Berlin correspondent Deborah Cole reported from Brandenburg an der Havel, an hour from central Berlin, to try and find out why the far-right, authoritarian Alternative für Deutschland party made such big gains among young German voters in this month’s EU elections. Children at the top 250 English private schools have more than 10 times as much outdoor space as those who go to state schools, an exclusive Guardian analysis revealed. Raekha Prasad’s long read on the disproportionate number of black men dying in police custody in the UK was the fruit of two years of research and interviews with bereaved families. It was a powerfully emotional piece of storytelling, as well as an invaluable analysis of long-hidden data. Guardian US continued to spotlight environmental justice and the devastating impact of extreme heat, as much of the US was scorched by a heatwave and temperatures in Mexico hit 53C (127F), its hottest June day ever. Guardian Australia’s politics and environment teams, led by Karen Middleton and Adam Morton, deconstructed the opposition party’s announcement that they would plan to create seven nuclear power sites across the country with explainers, fact checks and analysis. The movement campaigning for the right to die on your own terms in the UK is gaining momentum. Novelist Julian Barnes and cook Prue Leith were among other famous faces who argued forcefully for the choice in a powerful Saturday magazine special about assisted dying. After Denmark banned South Korea’s Buldak spicy ramyeon noodles (also known as “fire noodles”) for being dangerously hot, four brave volunteers from Guardian Australia put their tastebuds, and other body parts, on the line to see just how spicy they really are. “I have sweaty eyelids!”, one said. Coco Khan was funny and perceptive with her evaluation of the modern British slang abbreviations – think “platty jubes” and “genny lec” – that are giving younger people a more casual way to talk about their lives and struggles. Chris Godfrey wrote candidly about how hypnotherapy helped him give up smoking - and how it could be used in the treatment of other destructive behaviours. The piece was illustrated with great portraits by Linda Nylind. As Euro 2024 kicked into gear in Germany, we had a correspondent at every match and reflected on a tournament with, so far, some excellent football and some questions for the organisers, as Jonathan Liew wrote about the dismal treatment of fans en route to Serbia v England. Meanwhile the hosts of Football Weekly, Max Rushden and Barry Glendenning, interviewed prospective incoming prime minister Keir Starmer about the state of football in the UK … beginning with their surprise that he’d asked to come on. One more thing … I love the Women’s prize for fiction, which has been helping me find fantastic new novelists since it was founded in 1996. This year they launched the new Women’s prize for nonfiction alongside it, since the founder, Kate Mosse, noticed how few works of serious nonfiction by women were being reviewed. And I was delighted that the winner of the inaugural prize was Guardian columnist Naomi Klein, whose book Doppelganger is a clever, funny and deeply original analysis of the strange times we live in. |