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OpinionIsrael-Gaza warCould the Israel-Gaza war spark a wider conflict involving the US, Iran or others?Rajan Menon and Daniel R DePetrisSo far the risks of the horrific Gaza crisis escalating to a wider war remain low – but they can’t be ruled out entirely Soon after Hamas’s 7 October attack and Israel’s retaliatory bombing campaign in Gaza, pundits began debating the odds of escalation. For its part, the Biden administration has tried to prevent the fighting between Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from spreading to other areas of the Middle East, if only to spare the roughly 45,000 US troops based there from another ill-fated war.

The ObserverHolocaust This article is more than 1 year oldHero or hoax? The man who broke into Auschwitz – or maybe didn’tThis article is more than 1 year oldDenis Avey’s publishers plan changes to new editions of bestseller as researcher raises alarm It started with an extraordinary tale of wartime bravery and led to the publication of a bestselling account, The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz, and to a BBC documentary.

TelevisionInterview‘I love nothing more than making people cry’: author Cheryl Strayed on her hugely moving TV showHollie RichardsonProfound, big-hearted, and raw, the adaptation of bestselling book Tiny Beautiful Things is powerful television. Its writer talks grief, sorrow and being friends for life with Reese Witherspoon In 2011, a little-known fortysomething author called Cheryl Strayed was about to become huge. She had just sent a copy of her soon-to-be-published memoir, Wild, to Oscar-winning Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon.

The Pacific projectTahitiThe fast, hip-shaking dance of Tahiti is taking off around the world, with thousands of women taking classes and competing Wearing intricate costumes made of plants and adorned with tropical flowers, the women look spectacular. While their torsos remain completely still, somehow, impossibly, their hips are moving in circles so fast it’s almost a blur. These women are performing traditional Tahitian dance, or Ori Tahiti, in Tahiti’s annual cultural festival, the Heiva.

UK criminal justice This article is more than 14 years oldJustice system a 'sexist operation', study findsThis article is more than 14 years oldThe criminal justice system is ­condemned as an institutionally sexist operation that lets down female victims, fails to help women offenders out of a cycle of crime and prevents professionals reaching the top jobs. A five-year investigation by the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for gender equality, found that discrimination against women pervades the system in England and Wales at all levels, from the police forces where women officers are still forced to wear men's uniforms to the way frontline staff doubt the credibility of victims reporting rape and domestic ­violence, with a gap seen between equality policy and its implementation.

Mexico This article is more than 7 years oldMexico City officially changes its name to – Mexico CityThis article is more than 7 years oldThe capital’s rebranding, part of reform to decentralise power and move toward statehood, confused residents who refer to city as Federal District or ‘DF’ Mexico has rechristened its capital city, embracing the name by which it is known worldwide, but causing a conundrum for residents who for decades have referred to the sprawling megalopolis as the Federal District – or “DF”

BooksReviewOne of two Republicans who sat on the January 6 committee considers a rot that set in before Trump even ran for president Adam Kinzinger represented a reliably Republican district in the US House for six terms. He voted to impeach Donald Trump over the insurrection and with Liz Cheney was one of two Republicans on the January 6 committee. Like the former Wyoming congresswoman, he earned the ire of Trump and the GOP base.

NotebookBreaking Bad This article is more than 7 years oldThe night I talked blue meth with Walter WhiteThis article is more than 7 years oldPeter BradshawSharing a stage with Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston gave me the inside track on how far he went with drugs in researching his role Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston is in Britain promoting his autobiography, A Life in Parts. I demurely took to the stage with him in London this week, in front of all those superfans and Heisenberg lookalikes, to introduce his talk for the Guardian Live series.

Book of the dayHistory booksReviewAn ambitious Persian-centric rewrite of world history is full of insight but let down by factual errorsFifty years ago, in that far-off time before the world wide web spun itself around our lives, it was easier to write a history of the world from a European perspective without too much embarrassment. In an age when stranger-than-fiction happenings are reported in real time and backed by equally instant analysis, how does one write a new history of the world?