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.

A gift to unwrap all year

Eyewitness United Kingdom

Global report • Headlines from the last seven days

United Kingdom

Reader’s eyewitness

SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT

DISBELIEF TURNS TO ELATION • On the streets of Damascus, residents were in a daze as they tried to absorb Bashar al-Assad’s dramatic downfall after a lightning of fensive by rebel forces that swept through Syria in just 11 days

The view from afar • At last I can dream of a Syria for us all

FROM DOCTOR TO BRUTAL DICTATOR • THE RISE AND FALL OF ASSAD

A daunting future • Assad’s murderous regime has fallen – but what will fill the void?

A shadow of hope? • Ukraine and Russia wait warily for Trump’s vision of peace

K-pop and autocrats A nation’s two sides laid bare • While some say last week’s political turmoil has harmed South Korea’s reputation, others say it proves resilience

End of an era as London’s meat market set to close • Traders stunned at plan to close the historic Smithfield market, which was established in 1133 and survived Great Fire of 1666

Tech brings prisoners’ Tower graffiti into the light

‘If I get sent to Japan, I’m not coming home’ • Anti-whaler Paul Watson, who left Greenpeace to found Sea Shepherd, spent his 74th birthday in prison and faces an extradition threat

Double takes • The rise of the celebrity lookalike competition

Object lessons Behind the scenes of a museum’s grand reserves • A tour of the new archive collection of London’s Science Museum and its associates reveals a cornucopia of wonders and treasures

Ring master • The Trump circus is already back in town

Help support the victims of conflict in a volatile world

‘Gun control is dead, and we killed it’ • Blueprints for 3D-printed weapons are increasingly being used by far-right extremists to evade gun control laws. So what can be done?

Opinion Letters

Opinion Paul Taylor • Compromise may be Macron’s only hope of restoring confidence

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett • It’s a sad story for us all that fewer children are reading for pleasure

Jonathan Freedland • Farage is lying in wait. Britain cannot afford to see Starmer fail

The GuardianView • With the rise of illiberal regimes, the young are making their voices heard

Culture Books of the year • Guardian critics select the best reads of 2024

Fiction • Welcome returns, family connections, inventive takes on history and profound perspectives on Earth

Crime and thrillers • An infighting family whodunnit, a CIA insider’s twisty debut and a filial channel for Le Carré

Graphic novels • Dreams meet reality, economics meet sustainability and nostalgia meets mystery in this year’s crop

Science fiction • Ethereal explorations of eco-disaster, time travel, philosophy, fantasy and humanity

Music • Historical musings, a pioneering female critic and the fascinating tale of a failed artist all took centre stage

Ideas • A Dawkinsian encore is complemented by entreating tomes on sociopaths, the gut and game theory

People • The richly revealing lives of actors and artists, monarchs and musicians, politicians and pioneers

Science and nature • The misconstrual of Mars, a pioneer of probability, an ode to trees and a heart-rending testament to life

Sport • Afghan women’s football, the impacts of the climate crisis and a classic...