Learn how studying DNA-based age markers in people with HIV helps us understand how GLP-1 drugs could slow molecular clocks.
Learn more about the rare composition of the Chicxulub impactor.
THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘Andy Burnham’s path to No 10″…
Andy Burnham is to become Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade, having secured the Labour leadership with the landslide support of his party’s MPs.
The former Manchester mayor is now set to replace Starmer as Labour leader on Friday before walking through the doors of No 10 and becoming prime minister next Monday.
For our big story this week, Daniel Boffey looks at how Burnham charted the route from school politics to No 10, while Jessica Elgot runs through the bulging in-tray awaiting him when he steps into the new role. And Gaby Hinsliff examines how the PM-in-waiting might fare on the global stage, asking whether, unlike Keir Starmer, he has the skills to deal with Donald Trump.
Spotlight | A revolution in ruins
Discontent with Venezuela’s Trump-backed government is mounting as Chávez heirs struggle to respond to the earthquake disaster, writes Tom Phillips
Science | We’re going on a water bear hunt
Scientists hope DNA sequencing tardigrades – tiny yet virtually indestructible creatures – could help us understand the secrets of their superpowers. Patrick Barkham reports
Feature | The battle of the Bell hotel
Tim Burrows visits the town of Epping in Essex to hear from local people about the impact of last year’s far-right protests that centred on a hotel housing asylum seekers
Opinion | The real source of Trump’s power exposed
The Nato summit showed the US president’s willingness to violate all norms, rules and laws – and leave everyone else to pick up the pieces, argues Robert Reich
Culture | Never-ending story
With Christopher Nolan’s take on the Odyssey set to break box office records, Charlotte Higgins asks why a poem from 600BC holds a vice-like grip on pop culture
Depletion of the ozone layer has been traced mainly to the widespread use of industrial chlorofluorocarbon chemicals, but there might have been an additional culprit.
A particle detected at the South Pole was born in a galaxy that churned out stars when the Universe was young.
Those under 55 with relatively high levels of the molecule GDF15 had an elevated risk of developing dementia.
Coffee plants are critically endangered by climate change. Researchers are finding solutions to keep scientists supplied with their favourite discovery fuel.
THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘A Load of Hot Air’ – Trump and America at 250….
In case you missed Donald Trump’s triumphalist address marking America’s 250th anniversary, you weren’t alone. Lightning storms caused by an extreme heatwave sent the Washington crowds scattering and delayed the US president’s address by four hours – but it was still a trademark piece of Trumpian dystopia, a highly politicised polemic that followed on from a white nationalist march on the streets of the capital.
David Smith’s brilliant feature essay this week reveals how the US president has hijacked the country’s milestone anniversary and turned it into a joyless, farcical series of largely self-serving events. And from Moscow to Mexico City, there’s a terrific reported feature from our correspondents around the globe on how the world views America at 250 in the age of Trump.
Spotlight | At the ayatollah’s funeral, Iranians call for revenge
Crowds swelled through Tehran as mourners dressed in black carried flags proclaiming: ‘We will rise’, reports diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour
Environment | The changing symphony of Britain’s dawn chorus
The country has lost an estimated 73 million wild birds from its landscape over the last 50 years, but a new project aims to recreate their sound. By Sandra Laville and Madeleine Finlay
Feature | Morality and the machine
Since 2017, philosopher Iason Gabriel has worked at Google DeepMind, trying to anticipate – and think through – the impact of AI. But as commercial and geopolitical pressures escalate, can ethicists make any difference, asks Robert P Baird
Opinion | Thank heavens for the pope
In a political wasteland dominated by billionaires, war criminals and mega-corporations, the head of the Catholic church is a rare figure of moral leadership, argues Simon Tisdall
Culture | An invitation you can’t refuse
Director Olivia Wilde and co-star Edward Norton talk to Catherine Shoard about The Invite, their new movie about marital bed death that is the season’s buzziest, funniest release
THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘Britain’s Lost Decade After Brexit’…
It’s neatly ironic that the 10th anniversary of the Brexit vote should have been marked this week by yet another prime ministerial resignation.
The two things aren’t directly related – the intense pressure put on Keir Starmer to step down was partly down to his own political flaws. But the rise in the polls of Reform UK, Nigel Farage’s populist rightwing party that morphed out of the Brexit-obsessed Ukip, was a key factor.
