, for the memory of those who have died,

and for our future. This is a contest between slaves and free people."

Secrecy surrounds Ukraine's well-organised drone operation. An analytics department finds targets. Western partners provide some intelligence, but most is open source. Drone crews are given coordinates at the last minute. So far none of those who take part in launches have been injured or killed.

One person involved said: "You are making change on a global scale. Trump wakes up and sees the results. At the same time it's very solitary. You can't tell anybody about what you do, even your wife, or boast: 'Today we bombed Moscow.'' They added: "It's an important job. You feel the biggest satisfaction and a member of an elite."

Kairos is a part of "Magyar's Birds", a brigade named after the call sign of its founder, Robert Brovdi, the head of Ukraine's unmanned systems forces. In July Brovdi launched a campaign to destroy oil tankers and other vessels in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea. So far, more than 200 have been hit. The Russians were taken unawares, their boats unable to escape.

Since last month the brigade has been burning warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia's equivalent of Amazon, obliterating at least nine of them. Ukraine says the company sells military products. "The socio-psychological impact on society is greater than that of an oil refinery," Brovdi said.

He said Ukrainian long-range drones had "significantly thinned out" Russia's air defences.

"We have already destroyed the majority of them," he said. Three days earlier, air defence units were flattened in the Russian port of Yeysk on the Azov Sea, he added, bringing the number of systems knocked out to 305.

▲ Lt Col Ray - a commander with the 414th aviation brigade

ALESSIO MAMO

'It's an important job. You feel like a member of an elite'

Russia's enormous size has turned into a weakness. A panicked Kremlin has moved "a certain number" of air defences from the frontline to protect Moscow, Brovdi said. The commander said he wanted to stop Russia from using Crimea as a "springboard" to fire on Ukraine and to push out the nearly 1 million Russian residents or "colonisers" who settled on the peninsula after Putin's 2014 takeover.

Crimea now has so little fuel that Russian military groups are sometimes unable to fill up and launch drones. There are also frequent power cuts.

One brigade member, call sign Schweik, predicted food shortages would happen soon: "We will continue this pressure. They will be thinking about survival instead of assault operations." Schweik added: "The situation is humiliating for Russia. Crimea is symbolic... now everyone in the world understands that Russia is really weak."

Not all Ukrainian drones reach their targets. According to Ray, about a third are brought down over occupied territory. He admitted losses in the skies above Russia were considerably higher. Nevertheless, Ukraine's strategy - to pile pressure on the Russian economy - appears to be working. "Troops and resources must be exhausted, so that it becomes impossible for them to continue the war," Brovdi said.

The commander acknowledged that Russian troops were still advancing in the eastern Donbas region, with battles in the city of Kostiantynivka. "Their gains to date do not justify the price they're paying for them," he said. He continued: "At this rate, with their intention to seize half of Ukraine, are they planning to fight for 100 years?"

Back in the countryside, Ray's colleague "Panama" described the latest launch as a success. "It was 10 out of 10," he said, adding that he had been working with the current biplane-like model for a year and a half. "To begin with we used foreign drones. Sometimes things went wrong. Now we don't have problems," he said.

The only challenge came from mosquitoes. "We've become friends with them. They don't annoy me any more. They are also inhabitants of free Ukraine. They can do whatever they want," Panama said. "But if they irritate us we will launch them at the enemy. They can eat Russians."

LUKE HARDING IS THE GUARDIAN'S SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT

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EXPLAINER^{}[] UKRAINE

13

Home truths Reshuffle exposes cracks in Zelenskyy's wartime team

By Michael Segalov and Luke Harding

Another week, another diplomatic success for Volodymyr Zelenskyy. His first meeting with the new British prime minister, Andy Burnham, confirmed continuity in the UK's support for Ukraine. Then, in Washington, Zelenskyy and Donald Trump held a "positive and productive" meeting, as per the White House. The US Senate advanced a sweeping Russian sanctions bill. The hundreds of billions Zelenskyy secured in military and financial aid from the US, Europe and the UK is remarkable. But he returned to face a political crisis in Kyiv, where daily protests have been held since the dismissal of defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

What is the controversy surrounding Fedorov?

Since taking up the Ukrainian defence brief this January, the 35-year-old former digital transformation minister and deputy PM has been seen as a modernising, tech-savvy reformist, credited by many with cleaning up a defence ministry plagued by Soviet-era practices and alleged corruption. When Fedorov messaged Elon Musk on X to request satellite internet service Starlink be switched off for Russian soldiers, Musk obliged.

◀ Andy Burnham with Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his visit to the UK

A protester holds a cutout of sacked defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov

SERGY DOLZHENKO/EPA

The contrast between Fedorov and Oleksandr Syrskyi - Ukraine's 61-year-old erstwhile army chief - couldn't be starker. They clashed. Last month, Zelenskyy announced a government reshuffle, including the removal of Fedorov.

It was a curious choice. Fedorov appeared to pose no political threat. He was a key ally and former aide, and a Zelenskyy loyalist. Now he is a potential successor.

Polling found 72% of respondents were against Fedorov's dismissal, with only 5% for. Late last month, under mounting public pressure, Zelenskyy changed course. Syrskyi was sacked and Fedorov invited back into government. Fedorov turned down alternative senior ministerial posts, and Zelenskyy has yet to reoffer him the defence job.

Has Zelenskyy's judgment been questioned before?

In July 2025, protests erupted in Kyiv and other cities in response to the government's proposals to strip two anti-corruption bodies of their independence. Zelenskyy signed the bill into law but backtracked under public pressure a few months later. One organisation (Nabu - the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine) then investigated Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak. It led to his resignation.

Could there be elections in Ukraine?

Wartime martial law bans elections, so Zelenskyy has been in power since 2019, when he won a massive majority. Despite pressure from

Vladimir Putin (and at times Trump) to call a fresh election, polling shows appetite is low for a pre-peacetime vote, with 6 million Ukrainians now based abroad and Russian airstrikes ongoing. Still, reports suggest the government had explored options for holding a (ceasefire-dependent) election this year.

What is the state of the war?

While it's too soon to say that Ukraine is winning the war with Russia, it is rapidly regaining the initiative. Fedorov (and Syrskyi, who created Ukraine's standalone drone department) have shifted focus from ground to sky.

Russia continues to slowly advance on the ground, but at a price of 30,000 dead and wounded troops a month.

What happens next?

To many, the Fedorov/Syrskyi debacle represents something existential: a struggle between a younger western, progressive generation, and the Soviet-inflected, old guard that operates in handshakes and some corruption.

There is an alternative read on the public outpouring of frustration. Even as Russia's assault continues, with UN figures showing June as the deadliest for Ukraine's civilians in four years, it suggests that people are focused on constructing a decent, fair, modern, forward-looking society after victory.

MICHAEL SEGALOV IS DEPUTY NEWSLETTERS EDITOR AT THE GUARDIAN

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14

Simon Tisdall^{}[] Echoes of Afghanistan haunt Trump^{}[] ^{}[] Page 45 →

ANALYSIS

US/UKRAINE

*Friends reunited

Why relations between Trump and Zelenskyy are warming*

By Robert Tait WASHINGTON

As leadership pairings go, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not a match made in heaven. Yet from a calamitous start that saw Trump publicly ambush and then virtually expel Zelenskyy from the White House after an explosive meeting in February 2025, relations between the US president and his Ukrainian counterpart have taken an unexpectedly warm turn.

The thaw has coincided with the US-Israeli war with Iran - and appears to have sped up as Trump has struggled to end the conflict.

“There’s no question that he’s warmed up to Zelenskyy,” said Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations and a former White House adviser on European affairs. “There have now been a succession of meetings that have gone well.”

Last week, the pair met once more at the White House after Zelenskyy travelled to Washington for the funeral of Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator who had staunchly backed Ukraine in its war with Russia, even as Trump and his Maga movement all but threw in their lot with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

The encounter followed another at last month’s Nato summit in Ankara, when Trump praised Zelenskyy - whom he had once labelled a “dictator” - and said he would grant licences for Ukraine to develop its own Patriot missile interceptors. It also came on the heels of an arguably even more

remarkable occurrence: the meeting in Kyiv between Zelenskyy and Laura Loomer, the far-right social media influencer known to have sway with Trump, and who has previously vocally supported Russia.

After meeting the Ukrainian leader, Loomer said she had been “bamboozled” by Russian propaganda and admitted having believed “a lot of untrue things” about Ukraine. She also said she had followed the meeting with a phone call to Trump and that her change of view was affecting sentiment across the Maga movement.

This sea change may have several causes, yet one potential factor stands out: the US’s deepening difficulties in concluding the war with Iran’s hardline Islamic regime that Trump launched, along with Israel, on 28 February.

Tehran’s retaliation with drone attacks on US military bases and infrastructure in allied Gulf kingdoms has served to illustrate the shared interest between Kyiv and Washington. Ukraine, too, came under sustained attack from Iranian Shahed drones after Tehran supplied them to Moscow in the early stages of Russia’s invasion of the country in 2022.

Ukraine has since responded by becoming a world leader in defensive drone technology, an innovation it has trumpeted to the US and its Gulf allies since they came under fire from the weapons as Iran responded to the military onslaught on its territory.

Zelenskyy told British MPs in March that 200 Ukrainian military experts had been dispatched to 11 countries across the Gulf - including the UAE, Saudi Arabia,

Ukraine’s activity could have the effect of reframing the Iran war

▼ Volodymyr Zelenskyy with Donald Trump in Washington last week

APA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Qatar and Kuwait - to advise on how to combat Shahed drones.

Last month, Ukraine was accused of trying to merge the two conflicts after it struck an Iranian commercial vessel on the Caspian Sea. Kyiv justified the strike by saying that the ship was being used to transport arms to Russia. Iran said the strike had killed an Iranian sailor and threatened retaliation.

Preparing to meet Trump in Washington, Zelenskyy said Iran had “attacked” Ukraine by supplying weaponry to Russia. Zelenskyy also vowed to share Ukrainian intelligence that he said showed Russia giving Tehran help to hit US targets.

Kupchan, of the Council of Foreign Relations, said Zelenskyy was being a “good salesman” in persuading Trump that Ukraine was an ally worth supporting, by contributing help that the US needs - thus appealing to Trump’s transactional instincts.

“The case for helping Ukraine is even stronger now, because Ukraine has demonstrated that it is not just a taker, but a giver,” Kupchan said.

However, the US president’s apparent vacillation over his Patriot missile pledge shows that cultivating Trump is always at the mercy of his mercurial nature.

Some analysts warn that Ukraine risks turning two local wars into a global conflict.

Sina Toossi, a fellow at the Center for International Policy, said Ukraine’s intervention bolstered the view in Tehran that the Russia-Ukraine war, and Iran’s confrontation with the US, are becoming a single, interconnected conflict. “Trump’s apparent warming toward Zelenskyy only strengthens this perception,” he said. “The likely implication is not an immediate missile strike on Ukraine, but a broader expansion of where Tehran believes it can legitimately impose costs.”

Ukraine’s involvement could have the effect of reframing the Iran war, so that it would no longer be perceived merely as serving an agenda set by Israel, but as helping to defend Ukraine.

CORRESPONDENT FOR GUARDIAN US

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15

FRANCE

Exhausting battle against 'megafire'

Page 24 →

Spotlight

SPAIN

Crossing

chaos turns to limbo for Moroccans in Ceuta

By Okba Mohammad and Javier Jennings Mozo CEUTA

Last week, Youssef El Abbas saw an opportunity to reclaim the life he had lost seven years earlier. News was circulating that about 400 people had swum from Morocco to the neighbouring Spanish enclave of Ceuta, approximately 20km across the strait of Gibraltar from mainland Spain.

Here was a chance for the 44-year- old Moroccan father of four to return to Spain, from which he had been deported when his residency expired after the loss of his job in Bilbao in 2019. El Abbas took a taxi and headed to the city of Tétouan, south of the enclave. While en route, he saw Facebook

posts and news reports claiming that the Moroccan authorities were allow- ing people to pass through their side of the border. That meant he could travel overland before a short swim across the border from Moroccan to Spanish territory to avoid the Spanish border controls.

He reached Tétouan to find the city completely overwhelmed. By the time a second taxi took El Abbas to Fnideq, the town bordering Ceuta, he realised that the usual blockades and checkpoints preventing people without European documents from even approaching the frontier had been removed. "The Moroccan police

▲ Migrants arrive at the Ceuta border, some on foot, others by swimming

MARIO MORAN/JNA/ ZUMA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Continued

→

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16

Spotlight^{}[] Europe

were shouting at us: 'Go, go, go! Run now, run into Spain,' he said.

Despite the crowds, El Abbas noticed the police were only letting Moroccans cross over. "All the sub-Saharan migrants were being pushed back by force."

He reached the border at 2.45pm on Wednesday. By 3pm, after a short swim, he was standing on Spanish soil. Not everyone was so lucky. "In just 10 minutes in the water, I saw four people floating dead in Moroccan waters," he said. "People were pulling their bodies out." They were among at least 88 people who drowned or were crushed trying to reach the Spanish territory.

El Abbas is just one of the 70,000 or so people to have crossed into Ceuta last week, in what Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, described as "a violation of Spain's territorial integrity".

Madrid attributed the latest influx to "human-trafficking mafias" that have taken advantage of a decision by Spain's supreme court, which recently ruled that those intercepted at sea while trying to enter Ceuta or Melilla - the other Spanish enclave on the north African coast - could not be summarily returned under special rules.

But there has also been speculation that the Moroccan authorities may have opened the border to signal their displeasure at Sánchez's recent visit to Algeria, which supports efforts to free the disputed territory of Western Sahara from Moroccan occupation.

Morocco's ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich Millán, said Rabat was not happy about the mass crossing, adding that it hoped those in Ceuta would return. Moroccan government sources told the Europa Press news agency that the surge of people entering Ceuta was down to "criminal organisations" and insisted that Rabat's cooperation with Spain remained "exemplary".

In May 2021, Rabat loosened border controls - allowing 10,000 people to cross into Ceuta over the course of two days - during a diplomatic stand-off triggered after Madrid allowed a Western Sahara independence leader to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain.

El Abbas said he had never stopped dreaming of returning to Spain, where he had worked for 14 years. Since being deported in 2019, he has lived apart from his wife and four daughters, who remain in Bilbao, while scraping by with occasional work. "I never stopped thinking about coming back,"

▲ Spanish authorities blamed the influx of migrants in Ceuta on 'human-trafficking mafias'

▼ Authorities in Ceuta last Friday, where thousands of people arrived by sea from Morocco

MARIO MORAN/JNA/ZUMA/SHUTTERSTOCK

he said. "In Morocco, I was alive, but I wasn't really living."

El Abbas's story is hardly unique. Although more than 69,000 people had crossed back into Morocco by Monday, hundreds were this week still sleeping in parks and on pavements, waiting for a chance to move on or to find somewhere to rest. It appears to be virtually impossible for migrants to leave Ceuta for mainland Spain.

Said, 17, from Casablanca similarly joined the Ceuta-bound crowds when he heard that the border was open. But the jubilation had given way to reality and all he had was a bottle of water and the carton of yoghurt a local resident had given him.

The teenager said he was taken to a centre for unaccompanied minors after he crossed, but there were no places, so he ended up back on the

streets. Said and the other teenagers with him said no one would sell them food or allow them into shops because they did not speak Spanish.

Three days after the influx, Ceuta was slowly trying to recover a sense of normality. Many of the remaining arrivals were being tended to by Ceuta locals, who walked the streets handing out bottles of water, blankets and clothes. Such shows of solidarity have been threatened by the arrival of far-right politicians and a neo-Nazi group, all keen to use the humanitarian crisis for their own ends.

Fatima Hamed Hossain, a member of Ceuta's assembly, feared that the strain created by the crisis had deepened divisions within the city. "Everything we've lived through has created tensions between neighbours," she said. "That's exactly what feeds the far right."

As a caravan of people returned back over the border, Said's mind was on the future. His goal is simple: get a place in a protection centre, spend the next year learning Spanish and, once he turns 18, find work as a barber. What he fears most is ending up without legal documentation and seeing that plan collapse before it has even begun. Leaving is not on his agenda, however. "All I need," he said, "is a chance."

OKBA MOHAMMAD IS A JOURNALIST BASED IN SPAIN; JAVIER JENNINGS MOZO IS AN AUDIO-VISUAL JOURNALIST

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17

EXPLAINER MIGRATION

Border breach

How Ceuta became a flashpoint for migration

By Guardian reporters

What has happened and where?

Border controls between Morocco and the tiny Spanish territory of Ceuta appeared to break down last week, allowing tens of thousands of people to cross on to the Spanish side in chaotic and dangerous scenes that resulted in dozens of deaths.

The number of arrivals was more than two-thirds the size of the ordinary population in Ceuta. Spanish officials said on Monday that an estimated 69,500 people who had arrived late last week in Ceuta had returned to Morocco. As of Monday, about 2,500 people who had made the crossing were believed to still be in Ceuta.

Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish territory 400km to the east along north Africa's Mediterranean coast, constitute the EU's only land borders with Africa.

In Spanish possession since 1580, Ceuta is home to a mixed population of Christians and Muslims, while its Spanish and Moroccan residents and day workers live in relative harmony. Morocco does not officially recognise Ceuta and Melilla as Spanish territories and often refers to them as occupied lands.

Why is Ceuta a migration flashpoint?

Spain is a main point of arrival into Europe for people seeking better economic opportunities or an escape from violence. Ceuta and Melilla are heavily fortified as they are seen as destinations for those trying to reach Spain from Morocco and other parts of Africa. Many migrants who reach Ceuta or Melilla are immediately turned back, but others are held in

migrant shelters while they apply for asylum in Spain.

To reach Ceuta, people often swim from the Moroccan town of Fnideq, about 5km away. Others attempt the crossing from the nearer town of Belyounech.

In 2022, 23 people were killed as about 2,000 people, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, attempted to cross into Melilla from Morocco, while in 2014 at least 14 people died off Ceuta when 200 people tried to enter by climbing the border fence or swimming around a breakwater.

Migrant arrivals to Ceuta and Melilla are generally much lower than those reaching Spain through the Canary and Balearic islands.

Spain's immigrant population has grown considerably in recent decades, with about 10 million people in the country of 50 million having been born elsewhere. Many are from Colombia, Venezuela and Morocco and work in key sectors including agriculture and tourism.

Since at least the mid-1990s, thousands of people cross the Mediterranean each year from north African countries and Turkey in search of asylum in Europe. According to figures from the International Organization for Migration, 35,153 migrant deaths and disappearances have been recorded in the Mediterranean since 2014, with 1,493 dead or missing during the first seven months of 2026.

Why were so many people able to cross over?

Spanish intelligence sources told El País that the roots of the influx probably lay in a hoax that had swiftly spread across social media after a Spanish supreme court ruling

Across the water

How people attempt to reach the Spanish territory

Flashpoint High death toll on crossings

35k Number of migrant deaths and disappearances recorded in the Mediterranean since 2014

1,493 Number of dead or missing during the first seven months of 2026

Reporting team Ashifa Kassam in Madrid; Okba Mohammad in Ceuta; Lisa O'Carroll in London; Angela Giuffrida in Rome

that migrants arriving by sea could not be summarily deported. As the hoax gained steam online, Moroccan border surveillance dwindled to a minimum until it was completely lifted late last week, allowing tens of thousands of people through.

However, the crossing could be linked to the rivalry between Morocco and Algeria, and a recent trip by the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, to Algiers.

The last mass border crossing, in May 2021, took place after Morocco loosened border controls during a diplomatic row with Spain over the Western Sahara independence movement, the Polisario Front.

Morocco and the Polisario Front both lay claim to Western Sahara, which was under Spanish rule until 1975, when colonial authorities handed over the territory to Morocco and Mauritania. That diplomatic crisis ended in 2022 when Madrid backed Morocco's plan for Western Sahara - a move that had caused a rift between Madrid and Algiers, which supports the Polisario group.

Sánchez visited Algiers in July, marking a thaw in relations. Analysts have suggested this could have triggered a response from Rabat.

The leader of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, described the border crossings as an attack on Spain's territorial integrity that was seen as being "if not orchestrated, at least encouraged or permitted by Morocco". Spain's defence minister, Margarita Robles, also seemingly signalled Rabat's involvement.

How have governments reacted?

Across the EU, the crisis seemingly ushered in a moment of reckoning after a handful of EU countries responded to the crisis by calling for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen free-movement zone. Italy said it had suspended passport-free Schengen travel arrangements with Spain for one month, despite the fact that Ceuta is not part of Schengen, while France tightened its borders with Spain.

Before an emergency video meeting of interior ministers on Tuesday to address the crisis, Spain's foreign minister said the country would demand solidarity from EU members after several had, in his view, "fallen short" of what was expected.

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Spotlight^{}[] Middle East

ANALYSISIRAN

A crisis within Is internal dissent more damaging than war?

By Patrick Wintour

Iran, in the midst of an escalating five-month war with the US, continues to stumble from one internal crisis to another - whether it is over public executions, the rising cost of living or the alleged bias of the state broadcaster. But there is now a growing threat of a long diplomatic deadlock as the war broadens, forged by mutual distrust in which neither side believes the other will stick to any agreement.

Parts of the Trump administration and the Iranian opposition - including Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former deposed Shah - have never abandoned the belief that the Iranian government is on the brink of collapse.

Meanwhile, Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's president, rarely tires of warning that the conditions that led to the bloody protests in January remain. At a recent meeting of the supreme judicial council, he argued: "Iran is engaged in a full-scale war. Today's war is not just a war of missiles ... if economic pressures cause social discontent to form and this discontent spreads, the enormous social capital that the people have created in support of the system will be lost."

Azar Mansouri, once a close reformist ally of Pezeshkian, warned last month at the annual meeting of the Iranian reformist front about a small but vocal group that seemed determined to portray negotiated agreements with the US as retreats or defeat. War, she warned, "is not just a confrontation between military forces and armies... ultimately, it threatens the future of the nation."

Similarly a "we do not want war" statement signed by 268 political activists last month said they believed the overwhelming majority of the population opposed the war, and this should be tested in a public vote. Another letter from 1,000 activists linked with the former president Mohammad Khatami warned "the contemporary experience of Iran is that war has no winners. Those who advocate negotiations should not be slandered."

Iranians are being forced to change their diets owing to the cost of fruit, eggs and chicken

▼ Missiles on display at Azadi Square, Tehran, last week

MAJID ASGARIPOUR/ WANA/REUTERS

What unites these initiatives is a fear that diplomats are losing, and Iran is being edged into a "forever war" that can be portrayed as an Iranian-Arab war, a war that would be to Israel's advantage.

In the next six months food rationing could become necessary, Majid-Reza Hariri, the head of the Iran-China chamber of commerce, warned last week. Gholamhossein Mohammadi, the deputy minister of labour, said more than a million jobs had been lost as a result of the war.

