There is a familiar scene in many a film where the protagonist jolts awake from a terrible nightmare, only to realise that he or she didn't wake up at all: the nightmare continues.
For the millions of Americans who abhor Donald Trump, there was a similar sensation on Monday night as the former US president swaggered out on stage in Des Moines, having just scored a resounding victory in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses.
It was an eerie replay of 2016 and all those shocking nights when reality TV star Trump won primaries and eventually the presidency.
It was as if the coronavirus pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests, the defeat by Joe Biden, the January 6 insurrection and the 91 charges across four criminal cases had all been a fever dream.
Esta historia es de la edición January 19, 2024 de The Guardian Weekly.
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The Saudi football World Cup is an act of violence and disdain
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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?
