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 Spain

Global report • Headlines from the last seven days

United Kingdom

Reader’s eyewitness

SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT

Zelenskiy’s gamble • The Ukrainian president’s hope that invading Russia’s Kursk region would force Moscow to redeploy troops away from the eastern front was a risky move – and the outcome is far from clear

Blame game Locals angry at army after Ukrainian incursion • Shock, disbelief and fury that the government downplayed the threat of an invasion and failed to keep its citizens safe

Flipping the narrative • The Kursk attack has humiliated Putin and broken the stalemate

Spotlight • Gaza’s true death toll concealed beneath the rubble

Slow progress • Leaders still believe there is more to gain by fighting on

Scholars seek to prolong the German conversation

‘A real hero’ The brave migrant who tackled a London attacker • After saving young girl, Abdullah talks about his love for the UK, despite fears during the recent riots

Eyewitness India

Going viral • What is mpox and why has it been declared a global health emergency?

In suburbs of Athens, wildfires leave trail of ravaged lives

Time shift • How extreme heat of today compares with Earth’s past climate

HITTING NEW HIGHS • National heat records broken around the world

Disappearances send chill through tax protests • Anguished families wait for news of dozens of people who have gone missing or feared killed during anti-government demonstrations

‘Coloured’ • Identity of singer defies apartheid

As Maduro stays put, onlookers fear worst • Despite widespread consensus that he lost last month’s election, the president seems intent on pursuing a path to full-blown dictatorship

True colours • Bright murals that reflect a troubled past

Unfollowed Can Threads offer a new home for people escaping X? • Elon Musk’s frequent inflammatory remarks have left many seeking a less toxic alternative. Does Meta’s Instagram spin-off provide it?

Ode to joy • Harris gives Democrats a reason to reunite

Guns and drugs fuel ‘alarming epidemic’ of violence

That sinking feeling • The sad Oompa-Loompa at Willy’s Chocolate Experience, an elf at a low-rent Lapland, the DJ who tried to save Blobbyland and a fixer at the ill-fated Fyre festival reveal what happened next after four truly disastrous events

THE GOOD HACKER • As an activist turned politician, Audrey Tang is used to breaking boundaries. Now, the world’s first minister for digital affairs wants the world to learn how to detoxify the internet

Opinion Nesrine Malik • What Starmer should be saying after the riots – and why he won’t

Nell Frizzell • We should enjoy this child’s creativity rather than use it to sell stuff

Jonathan Freedland • Harris is off to a dream start – but it’s too early to count out Trump

The GuardianView • In Sudan’s vicious civil war, civilians suffer as outsiders jostle for advantage

Opinion Letters

Culture ‘You couldn’t pitch that in the US!’ • Are the UK’s dating shows the wildest in the world?

A sense of perfection Saluting the rule of three • The arts of Japanese poetry, calligraphy and painting are celebrated in an immersive New York exhibition that explores different moods and eras

The drama of the dance • Swan Song is a film about the extremes to which ballerinas go in pursuit...