Claudia Sheinbaum must be doing something right. With a consistent approval rating of around 70% since becoming Mexico’s president in 2024, the former climate scientist – and protege of her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador – is the world’s most popular leftwing leader. She is also the first female leader of one of Latin America’s most macho countries.
Yet despite her soaring popularity, driven in part by major universal healthcare reforms, there is a curious tension between Sheinbaum’s disciplined, scientific approach to governing and the messy, often violent politics of modern Mexico. Her handling of the country’s ongoing crisis of disappearances, the continuing influence of organised crime and the rising presence of the army in national life are all issues she has faced criticism over.
Rachel Nolan’s fascinating long read for this week’s edition explores Sheinbaum’s rise to the presidency and asks how far the former activist can retain her leftwing ideals while leading a country with such seemingly intractable problems.
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Five essential reads in this week’s edition
The big story | Counting the cost of the war on Iran
With a peace deal expected to be signed later this week, Oliver Holmes examines the human, economic and environmental toll of a conflict that appears to have achieved nothing
Science | How the loss of wild bees impacts human health
Crops and flowers rely on them for survival, but wild bees are declining – and crucial nutrients will go missing from our diets as a result. Gloria Dickie reports
Feature | How personal taste fell out of fashion
Our favourite music, clothes and books used to be markers of individuality – but algorithms have made us all sheep. Rachel Aroesti meets the style rebels fighting back
Opinion | If Kyiv has really got Putin on the run, he won’t accept peace meekly
Don’t expect the Russian president to pursue peace, says Simon Tisdall – instead, he could continue to expand the war beyond Ukraine’s borders, with dire risks for us all
Culture | The revolutionary art of David Hockney
Guardian critic Jonathan Jones pays tribute to the artist whose work was a feast of visual pleasures
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What else we’ve been reading
• Last week, our family said goodbye to my partner’s mum’s beloved labradoodle, who one Christmas chomped his way through a disposable razor, a pair of slippers and my son’s brand new superhero figure. It turns out Billy wasn’t the only one with unusual tastes. Eleven Guardian readers told Gabriel Stewart about the strangest things their dogs have eaten in this piece, which is as horrifying as it is amusing. Clare Horton, deputy editor
• Stumped for something new to read? From dynamite debuts to must-read memoirs, this list of 70 brilliant books for the (northern hemisphere) summer from the Guardian’s literary team should get you on the right page. Graham Snowdon, editor
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Other highlights from the Guardian website
• Gallery | David Hockney – a life in pictures
• Audio | In Makerfield for the UK byelection that could change everything
• Video | How Taylor Swift’s debut single has defined 20 years of her pop stardom
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