Guardian Weekly

The Guardian Weekly magazine is a round-up of the world news, opinion and long reads that have shaped the week. Inside, the past seven days' most memorable stories are reframed with striking photography and insightful companion pieces, all handpicked from The Guardian and The Observer.

Eyewitness Mexico

Global report • Headlines from the last seven days

United Kingdom

Reader’s eyewitness

SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT

A YEAR OF CRISIS • It began with the Hamas attack on 7 October, it continues with a rain of Israeli strikes on Lebanon, but for many caught up in the conflict, it has shattered time and space

Edge of war • Flashpoints across region

Repeated risk • Targeting of Hezbollah leaders has yet to deal group a fatal blow

A destabilising force • In Gaza and Lebanon, there is no excuse for Israel’s actions

Spotlight • ‘Marriage competition’ that gripped and divided a nation

‘In El Fasher you only face death’ • Civilians flee besieged city

Eyewitness Bangladesh

Calls for No 10 shake-up to end rows over freebies and fallouts

Autocratic bloc • FPÖ victory continues far right’s advance across Europe

Otter chaos An evolving cast of wild characters • How has Britain’s countryside changed over the last century? An analysis of the Guardian’s long-running Country Diary column reveals some surprises

Balkans become a path to freedom • A small but growing number of people fleeing China are travelling to the region with the hope of getting into the EU

Singer’s case highlights rising crisis in online gambling

Football-mad nation hopes for World Cup final in its own ark

Rocks in a hard place The mission to stop asteroids striking Earth • The existential threat to our planet from large meteors is real, but two next-generation telescopes are about to make us all safer

Swing time • The county that could decide the election

DNA sheds new light on victim of doomed Arctic trip

The shapeshifter • Giorgia Meloni been called a neo-fascist and a danger to Italy. But she worked hard to achieve a degree of respectability and has won over many heads of Europe, including the new UK prime minister. Should we be worried?

Seeing double • What does it feel like to discover, in adulthood, that you are a twin? Here, five sets of brothers and sisters tell their stories of meeting for the first time – and what happened next

Opinion Peter Pomerantsev • Putin’s media has mobilised. Now democratic allies must fight back

Ana Schnabl • Mountain hikes help me to put my struggles into perspective

Jonathan Freedland • Trump v Harris has opened up a gulf between the sexes

The GuardianView • Starmer must make good on promises of decency if he is to keep the public’s trust

Opinion Letters

Culture ‘More people say they’ve seen an alien than a trans person’ • Harper Steele came out as a trans woman in 2022 at the age of 61. Her friend Will Ferrell had questions. So why not take a road trip and make a documentary about it?

Silk Roads spin a tale of collective treasures • A mesmerising show at the British Museum follows China’s epic ancient trade routes through fabulous oases, desert palaces and burial mounds

Where reality meets Nintendo • A new museum in Kyoto takes fans of the Japanese gaming giant’s products on an enchanting trip down virtual memory lane – if only you can get a ticket…

Reviews

A rich tapestry • Neneh Cherry’s kaleidoscopic memoir recalls the organised chaos of her bohemian youth, pop stardom and the role food plays

Cry freedom • One of our best writers captures gay life in England – from the 1960s on – with glowing...