CATEGORIES

The Saudi football World Cup is an act of violence and disdain

Well, that's that then. In the event there were only two notes of jeopardy around Fifa's extraordinary virtual congress last week to announce the winning mono-bids, the vote without a vote, for the right to host the 2030 and 2034 football World Cups.

AI has made the move into video and it's worryingly plausible

I recently had the opportunity to see a demo of Sora, OpenAI's video generation tool, which was released in the US last Monday, and it was so impressive it made me worried for the future.

With tyrant Assad ousted, Syrians deserve support and hope

Last week, time collapsed. Bashar al-Assad's fall recalled scenes across the region from the start of the Arab spring almost 14 years ago. Suddenly history felt vivid, its memories sharpened. In fact it no longer felt like history.

TV

The Guardian Weekly team reveals our small-screen picks of the year, from the underground vaults of post-apocalyptic Fallout to the mile-high escapism of Rivals

Albums

Murky love stories, nostalgic pop and an in-your-face masterpiece captured our critics' ears in 2024

Film

Visual language, sound, light and rhythm are to the fore in the best movies of the year

Hidden delights Our 24 travel finds of 2024

Guardian travel writers share their discoveries of the year, from Læsø to Lazio

'It's really a disaster' The fight to save lives as gang war consumes capital

Dr James Gana stepped out on to the balcony of his hospital overlooking a city under siege. \"There's a sensation of 'What's next?'. Desperation is definitely present,\" the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medic said, as he stared down at one of scores of camps for displaced Haitians in their country's violence-plagued capital.

Trailblazers The inspiring people we met around the world this year

From an exuberant mountaineer to a woman defiantly facing the guns of war, here are some of the brave individuals who gave us hope in a tumultuous 2024

Votes of confidence

From India to Venezuela and Senegal to the US, more people voted this year than ever before, with over 80 elections across the world. With rising authoritarianism and citizen-led resistance revealing its vulnerabilities and resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges, has democracy reached its breaking or turning point?

Out of touch How president sealed his own fate in martial law gambit

For Yoon Suk Yeol, this month's short-lived martial law declaration wasn't just a catastrophic miscalculation - it was the culmination of a presidency that had been troubled from the start.

Son of the soil Who is François Bayrou, the farmer turned prime minister?

François Bayrou, the new French prime minister, calls himself a country man. A tractor-driving \"son of the soil\" and breeder of thoroughbreds, he has run for president three times, saying his rural roots and centrist politics led him to try to find common ground between left and right.

Power plant workers keeping the lights on

The Guardian Weekly visits a Soviet-era coal-fired thermal installation to learn how it has held up to Russian attacks

Prince charmed Alleged spy scandal may have exposed China threat

Prince Andrew should be commended for doing Britain a great service, according to longstanding China watcher Charles Parton. The now marginalised royal has, the analyst observed, \"almost single handedly\" succeeded \"in highlighting the threat to free and open countries\" posed by the contemporary Chinese state.

In Moscow, a new life of secluded irrelevance awaits Assad

He was whisked away without a last message to his people, the aircraft's transponder deliberately switched off to avoid detection as it departed from an airbase in Syria.

'We fear new oppression' Alawites worry over rebel rule

To prepare khubeiza, the leaves of the kale-like plant must be roughly chopped and sauteed with onions, garlic and a dash of salt. According to folklore, the recipe originated among the Alawite communities who lived in Syria's mountainous coastline where the fibrous, wild-growing plant can be found in abundance. So poor were the Alawites in Ottoman times, the story goes, that the only food they could find to eat was khubeiza, which sprouts like a stubborn weed every spring.

'Gisèle is waiting for explanations'

The Pelicot rape trial has horrified the world. But as it comes to an end, the questions it has raised about French society and rape culture have still not been answered.

FROM DOCTOR TO BRUTAL DICTATOR THE RISE AND FALL OF ASSAD

0N THE FACE OF IT AT LEAST, the Bashar al-Assad of 2002 presented a starkly different figure from the brutal autocrat he would become, presiding over a fragile state founded on torture, imprisonment and industrial murder.

What fresh alternatives can be used to placate coriander haters?

Everyone knows a hater of coriander - also known as cilantro - who won't go near the stuff. Itamar Srulovich, however, is not one: \"I adore fresh coriander, and always have,\" says the chef/co-owner of the Honey & Co group in London.

Farage is lying in wait.Britain cannot afford to see Starmer fail Jonathan Freedland

This government must not fail. Let's get that clear from the start. If Keir Starmer does not succeed, too many British voters will conclude that both the traditional parties, Labour and Conservative, have proved useless and that it is time to try something else with that something else being nationalist populism.

Compromise may be Macron's only hope of restoring confidence Paul Taylor

Having failed to solve France's political crisis with a prime minister dependent on the far right, President Emmanuel Macron is exploring a deal with the Socialist party (PS) to give the country a new government, pass an overdue budget and avert financial turmoil.

It's a sad story for us all that fewer children are reading for pleasure Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

On the shelf in my son's bedroom is a row of picture books that once belonged to me.

'Gun control is dead, and we killed it'

Blueprints for 3D-printed weapons are increasingly being used by far-right extremists to evade gun control laws. So what can be done?

Help support the victims of conflict in a volatile world

When we came to choose the theme of our 2024 charity appeal, we quickly realised it would be impossible to ignore that this has been an especially harrowing year of conflict, war and human suffering.

Ring master The Trump circus is already back in town

The grand reopening of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris last Saturday was attended by around 50 heads of state and government.

Object lessons Behind the scenes of a museum's grand reserves

A tour of the newarchive collection of London's Science Museum andits associates reveals a cornucopia of wonders and treasures

Double takes The rise of the celebrity lookalike competition

When Miles Mitchell's friends saw fliers scattered across New York City last month advertising a Timothée Chalamet lookalike competition, they urged the 21-yearold college senior from Staten Island to enter.

'If I get sent to Japan, I'm not coming home'

Anti-whaler Paul Watson, who left Greenpeace to found Sea Shepherd, spent his 74th birthday in prison and faces an extradition threat

Tech brings prisoners' Tower graffiti into the light

The writing was on the wall for many of the prisoners incarcerated in the Tower of London over the centuries. Now, it can finally be deciphered.

End of an era as London's meat market set to close

Traders stunned at plan to close the historic Smithfield market, which was established in 1133 and survived Great Fire of 1666