In a way, rationing - through food price inflation - has already started as Iranians are being forced to change their diets owing to the cost of fruit, eggs and chicken. Year-on-year food inflation reached 134% last month, meaning the average household's monthly food budget has more than doubled in a year. Overall inflation is at 84%.

The toll of the war on the economy has spread everywhere from the internet to tourism. Yet one of the biggest bombshells was detonated on national television when Zabihullah Khodayian, the head of the General Inspection Organisation, a national audit office, revealed the scale of foreign-exchange corruption among so-called trusts, highly secretive government-sponsored bodies.

These trusts, embedded in the Iranian political system for years, are entities set up to transfer Iranian oil income outside the network of US sanctions. It is self-evident that they act in an opaque way, and siphon off public money.

Khodayian confirmed as much, saying one trust was given $200m, had not returned the money and had also left the country. He said a further 229 individuals owed the state a total of $27bn, while the judiciary said cases were being opened against nearly 50 individuals.

It is still unclear on what basis these trusts were selected and how they are held accountable. But there is a growing chance that a major scandal is about to be revealed that could involve Iran's elite. If so, all the talk of social cohesion across the classes will start to look very hollow.

PATRICK WINTOUR IS THE GUARDIAN'S DIPLOMATIC EDITOR

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Spotlight Asia Pacific

19

JAPAN

Stories of survival and loss emerge after deadly earthquake

By Gavin Blair TOKYO

“There was a voice coming from the collapsed house, and I could see a hand,” Tomohide Nagata, a volunteer firefighter, told the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun newspaper. “One of our senior members crawled in and pulled him out. He was bleeding from the head, but I’m so glad he survived.”

Nagata had heard a noise coming from the home in the rural town of Hikawa, close to the epicentre of last Tuesday’s 6.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Japan. The town was one of the areas hardest hit, with numerous older houses collapsing. Terrified of the ongoing aftershocks, many residents spent that night in their cars outside Hikawa’s town hall, where staff distributed food and drinks.

At least 38 people were killed and hundreds injured after the quake hit the island of Kyushu. The prime

minister, Sanae Takaichi, briefly visited the area for the first time on Monday.

Iwaoka Shigemi, 79, and his wife, Michiyo, 77, had escaped from their house and spent the night sleeping in their car in Hikawa, according to the Mainichi Shimbun. With temperatures reaching 35C last week, they were worried about the risk of heatstroke.

Nearly 23,000 homes had no electricity and 75,000 had no running water, Kumamoto officials said. About 15,000 people had been evacuated to 400 shelters.

The defence minister, Shinjirō Koizumi, said that almost 5,000 Self-Defence Forces deployed to the region had airlifted coolers to shelters in Kumamoto, while SDF vessels were delivering water and food. “We’re doing everything possible to make saving lives a priority, making efforts to deliver life-saving supplies, beginning with water,” Koizumi said.

Suemi Nagata, 79, was unable to escape Hikawa by car because her garage had been destroyed but had made it to the town hall with her husband and older sister. “The lateral shaking was worse than the Kumamoto earthquake 10 years ago, and it was terrifying,” she told the town’s newspaper. “Just to have survived with my life is something to be grateful for.”

Rescue workers searched the Aeon shopping centre in the town of Kashima, which was bustling with thousands of people when the quake struck. The company said about 3,000 customers were evacuated to a car park before a gas explosion occurred in another part of the shopping centre.

All those caught in the explosion were shop workers who had returned

◀ Emergency workers carry out search and rescue operations at a collapsed house in Hikawa, Kumamoto KYODO/REUTERS

Quake hotspot In April, the prefecture of Kumamoto commemorated the 10th anniversary of the 2016 earthquake that killed more than 275 people and caused widespread devastation. In that case, a 6.2-magnitude foreshock was followed two days later by a deadly 7-magnitude quake, something that was on the minds of tens of thousands across Kumamoto last week. The archipelago, home to about 125 million people, usually experiences hundreds of jolts every year and accounts for about 18% of the world’s earthquakes.

to the building after the evacuation, Aeon said. The company’s president bowed in apology at a press conference last Wednesday, saying Aeon had failed to anticipate the explosion, the cause of which was being investigated. A 16-year-old girl who got out with other shoppers moments before the explosion, told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper she “felt completely safe once she was outside”, only to be left struggling to breathe by dust and smoke.

In Uki City, which also experienced shaking ranked at the maximum 7 on the Japanese shindo scale, residents told of lucky escapes and heartbreaking unsuccessful rescue efforts.

A woman in her 40s had managed to reach an evacuation shelter with three generations of her family after putting herself between falling furniture and her children. “I was pinned under a chest of drawers at home. I protected my children and then hurried to evacuate,” she told the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun from Toyono elementary school, which was being used as an evacuation shelter after the ceiling of the local disaster facility fell in.

Last Tuesday evening, as neighbours and relatives attempted to check in on each other, residents in the Asakawa district of Uki found one house flattened, with roof tiles scattered on the ground around where it had once stood. As family members looked on, a handful of volunteer firefighters attempted to rescue an elderly man trapped inside.

“The man is a childhood friend of mine,” the visibly shaken 70-year-old head of the local district told the Kumamoto newspaper. “We tried to pull him out, but the aftershocks came one after another, so we had no choice but to give up.”

As in Hikawa, many Uki residents slept in their cars, and local government workers handed out water and food. Unable to use the damaged disaster facility, the city set up a makeshift response headquarters in a car park.

In Yatsushiro, south of Hikawa, one man’s life may have been saved by his schedule when his workplace, a single-storey wooden structure, collapsed. “It was a day off and I wasn’t at work, so I escaped with my life,” said the self-employed man, 63, who spent the night in a tent pitched in his garden. “Though I have no idea what I’ll do starting tomorrow.”

GAVIN BLAIR IS A JOURNALIST COVERING JAPAN

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Eyewitness

United Kingdom

Common goals

The 2026 Commonwealth Games drew to a close in Glasgow last weekend after 11 action-packed days. Around 3,000 athletes and para-athletes from 74 countries and territories battled it out for medals in sports from bowls to swimming. The next Games, in India in 2030, will mark the event's centenary.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY TOM JENKINS

▲ England's Emily Campbell celebrates setting a new Commonwealth Games record and winning gold in the women's +86kg weightlifting competition

▶ Anderson Peters of Grenada, who came fourth in the javelin. Sri Lanka's Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage took the gold medal

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Georgia Godwin of Australia on the uneven bars in the women's all-around final in artistic gymnastics. The Australian team took gold ahead of Canada and England

Joshua Liendo of Canada in the semi-finals of the men's 100m freestyle. He won gold in the 100m butterfly event

Rakib Hossain of Bangladesh (red) secures a win over Clinton Tetekana of the Solomon Islands in their bantamweight boxing contest. Hossain was eliminated in the quarter-finals

Peter Cusack of England and Tomas Klein of Australia battle it out during the final of the men's 3x3 wheelchair basketball. Australia beat England 19-13

7 August 2026

The Guardian Weekly

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Spotlight^{}[] Europe

UNITED KINGDOM

Will a flying start lead to sustained success for Burnham?

By Jessica Elgot

Andy Burnham spent his first fortnight as prime minister in a blitz of hyperactivity. From bus fares, business rates, energy bill cuts, defence, Ukraine and devolution – the new prime minister has been everywhere.

But at his speech last Wednesday at Jewish Care in north London, there was a stark reminder of how hard it can be for even the most energetic prime minister to win attention. One resident in the care home asked Burnham

if he was the local candidate, and was amazed when told there was – yet again – a new prime minister.

Despite that amusing hiccup, Labour MPs broadly feel a renewed sense of optimism in the “Burnham bounce” and in the party seizing its first polling lead since March 2025 in two polls released last week.

Is it a honeymoon or is it a sustainable trajectory? In new MRP polling of more than 10,000 voters – seen by the Guardian – Burnham received a bounce of six points in voting intention compared with mid-June, taking Labour to 26%, ahead of Reform on 23%. The poll puts Labour ahead on seats, though still some way short of a majority.

According to the poll, Labour would win 245 seats, with Reform on 174 seats, the Conservatives on 99, and the Liberal Democrats on 67. This would mean a hung parliament.

The poll from Convergent suggests the bounce comes primarily from droves of progressive voters lost to the Greens and Lib Dems returning to Labour (more than half of 2024 Labour voters who voted Green and Lib Dem in the May elections now say they would vote Labour again). In contrast, less than a fifth of those 2024 Labour voters who voted

▲ Andy Burnham being interviewed on ITV’s This Morning with Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond

KEN MCKAY/ITV/SHUTTERSTOCK

‘The bounce is real but not yet big enough to put Labour back on course for a majority’

26%

Labour has received a bounce of six points in voting intention compared with mid-June, according to MRP poll

245

Number of seats Labour would win according to the poll, making it the largest party in a hung parliament

Reform in May have come back to the party.

Dylan Spielman, co-founder of Convergent, led Labour’s data science team through the 2024 general election. He said: “The Andy Burnham bounce is real but not yet big enough to put Labour back on course for a majority. So far the recovery has mainly come from reuniting the progressive bloc.

“But Labour is making much less progress winning back Reform voters and Conservatives who are pivotal in marginal seats, and squeezed voters remain Labour’s weakest group. Sustaining the recovery will depend on Labour continuing to demonstrate that its cost-of-living agenda is delivering, and broadening its appeal beyond progressives.”

The analysis shows that Labour has regained most ground in the north of England, particularly the north-west where Burnham has his roots and Yorkshire and Humber. But the recovery is so far minimal in Wales and Scotland – where Burnham will spend some more time this summer after heavy losses to the SNP and to Plaid Cymru in May. Labour also lost control of the Senedd, the Welsh parliament, for the first time.

But uniting that bloc is a key first step, argues James Baggaley from UCL’s Policy Lab, which has done significant work with the renowned Democrat pollster Stan Greenberg on Labour’s progressive problem.

“What was striking from our polling before Andy Burnham entered Downing Street was the fact that despite media focus, a majority of voters outside of the north-west didn’t have a clear idea of him. That meant the early days and weeks were both opportunity and a risk,” said Baggaley.

“He’s clearly hit the ground running, with a more hopeful and bold

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The view from Clacton p34→

23

message. But he is also tapping into a wider shift and alignment of progressive voters, bringing back into the fold Green and Lib Dem voters that Keir Starmer had lost.

“Of course, the big challenge will be when he grapples with the things that are spikier for progressives – welfare, for example, and obviously he hasn’t had an interaction with Trump yet. The president remains uniquely unpopular with possible Labour voters; how he stands up on key progressive values in those moments will be crucial in helping rebuild a winning coalition.”

Internally, Labour sources are thrilled with the choreography of the first fortnight, comparing it favourably with the 2024 arrival of Starmer when the summer was dominated by the winter fuel payment cut and the freebies row – as well as a speech in the No 10 rose garden that was widely criticised for being too negative and affecting business confidence.

Luke Tryl, the director of More in Common, said it was the first time in a long time he was encountering genuine optimism in focus groups, who have been impressed with the cost-of-living measures even when the sums have been relatively small savings for households.

“Burnham is absolutely dominating the attention economy. Everything, everywhere, all at once. It’s the combination of the substance, but also the messenger is better,” said Tryl. “Starmer led with the negative, saying it will then lead to the positive. I think by leading with some of the positives, Burnham is able then to address the trickier issues.”

In its most recent polling, More in Common found Burnham’s popularity has significantly increased, to +19 since he became prime minister, when previously many people had said they were reserving judgment. Farage has seen a significant rise in disapproval, including growing scepticism from those who previously approved of him, and he is now the lowest rated party leader.

Tryl said there was much that could still derail Burnham – migrant crossings in the Channel, rows over welfare. “But in terms of setting yourself up in the best possible way, from a public opinion perspective, it’s difficult to see how it could have gone better.”

JESSICA ELGOT IS THE GUARDIAN’S DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

UNITED KINGDOM

Pot nurdles

Thousands mobilise to pick up plastic

By Mark Brown

You’ve got a local community that really cares about the coastline,” said Alice Laverty, reflecting on the huge army of volunteers who had taken to crisis-hit beaches in north-east England with passion and only the most basic tools. “They’ve all got a dustpan, a brush, a bucket, a kitchen sieve.”

On beaches from Cambois in Northumberland to Seaburn on Wearside, up to 2,000 dedicated volunteers have been sifting through sand to find tiny, lentil-sized pellets of plastic.

The pellets, called nurdles, are being washed up on beaches after a ship collision on 19 July at the Port of Tyne, South Shields, led to a billion spilling into the water. Campaigners estimate there was up to 25 tonnes of them. The spillage has prompted anger and protests, and the north-east mayor, Kim McGuinness, has promised to make sure shipowners contribute to what she said was a “pollution emergency”.

Since the collision, nurdle drifts have been like soup on many beaches.

Laverty, a Whitley Bay bookshop owner, said: “I saw the horrendous pictures of millions of them floating down

▼ Volunteers have been gathering at beaches to help with the cleanup

MARK PINDER

A global problem Nurdles are tiny disc-shaped plastic pellets that act as the raw material to manufacture most plastic products. Animals can easily mistake them for food with deadly consequences, campaigners say. The charity Fidra, which works to end plastic pollution, says nurdles are a global problem. Last year it found plastic nurdles at 84% of the UK’s sites of special scientific interest.

the Tyne and I went to the beach in the evening,” she said. “I was the only person on the beach with a dustpan and brush and I could see people looking at me going ... what is she doing?”

There is now an army of volunteers at beaches to help with the cleanup by sifting the sand or shaking seaweed.

The official advice from councils is not to handle the pellets, but Laverty said there was a greater cause. “There’s no nurdle fairy, this needs to be cleaned up now,” she said.

Helen Charlton, a business academic from Cramlington, said: “This is our home. I’m north-east born and bred and I’m incredibly proud of this region and I’m incredibly proud of the industry and commerce here as well. It’s not that we shouldn’t have shipping on the Tyne because we absolutely should. But the two have to coexist.”

Lou Shackleton, a life and work coach from Whitley Bay, said the nurdles brought multiple dangers. “Everything is interconnected. The people that are fishing need the fish to be there and healthy. The seals need the fish. I heard a boat broke down yesterday because of nurdles affecting the engine. It’s the summer holidays, there’ll be people in the sea, kids playing.

“I have a five-year-old; I don’t want him to be still finding nurdles on the beach in 10 years’ time.”

Amy Ash, a user experience designer, has created a web app to help organise and mobilise the volunteers. “I surf, I swim, I’ve got two kids,” she said. “It is absolutely devastating that these things are on the beach. I really do not want this to be forgotten about.”

Dozens of volunteers have sewn together mesh bags for collecting the nurdles using scaffolding fabric.

The Port of Tyne, HM Coastguard, the Environment Agency, local councils and specialist contractors are all involved in what has been called “a coordinated multi-agency effort” to clean up after the spill.

By last Sunday, about 3,000 volunteer hours had been logged and an estimated 285kg of nurdles had been recovered by the “people’s army”.

An open letter was due to be sent this week calling for trained local teams to be allowed to help clear nurdles directly from the rivers, not just the beaches.

MARK BROWN IS THE GUARDIAN’S NORTH OF ENGLAND CORRESPONDENT

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Spotlight Europe

The week the French battled a 'megafire'

Exhausted firefighters, foresters and volunteers wage 'war of attrition' against blaze that forced 200,000 people from their homes

FRANCE

By Jason Burke LE PORGE

▲ A forester looks on from a road in Le Porge as a wildfire burns

STÉPHANE MAHÉ/ REUTERS

▶ A sign stands amid the smouldering forest

ALBERT LLOP/ NURPHOTO/ SHUTTERSTOCK

By noon it is time for a break. The temperature is about 35C, the smell of ash, cinders and burnt wood hang in the air. At tables laid out in the shrinking shade on the desiccated grass and sand outside the sports centre in Le Porge, 200 men and a handful of women have gathered. Firefighters, soldiers, police, gendarmes, officials, first aid teams, foresters and volunteers sit elbow to elbow, plates of sausages, steak and potatoes in front of them.

The village was evacuated just over 14 hours after the "megafire" - as it has become known in France - broke out 6km away last week. The blaze has consumed 42,000 hectares of mainly forestland west of Bordeaux. Though finally contained, there are outbreaks every day, pushing to the limit emergency services and the hundreds of volunteers who have come to their aid.

"We've turned a corner but we are very, very tired. We have gone beyond what we thought possible," said a senior firefighter in Le Porge, downing a litre of water in less than a minute. "We stared into an abyss."

Overhead, three planes carrying huge tanks of water and retardant flew low towards new fires. A drone

buzzed nearby, sent up by the fire brigade to detect with thermal cameras the creeping underground blaze - described by local media as a "zombie fire" - that threatens fresh chaos in the coming days, weeks and months.

Around the village, roads run straight through a smouldering, smoking and deserted landscape of charred but upright trees. In places, the forest is intact, the tall pines in their serried green ranks. In others, chosen at apparent random by the racing flames, it has been reduced to ash and cinders as far as the eye can see.

"Now we are all running on adrenaline, but the crisis is going to pass and

that's when it will be really hard. That's when we will weep," said Remy Bosson, 46, whose home was damaged in the fire and who is now spending his days helping to cut 200-metre-wide firebreaks through the remaining forest to slow any future outbreaks.

Last weekend, fires elsewhere in France were bringing similar, if less extensive, devastation, with around 200,000 people forced from their homes. In the Var region, George and Amal Clooney were forced to evacuate their home as a wildfire burned nearby. In the famous forests of Fontainebleau outside Paris; in Corsica and near Dijon, the flames still threaten.

Across Europe, emergency services are struggling. In the UK, 120 firefighters were tackling a blaze in Suffolk for days. In Spain, the cumulative number of fires in 2026 has set a new record for this time of year. In Greece, three firefighters died in Crete and thousands of tourists were evacuated from resorts.

The fire weather across the EU has broken records for this time of year, new data shows. Scientists say models of climate change have long predicted such extreme weather, though some disasters appear to be striking earlier and with more strength than expected.

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25

“We still have a month or more of summer to go. We need rain, a lot of rain,” said the senior firefighter in Le Porge, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have authorisation to talk to the media.

Leaders in France have been seeking to reassure worried communities - and avert a political crisis. “We are gradually getting back to normal,” said Sophie Brocas, the prefect of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and the Gironde department, which includes Le Porge, last Thursday. President Emmanuel Macron said it was not the time to analyse lessons to be learned while France was still in “full battle”.

No one doubts the scale of the megafire but the question of its origins and the availability of resources necessary to fight it is bitterly contested.

Among the residents of Le Porge eating at the makeshift canteen was Nicolas Di Domenico, a local public works contractor who learned of the blaze when his electricians working near the village of Saumes called to say a spark from a faulty machine being used to clean a high-tension cable had just lit a fierce blaze.

Di Domenico, 46, said: “It was a short circuit or something of that nature and immediately everything went up because it’s all so dry. The guys there tried to use a fire extinguisher but it was too intense. My guys ran for their lives and by the time the fire brigade turned up it was huge.”

The blaze initially overwhelmed firefighters, who had difficulty accessing the deeper forest where it was spreading. Within six hours, it had travelled 6km to reach the outskirts of Le Porge. Very early the next morning, residents were in the streets, burning cinders were falling from a red sky and a decision was made to evacuate.

“The authorities should have stopped all work in the forest. Someone got their priorities wrong,” said Di Domenico. Many in Le Porge and elsewhere in the region accuse the local administration of being “asleep at the wheel” before the fire, and then failing to commit resources fast enough. Many have asked why France’s ageing fleet of firefighting planes had not be replaced or sufficiently reinforced.

“We feared this for a long time, and were warning about the planes specifically since 2017,” said Sebastien Delavoux, head of the firefighting

section of the CGT union. “This summer has shown we have reached the extreme limit of what is possible for France’s firefighters.”

The mayor of Le Porge, which lost 20% of its homes, described an event that was impossible to predict, despite multiple warnings over the years.

“The conditions this year are totally exceptional. We’ve never seen anything like this,” Martial Zaninetti said. “You can always say we’ve not got adequate resources but the scale is completely beyond anything we’ve seen before.”

Last Wednesday evening, at a base on the edge of the zone worst hit by the fire, senior firefighters gathered around a map taped to the side of a fire engine for a briefing. Burnt red by the sun and with notebooks in hand, grizzled sector commanders stood to receive missions for the night, when lower temperatures and higher humidity make it easier to fight a blaze. Younger team members, still in their fire retardant overalls and covered in soot, watched as their superiors greeted each other with black humour and bags of Haribo sweets.

One said the struggle with the megafire was now shifting from a dynamic

▲▲ Firefighters prepare for a controlled fire operation in a forest in Le Porge

PHILIPPE LOPEZ/ AFP/GETTY

▲ Burnt-out cars after the megafire

FLORIAN PLAUCHEUR/ AFP/GETTY

42k The size of the area, in hectares, consumed by the ‘megafire’ that forced the evacuation of Le Porge, west of Bordeaux. The village lost 20% of its homes to the blaze

and dangerous “war of manoeuvre” to a long, slow “war of attrition”.

“We were on the defensive at the beginning but now it’s not spreading any more. There are still lots of individual outbreaks that have us running around and when everyone is exhausted, that is hard. So the mobilisation remains total,” he added.

Instead of the usual tourist traffic on the roads through the Landes, there are convoys of fire trucks, ambulances, police cars and a motley collection of agricultural water tankers, lorries rigged with plastic containers and pickups carrying jerry cans connected to garden hoses. Some ferry water to the fire engines, allowing the crew to remain at an outbreak without leaving to replenish their tanks. Others spray roadsides or the new firebreaks that leave wide scars through the forest.

Last Friday, an exhibition hall in Bordeaux, the regional capital, began to empty of hundreds of evacuees, though many still awaited permission. Tens of thousands of others remained with friends, relatives or in hotels.

Frédéric Farrugia, a 55-year-old financial adviser who lives in the coastal village of Lège, watched on his home’s security cameras as the fire brigade fought to save the building. Eventually, the flames were beaten back, though homes 50 metres away were destroyed. An image of the inferno taken by his wife, Severine, as she escaped with him and their cat after being woken by gendarmes at 2am led to an offer of temporary accommodation from a wellwisher.

“We were on the dual carriageway with these flames like a wall along one side. It was a bit like the apocalypse,” Farrugia said. “I think that now the French will realise that the climate is heating up and that we have to react.”

In Lacanau as elsewhere, many also talk about the obvious effects of the climate crisis. Anthony Legrand, a carpenter in the village, said he had seen massive change over the decades: tides that reduce the width of the stunning beach, green algae and, of course, repeated fires, including one in 2022 that devastated a swathe of forest not far from his home.

