On a momentous Monday in the Middle East, Daniel Boffey reported from what has become known as “hostages square” in Tel Aviv, describing jubilant scenes as the crowd followed the release of the final 20 living Israeli hostages on giant TV screens. Jason Burke looked at the deal through a historical lens, drawing parallels with a broadly compatible set of circumstances in 1982 and urging that lessons be learned. In Ramallah, William Christou and Sufian Taha watched the release of 88 Palestinian prisoners, a proportion of the nearly 2,000 freed by Israel that day, the majority of whom had been held without charge. And, in a later report from Gaza, some of those detainees told Seham Tantesh and William of abuses in captivity. Seham and William also reported powerfully on the Palestinians searching for their loved ones under the rubble. Julian Borger reported on doctors in the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis who said many of the 90 dead Palestinians returned to them showed signs of torture and execution, including blindfolds, cuffed hands and bullet wounds in the head. Diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour described the scenes from Donald Trump’s appearance at the Gaza peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh. Marina Hyde had a view on that spectacle, too.
Our exclusive extract from Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir was a jaw-dropping read that made headlines around the world and painted a devastating picture of the abuse she suffered at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and his friends. The story began with her employment at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago as a 16-year-old and continued through her first meeting with a naked Epstein and her infamous encounters with Prince Andrew. The British royal, she wrote, acted “as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright”. Yesterday evening Andrew, who has always denied the allegations, announced that he would renounce his royal titles and honours including the Duke of York.
Hannah Al-Othman wrote powerfully on the tragic case of 32-year-old Georgia Barter, who killed herself after suffering years of domestic abuse. In an extraordinary verdict earlier this month, a coroner ruled that Georgia was unlawfully killed by her partner, only the second time in English legal history that such a conclusion has been reached. Meanwhile French feminist philosopher Manon Garcia attended the Dominique Pelicot trial for weeks and has written about Gisèle Pelicot’s rapists in a new book. Her conclusion is stark: “There’s something about what it is for them to be a man [that makes them] deeply convinced that they haven’t done anything wrong,” she told Zoe Williams.
The Guardian’s US journalists handed in their Pentagon press badges this week, alongside as many as 20 other major news organisations in the US, in opposition to new policies that require outlets not to obtain or report on unauthorised information. In her column, Margaret Sullivan was encouraged by the show of solidarity for a free press, reminding us: “Access isn’t everything. In fact, the journalistic quest for access to powerful people and institutions – and the desire to protect one’s access – may impede truthful reporting.”
Patrick Wintour spoke to exuberant British-Egyptian human rights activist and writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah after his release from a decade-long ordeal in a Cairo prison, which followed his rise to prominence as one of the most compelling voices of the Arab spring. At the same time, more than 15 years after that region-wide revolt, protesters are back on the streets in Morocco. The demonstrations are being led by courageous members of generation Z, who spoke defiantly about their cause in this piece by Renée Boskaljon.
In a fascinating Sunday Read, European culture editor Philip Oltermann and West Africa correspondent Eromo Egbejule told how a row over restitution of historical artefacts had seen a new Museum of West African Art, intended to be Nigeria’s new home for the Benin bronzes, instead ending up with clay replicas.
Lauren Aratani reported on our latest exclusive poll that found a clear majority of Americans are experiencing inflation, despite Trump’s promises to cut prices, and worried about recession too. Our new US economics columnist, Eduardo Porter, looked at how this pessimism is increasingly crossing party lines. UK economics editor Heather Stewart interviewed chancellor Rachel Reeves in Washington, where she made it clear tax rises are coming in the budget next month – with the wealthy likely to shoulder a heavy burden.
Matthew Taylor and Helena Horton revealed that towns across Great Britain may have to be abandoned due to floods, with millions more homes under threat. Helena visited the flood-prone Worcestershire town of Tenbury Wells which is being abandoned by insurers, and spoke to experts about the best ways to protect homes from the rising impacts of extreme weather driven by the climate crisis.
As England became the first team from Europe to qualify for the 2026 men’s World Cup, Barney Ronay was remarkably upbeat about their prospects. Barney also wrote a very strong column on footballer turned pundit Gary Neville who has found himself at the centre of the ongoing debate about the use of national flags in England.
I enjoyed Danny Leigh’s interview with director Kathryn Bigelow about the inspiration behind her new nuclear thriller; Sirin Kale’s revealing conversation with Malala Yousafzai; Jonathan Liew’s trip to Grantham on the 100th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher’s birth; Chris Godfrey’s encounter with Rocky Horror star Tim Curry, and Carys Afoko on the lure of second-hand shopping app Vinted.
One more thing … I love Marina Abramović’s work, and the world premiere of her Balkan Erotic Epic at Aviva Studios in Manchester didn’t disappoint. Riotous, mad and relentless, there’s nothing like Abramović in full flow.
