As this week’s issue of the Guardian Weekly went to press, a UN-backed monitor said famine was now unfolding in Gaza. That statement came less than 24 hours after Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time that there was “real starvation” and told Israel to allow “every ounce of food” into Gaza. This week’s big story, led by on-the-ground reporting by Gaza-based journalist Malak A Tantash, focuses on the limited pause in fighting by Israel to allow aid deliveries.
The pictures of malnourished Palestinians that prompted Trump to speak out, along with this week’s UN conference on a peace settlement to end the war, will hopefully lead back to a negotiating table in Qatar. For our cover story, Nesrine Malik examines how this tiny Gulf state managed to position itself as the key player on the chessboard of international relations. Her in-depth essay goes back to the setting up of Al Jazeera in Doha in 1996 and its role in 2011’s Arab spring, the discovery of vast offshore gas deposits and how the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, has leveraged his contacts and Qatar’s position in the Gulf to bolster the country’s own security.
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Five essential reads in this week’s edition
Spotlight | Russia’s kamikaze attacks
Luke Harding reports from the frontline in Dnipropetrovsk as once-safe Ukrainian villages are abandoned and the last inhabitants leave their animals and vegetable gardens behind
Environment | Nature fakes
Photographer and author of The Anthropocene Illusion, Zed Nelson reflects on the how humans seek to recreate versions of the environments and creatures they have destroyed to satisfy their cravings to be in nature
Science | Life of plastics
The journey of a single thread is traced by Phoebe Weston and Tess McClure, from garment to field and onwards, to illustrate how ubiquitous microplastic pollution has become
Opinion | Queens of England
As we celebrate the Lionesses’ historic win, isn’t it time English football fans stopped chasing glory through their men’s teams when the women are the ones delivering, asks Ava Vidal
Culture | In the cradle of country music
As the Grand Ole Opry turns 100, Jewly Hight visits the Nashville institution to find out how it has kept reinventing itself while honouring tradition over the decades
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What else we’ve been reading
Throughout the women’s Euros tournament, the Guardian team’s coverage has been superlative (and I’m not just saying that in the glow of England’s victory); from authoritative player profiles, to comprehensive match reporting and analysis of what it means for the grassroots game. The Lionesses took supporters through a rollercoaster journey, and my colleagues were there to capture every nail-biting, joyous, extraordinary minute of it. Clare Horton, assistant editor
I found this piece on people’s experiences with location sharing really interesting to read. Personally, I have only ever used these features temporarily when trying to find a friend in a busy train station or guide someone to where I am, so the idea of always-on surveillance-like location sharing is foreign to me. I agree with the author: just because we can, does it mean we should? Daya Page, CRM executive
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Other highlights from the Guardian website
• Audio | The hunt for the next Dalai Lama
• Video | How civil nuclear power funds nuclear weapons
• Gallery | Women’s Euro 2025: the best pictures from a dramatic tournament
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