“You’d think that would be a warning but no one paid attention,” he said. “It’ll be the same this time. They’ve got memories like goldfish.”

JASON BURKE IS THE GUARDIAN’S INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT

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Spotlight Asia

Extreme rainfall across Asia brings floods and typhoons

From Afghanistan to Taiwan, unprecedented deluge from weather conditions highlights the devastating impact of climate breakdown

CLIMATE CRISIS

By Natasha May and Jonathan Watts

▲ People cross a street in heavy rain in Tokyo last month

YUICHI YAMAZAKI/ AFP/GETTY

It rained for 10 days and 10 nights, non-stop - I'd never seen anything like it," said Anar Gul, a construction worker who lives in the remote district of Dur Baba in eastern Afghanistan.

The houses in his village are built from stone and mud, which makes them extremely vulnerable to heavy rains. After days of rain, Gul's kitchen collapsed and his neighbour, Sayed Afsar Sadat, saw a large part of his house destroyed. "Rains like this are coming heavier and earlier each year," said Sadat. "They are destroying the roads and washing away our crops. It's impacting us directly."

Last month, torrential rains and flash floods wiped out villages and

towns in Afghanistan, leaving at least 31 people dead and hundreds missing. It's been a similar picture in neighbouring countries, with the monsoon rains sparking chaos across the region. India, Bangladesh and Pakistan have all seen erratic, sudden heavy dumps of water.

Jesmin Akter lived in the city of Chattogram, on the south-eastern coast of Bangladesh, which received a record 412.3mm of rainfall in 24 hours in early July, leading to the flash flood that swept through the Banshkhali district where they live.

Overnight the rains took the little they had; their poultry died, their paddy field flooded, their house collapsed and all their belongings in it.

Akter carried her six children through chest-deep water to her mother's house.

"We have lost everything," Akter said. They have gone back to the ruins of their home, but her children sleep on plastic sheets laid on the wet floor and she worries for their safety, especially that the unsanitary conditions will lead to disease.

As wildfires rage across Europe and North America, the unprecedented rains continue elsewhere. While South Korea swings between heatwave and downpour, in Japan and Vietnam torrential rain has led to landslides.

China, meanwhile, has seen bouts of extreme rainfall since the flood season began in April, according to the water resources ministry in mid-July. More than 600 rivers have since risen above warning levels - a 35% jump from the average for the same period over the past five years.

In the south-western city of Chongqing, a landslide after torrential rain killed at least 11 people and left 50 missing, with rescue efforts still ongoing. Separately, a flash flood at a camping spot in the north-central province of Gansu left 10 people dead and injured 23 others.

The flood season across the region has been exacerbated by successive storms. Typhoon Noul, the strongest to make landfall in China so far this year, prompted the evacuation of more than 890,000 people in Guangdong, according to provincial authorities. In early July, Typhoon Maysak inundated parts of Guangxi and swept through commercial snake farms, allowing hundreds of snakes to escape.

Forecasters have warned that more wet weather is on the way. Much of northern China, including Beijing, is expected to receive 20% to 50% more rain than usual, while four to six typhoons are forecast above the average of 4.2, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

Taiwan, an island that lies in the path of typhoons in the north-west Pacific, has also seen a rise in extreme rainfall. In June, repeated downpours caused more than NT$330m ($10.2m) in agricultural losses across Taiwan, according to the agriculture ministry, while the capital Taipei recorded its highest monthly rainfall in more than a century.

The extreme weather across the region can clearly be linked to climate change. Climate scientists have long

► Clearing up flooding in Guigang, China

CHEN GUANYAN/ CHINA NEWS SERVICE/GETTY

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predicted that large areas of Asia will disproportionately suffer from more intense heat, humidity and drought as a result of climate disruption caused by the burning of gas, oil and coal. The most recent report by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said rising temperatures raise the threat of "floods in monsoon regions in south, south-east and east Asia, and glacier melting in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region".

The year 2025 saw devastating storms and rainfall across the region. It also saw ocean temperatures rise to record heights. So far, this year has brought record-breaking heatwaves. Extreme rainfall is more common and more intense because of human-caused climate breakdown across most of the world, particularly in Europe, most of Asia, central and eastern North America, and parts of South America, Africa and Australia. This is because warmer air can hold more water vapour and flooding has most likely become more frequent and severe in these locations as a result.

"More intense rainfall is an expected consequence of us heating the planet by burning fossil fuels and building up more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A warmer atmosphere can carry more water, so when it rains, it rains harder. Also hotter conditions cause air to rise faster and drive more intense thunderstorms," said Richard Betts, head of the climate impacts strategic area at the UK's Met Office Hadley Centre.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) helped the Guardian obtain interviews with those affected.

Dr Hosam Faysal, the head of IFRC's country delegation in Afghanistan, said "these are the very real, humanitarian effects of a changing climate ... becoming increasingly volatile".

Faysal urged governments to ensure there was more investment in locally led preparedness and mitigation in order to reduce the loss of life and suffering before climate-related disasters happened. "The coming forecast El Niño is a clear example," he said. "Waiting to respond to the extreme needs we can see coming only once they arrive will cost lives."

NATASHA MAY IS A BANGKOK-BASED JOURNALIST; JONATHAN WATTS IS THE GUARDIAN'S GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT WRITER

Research by Yu-chen Li

INDIA

▲ A farmer in Odisha, India NEELIMA VALLANGI

Dry run

The farmers bracing for a super El Niño

By Neelima Vallangi

Kasturi Gamango and Pramila Sabar cannot contain their giggles as they explain one of the big attractions of the Raja festival, which they had attended a few days earlier along with 20 other farmer families in Laxmipur, in Odisha's Ganjam district.

"We do no work for three days during the festival," they said. "Our husbands cook and clean while we enjoy our free time."

Raja is a vibrant, agrarian celebration in the richly forested eastern Indian state of Odisha that celebrates fertility, womanhood and Basumati, the Hindu goddess of the Earth. Traditionally, the three-day event is held from 14 to 16 June to mark the start of the rainy season and the beginning of sowing crops. But this year the fields remained untouched, and the skies clear. The monsoon did not arrive until the end of the month.

June ended with a 40% shortfall in rain. The state has faced at least 19 droughts over the past 50 years.

Despite the dry conditions, farmers in Laxmipur cautiously sowed seeds in their paddy fields in the last days of June, hoping it would rain in time for germination. Mangala Sabar, 45,

Extreme weather Global experts have officially declared that this year would see the onset of a "super" El Niño, an extreme version of the weather cycle, and would expect it to intensify rapidly from July to September. In India, El Niño years are usually associated with a weak monsoon, delayed and uneven rainfall, dry spells and extreme temperatures, leading to agricultural droughts, increased energy use and water shortages as reservoirs are depleted.

remembers the 2023-24 El Niño years "when the transplanting attempts failed twice in each year, and we lost the entire crop".

"Drought is not an unknown hazard for Odia farmers," said Chandni Singh, a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and climate adaptation researcher at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, referring to farmers living in Odisha. However, at the heart of farming communities' wellbeing and long-term resilience against the climate crisis is water security and weather certainty, said Liby Johnson, executive director of Gram Vikas, a development organisation working with Odisha's rural communities.

Overlooking the hills of the Eastern Ghats, one of the 25 automatic weather stations installed by Gram Vikas stands on the roof of Mangala Sabar's house, at the entrance to Laxmipur village. The outer wall has been turned into a huge blackboard where a seven-day rain forecast is written in the local Odia language. He receives the processed weather forecast information via WhatsApp and updates the board.

The India Meteorological Department launched an initiative last year to provide accurate forecasts of the monsoon's arrival up to 30 days in advance. Tailored forecasts are now being delivered to more than 38 million farmers via SMS and phone calls, including in Odisha. Similarly, several El Niño-related advisories were issued by the government recommending farmers delayed sowing, choose low-duration or other less water-intensive crops, and adopt drought-resilient varieties.

However, uptake of this information remains limited. "The idea that data alone will influence a farmer's decision is flawed. People don't make decisions like that, especially farmers who are dealing with uncertainty every day," Singh said.

With bursts of heavy rainfall across some parts of the country last month, the overall monsoon deficit has narrowed to 21%. But there remains deep uncertainty as El Niño strengthens.

Farmers in Odisha, however, are pushing on. "How can we know if it will rain adequately or not? There is no point in worrying about that. We will sow the seeds regardless because we are farmers," said Mangala Sabar.

NEELIMA VALLANGI IS A WRITER AND DOCUMENTARY FILM-MAKER FROM INDIA

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Spotlight^{}[] Europe

ARMENIA

The asthma clinic that's buried down a salt mine

By Pjotr Sauer YEREVAN

For most people, spending hours deep underground in darkness would seem an odd prescription for better health.

Yet every morning a handful of Armenians descend 250 metres beneath the earth into an active salt mine where they spend six hours in cavernous chambers carved from rock salt, hoping the air below ground will help them breathe more easily.

"I tried every possible treatment, and this is the only thing that worked," said Mikayel Torosian, an asthma sufferer. "I thought it was complete rubbish before, but I am a true believer."

Since 1987, patients have travelled to the Soviet-era mine for an alternative treatment, speleotherapy,

based on the belief that the mine's salt-saturated, allergen-free air can alleviate respiratory diseases.

But the clinic, one of the world's only hospitals in a deep salt mine, now hangs in the balance after Armenia withdrew state funding, raising questions about the state's role in supporting alternative medicine.

The journey into the hospital begins with a rattling industrial lift that drops patients deep beneath a residential district on the outskirts of Yerevan. A maze of tunnels stretches through the rock. The cavern looks more like a cold war bunker than a hospital. Behind curtains, patients nap on narrow beds. Others play billiards, pace around and do breathing exercises or sit in silence.

"After a few days, people begin to enjoy the peace," said Anush Voskanyan, a doctor who has worked at the clinic since 1989.

Voskanyan said the idea to start the clinic emerged after doctors noticed that workers in salt mines appeared to suffer unusually low rates of respiratory illnesses despite spending their lives underground. Researchers began studying the mines' microclimate, leading to the creation of specialised clinics across parts of the Soviet bloc.

Voskanyan attributes the health benefits to a combination of factors: salt-rich air, year-round 19C temperatures and the absence of allergens, pollution, noise and radiation. "This is the perfect climate to live in. You basically don't age here," she said.

'This is the perfect climate to live in. You basically don't age here'

Anush Voskanyan ▲ Doctor

▼ Patients in the underground clinic undertake activities such as pool and table tennis

SOFIA MARIA BERGMANN

Patients typically spend six hours a day underground over a three-week course of treatment. Doctors say the first week allows the body to adapt before the benefits begin to accumulate.

Thousands of patients descended into the Avan mine every year, many receiving treatment free of charge through Armenia's healthcare system.

"We used to admit 60 people at one time," Voskanyan said, looking around largely empty chambers. "Today, there are probably five."

The clinic's fortunes changed in 2019, when the Armenian government withdrew state funding, arguing that speleotherapy lacked sufficient scientific evidence to justify public support. Patients who once attended free of charge now have to pay for each treatment session at a cost of about $26.

The decision came as Armenia began reforming its healthcare system and preparing for the introduction of universal health insurance, forcing officials to make difficult decisions about what treatments should be covered by the state.

"We're on the brink of closing down," Voskanyan said. "We're still operating, but just barely."

Voskanyan insists that the treatment works, particularly for children suffering from asthma and allergies. "There have been cases where asthma attacks stopped completely after just one course of treatment," she said.

While speleotherapy has been practised for decades across eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, relatively few large-scale studies have been conducted, and most clinics have since closed down. Many respiratory specialists view it as a complementary therapy that may ease symptoms but should not replace conventional medical treatment.

For supporters, however, the lack of definitive research does not negate decades of patient testimony. "If it didn't help, I wouldn't be coming back," said Alvart Alihanyan, who has repeatedly returned to the clinic over the course of 10 years from Russia.

For now, each morning, the lift continues its descent beneath Yerevan. Whatever the debate over its medical benefits, the mine offers something increasingly rare above ground: hours of complete silence, no wifi and a brief escape from the noise of the outside world.

PIJOTR SAUER IS A RUSSIAN AFFAIRS REPORTER FOR THE GUARDIAN

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Spotlight Africa

29

CÔTE D'IVOIRE

Artists find calm and inspiration in former capital city

By Eromo Egbejule GRAND BASSAM

By the poolside of La Fourchette de Rôze hotel in Grand Bassam, a Côte d'Ivoire city sandwiched between the Ébrié lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean, a birthday party was in progress. On the second-floor gallery, the artist Nuits Balnéaires stood by a huge painting in one corner and looked out through the window towards the billowing waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

"It's poetic... that immense energy of the ocean, which also fuels my work," the Ivorian visual artist said. "The natural elements are the essence and foundation of my artistic practice," he added as he reflected on how his name, which translates as "coastal nights", matched the ambience.

Many families in Abidjan, the commercial capital of the west African country, have often drifted to Grand Bassam, just 45km to the east,

for Sunday relaxation, including Nuits Balnéaires, whose visits from childhood gave him a strong connection to the city. In July 2019 he moved there from his family home in Abidjan.

In the past decade, it has become a road well travelled. As rents continue to rise amid a cost of living crisis in Abidjan, people have been reconsidering their lives in the city.

"It [is] increasingly difficult for many artists to maintain studio spaces in the city," said the Abidjan-based art collector Ozong Agborsangaya-Fiteu. "They are seeking more affordable alternatives in places such as Grand Bassam, [which] itself is becoming more expensive, prompting some artists to relocate even farther out."

The biggest beneficiary of the exodus from Abidjan has been Grand Bassam, the country's first capital, where the colonial architecture was listed as a Unesco world heritage site in 2012. With its scenic beachfronts, fresher food, cheaper markets, proximity to the airport and a sense of nostalgia in abandoned buildings, the city represents a ready alternative to livelier and more chaotic Abidjan. For the Guadeloupe-born artist Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux, it is a "calm and soothing place, conducive to working and finding inspiration".

Evidence of Grand Bassam's renaissance abounds. Last year, the former colonial customs and post office building was reopened after a restoration project as La Maison de l'Art, a contemporary art museum with a sculpture garden and a cafe in the courtyard. At the launch, the culture minister, Françoise Remarck, said the collaboration between the private and public sector

◀ Artist Nuits Balnéaires in the courtyard of his studio in Grand Bassam AÏCHA FALL

Trading places Once a centre of cultural trade and tourism, Grand Bassam lost some of its appeal over the years as Abidjan became more cosmopolitan and opportunities in arts and entertainment increased. A jihadist attack in 2016 that left 19 people dead also punctured the town's reputation.

to protect local history and shine a spotlight on the country's modern art was a "fresh breath of life" for the old city. "Today, we are doing much more than opening the doors of a space dedicated to art," she said. "We are taking an act of recognition and appreciation of African artistic genius."

Other organisations are following the same route. La Fourchette de Rôze, a boutique hotel, has become a creative hub: in January 2023, it began an artist-in-residence programme that has brought in more than two dozen artists and musicians from all over the globe, including Nuits Balnéaires. La Cocoteraie des Arts, a creative space with an open-air art atelier and gallery in Mondoukou, a few minutes outside the city, also offers artist residences.

Dozens of studios are popping up across Grand Bassam. This year the Ivorian-French photographer Aïcha Fall will add another to that number.

"I grew up in the French countryside, and I've always loved a place that is calm," said Fall, who moved to Grand Bassam on her return from Paris in 2023 despite an attachment to Abidjan, where she had spent her early years. "Bassam represents all of that. It offers you time for reverie, unlike Abidjan, which is always effervescent."

Some enthusiastic followers of the art scene are predicting that the city could upstage Abidjan as an art haven in the coming years, or at least rival it.

Not everyone in the industry is as optimistic. Most of Côte d'Ivoire's galleries and art institutions remain in Abidjan, as do many of the collectors, patrons and other elements of the ecosystem. Festivals such as Abidjan art week still bring people in from across the continent and are yet to be replicated elsewhere in the country.

"Rather than weakening the scene, this geographical shift has created a different dynamic," Agborsangaya-Fiteu said. "Artists benefit from more affordable and inspiring places to work while remaining close enough to the city to participate in exhibitions, openings and other cultural activities."

As he sipped his coffee, legs crossed, Nuits Balnéaires agreed before pointing out that the situation was a bit like having his cake and eating it. "One of the advantages is that in Bassam you can feel very disconnected, yet at the same time you're not that far removed from what's happening in Abidjan."

EROMO EGBEJULE IS THE GUARDIAN'S WEST AFRICA CORRESPONDENT

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Spotlight Technology

One supplier has claimed that smart lamp-posts could “double as a revenue-generating distributed AI datacentre”, drawing scepticism from policy and technical experts

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Spies in the sky

The news that the a humble lamp-post could be used as surveillance tool for the good of society seems like progress - but who will shine a light on where all of this data goes?

By Zoe Williams

How would you feel if your neighbourhood lamp-posts could recognise your car, and also your face? Maybe you wouldn’t mind, given how long we’ve had automatic number-plate recognition and CCTV. What about if that lamp-post could power itself through its own solar panels and find another use for any extra power generated - that would be good, right? This is what Conflow Power Group (CPG) claims for its iLamps, the first of their kind in the UK.

But what if lamp-posts also had the potential to incorporate new AI capability - gait analysis, suspicious behaviours - that you haven’t even heard of? What about the data this would harvest - who would own it?

I’m in a hospital car park in Warwickshire, where some of these “smart” lamp-posts have been installed, hoping to answer a few of these questions. Not many people know that the iLamp is not just solar

powered but can “double as a revenue-generating distributed AI datacentre”, according to CPG, let alone what that means. And nobody knows how much of that potential functionality has been realised in the UK model - only what CPG has announced: that it has signed an agreement with the government of Katsina state, Nigeria, to supply it with 50,000 iLamps, which have additional surveillance potential for both vehicles and faces.

CPG’s chairman, Edward Fitzpatrick, told the BBC World Service’s Tech Life programme that iLamps could ultimately track down missing persons or fight crime, with the proviso that this would only be developed in partnership “with the relevant authority”.

The company doesn’t take further questions, directing the media to its online material. As for the Warwickshire lamp-posts, the local authority directs all questions to the hospital, and the hospital doesn’t respond. Fair play - it’s a hospital.

ALAMY/GUARDIAN DESIGN

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At a nearby bus shelter, local residents were willing to chat. Karl, 52, spoke for almost everyone when he said: “The town centre is already full of cameras, and it’s fine. You don’t mind them being there unless you’re up to no good.” No amount of loaded questions – What if you were doing something that was legal today but illegal in a year? What if the surveillance became predictive rather than reactive? Don’t you think you should at least have been asked whether you wanted it? – separated anyone from the view that facial recognition is tolerable for a right-thinking citizen.

Also at the bus stop was radiologist Tejal, 41. Seeing AI’s capability in the medical sector made her anxious about AI as a whole. “I have anxieties for my children,” she said. That they won’t find entry-level jobs? “That, and that they’ll lose the ability to celebrate and find joy from the things we used to.” Privacy concerns do seem comparatively minor.

Policy and technical experts are sceptical about some claims made for smart lamp-posts. Jaseen Chaggar, senior legal and policy officer at Big Brother Watch, said: “We see this quite often, where local councils or other government agencies are ... ‘swindled’ is a strong word, but they’re sold these tools as magic wands, when there are limitations to what they can actually do.”

Prof Rabih Bashroush, director of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation at the University of East London, is blunt: “AI data-centres? There’s absolutely no chance this will fly: the technology doesn’t work, there’s not enough power, the economics won’t work ...” Solar power to run the iLamps off-grid might work in Nigeria, but in Britain the amount generated by the lamp-posts is “negligible”, he said. Bigger claims for facial recognition are “just hype. Forget it – this has no legs.”

If he sounds impatient, it’s because he is. “It’s getting more and more difficult to get an independent opinion on things, because a lot of experts are in the industry now, and their view would have to align with their organisation,” he said. So a company might make a claim, including a few AI buzzwords; engineers don’t contradict them, and local authorities don’t understand them.

“Facial recognition is not just passively recalling something, unlike

CCTV, which you then check after the fact, said Chaggar. “What facial recognition does is real-time identity check: it’s much more like a fingerprint or DNA. It’s not like a passport – you can’t get another face.”

Another problem, Chaggar said, is that, “a lot of these technologies and infrastructures have capacity to add function later. Hammersmith and Fulham [in London] are updating their CCTV, and it’s possible to embed facial recognition, monitor suspicious shopping behaviour, add aggression detection. So you can just turn the switch and it’s all there overnight.”

This throws up all the ageless privacy concerns, and it’s interesting how many people will see CCTV as a fact of modern life but spontaneously raise how much they absolutely hate being listened to by their phone.

So how good are facial recognition algorithms at detecting aggression and suspicious behaviour? “A lot of the software is pseudo-scientific,” Chaggar said. “A company might try to sell emotion detection, [claiming that] if people are walking through a train station, you can see if they’re angry or they’re about to be aggressive. There’s very little evidence to suggest that it’s accurate.” But the real question local authorities and any agents of the state should ask themselves, Chaggar said, is: “Are you happy to have your political enemies having these capabilities? Because you’re building an infrastructure that is here to stay.”

The Home Office signed off on the use of facial recognition more than a decade ago, and the police have been “essentially using the public as guinea pigs for the past 10 years”, Chaggar said. Earlier this year, Shabana

Policy and technical experts are also sceptical about some of the claims made for smart lamp-posts: “They’re sold as magic wands, when there are limitations to what they can actually do.”

‘Well, if you haven’t got anything to hide, I can’t see how it would be a problem, presuming they’re actually lamps as well?’

Mahmood, the home secretary, said: “You can’t enjoy any of your liberties in any country if you’re not safe.” This logic, in which all liberties are secondary to the state’s rights as your protector, is chilling from a supposedly leftwing government. But the greater worry is that this doesn’t feel like the right time to roll the dice on surveillance technology, basing our acceptance of it on the assumption that future governments will be prosocial and democratic.

Wherever there’s data, it throws up the question of who owns it. Bashroush used to work with the Internet of Things, the European Commission’s attempt to “connect the physical world to a digital environment”. “One of the challenges we saw was with a supplier [who was] basically collecting garbage from homes in the Netherlands then optimising truck journeys and planning based on habits. The council that ran the programme was very happy with it and tried to open the bidding a year later to get a more competitive price,” he remembered. “The company said: ‘Sure, but the data is ours.’” The contracts had been poorly constructed and the local authority lost the data.

If you want to see facial recognition go wrong, you just have to look at the retail sector, where it’s widely in use to prevent shoplifting. “We’ve seen misidentification by the police,” Chaggar said, “but in retail, when people are misidentified, it’s Kafkaesque. You’re just blacklisted from the store.”

