Six months have passed since the murders of journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous advocate Bruno Pereira in a remote region of the Amazon, a crime that shocked the world. Brazil’s incoming environment minister has said the new government will seek to honour the memory of the rainforest martyrs with action to protect the Amazon. But, as Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips reports for our big story, Indigenous and environmental defenders in the area remain in extreme danger. From Rio de Janeiro, Constance Malleret weighs up the environmental challenges facing Brazil’s new government, while Guardian columnist George Monbiot asks why, from the Amazon to Antarctica, the planet’s most destructive industries continue to be funded by governments.
Don’t miss two outstanding longer-read features in this week’s edition. First, Anuj Chopra lifts the lid on the palace coup that brought Mohammed bin Salman to power in Saudi Arabia. Then, from the Observer, there’s an interview with the artist Nan Goldin, who explains to Sean O’Hagan how she came to take on the billionaires who fuelled America’s opioid epidemic.
In Culture, Simon Hattenstone meets the former Star Trek actor George Takei as he prepares to star in a London musical inspired by his own childhood in a Japanese-American internment camp. And our rock critic Alexis Petridis looks back at the career of the Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter Christine McVie, who died suddenly last week.
To round the issue off, Tim Dowling tries not to panic when he gets trapped alone in the dark after taking a wrong turn in a venue. His column raised a frisson of fear among Guardian Weekly colleagues who worry about using the service stairs at the office.
Get the magazine delivered to you at home