The fact that the country is now set for its seventh prime minister in the decade since Brexit speaks volumes. The vote in 2016 to leave the European Union deeply fractured Britain, a country that remains volatile and impatient for change to this day.
Change has come to the UK as a result of Brexit – only not for the better, as senior economics correspondent Richard Partington explains for our special report this week. We revisit the buildup to the vote as key figures at the time recall how it shook the country’s politics. And there’s even a quiz to test your memory of the more arcane sideshows of it all.
Spotlight | Iran’s regime survived the war. Will it make peace with its people?
If the conflict with the US and Israel triggered a rare moment of solidarity in the divided country, many doubt it will be used for reform, reports Saeed Shah
Spotlight | Why did Somali children become targets of US drone strikes?
Six months ago, at least 12 people, including eight children, died during a US attack. The US has never admitted the civilian deaths. Mark Townsend pieces together what happened that day
Environment | The online archive sharing scientific knowledge with everyone
The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an invaluable online archive of historic texts on species living and lost supplied by the world’s leading museums and universities. Now its future is in doubt. Donna Ferguson reports
Opinion | There is still hope for international law
Even in this age of global rupture, do not despair: developments in Ukraine and Iran show that the military superpowers are not getting it all their own way, argues Nathalie Tocci
Culture | Why time is still on Keith Richards’ side
At 82, the Rolling Stones guitarist is still hale and hearty, enjoying life as a great-grandad and jousting with Mick Jagger like old times. Ahead of a new Stones album launch, Alexis Petridis caught up with him
Claudia Sheinbaum must be doing something right. With a consistent approval rating of around 70% since becoming Mexico’s president in 2024, the former climate scientist – and protege of her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador – is the world’s most popular leftwing leader. She is also the first female leader of one of Latin America’s most macho countries.
Yet despite her soaring popularity, driven in part by major universal healthcare reforms, there is a curious tension between Sheinbaum’s disciplined, scientific approach to governing and the messy, often violent politics of modern Mexico. Her handling of the country’s ongoing crisis of disappearances, the continuing influence of organised crime and the rising presence of the army in national life are all issues she has faced criticism over.
The big story | Counting the cost of the war on Iran
With a peace deal expected to be signed later this week, Oliver Holmes examines the human, economic and environmental toll of a conflict that appears to have achieved nothing
Science | How the loss of wild bees impacts human health
Crops and flowers rely on them for survival, but wild bees are declining – and crucial nutrients will go missing from our diets as a result. Gloria Dickie reports
Feature | How personal taste fell out of fashion
Our favourite music, clothes and books used to be markers of individuality – but algorithms have made us all sheep. Rachel Aroesti meets the style rebels fighting back
Opinion | If Kyiv has really got Putin on the run, he won’t accept peace meekly
Don’t expect the Russian president to pursue peace, says Simon Tisdall – instead, he could continue to expand the war beyond Ukraine’s borders, with dire risks for us all
Culture | The revolutionary art of David Hockney
Guardian critic Jonathan Jones pays tribute to the artist whose work was a feast of visual pleasures
THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘How the World Cup beacame an $80bn behemoth’
It’s long been a golden rule of sport that football World Cups get bigger and badder every four years. The latest edition of the tournament, however, may put that universal law to the test after a six-week journey through Trump’s America, which is expected to generate $80bn of global economic output through its full timeline.
As the world’s biggest sporting event meets the world’s biggest market, it’s hard to see how even the World Cup can get much more bloated than this. But if anyone can make it happen it’s Gianni Infantino, the opportunist Fifa overlord who has schmoozed with the planet’s most divisive leaders to extract maximum gains from his travelling global roadshow. As Barney Ronay says in his tournament scenesetter for our cover story this week, welcome to the heart of darkness.
The big story | How the murder of Henry Nowak shook Britain
The aftermath of a tragedy revealed a country grappling with how easily such events can be co‑opted into a far-right rallying cry. Libby Brooks reports
Technology | Can autonomous AI killer drones be taught morality?