How much do people care if you’re not allowed in a shop and you don’t know why; if a private company has a contract with your healthcare provider, vaunting tech that isn’t operational yet and might never work – but nobody told, let alone asked, you; if the home secretary thinks it’s fine for the eyes of the state to be on you at all times?

The New Yorker essayist Ted Chiang wrote some time ago about the habit of projecting on to AI negatives that were actually not about tech but about economic systems, concluding: “Capitalism is the machine that will do whatever it takes to prevent us from turning it off.” Am I projecting on to AI and surveillance tech anxieties that are really about authoritarian politics?

“Well, if you haven’t got anything to hide,” says Sarah, 55, “I can’t see how it would be a problem. I’m presuming they’re actually lamps as well?”

ZOE WILLIAMS IS A GUARDIAN FEATURE WRITER AND COLUMNIST

SHOMOS LUDIN, OSELOTE/GETTY

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Spotlight^{}[] Sport

FOOTBALL

How Fifa's plan to sell off the World Cup backfired

By Paul MacInnes

It was a week that rocked football. When reports first emerged last Tuesday that Fifa, world football's governing body, was to launch a vehicle to control the commercial rights to the World Cup, and would sell a stake of this company to investors, it caught even members of the Fifa Council, its central decision-making body, by surprise.

What was the problem?

The story was that Fifa planned to "sell the World Cup", with no consultation and a brisk timeline. Then there is the question of what the new vehicle, to be known as Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE),

would actually do. A sales deck that bankers JP Morgan had put together with Fifa highlighted "a growing tournament portfolio", "third-party sources of capital and debt financing", and prioritising "high yield" partnerships and events. This was a dagger right at the heart of every other competition organiser in the sport.

What was Fifa's response?

The new venture, it said, would generate $10bn in extra funding for its 211 member associations, although participation would be entirely voluntary. A stake would be sold to an investment group led by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Donald Trump's son-in-law, but they would have "only a minority stake ... and will not play any operational role". Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, used his Instagram channels to insist that FFE was simply a proposal and that any furore was just part of a "democratic consultation process".

Who opposed the plan?

A growing number of stakeholders criticised the plans openly. The English FA attacked FFE and Uefa, the governing body of European football, convened an emergency meeting of its 55 members. Last Thursday they voted unanimously to boycott all Fifa tournaments should FFE go ahead. The following day the Asian Confederation (AFC)

Infantino now faces a rebellion from members of the Fifa council

▼ Spain celebrate after winning the World Cup final against Argentina last month

FANTASISTA/GETTY

and Concacaf, which governs football in North and Central America, also joined Uefa in condemnation, although they both stopped short of declaring a boycott.

What did Fifa do next?

In response to Uefa's boycott, Fifa initially doubled down. There would be no deviation from the plans, it said, and it blamed the media for any controversy. "We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation," said Fifa.

Shortly after Fifa issued their "clarification" on the process, one of Infantino's most senior aides, the former Goldman Sachs banker Carlos Cordeiro, resigned from his role citing "unequivocal" opposition to the deal. More leaked documents revealed that Fifa had also commissioned - on 30 July - an expedited research project into expanding the men's World Cup to 64 teams in 2030, a plan which would fulfil one of the key ambitions of the JP Morgan briefing document.

The pressure was too much to bear and by the early hours of last Saturday morning Infantino's proposal had collapsed, with the Fifa president admitting the project had "created divisions of a nature that are no longer in the interest of the objective", amid widespread anger.

Can Infantino survive now?

On Monday, the English FA formally withdrew its support for Infantino's re-election as Fifa president, having previously offered its endorsement. Their move came after the Welsh FA dropped its backing for Infantino's candidature. More European countries were expected to follow suit in an attempt to force his resignation.

Infantino also faces a rebellion from members of the Fifa council who are attempting to force an extraordinary general meeting that could develop into a full-blown leadership challenge. Under Fifa rules, a motion from 50% or 19 of the 37 council members can trigger an EGM. Of the council members, 14 are from Europe and North America so support from Asia will be required to put real pressure on Infantino.

PAUL MACINNES IS A REPORTER FOR THE GUARDIAN

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Spotlight North America

33

ANALYSIS UNITED STATES

Section 338

Trump may have found the killer weapon for trade wars

By Eduardo Porter

Donald Trump may have found the killer weapon to punish countries at will: by imposing tariffs on their exports to the United States.

The president has been looking for a new tool since February, when the supreme court struck down tariffs he slapped on virtually all of the US's trading partners, based on the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) on the spurious grounds that the US faced a variety of national emergencies. It's become a parlour game among policy wonks to predict what new legal justification he would deploy to replace them.

The round-robin tariffs imposed on everybody last month, under the argument that America's trading partners unfairly undercut US

companies by importing products made with forced labour, has drawn a lot of attention. But those tariffs, imposed under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, do not provide the carte blanche Trump wants. A blanket charge that every foreign country is enabling forced labour and thus hurting American business is unlikely to fly in court.

The truly menacing precedent comes from Trump's decision, made on 20 July before the worldwide forced labour tariffs came into play, to foist a 50% tariff on imports from Canada. The White House's pretext is Canadian discrimination against American dairy, booze and cars, which, paradoxically, came about as retaliation against Trump's original barrage of tariffs last year. The authority Trump invoked to attack Canada is ominous: section 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which is the law that choked global trade in the 1930s and helped sink the world into the Great Depression.

Section 338 offers cover for Trump to slap trade levies on whatever country he wants under some hazy arguments. Specifically, it grants the president authority to retaliate against countries that do anything to put the US "at a disadvantage compared with the commerce of any foreign country".

Until Trump, section 338 was mostly used as leverage, to guarantee that other countries treated US products the same as imports from anywhere else. If some country offered preferential access

◀ Donald Trump greets supporters at General Motors' Milford proving grounds in Michigan last week

ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY

Acting tough A leader who loves tariffs

50% The tariff imposed by Trump in July on imports from Canada, supposedly in response to Canadian discrimination against US products

150 The statutory limit, in days, on balance of payments tariffs

to a neighbour or ally, the US could demand the same terms, or else.

This principle is now called "most favoured nation treatment", which is central to multinational trade rules enforced by the World Trade Organization. Trump doesn't care about such niceties, though. He has a more destructive agenda in mind. He is determined to pursue his trade war. With such a sprawling mandate, he may be difficult to stop.

America's trading partners were elated in February when a 6-3 majority on the court, including two justices appointed by Trump, ruled against his use of the 1977 IEEPA to impose tariffs at will. It was close, though. The court has shown an almost unbelievable deference to the president. It didn't object to Trump's invocation of national emergencies: a "public health crisis" due to illegal drugs from Canada, Mexico and China; trade deficits that "led to the hollowing out" of American manufacturing; because Brazil jailed its ex-president Jair Bolsonaro for plotting a coup. The justices merely objected to his use of the statute to impose taxes, which are the preserve of Congress.

Though Trump lost, his menace remains. Since February his minions have trawled through legal statutes across US history to restore roadblocks to trade. Balance of payments crises no longer exist. Still, fresh from his supreme court loss, Trump imposed a 10% tariff on everybody by invoking section 122 of the 1974 act, which allows for tariffs to prevent such imbalances.

Fortunately, the balance of payments tariffs had a limit of 150 days. But Trump has tried other tactics. Section 301 has been used many times, including by Trump against China in his first term to penalise it for its industrial subsidies. Trump has also relied on section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act to put levies on steel, aluminium, lumber, semiconductors and autos on specific grounds about protecting national security.

None of these authorities, however, grant him the unrestrained blanket power that could be his under section 338.

EDUARDO PORTER IS A JOURNALIST FOCUSED ON ECONOMICS AND POLITICS

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34

England made me Clacton and its pier developed as a seaside resort after trains brought visitors from London

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Photographs by Andy Hall

THE VIEW FROM CLACTON

Nigel Farage’s Essex seaside constituency takes in genteel resorts and one of England’s poorest villages. With a byelection later this month, what do its residents think about the Reform UK leader, his novelty challenger Count Binface – and the country in general?

By Tim Burrows

“FIT’S THE TIN MAN, THEN I SUPPOSE I’LL VOTE FOR NIGEL,” says a Clacton resident, a retiree on a slow stroll towards the seafront, when I ask whom she will vote for in the forthcoming byelection. “I would sooner have Farage than the Tin Man!” As political slogans go, it is as good as any.

The sun is beating down but the sky is hazy, which accurately describes the mood of this constituency since the Reform UK leader quit as MP for Clacton on 7 July, forcing a byelection that sent shock waves through Westminster and confusion through Clacton, on the east coast of England. I am spending a couple of days here with the photographer Andy Hall, traversing the coast between Jaywick to the west and Walton-on-the-Naze to the east. An incessant wind is blowing from the North Sea, sending waves crashing on to Clacton beach. Nicky Friday, who at 11am is already handing out ice-creams from her aptly named kiosk, Seabreeze, isn’t exactly exercised by the Reform leader’s latest gambit. “This is going to sound terrible, but I’m so busy running this business and working here,” she says. “I don’t really do politics.”

During summers past, many of us were like Friday. The months during parliament’s recess are known as the silly season because usually nothing political happens, leaving journalists to chase flights of fancy. The most famous summer story from this constituency is perhaps that of the lion that was reportedly on the loose in St Osyth in August 2012, which was later scaled down to an admittedly large pet cat. That was until Farage decided

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36

The view from Clacton

to “spend the summer arguing with a bin”, as the then chancellor, Rachel Reeves, put it.

Count Binface (AKA the satirist Jon Harvey) has contested high-profile elections since running against Boris Johnson in 2019. His election would be fanciful but not unprecedented: in 2002, a monkey was elected mayor of Hartlepool when Stuart Drummond, who worked as the local football mascot, promised, among other things, free bananas for schoolchildren. Binface is promising to “build at least one affordable house”. All in all, 34 candidates are contesting the seat – including three candidates from the Monster Raving Loony party and the leader of the Everyone is God party, which preaches sex positivism and criminalising rudeness.

When asked recently what he had done for Clacton, Farage replied that he had done his best to “put it on the map”. Clacton’s other celebrity, its 155-year-old pier, may beg to differ. “Clacton didn’t exist before tourism,” says Billy Ball, 45, the managing director of Clacton Pier, which he bought alongside his brother, Elliot, in 2009. “The first building in the town was the pier. The only way to get here was by steam. The railway came many, many years later.”

The Balls are from a long line of fairground folk. Their grandfather moved to Clacton in the 1940s, while his grandma’s brothers knew another Billy, Billy Butlin, whose resort may also have something to say about putting Clacton on the map. Once the railways were built, the seaside offered a quick fix to industrialised city life dominated by work. Londoners flocked here for cheap instant thrills: the bandstand to the east of the pier, the pierrot troupes that used to play on the West beach.

In his office above the main entertainment space of the pier, Ball tells me there were once four theatres on here, while the nightclub was the main draw in the raving 90s. Today, the site is teeming with choice: a bowling alley, a bar, a pub, a mini golf course, a soft play centre, a helter-skelter. It looks like the Balls have used every inch of space to help turn a profit. “Our biggest achilles heel was the size and scale of this pier, because there’s so much to maintain out over the North Sea,” he explains. “But it’s also one of our biggest attributes, because it allows us to put all of these different offerings in place.”

Ball says he has had interactions with all three MPs who have served Clacton during their stewardship of Clacton Pier, but “the only one that reached out to us on day one was Nigel Farage”. The less charitable might suggest Farage saw Clacton’s biggest tourist attraction as something he could use politically, but Ball was impressed by his public backing of seaside slot machines.

Outside on the pier, feelings are a little different. Ashley, a teaching assistant on an end-of-term trip with pupils from her school in north Essex, gives me her take on the byelection: “I don’t agree with it. Clacton should be famous in its own right for what it has to offer. And it has a lot to offer, and people do love coming here.” She feels as though Clacton is being used. “And then the whole country is, by all these politicians, and they don’t mean what they say ...”

Clacton has come a long way from the years when Butlin’s welcomed 6,000 new guests every week at its peak in the 1950s, with more than 1,000 staff; schoolboys earned money by carrying luggage

to and from the station. Most visitors stayed at least a week back then, but now the hotels are clinging on for dear life. If the quality of the offering can improve, Ball thinks, then so will the scale.

I walk down a sidestreet just minutes away from the Wetherspoons pub, where an Australian news crew is loitering, and am alarmed at the site of a burnt-out building and the shell of a van in the road. The building over the road has been smashed up by vandals. On the fencing that surrounds it is scrawled: “IT’S TIME TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH: VOTE BINFACE.”

“The van has been there for three weeks,” says Carol Pickett, 66, who runs the hotel next door to the burnt-out building. “It doesn’t look good, does it, to holidaymakers walking down there.” She grew up in Enfield, north London, but had fond memories of family visits as a kid and ended up moving here. Times were good until the past few years, when trade dropped off a cliff. The “No vacancies” sign outside is there to deter drunk people who miss the last train, she says; the hotel isn’t full by any means. “People coming from London walk through the square and it’s full of druggies and people fighting – it’s not a good advert, is it?”

She says Farage has been conspicuous by his absence during his time as MP. “He’s never been and visited any of these small businesses down here,” she says. Not even for a pint? “I probably wouldn’t give him one now. It’s too late!”

“If he’s willing to go on Cameo and say whatever you like for 80 quid, what’s he going to do for £5m?” asks Peter Hoare, referring to Christopher Harborne’s gift ($6.7m) to Farage that caused the scandal that led to Farage resigning and triggering the byelection to “let the people of Clacton decide”. Hoare, 50, runs the World Food Aid charity shop in the centre of town and lives in a flat just off the beach. We walk to the shore and look up the coast towards the next settlement, Holland-on-Sea, where a boat carrying six people arrived last month – the first small-boat crossing ever reported in Farage’s constituency.

Despite the low level of migration here, immigration is the most widely responded to of Farage’s policies – you might say it’s his only policy. Hoare grew up in Leytonstone, east London. “I loved walking around the streets on Saturday morning and smelling the different dishes cooking in different houses,” he says. Hoare told me when I met him in 2024 that moving to Clacton was a culture shock – it is still one of the least ethnically diverse parliamentary constituencies in England. But there is, he says, “a growing community of different nationalities”, particularly in the centre of town. “I think a lot of people do notice it, as primarily Clacton is still a 96% white population. There has always been that divisiveness about immigration and ‘the boat people’, which I think Farage has been great at exploiting.”

Hoare’s family is divided when it comes to their politics: “Dad, Conservative; brother, a Reform supporter; I’ve always been Labour. But we can have a good conversation about our politics without it descending into name calling.” The rise of Reform worries Hoare. The party has swept through Essex county council and Hoare fears the care support for his mother, who has cerebral palsy, may be affected if it forms the next government.

‘People in Jaywick are really friendly if you know the right ones. There is such energy and drive’

IN JAYWICK, THE SETTLEMENT SOUTH-WEST OF CLACTON, 36% of people have a disability, more than twice the average in England. Many of the houses here were built as holiday chalets and are hard to maintain at the mercy of the North Sea. “It gets terribly damp,” says Linda, 76, who bought her property with money received after an industrial accident. She greets us with a smile in the sunshine outside her property alongside her husband, Roy, 70. “In the winter, it’s the coldest place you could ever live, and in the summer it can be really, really hot. Sometimes you can have a back door open, a front door open and still two or three fans going, which eats up your electricity.”

Jaywick became notorious in the 2010s when a documentary series,

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Benefits By the Sea, turned deprivation statistics into gratuitous, cartoonish television that focused its narrative exclusively on addiction, criminality and destitution. More recently, TikTok content creators have been coming to film videos with titles such as “The worst town in England” for clicks. Jaywick’s plight highlights a political culture that has tolerated decline – and media that tolerate mocking those afflicted by the decline – without attempting to solve any of the problems, show any responsibility or even exhibit kindness.

But while the media often lament how little Jaywick has, they often miss what it has in abundance. “People in Jaywick are really friendly if you get to know the right ones,” says Linda, who has just come back from bingo at the recreation hall. “They’re smashing.” There is such energy, drive and purpose from people here, against the odds. Attempting to harness this is Sunspot, a community hub and event space with a brief to include affordable business units, a covered market, a cafe, public toilets and meeting rooms alongside a community garden and a bus shelter.

The jewel in the crown of Sunspot is Rainy Bakes, a thriving cafe, bakery and dessert parlour run by Lorraine Wildes, 63, and her partner, Mark Hammond, 58. Before Sunspot opened, she was a part-time cook in a care home and did a bit of baking on the side. When a shop became available, Wildes got a levelling-up grant to buy her ice-cream machine and a few other items. They have since moved into a bigger unit, and the business is going from strength to strength, doubling as a community hub where older residents can come to have a chat every Tuesday and a place young people can meet for a milkshake.

I meet Robert, 59, who is selling secondhand shoes in the market

▲▲ Election fever Graffiti in the centre of Clacton expresses the voting intention of one resident

▲▲ Pier position Billy Ball, the owner of Clacton pier, has deep ties to the constituency

▲▲ Frinton view Separated from Clacton by a golf course, Frinton is considered more genteel

outside Sunspot. He moved here from London 10 years ago because he thought the sea air would be better for his son. Robert has debilitating asthma, uses a mobility scooter and is recovering

from a stroke. He says politicians “come out with all the same stuff”; Andy Burnham “might be all right”, while he wonders what Farage has done for Jaywick, but he says he met him once and he “was a polite man. But then they’re all polite.”

What does he want from politicians? “More housing,” he says. “I was homeless myself; I know what it’s like in London.” It shocks him to see the amount of homeless people on the streets in the capital today.

Homelessness is never far from the conversation in Jaywick. It isn’t a theoretical problem but often a part of people’s lives, their history, with the relative affordability of Jaywick offering a second chance. “You don’t get moved off the beaches,” says Hammond at Rainy Bakes, who was also formerly homeless. He says that tents are always going up on the beach, particularly in dry and fine weather. “We had a gentleman – he was there for three weeks – I used to charge his power pack for his phone.” Hammond arranged for him to have a shower on the premises of Sunspot and money was raised to feed him hot meals. “You’d never know he was homeless.”

Hammond says he likes Farage for “his graft” and was impressed by him when he visited the cafe in 2024: “He came in to us and I leaned forward and I said to him: ‘I’ve got 36 flavours of milkshake,’” he says, referring to the times Farage has been attacked with one of the drinks. “And he went: ‘I don’t want a fucking milkshake.’”

“Jaywick is an amazing community,” says Hana Loftus, 45, the co-director of HAT Projects. She is an architect and

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The view from Clacton

writer who is undertaking a project about Jaywick as it approaches its centenary. “So many people here, they’re like: ‘Don’t call us deprived. We love where we live. We love it here. The community’s great, the beach is amazing, all my friends and family are here.’”

Loftus meets us for dinner at Pera, a recently opened Turkish restaurant that rivals anything in north London. We talk about how the resort of Jaywick was the project of the property developer Frank Stedman, whose vision of a great housing estate by the sea came up against the realities of drainage (this was marshland, after all), which shifted the emphasis from houses to holiday chalets. It grew in popularity as a rival to Butlin’s in Clacton and provided an interesting contrast: a collection of bungalows owned by holidaymakers as opposed to a camp with a high turnover of visitors making short lets.

When long breaks at the British seaside were overtaken in the 1970s by the foreign package holiday, Butlin’s evaporated, but Jaywick survived and eventually became a residential area. That decade, it fought for its survival after a compulsory purchase order was sought by Clacton urban district council to knock down the Brooklands estate, where most of the chalet-style housing is, but the Freeholders Association took them on and won. The council was forced to modernise parts of it.

Since then, the residents say they have fought for everything, coming to the conclusion that if something needs to be done, they had better do it themselves. They raised money for their own sea wall. “That fight is sort of baked into the place as a kind of memory,”

▼ Never Labour Alan Sainty sees Nigel Farage as the best choice for the future of the country

▼ Bleak view A burnt-out building in the centre of Clacton greets visitors from London

says Loftus. “People basically still think that the authorities would like to raze Jaywick off the face of the Earth.”

Loftus takes us to meet Danell Dreelan, 40, who lives in Brooklands Gardens, the heart of the estate – this was where much of Benefits By the Sea was filmed. She moved to Jaywick in 2009 from Edmonton, north London, when her mum and dad bought a series of houses on her street. Today, she works as a cleaner at a community centre and volunteers at the Never Say Die pub on a Sunday. She is helping her daughter, Bobbie-Jean Halls Smith, 19, who is organising Jaywick’s first carnival with Dreelan’s younger sister, 23-year-old Destiny, and is also the Essex county carnival queen.

The carnival is a way to fight back against assumptions about Jaywick, she says. “A lot of girls from here get treated like crap because they’re from Jaywick,” says Dreelan. “If you ask, 80% of the females here will never put Jaywick on their CV.” Lacey Mills, 18, a carnival princess, arrives with the junior queen, Ellie Riley, 20. Mills says the carnival has helped her confidence after she was bullied at school. “We’re all over TikTok. We’re all over social media. We’re all over BBC News,” says Halls Smith. “Hopefully, the stories [about the carnival] they’re going to show on TikTok or Facebook are going to be good.”

We talk as the sun recedes and dusk becomes night. Dreelan’s nine-year-old son, Sonny-Lee, was born prematurely with a serious congenital heart condition. Destiny and Halls Smith started a charity, Sonny’s Army, when they were only 16 and 12, respectively, to raise money for families in a similar situation. Bobbie-Jean says Farage

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39

‘Nigel Farage has charisma. Nobody in their right mind would vote for a rubbish bag’

doesn’t see this side of the Brooklands; she says he should come to the carnival’s events so he can “meet the people – but he doesn’t do that. He’s not taking the time to actually get to know the way it works here.”

I can’t make the carnival, so I call Dreelan the week after to see how it went. It was “nothing short of crazy”, she says. Every business from Rainy’s to the Never Say Die did a roaring trade and Dreelan ended the day standing on a chair in the pub singing Freed from Desire into a microphone surrounded by joyous residents. At the end of our conversation, it occurs to me I haven’t asked her yet if she is going to vote in the byelection. “I’m going to ignore it,” she says. She tells me of the time during the 2024 general election campaign when she met Farage in the pub and asked him a question: “How are you going to make the future voters, being children now, believe in what you’re going to do?” He looked at me and went: ‘I’ll get back to you.’

On my second day here, the wind has died down. The Clacton-based historian Sarah Elizabeth Cox, 39, is talking over a coffee about her forthcoming book on Victorian boxers, which includes Billy Ball’s great-grandfather Alf. She moved here in December 2022, when she was sick of house hopping after 10 years in London. She chose Clacton to be closer to her nephew and then ended up having a child herself.

