Europe’s latest unnatural disaster. Plus: Gaza fears life without Unrwa aid
Donald Trump is returning to the White House after a US election that fell decisively in favour of a man whose campaign pledges included mass deportations and putting a conspiracy theorist in charge of health policy. On almost every front it’s likely to be a disaster for progressives, particularly in America but also around the world.
As the Guardian Weekly went to press, the result was still unknown – so head to our website for all the latest news, analysis and commentary. We’ll return next week to reflect in detail on what for many is a moment of deep despair.
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This week’s edition focuses on the flash floods in eastern Spain where well over 200 people lost their lives. The apocalyptic scenes sent shockwaves across Europe that felt both unnerving yet also depressingly familiar.
Images of cars piled on top of each other in suburban streets served as a brutal metaphor for both the causes and effects of the climate crisis. But it was also telling, as our corespondents Sam Jones and Ashifa Kassam report, that the wrath of most people caught up in the disaster was aimed at authority figures and government officials for the bungled emergency response rather than the root causes.
As world nations prepare to meet for the UN Cop29 climate summit in the oil-producing country of Azerbaijan, our global environment editor Jonathan Watts offers a stark analysis: “The unnatural disaster in Spain – Europe’s deadliest flash floods in at least half a century – is evidence of two undeniable truths: the human-caused climate crisis is starting to pick up ferocity, and we need to quickly kill the fossil fuel industry before it kills us.”
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Five essential reads in this week’s edition
1
Spotlight | Gaza fears for a future without Unrwa aid
Israel’s anti-Unrwa legislation will sever aid to 2.3 million people, unless Benjamin Netanyahu can be convinced to veto it. Bethan McKernan and Julian Borger report
2
Sport | How Muhammad Ali danced rings around apartheid, 50 years ago
Donald McRae remembers how, as a young boy growing up in white South Africa, the country was mesmerised by the spectacle of boxing’s Rumble in the Jungle
3
Feature | I see you
What happens when people with acute psychosis meet the voices in their heads? A new clinical trial has revealed some surprising results, finds Jenny Kleeman
4
Opinion | An excess of billionaires is destabilising politics
Politicians have always courted the wealthy, but Elon Musk and co represent a new kind of donor, and an unprecedented danger to democracy, argues Zoe Williams
5
Culture | From Moomins to murals
Before creating the cartoonish creatures that made her famous, the Finnish artist Tove Jansson made public works of art. Philip Oltermann went to see a new exhibition of them in Helsinki
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What else we’ve been reading
In a heartwarming interview by Ben Fisher, sports psychologist Michael Caulfield ran through his role at Brentford football club. Caulfield, who works at the team’s training ground with his dog Paisley, describes himself as a dustbin, providing a listening ear as players and staff talk through their thoughts and concerns so they can focus on their game. “Football is still based around conversation, connection, emotion, understanding,” he says. Clare Horton, assistant editor
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Other highlights from the Guardian website
• Audio | Could we really live on Mars? – Science Weekly
• Video | Quincy Jones, late music industry great, reflects on friends and collaborators
• Gallery | Thirty-three pivotal US presidential moments captured on camera
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