While the technology is set to play a growing role in modern warfare, there remains an unresolved ethical challenge. Dan Milmo and Aisha Down size up the terrain
Feature | Hello, goodbye: inside the final Beatles tour
By the mid-1960s, the Beatles were ready to quit touring for good. A new collection of pictures by rock photographer Jim Marshall captures their last gigs. With a foreword by Ian Leslie
Opinion | Trump’s failure to maintain ceasefires is part of the new world disorder
The US president brags about ending wars but look at Ukraine, Gaza, Iran and Lebanon to see what his casual disregard for diplomacy and obsession with instant results have achieved, argues Simon Tisdall
Culture | The ruthlessness and redemption of Rupert Everett
The 67-year-old actor lied to his partners, disrespected his audiences and betrayed his friends. But has this indiscreet, unreliable heartbreaker finally grown up and settled down? Simon Hattenstone went to find out
Last week, as the war in Iran continued to choke global oil supplies, the UK government announced a 13% increase in the cap on energy prices. But it was another related story on the other side of the world that caught my eye.
In Australia, the energy minister announced a fall of up to 10% in the benchmark electricity price in parts of the country, driven by record levels of renewables and batteries in the power grid.
Australia was already a world leader in domestic solar power. But with little fanfare, it is also pioneering a revolution in home renewables and battery usage, proving that with the right policy initiatives, profound changes can be made to the ways energy markets work.
The big story | Is the Iran war Trump’s Vietnam moment?
The current Middle East conflict has been far shorter than the war that defined the 1960s and early 1970s, but it has rapidly revealed the strategic weakness of US firepower in an interconnected world, argues Patrick Wintour
Health | Cancer breakthroughs from the world’s largest oncology conference
From groundbreaking genomic tests to tumour-shrinking injections, health editor Andrew Gregory reports from the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting in Chicago
Feature | The people fighting back against pothole-riddled roads
The dire state of roads has provoked pothole vigilantes and become a political flashpoint from Manchester to Manhattan. How did we get here? Oliver Franklin-Wallis reports
Opinion | If you’re still on Elon Musk’s X, ask yourself this: why?
Some argue that quitting the platform formerly known as Twitter cedes the space to malign actors. But it’s an open sewer, beyond redemption, says Jonathan Liew
Culture | Children’s illustrators on the art of storytelling
From The Twits to The Gruffalo and an angry bear in search of his hat … famous illustrators talk to Stuart Heritage about how they bring children’s books to life
THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘The Big Chill’ – Is the mood in Russia turning against Putin?’
Like the majority of western news organisations, the Guardian has had no correspondent or reporter in Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine. But the Kremlin’s efforts to shut down outside media coverage has not stopped us from taking the political temperature of Russia. Indeed, as Pjotr Sauer and Shaun Walker report, attempts to close off the country have lost Vladimir Putin support among both the elites and ordinary citizens.
Talking to contacts made from many years working inside Russia, Pjotr and Shaun detail a shifting mood as the invasion drags on into its fourth summer with the economic and personal costs being increasingly felt at home. As one insider explains, “there is profound disappointment in Putin”, accompanied by “a growing sense that some kind of catastrophe is looming”.
The narrative of a bunkered ruler surrounded by underlings too scared to tell them the truth historically leads to putsch or revolution but our analysis shows that at present, though the winds may be chilling at home, Putin is far from being frozen out of power.
Spotlight | Ebola: ‘Out of control’
A new strain of virus, aid cuts and conflict in parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have hampered efforts to halt the spread of the virus, report Prosper Heri Ngorora in Goma and Carlos Mureithi
Science | Here be monsters
An exhibition, Jurassic Oceans, at London’s Natural History Museum, showcases the fearsome creatures that once lurked below the surface – and offers a stark warning about the impact of warming waters on marine ecosystems today. Matthew Pearce dives in
Feature | When the lights went out in Berlin
Earlier this year power was cut to a swathe of the German capital. A shadowy organisation, Volcano Group, claimed responsibility. But in the absence of any leads, theories of eco-terrorism, Russian meddling and far-right activity have flourished, discovers Ben Knight
Opinion | Victory doesn’t happen overnight
Arsenal’s careful planning to regain the Premier League title is a lesson in long-term thinking that the Labour party, and Arsenal fan Keir Starmer, should pay attention to, argues Jonathan Freedland
Culture | Back to black with Whistler
What does restoring Arrangement in Grey and Black No 1, or Whistler’s Mother, teach you about the artist who heralded a century of great American artists and about the craft of painting colour? Sarah Walden uncovers it all
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