One of the things she loves about it are the long walks all the way to Walton, where her dad, Geoff Cox, used to come on caravan holidays as a child. Geoff, 74, is a journalist who worked on the local paper in Luton from the age of 17. He and his wife, Anne, moved to a cul-de-sac in Frinton-on-Sea, the resort next to Walton, to be near their grandchildren. It took him a long time to meet his neighbours. “They are friendly,” he says. “They’re just very, very reserved people.” They bought a bungalow, but Geoff says many of his neighbours are widows who live in large four-bedroom houses, far bigger than they need.

IF CLACTON IS KISS ME QUICK AND BETTER DAYS and Jaywick is courage against a tide of assumptions, Frinton is lawns, clubs and carefully attended manners. Much more than the physical boundary of a nature reserve and a golf club separates Clacton and Frinton. Cox lives 15 minutes away from her parents in Frinton, but a world apart: “I live in a 1960s block of flats called Marine Court and there’s a 1960s block of flats also called Marine Court in Frinton, right on the coast.” She paid £187,000 for hers in 2022, while a comparably sized flat in Frinton’s version could fetch about £350,000. “I would say my view is probably better,” she says.

After finishing our coffee, we head for the taxi rank. Cab drivers are often portrayed in the media as salt-of-the-earth Reform voters, but judging from the evidence of Clacton this weekend, only one in four cabbies will vote Farage. Terry Chapman, a driver in his 70s, isn’t a fan. “I think it will be a low turnout and I think Farage will win a lower majority,” he says. He may vote Binface, “to take the mickey”.

When we arrive in Frinton, the seafront is teeming with people enjoying the sun and the tide is coming in quickly. Kay has brought her family and friends to a beach hut they have rented for the day, travelling from the heart of Constable country near Dedham, which

sounds idyllic until she tells me she has come to the seaside as the River Stour is filled with sewage. They usually come to Frinton, or up to Southwold in Suffolk, or north Norfolk (but never Jaywick, perish the thought). Kay says she has no thoughts about the election, “other than wanting to vomit” at the prospect of another Farage show.

As we head west, we meet David Ketterer, 82, a retired recruiter who has lived in Frinton for 44 years. He says Farage has been “forced into” the byelection. His wife, Toni, agrees. “The Guardian,” says Ketterer. “Everyone’s been against him!” What about GB News or the Daily Mail, I ask. Surely he still has a few supporters? “Yeah, but that’s it,” he says.

Ketterer was a Conservative right up until Thatcher: he thinks she should never have spent the North Sea oil money on lowering taxes. He says Norway was much more sensible in setting up sovereign wealth funds. But isn’t Farage a bit like Thatcher, with his plans of privatisation? “It’s an alternative thing and I’m old enough to say: ‘Let’s try an alternative,’” says Ketterer.

It helps that the Ketterers have met Farage – at the tennis club. “He has charisma, which none of the others have,” says David. That is surely selling Count Binface short? Do you know anyone who may vote for Farage’s main challenger? “They’re saying they are. But they won’t,” says Toni. “Nobody in their right mind would vote for a rubbish bag!”

We walk along the prom. The sun is high and the people we speak to are giving Farage a little more heat. “He’s either got to come clean and say that he did make a mistake and stay as an MP, or just clear off completely,” says Paul Andrews, 80, a retired engineer who is sunning himself by his hut with his wife, Lynn. “But I don’t like what he says anyway, to be honest ... And Farage is saying an awful lot of stuff. And there’s no way he’s going to be able to do what he says.”

Despite this summary, Andrews says he still voted for Farage in 2024. “What is the alternative?” says Lynn. “It’s true,” Paul agrees. “There’s no alternative, is there?” They used to like Burnham, “but we’ve gone off him big time”, says Lynn. They don’t like the idea of No 10 North, for a start. “Up until a couple of weeks ago, he wasn’t even an MP!” They would never vote Labour, anyway, certainly not since the party brought in 20% VAT for private schools, they say.

I meet Alan Sainty, 69, a semi-retired painter and decorator who is enjoying the sunshine outside his beach hut, having drinks with his wife and their friends. He was born in Walthamstow, east London, before moving to Frinton as an adult. His dad worked at the Ford factory in Dagenham. “My dad was 96 when he died last year. He always told me to vote Labour. But Labour went all skewwhiff when Tony Blair came in. So I’ve never voted Labour since.” Instead it is “Nigel Farage all day long”, he says.

Many of the people I speak to here think Farage is something to aspire to – he’s successful; he doesn’t mind making money. Would Farage’s financial affairs and any wrongdoing affect Sainty voting for him in future? “Listen, they’re all the same, right? Let’s see what he can do.” If he doesn’t become our next prime minister, Sainty suggests, the country is done for. “Starmer’s done nothing for us at all, has he?” Is Burnham any good? “Nah, not for me.” He isn’t that keen on any politicians. “Listen, I’m nearly 70 years of age. What has anyone done all my life?”

Have you ever had a political hero? “No, not really ... Definitely not Thatcher, because she took away the unions.”

Sainty voted for Brexit, then Johnson; he says Farage is the last throw of the dice simply because, as he sees it, nothing else has worked. He mentions the high rent of his pride-and-joy beach hut and the fact that bored kids break into it from time to time without any repercussions from the police. This sense of a society adrift after so many years in the economic doldrums is crucial when reading politics in the UK today. To sum up why he thinks Farage may be the best choice for the future of the country, he says: “Someone’s got to do something.” ●

TIM BURROWS IS A JOURNALIST BASED IN ESSEX, ENGLAND

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IRAN USA

IRAQ'S IMPOSSIBLE PREDICAMENT

With the outbreak of this year's war between Iran and the US, Baghdad's balancing act between the two antagonists has collapsed, exposing a perilously fragile state

By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

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An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike near Basra, Iraq, in March

ONE WEEK AFTER THE UNITED STATES AND ISRAEL killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and ignited a regional war, drones started flying over Basra in southern Iraq. They were targeting Iraq’s oil industry. They hit an oilfield operated by BP as well as a cargo terminal at Basra airport and a large compound that houses foreign companies that service the oil sector. Another attack on 6 March hit the same compound, striking offices and warehouses used by Halliburton and KBR, two US companies that have been in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. The attack sparked a massive fire that lit up the night sky.

In the wider war, it was not a particularly notable day – but in Iraq the strikes laid bare just how weak the state had become and “how easily sovereignty could be violated”, as one senior Iraqi security official put it to me. For 40 years, the US, Iran and Israel existed in an uneasy equilibrium of neither peace nor war. As this has come to a sudden, dramatic end, Iraq finds itself caught in the middle.

More attacks on Iraqi energy infrastructure were to come. On 11 March, an Iranian drone boat attacked two oil tankers off the port of Basra, setting them ablaze and killing at least one crew member. In the following days and weeks, a succession of drone strikes hit more oilfields operated by foreign companies. Hundreds of energy sector workers from American, European and Chinese firms left, many travelling overland because the country’s airspace was closed. Thousands of Iraqi workers were sent home.

No one claimed responsibility for these attacks (apart from the strikes on the oil tankers, which Iran acknowledged). The central government in Baghdad and the local authorities in Basra were remarkably quiet, offering only empty official statements about sovereignty and the promise of investigations. The truth is that most of these attacks were not coming from Iran. They were undertaken by Iraqis acting on Iraqi soil – the work of factions of the country’s powerful, Iran-backed Shia militias. “This is an act of treason,” a visibly shaken senior official at the oil ministry in Basra told me.

Speaking confidentially, multiple officials told me the oil attacks had been carried out by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella group of Shia paramilitary organisations that were originally trained and equipped by Iran to fight the Americans after the 2003 invasion. IRI factions are also members of the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) – a collection of Iran-backed, mainly Shia militias in Iraq that were brought together in 2014 to fight the Islamic State. The PMU is, in theory, subordinate to the Iraqi government but in reality follows its own agenda, with investments in construction and agriculture giving it a source of economic power.

While Iraq, which is majority Shia, may seemingly have a single, unitary government run from Baghdad, actually multiple groups with varying degrees of independence – formed in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion – exert huge influence. Today, there are two types of paramilitary militia in the country. Those that use their weapons to protect their economic interests – the state contracts and businesses that they have cultivated over the years – and

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Iraq's impossible predicament

▼ Top table

Iraq's PM, Ali al-Zaidi, meets Donald Trump at the White House

ANDREW THOMAS/CNP

'THE WAR HAS PROVEN IRAQ'S WEAKNESS. OUR AIRSPACE WAS USED BY BOTH SIDES'

▼ Final journey

Ali Khamenei's coffin is carried by mourners in Najaf in July

ANMAR KHALIL/AP

those that are primarily driven by ideology, that are deeply committed to the Iranian project of defeating Israel and expelling the United States from the Middle East.

In 2026, this unstable balance has erupted into violence not seen for years. On the one hand, the US/Israeli war on Iran has spurred the hardline ideological paramilitaries to Tehran's aid, attacking not just Iraq's oil infrastructure but also US military bases and the US embassy in Baghdad. On the other hand, a new US-backed Iraqi prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, has upped the ante by giving all of the country's militia groups a deadline of 30 September to disarm and incorporate their fighting divisions into the Iraqi state. This is to satisfy longstanding US ambitions to reduce Iran's influence in Iraq.

While al-Zaidi has had some success, the hardcore groups have refused to give up their weapons. As long as there is an American presence in Iraq, with Israeli jets flying overhead, the IRI will continue to fight.

Speak to Iraqi government officials and you hear nothing but anger and exhaustion about the attacks on their oil infrastructure. "The installations that were attacked were on Iraqi soil, paid for by Iraq, as was all the destroyed equipment," one told me. It was not the US companies that would be harmed - they would charge Iraq for the destroyed assets - but the Iraqi economy, the oil sector and the reputation of Iraq as a safe place to conduct business, he added. He also noted that the attackers had highly accurate intelligence, probably leaked from within, about where to strike and which building or warehouse to destroy.

He and other oil-sector officials in Basra told me that the aim of the attacks was to disrupt oil production, raise global prices and ramp up pressure on the US administration to stop its war on Iran. Within weeks of the war's start, Basra's output had fallen by two-thirds, with exports essentially halted. "Maybe they want to drive these western companies out to replace them with companies from countries more aligned to them," the official said.

What is clear is that consequences of the war in Iran, which have escalated dramatically after the collapse of the ceasefire, have been profound in Iraq, exposing the weakness of a state that is perilously divided between the war's two main antagonists.

I

N ONE OF BAGHDAD'S UPMARKET RESTAURANTS, a government adviser reclined on a sofa. Until recently, he said, the Iraqi government had managed to keep most of the country's militia factions under control. As the war in Gaza raged, and even during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in 2025, they were kept at bay through dialogue and negotiation. But the killing of Ali Khamenei changed everything. "You can't ask the factions not to participate any more," he said. "This is an existential struggle and a religious duty."

The adviser could see why Iran and its supportive factions in Iraq were doing what they were doing. Iraqi airspace and US bases in Iraq were being used to pummel Iran with airstrikes. Iranian officials had told him that 40,000 Starlink devices, used to bypass the Islamic republic's internet clampdown, had been smuggled into Iran from Iraq during the recent anti-regime demonstrations. "We should be grateful they didn't use their full force and strike Iraq in retaliation, because they could easily have burned half the country," he said. "And what do we have to defend ourselves against them?"

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In another part of Baghdad, I met with a high-ranking security official who had worked closely with the Americans for many years. He had little time to empathise with Iranian anxieties but echoed the analysis of Iraq’s military ineptness.

“The war has proven the weakness of Iraq. I don’t mean only militarily. Our country was violated by everyone, our airspace used by both sides.” The state could not even protect “its own soldiers and officers when we came under attack by the militias”, he said. “Everyone in the military command knows exactly who [the attackers] are. Maybe we don’t know the name of the person who pilots the drone, but we know who gave the orders, the chain of command and where they were launched from.”

He nodded towards a police car parked nearby, the police standing around it, and referred to all the cameras installed on street corners. “Some rockets and drones were launched from the centre of Baghdad. Who can travel with rocket launchers through the city? How can you pass all the checkpoints, or drive into the countryside and fire them as they show in videos, without being detected?”

By way of explanation, the conversation turned to corruption. There are honourable commanders in the Iraqi security forces, he conceded, but many of the highest-ranking posts are awarded to officers only after they make a payment to their superiors. “If you pay $5m to take command of a force,” he said, “the priority becomes protecting that investment by avoiding confrontation - and that is a disaster.” The reason it is an investment is because a high-ranking security post is a way of making money - through fraud, embezzlement and accepting bribes. “When officers see their commander running their own schemes to siphon money, that affects the whole security forces.”

Economics partly explains the division between the older militias, which have largely accepted the prime minister’s decree that they be incorporated into the Iraqi state, and the newer hardline factions under the IRI banner. In late May, the highly influential Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for his militia to be placed under the command of the state, and two other factions followed suit. But the move was met with derision and disdain by the hardline paramilitaries, who declared that their weapons were sacred and would not be surrendered until the end times. In effect, they were saying that they were fighting for an ideological cause, while the older militias were merely looking out for their own economic interests.

On 7 April, Iran and the US agreed a two-week ceasefire. The next day, the IRI announced that it would also be suspending operations for the duration of the ceasefire. (Fighting continued, albeit at a low level.) On that same day, Iraq and Saudi technical teams were having an online meeting to explore the reopening of the Iraqi-Saudi pipeline, which has been closed since the invasion of Kuwait in 1990. They were looking for a new way for Iraqi oil to bypass the pinch point in the strait of Hormuz.

As the oil industry came to a near halt, long queues formed outside petrol stations, bringing to mind the worst days of chaos that followed the 2003 war. In a statement, the ministry of oil blamed the shortage on the shutdown of some refineries after foreign workers left the country and on its inability to export unrefined, heavy fuel oil.

For a country so dependent on oil sales, which underwrite the salaries of 4 million public-sector employees, the decision by Iran-aligned militias to attack their own economy might have looked suicidal. “Not necessarily,” a civil rights activist in the city of Basra told me. “Many people believe that oil companies are exploiting the country and they find the attacks justified.”

Basra is one of the most polluted cities in the world, where people breathe the toxins from the burning flares of oil wells and drink brackish water. At the same time, its citizens are surrounded by signs of oil wealth - car dealerships, fancy sushi restaurants, expensive real estate - that are available only to a few. It is not surprising that many shrug their shoulders when they hear of attacks on oil companies’ assets.

How did postwar Iraq fail to make use of its immense oil wealth to deliver a better life for its people? On the eve of the US invasion in 2003, the country’s oil infrastructure was in near ruin after decades of war and UN sanctions. The machinery was antiquated and production was kept alive only by veteran engineers. In the aftermath of the invasion, looting and sabotage nearly collapsed the industry altogether. Lacking the finances and capacity to rebuild the sector on its own, Iraq turned to international firms, signing contracts with major oil companies including BP, ExxonMobil and Shell. The deals inked were not the profit-sharing agreements that the foreign companies wanted - Iraq still takes huge pride in having nationalised its oil industry in 1972 - but less lucrative, flat per-barrel service fees. Baghdad had a stated ambition to pump about 12m barrels a day by 2017, a level that would rival Saudi Arabia. That target was never remotely met, peaking closer to 4.5-5m barrels a day in the late 2010s and hovering there.

RADUALLY, THE POSTWAR EUPHORIA around Iraq’s oil potential cooled, and within a few years companies began to abandon their projects. The thin margins had made Iraq one of the least profitable places the firms operated, but the retreat was mainly driven by political instability, contractual disputes and massive delays in government payments. The delays occur because of multiple layers of bureaucracy, deployed ostensibly to prevent corruption but in practice functioning as bottlenecks where bribes are extracted to smooth the process. Multinationals that are bound by anti-corruption laws generally refuse to pay such bribes, and their fees are held up as a result.

Ministry officials and business insiders in Basra described to me a contracting system that - as elsewhere in Iraq - is dominated by political parties, clans and sometimes armed groups that line their pockets by exploiting agreements with contractors and subcontractors.

In late May, the deputy oil minister responsible for the country’s refineries, Adnan al-Jumaili, was detained on corruption charges - part of the new prime minister’s anti-corruption drive. Al-Jumaili was shown on television in a yellow jumpsuit, surrounded by dozens of machine guns and boxes of ammunition that were reportedly found at his home. Investigators said they also recovered $10m in cash, 3bn dinars (roughly $2.3m) and 1.5kg of gold. As the investigation expanded, security forces detained 47 people, including 13 MPs and senior officials, and seized hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold. Among those arrested in the same sweep was a second deputy oil minister who had already been sanctioned by the US for allegedly diverting Iraqi oil to benefit Iran.

It is no surprise that, for many Iraqis, the oil industry is less a symbol of the country’s pride than all that is wrong with it.

This July, the funeral procession of the Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, took place in Iran - though it also crossed the border with Iraq, drawing 3.8 million people on to the streets of Najaf alone, according to official figures. Unlike in the choreographed ceremonies in Iran, massive throngs in Iraq pushed and shoved to get close to the coffin in the fierce summer heat. The white turbans of mullahs came undone as they jostled with the crowds; arms stretched forward, people wept, and those who could not get close enough threw their shawls and scarves at the casket to be blessed by it. Away from the crowds, the coffins, including a smaller one

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44

Iraq's impossible predicament

for Khamenei's granddaughter, who was killed alongside him, were received inside the shrine of Imam Ali, a holy site in Shia Islam. Iraq's leaders, among them the new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, stood in solemn silence alongside the Iranian president.

Six days later, as if to perfectly illustrate the double-edged nature of Iraqi politics, that same prime minister sat next to Donald Trump in the Oval Office, beaming as he listened to the US president declare that the two men had "tremendous chemistry" and that Iraq was "very well represented". Al-Zaidi pledged, again, to disarm the militias and fight corruption, and invited US companies to invest in Iraq.

For many years, a well-connected government insider told me, the Americans sat down with Iraqi prime ministers and repeated the same demands about disarming the Iran-aligned militias and ending corruption. "This has been going on since God knows how long," he said. "They sat with Haider al-Abadi, with Adel Abdul-Mahdi, with Mustafa al-Kadhimi, with al-Sudani, with al-Maliki, with every prime minister. And during all those years, Iraq received a great deal of American support, but did nothing whatsoever to change its relationship with Iran. On the contrary, Iranian influence only expanded with time."

Why the seeming change this year, with al-Zaidi telling the Iranian-backed militias that they need to give up their arms? American

'MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT OIL COMPANIES ARE EXPLOITING THE COUNTRY'

Baghdad citizens welcome the ceasefire in April

Protesters storm the Kuwaiti consulate in Basra in April

pressure coincided with the economic crisis. The closure of the strait of Hormuz and the attacks on its oil installations have brought Iraq to the brink of bankruptcy. Washington has also made use of the huge leverage it has over the Iraqi economy. In an arrangement dating back two decades, Iraq's oil revenues are held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Physical shipments of dollars are flown from the US to Baghdad so the government can pay salaries and run the state.

In April, the US took the extraordinary measure of stopping these dollar shipments. The Iraqi government got the message: al-Zaidi ordered the pro-Iranian militias to give up their guns in June, and the dollar shipments resumed in July.

NE SPRING EVENING IN BASRA, the corniche along the Shatt al-Arab River was packed with people walking up and down, enjoying the early-evening breeze: families with children holding balloons; young men in fitted dishdashas or jeans; women, some in black abayas, others in Gulf-style robes and headscarves, a few in trousers with their waist-length hair flowing. As music pulsed through the air, a line of photographers did brisk business as people queued to be pictured in front of the fountain installed in the river.

On the other side of the street, gazing down benevolently, was a massive portrait of the city's governor, Asaad Al Eidani, hung from a five-storey building. After taking office in 2017, Al Eidani initiated major public works: paving roads, extending the sewage network and securing Basra extended hours of electricity supply. (His detractors accuse him of benefiting from public contracts and awarding major projects to his inner circle, claims he vehemently denies.) He also built relationships with the neighbouring Gulf states, easing trade and travel to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, hosting a Gulf football tournament that drew thousands of regional visitors to Basra, turning the city towards its Arab neighbours and their lucrative markets while maintaining its cultural and political ties with neighbouring Iran.

Along the corniche stands the empty shell of the Kuwaiti consulate. It was stormed in April by locals at the instigation of militias in response to a suspected Kuwaiti airstrike that killed several Iraqis – this was itself retaliation, Iraqi officials said, for an earlier attack launched by militias from Iraqi soil. The abandoned structure stands as a reminder of the dashed hopes of Iraq maintaining close relations with both Iran and the Gulf states.

Walking through Basra, I found myself thinking about how implausible it was to imagine that Iraq's pro-Iran fighters would give up their weapons; that Iran, at a moment when it needs to marshal every asset it has to fight the US and Israel, would abandon its allies; and that the corrupt politicians and businesspeople who have spent two decades siphoning Iraq dry would relinquish their wealth at the behest of a new, inexperienced prime minister.

As I walked, I met one old man dressed in a white dishdasha with a knitted skull cap on his head. Iran, he said, was the last chess piece protecting Islam and defending Arab nationalism. It's our duty as Iraqis to support it, he added. When I asked him if he was worried that with no oil sales, the Iraqi economy might collapse, he said la (no): America will not abandon its project in Iraq. It will make sure our economy won't collapse. And there, in a few words, was Iraq's impossible predicament – dependent for life on two sworn enemies ●

GHAITH ABDUL-AHAD IS AN IRAQI JOURNALIST

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Comment is free, facts are sacred CP Scott 1918

45

EMMA BROCKES

Am I wrong to want my kids to go to university?

Page 47 →

Opinion

UNITED STATES

Trump has blundered into a new

'forever war' that he cannot win

Simon Tisdall

GUARDIAN DESIGN; AARON SCHWARTZ/ AFP/GETTY

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46

Opinion

It’s five years this month since the chaotic retreat of US forces from Kabul. The Nato-backed invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, launched after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington DC, is now widely regarded as a failure. It cost the lives of more than 2,400 US and 450 British troops, and tens of thousands of civilians (the exact number is unknown). Although al-Qaida terrorists were routed, their Taliban hosts reimposed repressive, misogynistic Islamist rule after regaining power in 2021. Afghanistan became a byword for ill-considered western interventionism and nation-building. It was the archetypal “forever war”, a phrase first coined during Vietnam.

If this cautionary tale had any lasting value, it was as a deterrent to politicians and generals tempted to rashly embark on open-ended conflicts without just cause, defined, achievable aims, and an exit strategy. Dismayingly, the forever war lesson had to be learned all over again in Iraq, which the US and UK invaded in 2003 and departed, having caused huge harm for scant benefit, in 2011. “Never again!” was the passionate cry at the time and since. And yet, it seems, the same disastrous pattern is now repeating after Donald Trump’s incomprehensibly foolish decision to attack Iran. A war he termed a “little excursion” is entering its sixth month and has been escalating rapidly. It, too, has a forever feel.

