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 year of key elections, the quest for a haven and a celebrated auteur’s return

The Guardian Weekly

Global report • Headlines from the last seven days

DEATHS

SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT

Global report United Kingdom

UNITED STATES BRACED FOR A YEAR LIKE NO OTHER, THE NATION SITS ON A POWDER KEG • More than 2 billion people could vote in 2024, the biggest year ever for global democracy. But electoral systems face multiple pressures including AI manipulation, far-right extremism and crackdowns on free speech and dissent. Our correspondents preview some of the most significant elections – and the threats facing them

Big ballots • Significant election dates

TAIWAN DOMESTIC ISSUES HIGH ON AGENDA, BUT CHINA CASTS LONG SHADOW

UNITED KINGDOM A PERILOUS ELECTION: PHOTO ID, STAFF SHORTAGES AND CYBER THREATS

INDIA MODI LOOKS POISED FOR SUCCESS AS DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS FEAR WORST

EU WITH THE FAR RIGHT ON THE RISE, A DANGEROUS MOMENT AWAITS BLOC

RUSSIA PUTIN WILL SEIZE HIS CHANCE TO PROVE THAT THE WAR IS ON TRACK

FRONTLINES OF WAR AND NATURE WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR IN 2024

Israelis look for any sign of victory as death toll mounts

Shipping lanes Could the Red Sea crisis risk sparking a wider conflict?

Broken ties Putin and Netanyahu content as entente ends

New year sees Moscow and Kyiv intensify attacks

‘Battle against time’ after quake

Why MPs won’t admit to problems with mental health • Pressures on politicians can take their toll but competition for jobs and fear of public scorn mean few will speak out

Labour could lead world in policies based on wellbeing

Handbrake turn Europe’s cities take on the car • In Paris, Barcelona and Brussels, authorities are adopting different approaches in a bid to reduce congestion and cut air pollution

BOLLARDS AND BLOCKS • Urban traffic schemes in Europe and the obstacles they face

A better pill to swallow Could fitness tablets really work? • Exercise-mimetic drugs have long been a goal of science. As a new trial begins, it is hoped they could aid not just the sedentary, but elderly people and those with disease or disability

Third-party group rebuts claims it will boost Trump vote

NYT sues OpenAI and Microsoft over use of its content

In search of sanctuary • What was it like to grow up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles? Darran Anderson explores his memories of life in a low-level police state, the hostile feeling of being a stranger in his own land and how the birth of his son accentuated his need to find a place of peace

All hung up • Smartphones and social media apps dominate our attention, sometimes to a damaging and unhealthy extent. But is it really an addiction?

Everything politicians tell you about immigration is wrong Hein de Haas

Can an app decide the fate of a language? Not if the Welsh can help it Gwenno Robinson

Britain is stuck in an economic doom loop. That needs to change Will Hutton

Vinyl revival brings back ceremony to music in a frenetic digital world

Letters

Stranger things • Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos on his outlandish – and Oscar-tipped – new film and his special relationship with Emma Stone

The older masters • Blazing a trail as a hot young thing is not for everyone – sometimes life just gets in the way. Three artists explain their more roundabout routes

Big band theory The rise of jazz orchestras • Before...