silverguide.site –
Sydney has 181. In Paris, it’s 118. And Houston? They have a problem with just 16.
The number of public transit vehicles per 100,000 residents offers a revealing glimpse into attitudes towards transportation in cities around the world, many of which – especially in the United States – still heavily prioritise cars over more sustainable forms of travel.
How people move around cities obviously matters in terms of convenience and practicality. But, as Oliver Milman outlines in this week’s big story, it also affects human and planetary health. Transportation accounts for about a third of all planet-heating emissions, with the sector’s emissions doubling since 1990 amid a growing thirst for oil to power more cars, planes and ships.
A new environment series, the slow lane, explores how cars came to dominate our urban areas. We ask how US cities fell so far behind their global peers on public transit, and investigate whether a sprawling city such as Sydney can make its rail system work for everyone. Then, experts offer tips on how they would fix our car-choked urban areas.
In the UK it was a terrible week for the Labour party and Keir Starmer after a drubbing in local elections. As the Weekly went to press, the prime minister was coming under intense pressure to announce a timeframe for stepping aside. Catch up with the latest developments on the website – and in the magazine read Pippa Crerar’s brutal analysis of Starmer’s failing efforts to keep his party on side.
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Five essential reads in this week’s edition
Spotlight | How tensions emerged in the Netanyahu-Trump alliance
The Israeli PM insists he has “full coordination” with the US president, yet there are rumours that Washington no longer consults him. Julian Borger reports
Science | Has skincare gone too far?
Face products seem to be everywhere, and have never been more advanced. But as people layer them up, experts have seen a rise in perioral dermatitis. By Anita Bhagwandas
Essay | How to survive the information crisis
In this age of crisis, technology is pulling us apart. At its best, journalism can bring us together again, writes Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner
Opinion | At the Venice Biennale, I saw anger and denial over Israel and Russia
The world famous festival can often make you queasy, as geopolitics are played out through the proxy of art. This year it feels on the verge of collapsing in on itself, writes Charlotte Higgins
Culture | Unmasking Angine de Poitrine, the year’s buzziest, dottiest band
Their microtonal rock has been a huge viral hit – but are they really 333-year-old aliens inspired by Borneo monkeys? The Quebecois duo tell all to Laura Snapes
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What else we’ve been reading
• I enjoyed this interesting piece on the rise of “literary nepo babies”, not a form of nepotism I’d really thought about before. It did make me question whether I’d read their work differently, but writing a book is no mean feat so I’m not sure I’d have it in me to judge them more harshly just because of their surname. Jade Lovitt, business manager
• As a veteran of laissez-faire parenting, I was pleased to see recognition in the value in being the sort of mother who lets chaos reign and leaves the kids to make their own mistakes. Pass Notes has been going since long before I had children, but always offers a lighthearted break between serious new stories. Isobel Montgomery, deputy editor
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Other highlights from the Guardian website
• Audio | The mysterious death of the teenager who posed as a Russian billionaire
• Video | The Muslim Vote: Democratic threat or Islamophobic myth?
• Gallery | Fade to black: inside grand abandoned cinemas in the US and Canada
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