How can it be? Answers may be found in persistent US exaggerations and misconceptions about the level and extent of external threats, mixed up with political dishonesty, national hubris, naivety and misplaced idealism. Recalling the harrowing US experience in Afghanistan, Carter Malkasian, a National War College professor who served as a civilian adviser to US forces in Helmand and Kabul, suggests the basic premise for keeping troops in Afghanistan for 20 years – a belief the country would otherwise revert to being a safe haven for international terrorism – was fatally flawed.

“Nothing of the sort occurred. Over the past five years, not a single act of terrorism against the US was carried out by a group based in Afghanistan,” Malkasian wrote. “Washington spent roughly $1tn on the war. More than 775,000 American service members were deployed ... all to defend against a threat that turned out to have been exaggerated. Five years on, the greatest danger is not that a terrorist safe haven might once again emerge in Afghanistan. A graver threat comes from the risk of collective forgetting.” In short, “fears of the moment” should not cloud memories of the long-term costs of

Like Bush before him, Trump and Netanyahu have exaggerated the existential nature of the Iranian threat

endless forever war. If the Afghan war was prosecuted on the basis of a false assumption, so much more so was the invasion of oil-rich Iraq. George W Bush’s claim in 2002 that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed stockpiles of readily usable chemical and biological weapons and was seeking a nuclear bomb proved untrue. Untrue, too, was the claim from the then vice-president, Dick Cheney, that Iraq “aids and protects” al-Qaida. The subsequent occupation and insurgency became part of an even larger forever war – Bush’s “global war on terror”.

It’s easy to second-guess decisions about war and peace taken under the pressure of horrific events. The disingenuous pursuit of political, military and commercial agendas, and the manipulation of intelligence and public opinion, is harder to excuse. The US maintained it fought the Vietnam war to support democracy and halt the spread of communism – the discredited “domino theory”. But it was also very much about US exceptionalism and global hegemony. In that sense, little has changed.

What else makes American politicians risk costly entanglements in foreign wars they can’t control and usually lose? Insecurity – meaning fear – is a common denominator. Like Bush before him, Trump and Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, have greatly and knowingly exaggerated the immediacy and existential nature of the Iranian threat. Like Iraq in 2003, Iran possesses no nuclear weapons and there is zero firm evidence it is trying to acquire them.

Trump’s overbearing hostility to weaker neighbours such as Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Panama and Greenland has a forever aspect, too. It is rooted in the foundational myth that the US has a unique mission – and right – to oversee the world. Likewise, greed is forever. Abandoning altruistic ideas of democracy promotion, Trump seeks to exercise economic as well as geopolitical dominance. He has tried to monetise the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. His focus on the strait of Hormuz shows how security policy and financial and commercial interests invariably intersect.

Lack of effective UN mediation and peacekeeping; the hollowing out of US diplomacy, which has accelerated under Trump’s lickspittle secretary of state, Marco Rubio; and a stubborn refusal to accept the militarily inevitable all play a role in turning US-led conflicts into

* Simon Tisdall intractable quagmires. In Trump’s case, ego is also a factor. It seems he would rather kill thousands more civilians than admit he was wrong over Iran. Such extreme behaviour illuminates another pernicious aspect of forever war. Its utter pointlessness is fundamentally immoral. War without end is the death of hope.

One day, Trump talks about talks. The next, he hits out with massive, murderous violence. Implacable Iranian hardliners relish his dilemma and turn the screw, mounting militia attacks and global economy-spooking drone and missile strikes. Trump tries in vain to bomb his way out of trouble while desperate for a deal that can somehow be sold as a victory.

Neither option is going to work. The bloody stain, the blame and the shame, if not the war, will last for ever ●

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47

SOCIETY

I'm torn over hard hats,

but still want my kids to go to uni. Is that wrong?

Emma Brockes

For a while now I've been having a conversation with friends that a few years ago would've been largely unthinkable. Partly, this is because of how sheltered we all tend to be when trying to imagine our kids' lives running on different tracks to our own. But it's also about the world changing. A brilliant young person I know left school, took up an internship, turned it into a job and now she's in her early 20s with no debt and a great position at a big fashion house. "Maybe I won't go to university, either," said one of my kids, eyeing me for a reaction, while I nodded thoughtfully and tried to ride out the panic.

Andy Burnham's announcement last week that university shouldn't be the single, aspirational goal of all of Britain's young people was perfectly timed, sensibly presented and shouldn't sound as radical as it does. It is, of course, a correction to existing norms that university-for-all is a proper national goal and the only personal determinant of ambition and success. By contrast, Burnham said last Tuesday, this country should "value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap" as he spoke about tailoring technical and vocational training to meet local job needs and tackle youth unemployment.

The evidence suggests that a culture shift is already under way and that Burnham is simply validating an existing trend. I'm in the US at the moment, where the cost-reward ratio of going to college is so out of whack that student numbers have been dropping for years.

Smart people on podcasts direct young people towards their in-state universities, which charge a fraction of the cost of the prestigious private ones (not the Ivy Leagues, so much, which can subsidise any family making less than $400,000 a year, but the smaller, liberal arts colleges that charge as much as $80,000 in annual tuition and have been closing due to dwindling student numbers).

In the UK, too, for the last two years, university numbers have dipped slightly. This is partly a result of changing demographics - smaller families mean a smaller supply of school-leaving 18-year-olds - and partly to do with the cost.

The question is what this is doing to perceptions about the usefulness or otherwise of going to college, which, as we know, isn't just about earning potential. In both the US and the UK, being a graduate still delivers average median earnings that are higher than the earnings of non-graduates. But while middle-class people make jokes about how their plumbers probably earn more than they do, the fact remains that it is the other stuff - the cultural and social capital of going to college - that underscores this particular bias.

So it is that, while "low-value" degrees have been the target of derision for decades, when you dig down into why people want their kids to go to university, it

has as much to do with social benefits as academic attainment. When will they meet the friends who will stay with them and godparent their children if not while sitting around watching mid-morning telly for three years as they slowly mature into

adults? Are those friendships worth 10 grand a year? How, exactly, do you put a value on the non-academic stuff? I always think of a thing Don DeLillo said once about honouring a need to "drink coffee and look at the world" for a space of years, something that in the current economic climate sounds like an indulgence. And yet, for lots of 18-year-olds, it remains a valuable exercise.

But not all of them. The problem with current thinking about university is that it's so uniform, and the main takeaway from Burnham's speech is a reminder that there is more than one way of doing things. You can go to college, or not go to college, or go at 35 not 18, and all those things should be regarded as equal. Meanwhile, the whole conversation around college is just part of a larger one about changing work patterns in which, on the evidence so far, gen Z are proving reluctant to repeat the experience of their parents' generation by taking up office jobs - with additional pushback from gen X, who feel they came of age in office structures that taught them all sorts of useful things, such as how to work alongside people they found basically unbearable.

We all bring such biases to these questions of how to live life. I went to university and want my kids to do the same. My mum would have loved to have gone to university but had to leave school at 16 and I'm sure that's in the mix, too. But when the question of college education came up in our house, I tried hard to take myself off generational autopilot, stop being so hidebound by precedent, and properly consider the alternative ●

GUARDIAN DESIGN/ GETTY

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48

Opinion

MEDIA

In the battle of Elon Musk v the press, truth must not be the loser

Jane Martinson

Elon Musk’s long interview with the editor of the Economist is as good a representation as any of the current clash between two worlds. In one corner, the editor of an 182-year-old news organisation that promotes economic liberalism and freedom. In the other, the world’s first trillionaire, who spreads misinformation to his hundreds of millions of followers on his own social media platform. The bout is a masterclass in the challenges journalists face in a new world of AI, fact avoidance and online aggression.

The flash points in Zanny Minton Beddoes’ conversation with Musk start with definitions.

Musk says that the people Minton Beddoes calls “far-right” and “fringe” (she mentions Germany’s AfD party) are in fact just “normal people”. They clash over whether the speed of his cuts to USAID led to unnecessary deaths in developing countries – she believes that his claim that it didn’t defies not only statistics but the evidence from her reporters on the ground. Asked if he is racist, he cites the fact he has four children with a woman who is “half Indian”. In an awkward exchange, when asked by Minton Beddoes whether he is anti-Muslim, Musk says he is against “people coming to a country with antithetical views ... I’m against rape and murder.”

The tone shifts when Minton Beddoes accuses Musk of spreading misinformation about Europe and particularly her home town, London, telling him that the statistics show that it is a safer place to live than most large US cities. She appears genuinely irritated that he rejects all evidence that violent crime is far lower than he says and grooming gangs are not terrorising the streets. After she asks if he understands why this makes people loathe him, it becomes a playground spat. Musk points out that with so many followers on X, he must be popular. Besides, “they hate you far more than they hate me”. She admits to the media losing trust.

The exchange says a lot, not just about both participants, but also the state of our media ecosystem.

GUARDIAN DESIGN; MANDEL NGAN/AFP/ GETTY

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The GuardianView

Founded 1821 Independently owned by the Scott Trust

The interview appears to end with the two agreeing to disagree; they even continue to chat while Musk has his photo taken. When Minton Beddoes promoted the interview on X, Musk then reposted it, adding “zany interview with Zanny”. She liked this so much she reposted his repost. After some of his followers posted rude things about the media, he piled in on “the reality distortion nightmare mirror that is the legacy mainstream press”. By the weekend, he was calling her a “traitor to the west”. Last Thursday, she confessed to being “bemused” but not scared by the “more and more aggressive” response. She has learned not to look at online comments, she told BBC Radio 4. “If you scroll through them and read hundreds of things saying how awful you are, it’s not very pleasant, so don’t do it.”

It seems particularly timely to see what lessons can be learned from all this, given that the latest UK-government-backed investigation into the safety of journalists found that many admitted to self-censoring reports on contentious issues such as rightwing protest for fear of being attacked. Throwaway vitriolic comments about journalists are directly linked to increased aggression online and off, the report found. Female journalists bear the brunt of this aggression.

The shift to online and video journalism, the increasing celebritification if you will, has made more journalists identifiable, and therefore afraid for their safety. Again, Minton Beddoes is a great example of this

Governments are told that public services must shrink because money is tight. Yet a new Tax Justice Network report says that countries could capture an extra $500bn a year without raising corporate tax rates. The answer is to tax multinational profits where real economic activity happens – known as unitary taxation. No new profit is created. Revenue simply shifts from tax havens where profits are “booked” to the countries where workers produce and customers spend.

Benjamin Netanyahu and Tucker Carlson.

Musk’s view of truth is the reason the exchange feels more important than similar confrontations. Asking powerful people questions even when they react badly is the essence of what journalism is. In her short response to newsletter subscribers last week, Minton Beddoes promised to double down on the issues raised in the interview. She told them to look forward to new reports examining the facts surrounding the impact of shutting down USAID, the number of victims of grooming gangs in Britain and violent crime in European cities.

The news business has not always behaved as ethically as it should. But data and on-the-ground reporting are the only ways to beat misinformation. You can claim that it’s just too dangerous to walk around in Britain, as Musk did – despite having not visited for several years – or you can find the data that suggests homicide rates in general and even knife violence crimes are far lower than in major US cities, as the Economist did in a social video liked 73,000 times.

Ownership of his own platform and infinite riches may give Musk a loudspeaker, but this old-fashioned reporting is the kind of public service the world needs. Especially if Musk really is the Cassandra he says he is and AI is going to best humans within a decade, making it even harder to keep a firm hold on reality ●

Trump won’t like it – but states must seize the $500bn prize of global corporate tax

Making that principle a global tax standard depends on UN talks that opened in New York this week. Modelled on the UN climate regime, a fiscal framework convention would create the governing body and procedures, with protocols providing detailed rules. The UN wants agreement by late 2027. Donald Trump’s US walked out last year and urged others to follow. None did.

Rich countries gain most when firms pay tax where people work, not where profits vanish in havens. Britain would collect about £13bn ($17.5bn) extra a year in tax receipts – two-thirds of the cost of an NHS-style social care system. EU governments could raise enough to quadruple climate-adaptation spending. And the report calculates that the global south would receive $156bn in one year.

For the first time in decades, multinationals could be taxed where they actually do business. Rules built for the corporate world of the 1920s – when national industrial giants dominated – would finally confront today’s companies organised around

intangible assets and global supply chains. In 1929, General Motors made the equivalent of $4.7bn. Apple’s profit last year was $112bn. What the report calls “diversified” tax havens such as Switzerland and the Netherlands could offset losses by raising rates. Pure booking centres such as the Cayman Islands could not.

The talks suggest states are beginning to reclaim powers surrendered under globalisation to corporate lawyers and private tribunals. One protocol would let countries tax cross-border services without waiting for firms to establish domestic offices, blunting Mr Trump’s trade threats. A second could go further, shifting tax disputes from secretive investor-state arbitration into a more open, accountable UN-led system.

Ireland, which is facing an estimated $11bn annual tax loss, has already begun putting aside part of its “windfall corporate tax receipts” – an admission the revenue won’t last. India and Nigeria have legislated so companies profiting from their economies should not escape the tax net just because they operate across borders.

Britain has belatedly backed a UN-led shift towards taxing real activity. The US can sit out the negotiations, but it cannot shield American companies from others’ rules. The success of these talks has largely been down to African nations insisting on consensus or majority rule. Backed by India, Brazil and other developing powers, an African-led coalition can now press a simple claim: countries should be free to tax value created within their economies ●

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50	OpinionLetters
WRITETO US	It's time to get serious about the climate crisisI see your article as one small step in getting serious about climate change (Busting the myths and lies about heatwaves, Spotlight, 17 July).What is economic growth? A small increase in available income to be spent on luxuries - a huge proportion of economic growth goes into already well-lined pockets.Yet it seems that what is good for the economy is bad for the environment. The planet cannot support more luxuries.Neoliberal economics has no mechanism for dealing with climate change (or plastic in the ocean or deforestation) because dealing with it is measured as a cost, not a benefit.Already it is becoming very expensive to adapt to climate change's effects, heatwaves, fires and floods. Mitigating climate change is going to be much more expensive.If we are to mitigate climate change, buying electric cars and switching to wind power will not be enough. We will have to relinquish a lot of luxuries. War, for example. Consumerism, for example. (Both good	for the economy and bad for the environment.)Getting serious about climate change means recognising we are in an existential crisis.Edward Butterworth Victoria, BC, CanadaThere's more to England's north than ManchesterIt is certainly refreshing to hear that the new British prime minister is trying to decentralise our London-centric government by opening a No 10 North in Manchester (You may scoff at cheap bus fares but Burnham knows what he's doing, Opinion, 31 July).However, it appears that he identifies Manchester as “the north”. He must realise that the north of England is much more than just the Manchester conurbation, and that replacing a single-centre approach with a double-centre one will not in itself achieve his aims of improving every postcode in the country.Tom CarrNewcastle upon Tyne, England, UK● Whatever you think about Andy Burnham's first days in the job, you have to hand it to him. How many people start a new role and immediately	move the office closer to their home? Respect.Mary FoleyLondon, England, UKThe military use of AI needs urgent attentionRobert P Baird's article concludes by wondering whether AI might “prompt us to reconsider what it means to be human” (Morality and the machine, Feature, 10 July).My greater concern is that it might prompt us to reconsider what it means to be inhuman. Although little mentioned, the AI arms race includes a literal arms race in military AI capabilities. How soon until bad actors, national, factional or terrorist, let loose AI-driven weapons on civilian targets and claim impunity because “It was the algorithm what done it”? How much easier will it be to commit war crimes, including genocide? And why is so little attention being given to the military use of AI?Ant DonaldsonMansfield, England, UKLessons for Lincolnshire from across the AtlanticThe article about rewilding at a farm in Lincolnshire says they hope nightingales will return there after an absence of	30 years (The business of rewilding, Feature, 24 July).How appropriate that the company Nattergal (Danish for nightingale) should be involved. So far the efforts seem to have produced a lot of weed growth, including thistles, ragwort, dock and teasels.In the wilds of British Columbia in the last century, a difference was noted between the flora surrounding the villages of First Nation peoples and that produced by European settlements; a proliferation of weeds, particularly ragweed, that brought a lot of hay fever.Let us hope there is a difference between rewilding and re-weeding farmland. The beaver introduction should help.Anthony Walter Coldstream, BC, CanadaCORRECTIONSThe previous youngest chess player to beat a 2600+ opponent was not Judit Polgár but the all-time No 2 woman, Hou Yifan, who defeated Nikita Vitiugov at the age of 12 years and 11 months (Chess, Diversions, 31 July). Polgár's win was against GM Lajos Portisch's nephew Gabor Portisch.
Letters for publicationweekly.letters@theguardian.comPlease include a full postal address and a reference to the article.We may edit letters. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions, see:THEGUARDIAN.COM/LETTERS-TERMSEditorialEditor: Graham SnowdonTo contact the editor directly:editorial.feedback@theguardian.comCorrectionsOur policy is to correct significant errors as soon as possible. Please write to guardian.readers@theguardian.com or the readers' editor, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK

BECKY BARNICOAT ON MILLENNIAL LIFE

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Film, music, art, books & more

51

MUSIC

When Wham!

made it big

in China

Page 54 →

Culture

Australian director

Benedict Andrews' new

London play fuses Sophocles

and Ingmar Bergman.

What can it tell us

about how we live today?

Hit and myth

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52

Culture^{}[] Stage

By Mark Lawson COVER PHOTOGRAPH Antonio Olmos/ Jet Swan/ Guardian Design

▲ Swede dreams Bibi Andersson in Persona, the 1966 film directed by Ingmar Bergman ALAMY

► Being Blanche Gillian Anderson in Benedict Andrews' London staging of A Streetcar Named Desire in 2014

JOHAN PERSSON

IN AROUND 420BC, Sophocles staged Electra, in which the title character avenges the murder of her father by her mother, Clytemnestra. In 1966, Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman premiered Persona, in which a psychiatric nurse, Alma, is caring for Elisabeth, an actor who has suffered a breakdown while playing Electra. These two dramas, written 23 centuries apart, are now sharing the stage in an alluring new National Theatre production.

In Electra/Persona, director Benedict Andrews has paired the stories before and after the interval, linked by a stunning coup de theatre at the end of the first half. “Persona is a pinnacle of modernist cinema, and Bergman is a north star for me,” says Andrews. “I’ve long been fascinated by the impossibility – in a good way – of staging Persona, because it is so much about the camera and the silence and the closeup: the face as a terrain. And I was always fascinated by why Bergman chose to have Elisabeth break down while playing Electra, so I wanted to put them together. I think it’s become clear in rehearsal that the whole evening is one cycle of grief.”

Early on, Andrews (Australian born, Iceland resident and identifying as “Ice-Stralian”) had the idea that Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss would alternate the roles of Electra and Clytemnestra in Electra, and Elisabeth and Alma in Persona – whoever plays Electra in the first half reappears as Elisabeth, and Clytemnestra reappears as Alma. The original plan was for Blanchett and Hoss to toss a coin on stage at the start of the evening but Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, in which a coin lands heads 92 times in succession, made this strategy risky.

“Also,” says Andrews, “I said to Cate and Nina: ‘To play your best game, do you need to wake up in the morning and study your Electra or Persona text?’ And they said maybe. In the end they will have a schedule and swap night by night, but the audience won’t know who’s playing who until the first one walks in.” And if I say to the box office that I’ve seen one combination and want to see the other, they won’t tell me when? Andrews pauses. “No.”

Although he is known for staging radical new versions of classics – including Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard at

the Donmar Warehouse in 2024 and Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire on a rotating set at the Young Vic in 2014 – Electra/Persona is a bold project. Another writer-director, Alan Ayckbourn, once said that, while directing, he found himself cursing what the writer had given him to do. Did Andrews understand what it would be like effectively having to rehearse two plays twice each to prepare the various permutations?

“Yeah. Long rehearsal days,” he sighs with a laugh. “Yesterday, unusually, we stayed in Electra all day but I still did an hour on Persona at the end. I think it’s really important to do both every day. Although they require very different energies. It’s not a double bill; it’s one hinged work. There are perforations from Bergman in the first half and from Sophocles in the second half.”

By this stage, Andrews considers himself only a director: “We have this joke with the cast about there having been a writer. We call him Dominic. He was chained to a table for two weeks here to do rewrites but now we’ve put him on a trawler back to Iceland.”

I recently saw a hit show in which the understudy was on – they did an impersonation of the absent performer, which is standard in the circumstances. But will Blanchett and Hoss have a different interaction? “Absolutely. They

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are two actresses who are equally astonishing but play their instruments differently. Cate and Nina are good mates and had done the film Tár, in which Nina plays Cate's wife. So I thought it would be great to do something with them. They don't look the same, but there's an echo between them - they could be sisters. In rehearsal you see them thinking: 'Oh, they did that in that bit? Do I take that or do my own interpretation?' We're searching for something in which they each play the logic of the scene, but it may come out in different ways.'

When I tell him that his Donmar Warehouse Cherry Orchard was completely different the two times I saw it, he nods enthusiastically, even though some directors would greet this with a public inquiry. 'Good!' he says. 'I saw the [romantic rejection] scene between Lopakhin and Varya dozens of times in rehearsal and then performance - and it was different each time. And I encourage that, because in the end you want the truth of that moment played each night. As a director, you have set up a perpetuum mobile that the actors can continue to develop.'

ANDREWS IS HAVING AN ANCIENT GREEK PERIOD, his previous show being a version in Iceland of Aeschylus's The Oresteia, which shares characters with Electra including Clytemnestra, Orestes and Electra herself. So is there a big overlap between his back-to-back Greek tragedies? 'Huge. I moved bits across between the two shows. I spent the bulk of last year doing my text for The Oresteia. Then there was a gap before rehearsals began - for it to be translated into Icelandic - in which I wrote Electra/Persona. Which I hadn't expected to be on so quickly. I hadn't expected to be living with this crazy fucking family for so long!'

Both shows are chamber pieces - five actors in Reykjavik, four in London - so apart from the role swapping in Electra/Persona, there is also role play, in which the back stories of offstage characters are acted out: 'It's sometimes something like a Gestalt therapy game where you play your oppressor. And 'persona' is the word for masks, for the roles we play. The king and the judge put on those robes

It's one hinged work: Bergman in the first half and Sophocles in the second half

TOBIAS SCHWARZ/ AFP/GETTY

Andrews, at the National Theatre, Reykjavik, Iceland

and play those roles. How does theatre critique all these power relationships? But in another way, how does theatre allow us to interrogate all those roles we play in our own lives, our psyche and our dream lives?'

From the meeting room at the National Theatre where we talk, it's a short walk to Christopher Nolan's film The Odyssey at the BFI Southbank or to Simon Stone's The Oresteia at The Bridge. If the descendants of the ancient Greek writers were on royalties, they would all have private jets. 'Yes! I think they're coming back at the moment because in these times of big political and moral crisis, we need them. The reason we are digging in this Greek rubble and soil is that these plays were made in an imperial warring empire that was first triumphant and then later broke apart. And we are watching that with American imperialism now.

