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.
Putin’s downfall in sight, Italy turns right with Meloni, Trump in trouble and farewell to Mantel
Global report • Headlines from the last seven days
DEATHS
SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
United Kingdom
Here be See Monster
The wake-up call • As his war effort falters, Vladimir Putin has mobilised hundreds of thousands of Russian men. Could it be the spark that ignites a rebellion?
Food for data How Russia prepared the ground for its sham referendums
Putin’s sinking ship The leader is going down. Will he take everyone with him?
What Giorgia Meloni means for Europe
Italians voice fears after far-right’s poll victory
Mini-budget gets short shrift in Tory conference host city • ‘Trussonomics’ hasn’t gone down well with many voters in Birmingham, as the party’s annual gathering looms
Schoolboy error Chancellor’s tax cuts pledge adds to pound’s plummet
A defiant stand
Falling stars Bollywood suffers as its hit formula grows stale
Bolsonaro invokes a red scare as polls point to election loss
At 5,484 years old, could this be the oldest living tree?
Help us make a difference The climate crisis is at the heart of our coverage. Here’s why
‘Laughter helps’ The blind comic tearing down barriers
Behind the World Cup sheen: debt and squalor • Migrant workers who forked out substantial sums to secure jobs in run-up to tournament live in repugnant conditions
Charting a river of belief back to its source
A crisis of confidence Mounties face calls for a shake-up
Cash meets influence at Mar-a-Lago after dark • Anyone with enough money can become a member at Trump’s Florida base, but who is watching the interlopers?
The final curtain? New York state investigation could bring the Trumps down
Wide blue yonder Data clouds Biden’s midterm ray of hope
The city that never sleeps struggles to get the party going again
Divine comedy • Jack and Josh were once a standup double act. What led them both away from a world of telling absurdist jokes, and set them on a path to the priesthood?
Face value • The smiley has been co-opted by ravers, artists and fashion designers for decades. So how does the 50-year-old company that owns the symbol keep it relevant?
False optimism may cloud what we see on the streets of Tehran Jason Burke
Giorgia Meloni is a danger to Italy and the rest of Europe Roberto Saviano
Truss and Kwarteng’s reverse Robin Hood amounts to class war Jonathan Freedland
Hilary Mantel was a glorious original – we have lost one of our greatest writers
Letters
Rap battles • Welcome to Jungle, an ambitious crime drama set in a dystopian, futuristic London – and TV’s first drill musical
A celebrity casting that lives up to its billing • Brad Pitt is not the first star to try his hand at art, but his finely wrought, intelligent reflections of American violence make him one of the very best
Running up that hill • Margo Price won industry recognition after years of playing gigs with little to show for it. Yet the singer remembers those tough early days with fondness in a memoir with no holds barred
Thai Cave Rescue • Netflix
William Kentridge • Royal Academy, London
Chequered progress • A sprawling history of the Huxley family charts the evolution of science and society as the Victorian era gave way to modernity
Tunnel vision • At the heart of this...