Keeping the peace

Military service for 18-year-olds is a key Tory election pledge in the UK.But in countries with conscription, opting out comes at a cost. Michael Segalov asks seven conscientious objectors why they refused to serve in the armed forces

How steroids got huge

Once upon atime, it was only hardcore bodybuilders who pumped themselves up with testosterone. Today it is no longer niche. But how dangerous is it?

The Drugs Trade How Big Is The Problem-And Who Is Paying The Price?

Over the past 10 years, Europe has developed a serious cocaine problem. The drug, originating in the jungles of South America, is being transported, sold and consumed across the European continent in record amounts.

Calamitous floods made more likely by global heating

The unusually prolonged and extensive flooding that has devastated southern Brazil was made at least twice as likely by human burning of fossil fuels and trees, a study has shown.

Paddington is back-and he's gone immersive

The bear from darkest Peru has donned his wellies and duffle coat for a live experience’ that is halftheatre, half-party, with lashings of marmalade

Elections are a travesty of democracy-give the people a real voice George Monbiot

Everything hangs on them but little changes. For weeks or months, elections dominate national life.

Tijuana border feels weight of Biden's order on closure

Every year, waves of people from around the world make their way to southern California to start a new life and find safe harbour.

Catania turns the tables on invasive blue crabs

In a suburb of Catania on Sicily's east coast, smoke billows from street stands selling grilled horse meat, and youngsters gather around kiosks selling the region's unique handmade drink, seltz limone esale (seltzer with lemon and sea salt).

Friends reunited Football and a troubled continent

Europe is suffering a crisis of identity but for four weeks the Euro 2024 tournament offers a kernel of something pure

Could this be the end of the Tories?

Even before last week, the party's prospects were grim. Nowsome believe it faces a wipeout that would reshape the UK political landscape

'Besieged' Army raid that killed hundreds

Nuseirat market was crowded with civilians when Israeli forces launched an assault to free four hostages held nearby

Joy at hostage rescue-but silence over Gaza lives lost

Eight months after the horrors of 7 October, last Saturday was a rare, joyful day in Israel after four hostages were rescued safely from Gaza.

Power down Voters slam the brakes on Modi's bulldozer

It was widely described as the week India's beleaguered democracy was pulled back from the brink.

Fighting a losing battle Death and destruction mark cocaine's path to Europe

GUAYAQUIL sign on the doorway said \"For rent\" and the house's lights were out.

The bloody cost of the cocaine boom

Europe's appetite for the drug is surging like never before. But the North African children forced to service the trade face a brutal reality of beatings, rape and torture

Pole position Von der Leyen must look left or right to seal second presidency

Ursula von der Leyen this week began trying to craft a majority for a second term as European Commission president, after major gains for the far right that are likely to mean a less stable European parliament.

Centre parked Mainstream alliance holds in the face of far-right surge

So in the end, with a couple of alarming wobbles, the centre held in Europe.

Into the void

Far-right gains in last weekend's EU polls sent shockwaves across the continent - and prompted Emmanuel Macron to call a high-risk snap election in France. Is Europe on the brink of a political earthquake?

Resistance is futile

Why does Franz Kafka's world of nightmare bureaucracy and modernist alienation remain a cultural touchstone, a century after his death?

A state of mind The truth about neurodiversity

Growing understanding of ADHD and autism has led to an increase in diagnosis. We look at the science helping to improve people’s lives

MONEY MONEY MONEY

It's Taylor Swift's world, everyone else just lives in it. But can the outsized success of one ubiquitous megastar trickle down to the little people in the music business?

'Forever war' Risk grows as militants return to Gaza's north

Israel could inherit an insurgency, warns the US, after Hamas regains strength in areas it was forced to flee

Democracy Comes Under Scrutiny Amid Battle To Buy Basics

After 25 years, Nigeria's role as the region's police officer is in jeopardy, with its people losing faith in a squeezed economy

Civil War And Bloodshed? Conviction Infuriates Trump's Base

The posts are ominous. “Pick a side, or YOU are next,” wrote conservative talk show host Dan Bongino on the Truth Social media platform in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s 34 felony convictions.

A stranger for ever A family's struggles after the second world war are intimately captured across continents and generations

Here are some of the events that are not described in Claire Messud's ambitious novel about the lives of three generations of a Franco-Algerian family: the Algerian war of independence, as a result of which the Cassar family lose their home and national identity; the two years the family's most promising scion spends as a student in Paris, during which he endures something (racist bullying? Mental collapse?) that blights his adult life; his sister's broken-hearted suicide attempt; the courtship of a couple who have been held up throughout the novel as exemplars of married love and yet whose relationship - as we discover in the final pages - was shockingly transgressive.

Concrete comfort

China's 'lying flat' generation is drawn to seek spiritual solace among the brutalist blocks of the exclusive Aranya resort by innovative architecture and the power of social media

MY SECRET GERMAN GRANDAD

Women who 'fraternised' with German prisoners of war horrified British society. Could one of these illicit liaisons explain a mystery at the heart of Leo Hickman's family tree?

Sheinbaum signals hope, but can she pursue her own agenda?

A month ago in Chiapas, a Mexican state caught in a bloody battle between criminal groups, a car carrying the front runner to be the country's next president was stopped by a group of masked men.

Score draw Why anime is firing up young sports stars

The Bournemouth footballer Dominic Solanke twice thought he had scored the opening goal in a Premier League game against Brentford last month.

Kingmaker How will Meloni use her growing influence on EU politics?

Italy's far-right leader has so far been a model European. But this weekend's EU elections may reveal her hand