'We grew up with the idea that the US - our Rome, our Athens - was a military might but also a cultural might. And it's breaking apart. So we go back to a culture that lived through wars but also gave us philosophy and theatre and gave Freud the Oedipus myth for unpacking a family. And these plays should also make us question notions of law and justice.'

There is an increasingly strong Australian directorial presence in London. As well as Stone, whose Oresteia follows his Phaedra and The Lady From The Sea, Kip Williams has frequently worked in the city - recently on The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula and The Maids. Does Andrews have a WhatsApp group or reunion barbecues with his fellow expats? 'Not really. But Kip was my assistant director. Simon acted in a production of mine, rotating in a glass box in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? We all know each other and have collaborators that we share.'

Andrews, Stone and Williams all visually or structurally disrupt classic texts - is that an Australian thing? A sort of textual anticolonialism or republicanism? 'When I did my first Three Sisters in Sydney, the [Chekhov] tradition was still lace and linen. I got letters saying: 'You've taken Coca-Cola and poured it into a vat of fine malt whisky.' Barrie Kosky was doing something similar, and we possibly were a battering ram against the conservatism of Australian state theatre then. But I'd worked a lot in Germany, where radical rethinking is what the director does, so it never made sense to me to be 'faithful' to classics. What does that even mean? I don't think of it as disrupting classics. I'm trying to access the mythic power in the piece, X-ray the inner meaning.' ● MARK LAWSON IS A GUARDIAN WRITER AND A BROADCASTER Electra/Persona is at the National Theatre, London, from 19 August to 10 October

7 August 2026 The Guardian Weekly

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Culture^{}[] Screen

When pop's young guns went to China

In 1985 Wham! were the first western group to tour the People's Republic. Andrew Ridgeley recalls the trip and the original documentary

By Chris Tryhorn

▼ Make it big

'I think it counts as a historical event' ... Wham! at the Great Wall

PETER CHARLESWORTH/LIGHTROCKET/GETTY

There has always been something surreal about Wham!'s 1985 trip to China. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley looked like alien visitors on the streets of Beijing, their bouffant hair and flamboyant outfits setting them apart from the Mao jackets and drab uniforms of the Chinese people they encountered.

Now the full strangeness of the duo's brief trip, which made them the first western pop act to play in the country, is explored in a fascinating documentary film, Wham! 10 Days in China. Using previously unseen archive footage and featuring new interviews with many of the people involved in the tour, it shows the extraordinary impact Wham!'s two concerts had on their Chinese audience, as well as providing a snapshot of a country on the brink of great change.

Yet for Michael and Ridgeley, the tour was less about expanding cultural horizons and more about hardheaded commercial logic: as master-minded by their manager, Simon Napier-Bell, it was designed to create such an international sensation that they would be catapulted to top-tier status in the US without having to undergo the slog of a 90-date arena tour. "And it worked," says Ridgeley, now 63 and white-haired, when we meet on a warm summer's day in central London.

"When the idea was originally proposed to George and myself, I thought it didn't stand a cat's chance in hell ... but it did ultimately achieve our aim. We were on national news in the States, we were in the newspapers."

The film shows Wham! performing their hits in Beijing and Guangzhou, as well as dealing with the many other demands placed on them - having to make polite speeches at a banquet with Chinese officials, for example. Michael

clearly found it hard to put up with a reception at the British embassy - "the formality, the small talk, the artificial nature of the meeting", Ridgeley says. For his part, Ridgeley bridled at the demands of the press, refusing to take his sunglasses off at a photoshoot on the Great Wall.

There was certainly a strange atmosphere at the Beijing concert: the audience, who had little idea of what to expect, had been told to stay in their seats, and the band walked out to silence; while some people did get up to dance, one man was taken away by the police for getting too exuberant. Even playing their song Freedom could have been construed as a political act.

But for some Chinese fans, the tour provided revelatory exposure to western music. "I think it counts as a historical event," says Cheng Fangyuan, the singer who performed Chinese-language versions of Wham!'s songs on the tapes handed out to ticket holders. "It was like opening a window."

The reason there is so much original footage of the tour is because Wham!'s management had arranged for a documentary to be made about it. In one of the most peculiar hirings in film history, the man they chose to oversee the film was Lindsay Anderson, the high-minded director of This Sporting Life and O Lucky Man!, who was then 61 and at a low ebb in his career.

The partnership proved to be an unhappy one: Anderson and Wham! did not take to each other, and the director was fired six months later, when the band rejected the film he presented to them.

"I thought it was bloody ludicrous," says Ridgeley. "Someone like him, with his cinematic pedigree, was just not the right fit for Wham!. He only did it for the money - his letters on the subject make it very clear."

Anderson himself appears on camera in footage used for the new film. There is an excruciatingly revealing moment later on when Anderson, walking with a stick, approaches Michael from behind and claps him on the shoulder, while the star is holding court; Michael very conspicuously fails to turn round to acknowledge him.

The raw footage that Anderson's crew had shot lay in storage for decades. No one had reopened the 100-plus cans containing the original reels of Super 16 film until director Mike Christie started work in September 2024. He and his team discovered more than 20 hours of footage.

Wham! 10 Days in China is the third documentary about the band in recent years, following Netflix's Wham! (2023) and the BBC's Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped (2024).

Ridgeley hopes there can be further projects to keep Wham!'s music alive. "Fortunately we've got a really great catalogue of songs that assist us in that. All good music transcends generations and Wham!'s is no exception."

CHRISTYHORN IS A MEDIA AND CULTURE JOURNALIST

Wham! 10 Days in China is on worldwide cinematic release and on BBC iPlayer in the UK

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Culture Music

55

‘Ethio-jazz is a beautiful science’

Mulatu Astatke spent decades building his distinct, mesmeric sound. At 82, he’s still finding new directions – and he wants recognition for his country’s cultural output

By Geneva Abdul

▲ Under a spell The ‘father of Ethio-jazz’ pictured in 2024

ALEXIS MARYON

▶ Bass pleasures A session for the album Mulatu of Ethiopia in 1972

MULATU ASTATKE

“Do you know the Metro club?” I feign recognition to the 82-year-old father of Ethio-jazz, Mulatu Astatke, who knows London’s vanished haunts better than I do (the Soho venue closed down decades ago). By then he had immersed himself in the city’s 60s jazz scene, befriending Ronnie Scott and the saxophonist Joe Harriott, with whom he occasionally jammed across Soho’s clubs, as well as musicians from Africa and the Caribbean.

Audiences around the world have since fallen under the spell of his otherworldly music. We meet days after Astatke’s performance at London’s Royal Festival Hall in June, which is expected to be his last in the UK. Like much of his music, he’s difficult to place at first. Dressed in all black, he blends into an armchair in the almost empty lounge of a north London hotel with art deco flourishes. It was beautiful to see the packed audience appreciating Ethiopian jazz, he tells me.

But it wasn’t easy trying to do something new. The jazz he has built across more than a dozen albums is mesmeric, layering the distinct pentatonic scales of traditional Ethiopian music with western-style jazz and funk, and infectious Afro-Latin rhythms. He weaves in traditional instruments – the krar, masenqo and kebero – as

well as religious chants dating back to the fourth century. “Ethio-jazz is a beautiful science,” he says, leaning back into his chair. “You can hear jazz, you can hear 12th notes, you can hear the 5th notes and everything all combined together.”

Long before the Ethiopian giant honed his sound, he was sent by his parents to a boarding school in Wrexham, north Wales, at 16, set on studying aeronautical engineering. It was there he picked up the trumpet and was encouraged towards a career in music. Subsequent spells at London’s Trinity College of Music and Boston’s Berklee College of Music, as its first ever African student, followed.

Throughout the late 60s, Astatke shuttled between New York – where his group, the Ethiopian Quintet, recorded the albums Afro-Latin Soul 1 & 2 – and Addis Ababa, where he began recording singles for Amha Records, the country’s first independent label, in 1969. “I really wanted to be different, I wanted to be myself, I wanted to be Mulatu,” he says of the years spent honing his sound. “Then once I created Ethio-jazz, I became myself.”

His Ethio-jazz is rooted within the musical culture of a country that, unlike many of its neighbours, has enjoyed independence for most of the last 2,000 years (with the exception of a brief Italian occupation from 1936 to 1941). Astatke had returned to Addis with his own vibraphone and electric keyboards, to a golden age of nightlife and music under Emperor Haile Selassie’s reign (think saxophonist Getatchew Mekurya, singer Mahmoud Ahmed and keyboardist Hailu Mergia, to name a few), which served as fertile ground for experimentation.

The era of a famously wild nightlife under Selassie came to an end when the emperor was deposed by a Marxist regime in 1974 and a repressive period followed for nearly two decades under the Derg, in which hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians were killed, jailed or exiled. My questions about Astatke’s performances for Selassie – and life under Ethiopia’s Communist junta – are met with reticence: “I have no involvement with the military, I have no involvement with politics, I have no involvement with nobody. I live peacefully.”

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Culture Music

Astatke wants to ensure that Ethiopia's cultural contributions don't go unnoticed. Speak with the musician long enough and each conversation will inevitably bend to the country's "bush people".

In the 1990s, Astatke visited various Ethiopian indigenous communities - the Derashe in the south and Gambella, home to the Nilotic Anuak people. The high respect he holds for them is palpable: "The bush people created Mulatu, because I became a musician by listening to the musengo."

His manager, sitting at the table with us, gets out his laptop and pulls up a joyous performance by Astatke with members of the Derashe tribe, one of the several communities he brought to the studio in the 1990s. A second video, from the 1970s, shows him performing with traditional musicians playing the krar. "I became a musician by listening to these people," he says, "they created me."

Astatke will soon return to Addis Ababa where he's expecting an audience at the African Jazz Village he opened in 2013, now run by his son. The

▼ Good vibes

Astatke in Times Square in 1972

COURTESY OF MULATU ASTATKE

venue draws international visitors and spotlights local musicians.

What's next? He toys with the idea of playing new music at the club in Addis. His most

recent album, Mulatu Plays Mulatu, was a new arrangement of his classics with his UK band, but his next will feature musicians from "the bush" as well as those in Addis. But there is no name for the project yet, he insists - it is still a work in progress.

"Promoting Ethiopia, promoting our cultural people to the world, that's what makes me so great and happy," he says. "It took me years and years, but finally we made it." Only then, do I see a smile beneath Astatke's serious demeanour. "Give respect to Africa," he says again, "and the bush people."

GENEVA ABDUL IS A GUARDIAN NEWS REPORTER Mulatu Plays Mulatu is out now on Strut Records

Reviews

MUSIC

The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales

Shaboozey (American Dogwood/Empire)

If Shaboozey never released another note, his place in history would be assured. A guest appearance on Beyoncé's album Cowboy Carter was followed by his A Bar Song (Tipsy) becoming the biggest-selling country single of 2024. Such success has led him to swing for the fences with this 20-track concept album - accompanied by a three-issue comic - featuring interstitial tracks: and narration by actors Jamie Foxx, Teyana Taylor and Sam Elliott.

While there is a pivot away from pop into country's heartlands, Cowgirl and Born to Die are charming attempts to replicate his biggest hit. Bullets and Blades, meanwhile, is a beautiful duet with R&B star Kehlani while If I Was an Outlaw has saloon-bar piano and Sweet Revenge goes country rock.

Part of Shaboozey's USP has gone with his decision to dial down the rap influence in his vocals; there's a leap in excitement from the hip-hop-inspired Til Sunday, but The Outlaw Cherie Lee sounds not like an artist destabilised by a huge hit but the work of an artist digging in for the long haul. Alexis Petridis

FILM

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Dir: Destin Daniel Cretton

★★★★☆

Tom Holland is maturing in the role of Spider-Man. But is the role maturing with him? This film is a reset. At the end of the last movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker (Holland) erased everyone's knowledge that he is, in fact, Spider-Man, including his goofy best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) and the love of his life MJ (Zendaya). So now he is simply back where he started.

Spidey has to tackle a sinister entity possessing the bodies of important people - such as the villainous Scorpion (Michael Mando) - with a view to infiltrating the department of Damage Control, run by Bill Metzger, played by the excellent Tramell Tillman (from TV's Severance). It coincides with new physical and mental health issues for Parker. Headaches appear to take our hero to what I can only describe as the David Cronenberg zone.

To tackle these crises, Parker/Spidey consults Black Widow (an amusing Florence Pugh) and an ageing Dr Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), AKA the Hulk. And Spider-Man finds himself in a fractious frenetic-bromance with Frank "Punisher" Castle (Jon Bernthal).

Zendaya saves this film, rescuing it from silliness and the generic deja vu overfamiliarity that is always threatening to sink it. Her naturally relaxed style gives the proceedings a boost. Director Destin Daniel Cretton gets the best out of her.

Otherwise, things are the same in Spideyworld. And Brand New Day, like all MCU movies, gravitates towards apocalyptic but temporary destruction. It's an entertaining spectacle, but a more radical reboot is needed. Peter Bradshaw On general release

Podcast of the week The Positive Distraction Podcast

While he is best known for his No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels, Alexander McCall Smith has a soft spot for short stories. His new series features short original works that he hopes will make listeners feel better about the world, beginning with a tale inspired by a friend's miniature helicopter landing pad. Hannah J Davies

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Culture Books

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COMMENTARY

Start a new chapter and learn to read again

We pick up fewer books than ever before - blame our smartphone habits - so could the answer be a couch-to-5k for reading?

By Naomi Alderman

▲ Long read Put down your phone and pick up a book ALINA RUDYA/BELL COLLECTIVE/GETTY

Do you feel that it's harder to read than it used to be? Not harder to read emails, texts and social media posts, of course. We're reading those all day long. Harder to sit down and lose yourself in a book? How long is it since you even sat down with a weekend newspaper and read it cover to cover? Do you feel that you used to have a life-sustaining reading habit, everything from fun popcorn novels to serious nonfiction, classic and contemporary, many genres and writers, but somehow it's gone away? It doesn't feel like a decision that you made. It just happened.

I feel like that. I'm a novelist and I present programmes about thinking on the BBC, and yet even I am finding that I'm reading less than I used to. I hate this feeling. I still have the habit of acquiring books, buying them, getting them from libraries, being sent them. And I do still read. Compared with many people, I probably read an enormous amount, but I know it's not as much as I used to read. And I know where the time has gone. It is, of course, the damn phones.

The other day I was sitting with a friend who is a doctor and an expert in public health - that is, large-scale interventions that might improve the health of millions of people by a tiny bit. I found myself saying: "I don't think it's a coincidence that smartphones are about the same size and shape as a packet of cigarettes." We talked about how the really massive public health crisis from tobacco was caused by the arrival of cheap mass-market cigarettes, which you could smoke endlessly without having to do the ritual of emptying, cleaning and refilling your pipe, and which were not as expensive as cigars. We talked about how people didn't know, when they started smoking those cheap mass-market

cigarettes during the first world war, how deadly they would be. It's not our fault.

In the trenches in the first world war, men smoked cigarettes to steady their nerves. During the pandemic, when we couldn't speak to each other in person, we all got glued to our smartphones. It's not our fault, but we are going to have to fix it now.

The problems of people not reading are well documented. Students are apparently arriving at university unable to read a whole book. A 2024 report by the OECD found that literacy has declined or stagnated in most developed countries. In his forthcoming book, The New Dark Ages, James Marriott traces the problems for society that are coming out of a lack of literacy. Marriott argues that when we're not reading, we're increasingly unable to follow complex arguments and find the problems with them. We tend to be more swayed by cartoonish figures with simple slogans we can repeat. We will believe gossip rather than thinking through intellectual ideas.

It's a public health crisis of intellectual health. I thought about a couch-to-5k programme for reading. When I mentioned the idea on my Substack newsletter, Whatever Works, readers bit my hand off with excitement. It suddenly seemed very urgent.

So I've designed a programme. Eight weeks, with three separate tracks. Over eight weeks, we are working ourselves back to reading half an hour every day, with two or three longer sessions during the week. There are also tracks for people who just want to be reading 20 minutes a day, and for readers who know that they are shying away from the more challenging stuff they want to be tackling.

The response has been extraordinary. After the first week, people already say they're finding their morning routine goes more quickly now they're not brain-fogged from scrolling first thing, that reading in stressful times is making them feel calmer, and that they can watch a long film without being tempted to look at their phone. They are rediscovering the simple joy of being gripped by a great book after as few as two or three days of working on this together. Fans have put together homemade digital and printable trackers to keep themselves motivated. Teachers are already asking me how to introduce this idea into schools.

It's really exciting to find out how easy it is to put this right. The programme is running right now, and you're not too late to join. Put down your phone, pick up a book, and read for 10 minutes. That's day one.

There is so much joy in books, and it's all still there waiting for us. All we have to do is take it back from the technology billionaires, one day of reading at a time.

NAOMI ALDERMAN IS AN AUTHOR, BROADCASTER AND GAMES WRITER

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Culture^{}[] Books

FICTION

A cabin of her own*Half a century on,

this landmark novel of a runaway mother is thrillingly original*

By Anne Enright

Book of the week Gaining Ground By Joan Barfoot

There is a growing literature of maternal flight: novels about women who leave not just their husbands but also the children they have made. In the real world, men are the more frequent deserters; the connection of the father to family life is seen as contingent, while motherhood is revered as an intrinsic state. This means that women who “un-mother” themselves are doing something impossible: the connection between a woman and her child is not just emotional, but also creational. Joan Barfoot understands the inside-out nature of the logic involved in maternal obligation: “she created these other people and their need for her,” says Abra, the abandoning mother of Gaining Ground, “and now she must fulfil them.” Abra neglects to fulfil her children or their needs. The novel is rigorously and meditatively about the business of separation, which is also the business of becoming a single and undivided self.

Gaining Ground came out in Canada in 1978, under the title Abra, before it was published in the UK under the current title by the Women’s Press in 1980. This was around the time Barfoot’s fellow Canadian Alice Munro began to write her adulterous, runaway women, whose instinct for freedom chimed so well with the feminism of the day. Abra is not sprung from domesticity by her desire for another man, however, nor does she return to her children, as Leda in Elena Ferrante’s The Lost Daughter does, after years spent regaining what she had lost. Abra is closer to the protagonist in Cathy Sweeney’s recent Breakdown, who has no single answer to the question of why she left her

former life: In Japan, Sweeney writes, “So many people disappear that there is a word for them – johatsu. It translates as evaporated people.”

These novels cannot fully resist the question of whether the bolting mother is a monster or a victim of societal expectation. Gaining Ground was written before any of them and, already, Barfoot was wise enough to refuse the terms of the debate: Abra never questions the morality of becoming her true self.

The novel begins with the arrival of a young woman at Abra’s cabin in the woods, nine years after she drove away from her old life. Abra can barely remember who the girl is, or who she herself used to be. Then, a moment of recognition – it is her 18-year-old daughter, Katie.

Katie’s arrival tips Abra into a recollection of her lovely, ordered home in Toronto; her marriage; and her two children. Her first baby, a son, provoked a fierce sense of attachment. Her second child seemed less of a miracle: “she was a baby, beautiful, and she was mine and Stephen’s and we had created her, but it seemed natural now”.

The story may be about maternal ambivalence, depression, the loss of meaning, but it always revolves around ideas of truth and pretence. Abra’s life does not feel “real”. Barfoot delivers about 16 different kinds of dissociation without going over her own footprints or saying the same thing twice. The build to Abra’s departure has a cumulative, relentless modernist effect, but she manages to keep it human, or within the human, and we are fully convinced, when Abra sees the cabin for the first time, that this is her “home”.

She has brought no clocks and no mirror, and is at pains to avoid talking to other people. On her first day of digging a vegetable garden her hair proves bothersome and so she lops it off, blind. Abra works to grow food, gather wood and keep herself alive through the long Canadian winter. She thinks only about what is in front of her. The descriptions of work, the natural world and the changing seasons recall the self-reliance of Annie Dillard or Thoreau, who write in a transcendent spiritual tradition. Abra’s revelation is not about God’s infinite majesty, however, but about a kind of unbecoming. She wants to make a life in which she can slowly lose “my name, my memory, the labels I’d

Audiobook of the week Helm By Sarah Hall

Helm is the name of a strong gale in the Pennines in northern England. Sarah Hall’s Helm is an ambitious novel that tells stories from the wind’s perspective, and from the people on whom, through the ages, Helm has wreaked chaos.

Those figures include a Neolithic tribeswoman and seer who is building a stone circle; a “wizard priest”; and a climatologist measuring microplastics in the atmosphere.

Separated by centuries, their stories are woven together, each bonded by weather. The actor Louise Brealey teases out Helm’s playful and poetic moments as narrator. Fiona Sturges

used, and so my sense of all words”, to arrive at a place of joy.

When Katie arrives from a world where “there are motives and angers everywhere”, Abra tries to share what she has discovered about “blankness”. She considers the way she once saw her husband and wonders, “Did I make him up?” The answer is that she invented everyone: “I simplified them. And then I reacted to what I had made up, behaved as if what I had invented was real.”

It is hard to find an ending for a book that is trying to be about nothing, so it is considerably to her credit that Barfoot manages an affecting, dramatic conclusion to Katie’s visit. Gaining Ground is a wonderful slow burn of a book and Barfoot’s originality and control remain exciting, nearly half a century on. It is great to see this reissue put the novel at the centre of things, where it belongs. ANNE ENRIGHT IS AN IRISH AUTHOR

SCIENCE

Body positive*An elegant look at how

our fellow organisms relate to the world around them*

By Edward Posnett

Alive: The Hidden Intelligence of the Living World By Melanie Challenger

The eastern breakwater of Granton harbour is almost 1km long, and swimmers can follow its crooked finger, heading straight out into the Firth of Forth. One Thursday lunchtime, I thought: why not, let’s give it a go, and headed for its tip. I felt cold, but, as I progressed, I seemed to grow strangely warmer. I did not notice the complaints from my body: the creeping numbness that proceeded from my fingers to my elbow, nor the coldness of my pee. Only by the time I exited the water, club footed and claw handed, did it hit me that I was hypothermic.

The irony of this reckless exercise was that in my swim bag there was

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59

a book by Melanie Challenger called Alive: The Hidden Intelligence of the Living World. It's an ambitious examination of the wisdom of bodies, a rhizomatic guide not just to our own, but also all the living forms around us: from bacteria to chimps. Her case is that we have ignored or misread the agency and purpose of bodies to our detriment; in a way it is a plea to listen to them. I wish I had read it before my ill-advised swim.

Challenger notes that her book was born out of "wild curiosity", and a sense that the "stories we were telling ourselves ... were both presumptuous and unconvincing". For her, our focus on souls, genes or minds is a distortion of reality, and we should instead direct our attention to our bodies, which have been marginalised, perhaps because they remind us of our own vulnerability and mortality. It is not that Challenger denies the importance of genes; what she questions is the lens through which we read the world.

