For the past few weeks, nationwide protests have gripped Iran after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who had been detained for breaching Islamic dress codes.
Details of what is happening inside the country remain patchy, but social media footage suggests action has been substantial, resulting in mass arrests and scores of deaths. Yet Iran’s repressive state apparatus has not been able to quell the unrest or diminish the morale of protesters, many of whom are young women and schoolgirls.
It’s a theme developed by Roshi Rouzbehani, an Iranian illustrator based in London, in her powerful cover artwork for this week’s Guardian Weekly magazine. “Iranian women are protesting and cutting their hair as a symbol of resistance. They are living the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ motto,” says Roshi. “I wanted to portray how brave, strong and tough Iranian women are. I’m proud to be one of them!”
Could this be the beginning of the end for Iran’s regime? As our big story explores this week, it’s unclear how far the rebellion can go, or to what extent the ageing Iranian leadership believes it is facing an existential threat. As Patrick Wintour and Deepa Parent report, there is hope amid the uncertainty for a young generation sick of living under religious constraints, but also a fear that the darkest days may yet be to come.
The war in Ukraine took a sudden and dramatic turn with the bombing of the Kerch bridge connecting Russian-occupied Crimea to its mainland. The act was attributed to Ukraine and Russia’s leadership responded with a huge and furious missile attack on Ukrainian cities including Kyiv. But, write Andrew Roth and Pjotr Sauer, it could not disguise the reality that, eight months on, Moscow’s special military operation remains weakened and in serious trouble.
The Dutch journalist Peter R de Vries was famed for exposing criminal wrongdoing in his country. When he was murdered in broad daylight last year, it sent the nation into shock. Jessica Loudis reveals a tale of drug cartels and gangland violence that has led to a national soul-searching in the Netherlands.
The hulking brown brick walls and white chimneys of Battersea power station once supplied a fifth of London’s electricity, but latterly were more famous for a Pink Floyd album cover. After laying derelict for years, the old power plant has been transformed into a slick development of expensive apartments, retail and leisure space. But, asks the Guardian’s architecture and design critic Oliver Wainwright, is it now just a playground for the capital’s rich and powerful?
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