The rise of Claudia Sheinbaum: inside the 19 June edition

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.

Get the Guardian Weekly delivered to your home address

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

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

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

Get in touch

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the magazine: for submissions to our letters page, please email [email protected]. For anything else, it’s [email protected]

Follow us

Facebook

Instagram

Get the Guardian Weekly magazine delivered to your home address