Challenger is a poet, and her descriptions are often beautiful. She describes glacial ice as "blue sheened like an eyeball" and a Humboldt squid as "a lozenge of silver". By denigrating or ignoring bodies, she argues, we are blinded to the sophistication of other life forms, and do not afford them the respect that they deserve; we destroy habitats with little regard for the non-human life that resides there.

According to Challenger, it was Aristotle who first grasped the intelligence of bodies, though he lacked the science to support his intuitions.

I struggle to think of a book for whose subject I have felt more sympathy and excitement. But as a lay reader I found myself almost dizzyed by the text. I desperately wanted to follow my guide, but I kept on feeling left behind, as the author charged into a dense thicket of ideas and scientific research.

When I got out of the water, corpse-grey and shaken, I was greeted by two women, experienced swimmers, who offered me a cup of tea and some sound guidance. I'm grateful to them and the way they could quietly read their own bodies, and mine, skilfully relating them to the world around us. In a way this book is an invitation to the reader to do something similar; to abandon the harmful readings that we have inherited, and sidestep our own self-destruction.

EDWARD POSNETT IS A WRITER BASED IN PHILADELPHIA

BIOGRAPHY

Rightward turn

A superb critical biography of Peru's Nobel laureate traces his political journey

By Pratinav Anil

Mario Vargas Llosa By Gerald Martin

"At what precise moment had Peru fucked itself up?" Those words on the opening page of Conversation in the Cathedral announced the arrival of a writer who understood that national history could become the organising principle of fiction. At precisely the moment when Latin America was discovering the intoxicating possibilities of magical realism, Mario Vargas Llosa plumped for old-fashioned realism instead.

It was a question of sensibility as much as politics, Gerald Martin suggests in this chatty yet coolly analytical biography. He traces the path of a novelist who began by dissecting oligarchy with surgical precision and ended happily dining among its ranks, completing one of literary history's most spectacular political migrations.

Yet Martin's revisionist point is that Vargas Llosa crossed a shorter ideological distance than is often imagined. Beneath the guerrilla chic, Martin finds in Vargas Llosa an old patrician confidence in hierarchy. The "factory defect", as one university contemporary put it, was congenital: Vargas Llosa never ceased to be a "Lima posh boy".

After the 2010 Nobel prize, Vargas Llosa increasingly lent his prestige to the hard right, backing Peru's trigger-happy unelected ruler Dina Boluarte and Chile's anti-gay, anti-abortion crusader José Antonio Kast; denouncing feminism as literature's "staunchest enemy," and treating every leftward electoral twitch as a "return to caudillismo."

Gabriel García Márquez is the book's foil: the magician to Vargas Llosa's realist, the man who stayed on the left while his lesser rival abandoned it. Martin, now the biographer of both, is uniquely placed to reconstruct the most famous right hook in literary history. In 1976, Vargas Llosa floored García Márquez with a punch after allegedly accusing him of overstepping the mark by comforting his second wife, Patricia, during the collapse of their marriage. The punch marked more than a personal rupture. It sealed an ideological one. García Márquez later remarked that there were only "two soups on the menu": capitalism and socialism. Vargas Llosa spent the rest of his life gorging himself on the former.

PRATINAV ANIL IS A HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR

The perfect books for the beach Authors reveal their holiday reading

TOM GAULD

---

60

Lifestyle

THE ONE CHANGE THAT WORKED By George Francis Lee

I gave up using

shampoo and it transformed my hair

When I gave up washing my hair, the first two weeks were the worst. But I was determined to follow my barber's advice ...

In 2025 I'd not had a paid-for haircut in about five years, preferring to ask my ex to cut it with kitchen scissors in the bathroom. But now I was in my late 20s and single, and I decided it was time to look more grown up. Not knowing the first thing about looking after my hair, I felt that a trip to an establishment that offered something beyond a short back and sides - a trendy, gentrified place where a trim puts you back a cool $50 - was sorely overdue.

"You need to stop washing your hair," my barber told me bluntly. As they ruffled through my shapeless, overgrown mop, I was warned about using too much shampoo, which can leave your hair dry, lifeless and coarse. I sat in the swivel chair feeling a bit embarrassed. My barber's words were less

a caution and more a diagnosis. I was instructed to drop shampoo immediately for at least two weeks. The dry variety was fine if I got desperate for a clean, and I could maybe use a bit of conditioner as a treat. But for the most part, water was my entire regime.

To my mum's delight and my teenage dismay, I have thick ginger hair. Years of heckling and having a name that starts with the letter G have made me and my gingerness inseparable. For better or worse, my hair is usually the first thing someone will notice about me. I wanted to take some pride in my hair, and the knowledge that I'd unwittingly been sapping the life out of it was jarring.

Like most people, I found a daily squirt of shampoo to be as much of a ritual as brushing my teeth. It felt counterintuitive to forgo it.

The first two weeks were the worst. Advocates of the "no poo" method - ditching shampoo for water or homemade concoctions due to claims that commercial products cause repeated, unnecessary damage to your locks - often tell you that it gets worse before it gets better. There is a sort of dirty threshold you have to pass before reaping the benefits of poo- less hair, they say.

This was harder than I imagined. I would step into the shower, dunk my head under the water and reach for the bottle. A glob of apple-scented shampoo would ooze on to my scalp, then I'd have to scrape it off. A few

▲ 'Knowing I'd unwittingly been sapping the life out of my hair was jarring' ... George Francis Lee

You have to pass a threshold before benefiting from poo-less hair

days in and my head was crying out for a lather. But I was determined to follow my barber's advice.

I carried on, counting the days until I could wash my hair. But slowly I felt no need. Two weeks became three. Three became four. Eventually I lost track. "I can't remember the last time I washed my hair," I said to my best friend, who thought it sounded a bit gross. But my hair had never felt better. It was wavier, bouncier, glossier. The dirty, itchy feeling that had lingered during the first fortnight disappeared, and suddenly I felt as if my hair was finding a natural balance after years of endless shampooing. Until then, I hadn't realised just how dry my hair had been.

My scalp used to feel irritated, but it was one of those minor issues we all tend to leave unspoken unless they snowball into something more troubling. Shampoo seemed to have been stripping away the natural oils that were supposed to moisturise and protect my hair.

Obviously everyone's hair is different. I'm told people with fine or greasy hair don't last long without needing to shampoo. But for people with my hair type, it's not necessary.

More than a year later, my hair is shinier and curlier than ever. A wash at my quarterly haircut does me just fine, and I could probably go even longer. The apple-scented shampoo I bought a year ago remains untouched on my bathroom shelf.

GEORGE FRANCIS LEE IS A SCOTT TRUST BURSARY JOURNALIST

STEPHEN COLLINS

Stephen Collins

---

KITCHEN AIDE By Anna Berrill

Ready, set, go: what's the best vegetarian alternative to gelatine?

How do I substitute gelatine sheets for a vegetarian setting agent? Sarah, Aberdeen

"The truth is, there's no exact substitute for gelatine, because it has an incredibly unique texture," says Richard Phillips, head of pastry at Timberyard in Edinburgh. There are plenty of plant-based gelling agents - "agar-agar [or just agar], gellan gum, pectin, carrageenan, locust bean gum, vege-gel... the list goes on," says Phillips - but the result will never quite be the same.

"The temperature you have to use them at is different [to gelatine]," says Philip Khoury, author of Beyond Baking, so his workaround is to formulate recipes that don't use gelling agents. "If, for example, I'm making a thick, pipeable cream, then I'll use cornflour," says Khoury, and manipulate it to get different textures. Let's take the panna cotta and creme brulee recipes in his first book, A New Way to Bake, as an example: "You get two very different textures from essentially the same recipe. The only difference being that if you pour the custard into a tray and chill it, it will set, whereas if you beat it with a whisk, it will turn into this luscious, creamy texture that's just set."

But one substitute doesn't fit all. "There are specific alternatives for specific things," says Phillips: "Reversible pectin for glazes; kuzu [root starch] to thicken sauces;

pectin to make jellies, using different dosages for different sets." Khoury, meanwhile, prefers agar for the latter. But don't expect the same result as you'd get with gelatine. As Harold McGee explains in his On Food and Cooking: "Agar forms gels at even lower concentrations than gelatine does, less than 1% by weight. An agar jelly is somewhat opaque and has a more crumbly texture than a gelatine jelly." A jelly made with agar won't have that joyous melt-in-the-mouth texture.

Even so, Reece Kallah, head pastry chef at Mount St Restaurant in London, uses agar in fruit puree gels, which feature in her set vanilla custard. "As a general guide, use 0.5% agar by weight of your liquid - for example, 5g agar per 1 litre of liquid." Kallah mixes the agar with a little sugar "to help it disperse evenly", before whisking it into the boiling liquid, pouring into a tray or ramekin, and leaving to set. "I still prefer gelatine - it has a softer, more delicate texture because of that lower melting point."

Stars don't always live up to their hype, and Khoury adds a word of caution. "If Sarah goes about this by saying: 'I want to swap gelatine for something else', then it won't work; if she wants success, then follow a recipe that doesn't contain gelatine." It'll likely be less faff, too.

ANNA BERRILL IS A FOOD WRITER Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

THE WEEKLY RECIPE By Angela Hartnett

Nº 377

Gnudi with roast tomato sauce

Prep 10 min

Chill 8 hr +

Cook 1hr 10min

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the roast

tomato sauce

500g ripe plum

tomatoes

2 garlic cloves,

peeled and lightly

crushed

A few thyme sprigs

Sea salt and black

pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 small splash red-

wine vinegar

For the gnudi

250g good-quality

ricotta, well-strained

50g finely grated

parmesan, plus

extra for serving

Fresh nutmeg

250g semolina

White pepper

To finish

Basil leaves

Good olive oil

To make the tomato sauce, heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/gas 6. Put the tomatoes in a roasting tray with the garlic and thyme, season well and drizzle generously with good olive oil. Roast for 35-40 minutes, until the tomatoes collapse and lightly caramelise. Remove and discard the thyme sprigs, then blend or crush the tomatoes to your preferred consistency. Add a dash of vinegar to sharpen the flavour, then check the seasoning and keep warm in a bowl.

Meanwhile, to make the gnudi, beat the ricotta until smooth and light, then stir in the parmesan and grate in a little nutmeg to taste. Season generously, then chill for 30 minutes.

Spread half the semolina on an oven tray and the rest on a clean work surface. Roll spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture into short, roughly 1½cm-thick sausages, then cut into small pieces and shape gently into balls. Roll the gnudi lightly in the semolina on the work surface as you work, then arrange them on the semolina-covered tray.

When all the gnudi are on the tray, cover them generously with the remaining semolina, so they're almost buried. Chill overnight, if possible, or for at least several hours.

Bring a large pan of salted water to a gentle simmer, then, working in batches, drop in the gnudi and cook for three to four minutes, until they float to the surface. Lift out carefully with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Spoon the warm tomato sauce on to plates, arrange the gnudi on top and finish with basil leaves, more parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.

GORCHITTZA2012/GETTY/ISTOCKPHOTO

---

62

Diversions

Notes and Queries The long-running series that invites readers to send in questions and answers on anything and everything

QUIZ

Thomas Eaton

1 Which mountain range is home to the world's second-highest peak? 2 Which pioneer of conceptualism retired from art to play chess? 3 Who is the only Jesuit to become pope? 4 Which ancient shark grew to around 18 metres long? 5 Baseball is the national sport of which South American country? 6 Which global news organisation is based in Qatar? 7 In the aftermath of a scandal, who changed her family's name to Holland?

▲ What links golf balls, a corned beef sandwich and a harmonica?

ALAMY

8 Zener cards are used to test for what ability?

What links:

9 Banjul; Nassau; San Salvador? 10 Evert (5); Jaeger; Mandliková; Graf; Garrison? 11 Corned beef sandwich; golf balls; harmonica? 12 Altar Stone; Aubrey Holes; Heel Stone; Slaughter Stone; Station Stones? 13 Nimue and Viviane; Florence Nightingale; Elaine of Astolat for Tennyson; Bennett's Mary Shepherd? 14 1; 4; 3; 11; 15; 13; 17; 43?

PUZZLES

Chris Maslanka

1 Wordpool

Find the correct definition: MANJAK a) fruit akin to mangosteen b) Tom, Dick or Harry c) asphalt from Barbados d) last man standing

2 A Crucial Difference

Identify the words that differ in the letters shown:

O* (ban)

E* (the opposite of ban)

3 E pluribus

Rearrange the letters of A BIG THYLACINE to make a single word.

4 Cryptic

Auto biography? (3, 4) Insect sport (7) Herb gives flower to girl (8)

© CMM2026

Answers 1 Karakoram Range (K2), 2 Marcel Duchamp, 3 Pope Francis, 4 Megalodon, 5 Venezuela, 6 Al Jazeera, 7 Constance Lloyd (both of Oscar Wilde). 8 Extravascent perception, 9 Capitals of countries with definite article in name: The Gambia, The Bahamas, El Salvador. 10 Lost in Wimbledon singles finals 11 Simpyard into space on Nasa missions, 12 Parts of Stonehenge site, 13 The Lady... Lady of the Lake (named, variously), The Lady With the Lamp (nictitious), The Lady With the Lamp (nictitious), The Lady With the Lamp (nictitious), The Lady With the Lamp (nictitious), The Lady With the Lamp (nictitious), The Lady With the Lamp (nictitious), The Lady With the Lamp (nictitious), The Lady With the Lamp (nictitious), The Lady With the Lamp (nictitious), The Lady With the Lamp (nictitious), The Lady With the Lamp (nictitious).

Answers

on the defensive. At one point the IM had a difficult win, but missed it. It took 99 moves and six hours to complete.

The minimum performance rating for an IM norm is 2450 and Sivanandan performed at 2463 against a 2420 field. She also surpassed the 2400 requirement for her second women's grandmaster norm.

A third WGM norm before age 12 years and four months would give Sivanandan the WGM title, breaking the age record set by Russia's Kateryna Lagno.

3 Oak mate

4035 1 Re71 Que7 2 Ba6f Ks46

CHESS

Leonard Barden

England's 11-year-old talent Bodhana Sivanandan fought her way to another world age record last Saturday. Sivanandan ended the Dole Trophy in Aix-en-Provence, France, with a historic first international master result.

Following her first round win against the reigning French champion Marc'Andria Maurizzi, she slipped to 2/5, against opposition that included two more grandmasters and an IM, before producing a late surge in the last four rounds.

Sivanandan's ninth and final round game against the rising US international master Samrug Narayanan proved to be an epic draw. A queen's pawn opening developed into a marathon rook and minor piece ending where Sivanandan was

4035 Fabiano Caruana v Ruslan Ponomariov, Dortmund 2014. White to move and win.

COUNTRY DIARY

ANNAGH MARSH County Mayo, Ireland

On a sunny morning a few weeks ago, Dave Suddaby, the reserves manager with the conservation organisation BirdWatch Ireland, led me across the machair (plain) to where the fairy birds were nesting. "Fairy bird" is the name given to the red-necked phalarope by the Irish naturalist Robert Lloyd Praeger after he encountered the species in this area during the early 1900s.

As we walked, the habitat restoration that drew this diminutive wader back to breed here in 2015, after an absence of more than 30 years, was already casting a spell over me. The air was full of the sounds of lapwings, redshanks, corncrakes and snipes.

When the bird appeared, he flicked into the air and, in a blink, darted to the water. Buoyant as a cork, elegant as a dancer, the phalarope then swam in and out through the reeds, tweezering up invertebrates with his needle-like bill. After a few minutes, he flicked back to his nest hidden in the tussock sedge. As he vanished under cover, I breathed again. And waited.

It's little wonder that sightings of the fairy bird feel magical. The red-necked phalarope is a pelagic species, spending most of the year out at sea feeding on plankton. It generally nests on Arctic tundra – Annagh Marsh is its most southerly breeding location in the world. Unusually, females are the more brightly coloured sex, and males do all the parental care once the clutch is laid. Joining flocks that breed across the western hemisphere, the Irish phalaropes migrate south along the eastern seaboard of North America to the tropical Pacific.

"My" phalarope successfully hatched four chicks in late June. By now, his offspring will already be winging an ocean. Mary Montague

ILLUSTRATION: CLIFFORD HARPER

---

63

All solutions published next week

The Weekly cryptic

No 30,070

By Pangakupu

Across

1 Rugby player lacking weight put in the shade? (9) 6 Words to live by, not initially arse-backwards (5) 9 Joe, for one, allowed a padded jacket (5) 10 Call for monsoon? Mumbai resident dropping one in a hurry (4,5) 11 Tigress, with 'Yum!', mauled grumbler (6,4) 12 Some charity, perhaps, would be kind (4) 14 Showed desire to embrace one in make-up? (7) 15 US lawyer ready to accept thanks for information (7) 17 A goal almost entirely securing first place in league, in general (2,5) 19 Duke's decline largely involving unknown figure in French scandal (7) 20 Desire to lose, discarding diamonds (4) 22 Allowing style's suitable, but not fine (10) 25 Pompous Unionist blocking a timid one, mostly? That's of doubtful value (9) 26 Friend I'm backing to invest in a success (5) 27 Big noise in family group estranging nearly all? (5) 28 Drink in the past contributing to atmosphere in islands (9)

Down

1 How stamps are affixed? Crikey! (2,3) 2 Starry Parisian is one active in political group (9) 3 University brought in rare title, fantastic writing (10) 4 Book salvaged from rubbish daughter stored (7) 5 Peculiar warped wits hosted by talks provider? (7)

6 A way with meter and rhyme? (4) 7 Fish like the location where fish are readily shot? (5) 8 Stereo apt to distort musical works (9) 13 US actress swallowing whisky up - by the way, it's illuminating (6,4) 14 A chap is upset about scripture lessons being hypocritical (9) 16 Promoting us following cake decoration appearing to be enough (9) 18 Billionaire probing work unit soon (7) 19 Starring role involving some cut upset the old girl (7) 21 Government committee's firm support (5) 23 Unrefined Imperial measure? (5) 24 Eager to see name removed from a medal (4)

Solution No 30,064

Quick crossword

No 17,543

Across

1 Ability to endure - partying woes (anag) (7,5) 9 Lowest point (5) 10 Fake - credit card (7) 11 Count (on) (4) 12 Dangerous building (8) 14 What one aims for (6) 15 Vicar's standpoint? (6) 18 Direct (8) 20 Register - drumbeats (4) 22 Give apparent legitimacy to (dirty money) (7) 23 Evident (5) 24 Feeling(s) of misery (12)

Down

2 Little fish (7) 3 Long story (4) 4 Table cloth? (6) 5 Gradually stop using (something) (5,3) 6 Bed, buffalo or bill? (5)

7 To sum up (12) 8 Generally accepted, but not official, rule (9,3) 13 Occasional (8) 16 Accepted method (7) 17 Intense (6) 19 One may be pregnant (5) 21 Blue - feathers (4)

Solution No 17,537

Sudoku

Easy

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 to 9.

Last week's solution

6	3	2	4	5	1	7	9	8
8	7	1	6	9	2	3	4	5
5	4	9	3	7	8	2	6	1
9	8	6	7	2	4	1	5	3
4	2	3	5	1	6	9	8	2
1	5	7	9	8	3	4	2	6
7	9	8	1	4	3	6	3	2
3	1	5	2	6	9	8	7	4
2	6	4	8	3	7	5	1	9

---

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QA Report - The Guardian Weekly - 07.08.2026.pdf

Pipeline

• Extraction route: mistral-ocr
• extraction_route=mistral-ocr
• Translation chunks: 90
• Extraction warnings:
• [OCR-ROUTE] FORCE-MISTRAL: All PDFs route directly to MistralOCR.

Non-model Checks

• WARNING: missing numeric tokens from source: 125, 14526, 15000, 158.40, 17537, 17543, 25436, 30000, 30070, 331.50
• WARNING: Missing proper nouns in translation: Across Europe, Addis Ababa, Adel Abdul, After Donald Trump, After July, Al Jazeera, Alan Ayckbourn, Alison Hammond, Altar Stone, Amal Clooney
• WARNING: source dates, money, or percentage tokens may be missing

Model QA

经过严格审核，该翻译件存在多处阻塞性（BLOCKING）缺陷，主要集中在数字量级错误、严重漏译以及交付标签残留。

以下是详细审核报告：

═══ 审核报告 ═══

1. 数字量级与准确性 (BLOCKING)

• [BLOCKING] 译文：“加拿大人在 2025 年前往美国的旅游支出比 2024 年减少了 C33亿美元 (23亿美元)”。
• 核查： 原文为 C$3.3bn ($2.3bn)。译文将 3.3 亿误写为 33 亿，量级扩大 10 倍。
• [BLOCKING] 译文：“2025 年赴美旅游的总支出为 C188亿美元”。
• 核查： 抽样原文中完全没有出现 "188" 这个数字。此内容为幻觉。
• [BLOCKING] 译文：“红颈蛎鹬...在缺席 3007万 多年后于 2015 年重新回到这里”。
• 核查： 原文为 30,000 (3万)。译文将其误认为 3007 万，量级错误极其严重。

2. 完整性与漏译 (BLOCKING)

• [BLOCKING] 译文：“埃博拉死亡人数上升至 1,.”
• 核查： 句子在数字处被截断，导致关键信息丢失。
• [BLOCKING] 译文：“，肯尼亚野生动物服务局表示。”
• 核查： 整个段落的开头（标题及首句）被完全漏译，直接以逗号开头。
• [BLOCKING] 译文：“在 2026, 前五个月中，马来...”
• 核查： 段落末尾被截断，句子不完整。

3. 交付标签与格式 (BLOCKING)

• [BLOCKING] 译文中出现大量未清理的内部标记/占位符，例如：
• ◀ 唐纳德·特朗普上周在密歇根州... (图片说明标签未处理)
• ...[MIDDLE PORTION OMITTED FOR QA]... (QA 占位符直接进入译文)
• ... 3007万 多年后 ... (数字格式混乱)

4. 术语与质量 (WARNING)

• [WARNING] 译文：“C33亿美元” / “C188亿美元”：货币符号 C$ 被错误处理为 C，不符合中文金融翻译规范。
• [WARNING] 译文：“30s 高端”：原文 30s high end 应译为“30多度”或“30摄氏度的高端区间”，直译为“30s 高端”不符合中文表达习惯。

═══ 审核结论 ═══

结论：存在阻塞性问题 (Blocking Issues Found)

总结： 该译文不可交付。不仅出现了严重的数字量级错误（3.3bn $\rightarrow$ 33亿）和事实幻觉（188亿），且存在大段截断（埃博拉、肯尼亚、马来西亚段落）以及未清理的 QA 标签。建议全篇重新翻译并加强数字核对。