The Forgotten Health Crisis Inside The 28 August Guardian Weekly

The forgotten health crisis: inside the 28 August Guardian Weekly

DRC’s Ebola outbreak passes grim milestone. Plus: Kyiv’s mood darkens

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The Democratic Republic of the Congo has just passed the grim milestone of 100 days since it declared its 17th Ebola outbreak.

What is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record could also become the world’s deadliest ever.

For our big story this week, Prosper Heri Ngorora and Rachel Savage report on the frontline health workers who say, as the disease spreads “exponentially”, they have been left unpaid and at risk of infection.

Explaining the figures behind the outbreak, and the race to find vaccines and treatments, global health correspondent Kat Lay answers five key questions.

And Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, write that tapping into community leadership and knowledge is essential to halting the virus’s spread.

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Five essential reads in this week’s edition

Spotlight | ‘We will go on – but it will be more scary’
Dan Sabbagh reports from Kyiv where, as Russian missiles rain down, casualties are mounting and the mood is darkening

Environment | Killed by kindness
Scientists were surprised to find all but two of 12 grizzlies died within a year of their “feelgood” release, unable to sustain their high-calorie diet and inclined to approach humans, writes Rebecca Ratcliffe

Feature | A family at war
Meaghan Beatley tells the remarkable story of a young Argentinian activist who thought her father’s disapproval of her leftwing views was purely political. But one evening, a kiss goodbye sent her on a remarkable journey that continues today

Opinion | Marine Le Pen’s career resurrection
No longer banned from next year’s presidential election, the far-right veteran is a bigger threat than ever, says Mujtaba Rahman

Culture | Playing the bad guy
As his new film Bitter Christmas is released, legendary Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar talks to Ryan Gilbey about Donald Trump, Netflix – and being the villain in his own movie

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What else we’ve been reading

Abigail’s Party is one of my favourite plays, and I’ve seen it many times on stage and TV. Alison Steadman’s legendary television version remains a classic, and it’s remarkable how relevant the play still feels nearly 50 years after its 1977 debut. I most recently saw it at the Arts theatre Cambridge in early August, before its transfer to the Harold Pinter theatre. As always, I was keen to see what our reviewers thought. Janet Brown, head of production operations

• Saturday evenings in 1980s Britain belonged to a cast of household-name celebrities who commanded TV audiences of tens of millions. At the heart of it was comedian Russ Abbot, now retired and living happily in Portugal. Simon Hattenstone’s pitch-perfect interview took me right back to those light-entertainment nights. Graham Snowdon, editor

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Other highlights from the Guardian website

• Audio | Who is Natalie Harp? Trump’s ‘human printer’ aide in the spotlight

• Video | Our writers’ predictions for the 2026-27 Premier League season

• Gallery | Australia’s national photographic portrait prize 2026

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Get in touch

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the magazine: for submissions to our letters page, please email weekly.letters@theguardian.com. For anything else, it’s editorial.feedback@theguardian.com

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