| The assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut represents a significant escalation in the Middle East. Reporting on the ground as Beirut came under attack, William Christou spoke to medics and some of the many displaced by destruction on a scale they have never seen. Days later, Peter Beaumont and Andrew Roth were reporting from Jerusalem when Iran fired 180 missiles at Israel, in part in retaliation, it said, for Nasrallah’s death. Julian Borger’s analysis described it as the “clearest sign imaginable that the regional conflict so widely feared over the past year may finally have ignited”. In our special series Israel-Gaza: One Year On, marking the anniversary of the 7 October attacks, Peter Beaumont evaluated how Benjamin Netanyahu has used war and political division to weather the political storm facing him. Jason Burke and Malak A Tantesh looked at how families in Gaza mourn their dead and ask what the future may hold, and Harriet Sherwood wrote about the “cruel and painful year” that has split the UK’s Jewish communities, families and friends. Historically, vice-presidential debates don’t have much impact on elections but there was lots to unpick after JD Vance and Tim Walz went head to head this week. Ed Pilkington was struck by the debate’s rare tone of civility and agreeableness but cautioned over its artifice, calling Vance a “Maga lion in sheep’s clothing”. Zeinab Mohammed Salih reported from western Sudan on the refugees who have fled from the city of El Fasher as rebel forces close in. Today in Focus reported from a Conservative party conference that was curiously upbeat given its recent electoral drubbing. Our political team and Politics Weekly UK covered the four-way party leadership campaign in depth, including Kemi Badenoch’s claim that maternity pay in the UK is “excessive”. Denise Coates is Britain’s richest woman and the mastermind behind gambling firm Bet365. Rob Davies, who has reported extensively on the betting industry, profiled her to try to grasp the extent of her impact on her home city of Stoke-on-Trent and beyond. After three decades as the Guardian’s economics editor, Larry Elliott is stepping down from that role. But not before his interview with the governor of the Bank of England moved markets and sent the pound falling, after Andrew Bailey revealed the bank could be “more activist” on rate cuts while inflation continues to ease. Top Australian novelist Tim Winton wrote about the causes of communal dread many people are feeling about life today, driven by the climate crisis; predominantly, he believes, due to the fact we are living in “a state of global subjugation to fossil capitalism”. Sian Cain’s interview with Winton is fascinating too. Britons are extremely well used to American words becoming part of their language, but I was intrigued by Ben Yagoda’s long read which suggested that, although it’s early days, cheeky Britishisms have been a bit clever and have crossed the other way across the Atlantic in the last couple of decades. Not gutted about this! I also loved Amelia Gentleman’s interview with the wonderful artist Barbara Walker about how one of her exhibitions, shortlisted for a Turner prize, was inspired by the Windrush scandal that Amelia helped to uncover; this spectacular collection of music photos that defined an era, from Bowie as Ziggy Stardust to Beyoncé at Coachella; and Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes for crunchy curries. Try making them with our ace Feast app. One more thing … I’m definitely not the first to recommend it, and many are calling it the book of the year, but James by Percival Everett certainly lives up to the hype: the African American novelist’s reimagining of the life of Jim, the escaped slave in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, is exciting, horrifying and extremely funny. | 