The Olympics are here! After last night’s spectacular opening ceremony along the Seine and at the Trocadero, this morning the competition began in earnest.

The run-up to the Paris Games was dominated by political upheaval in the host nation, where a surging far right was deflected at the last moment in snap parliamentary elections. Paris correspondent Angelique Chrisafis wrote about hopes across France that the greatest sporting show on Earth can help unite a fractured nation. With luck it can bring some unity to a fractured planet, too. As sports writer Andy Bull put it: this is a Games that has been reframed by the shadow of conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East.

There certainly wasn’t a great deal of fraternité in the last few days before the Games kicked off. On Friday morning, France’s rail system was left in chaos after a massive coordinated attack on the TGV network. Before that, there was a Russian spy scandal, with a 40-year-old chef arrested on suspicion of plotting with a foreign power to stage “large scale” acts of “destabilisation” during the Games. There was a sporting spy scandal, too, with defending women’s football champions Canada caught using drones to spy on their opponents. Then there was chaos in the men’s tournament during a Morocco v Argentina match that managed to include a pitch invasion, the fallout from a racism scandal and even a two-hour wait for a VAR decision. And Charlotte Dujardin – a British multiple medal winner – was forced to pull out of the equestrian event after a distressing video of her repeatedly whipping a horse emerged on Tuesday.

Now we’re properly under way and, for the next 16 days, we have a full, expert team in Paris covering everything from the 100m finals to beach volleyball in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. If you don’t want to miss a hop, skip or a jump sign up for our Paris 2024 daily briefing newsletter for all you need to know on each day. And do follow @guardian_sport on Instagram, where our writers will be posting daily updates of the pick of what’s on “Le Menu” of events. The best way to stay across it all as it happens will be via our non-stop live blog. You can find that, as well as reports, results, the medal table, multimedia and more on our dedicated Olympics mini-site. Then, after all that, it’s on to the Paralympics, which begin on 28 August.

I love the Olympics, when we all become experts in obscure sports for several days at least – and who wouldn’t love the 2024 version, when the marathon is along the same route as the women’s march on Versailles from 1789. Vive la révolution! Vive les Jeux Olympiques!

If you’re not already a Guardian supporter and appreciate all this non-stop brilliant coverage, please consider joining us today. Thank you.

After weeks of speculation and pressure, Joe Biden announced on Sunday he was withdrawing from the presidential race. It was the moment our US team had been meticulously planning for and they covered the drama of the historic event. Ed Pilkington brilliantly captured the momentous weekend that ended Biden’s campaign. Our Politics Weekly America podcast produced an excellent emergency episode homing in on what this might mean for the presidential race. Next up, Kamala-mania. Our US democracy reporter Alice Herman was in Wisconsin for vice-president Kamala Harris’s lively first rally and reported a mood of excitement, hope and relief. Zoe Williams brought us 18 things you didn’t know about the woman taking on Trump and Adria Walker reported on a viral zoom call with the vice-president that demonstrated the invigorating effect of Harris entering the race on Black female voters and donors. We also looked at the online embrace of the vice-president by gen Z. Will embracing memes like “Brat” translate into firing up young voters?

The world’s wealthiest countries, including the US, UK, Norway, Australia and Canada are leading the charge to expand their use of fossil fuels in spite of their climate pledges, exclusive new data uncovered by Oliver Milman and Nina Lakhani showed. Jonathan Watts lambasted the climate hypocrisy of these “other petrostates”. The investigation comes in a week when the world has experienced some of its hottest days on record.
The Gaza voices project is a powerful piece of work, relating the deeply moving stories of people living and working through war, in their own words: from a paracyclist to a doctor, a physiotherapist to an archeologist, a translator to people working in tech and orphanages, and aid workers.

On Today in Focus, Michael Safi travelled to the hard-to-access borderlands of southern Lebanon where Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging missiles with tensions ratcheting up for an immersive journey through abandoned villages and tourist towns – a powerful piece of reporting.

Luke Harding secured an exclusive interview with the man in charge of prosecuting Ukraine’s war against a Russia that is better armed and has far more troops. Despite the odds, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi said that he believes Ukraine will win and he had a plan.

Black women face a much greater risk of death and stillbirth due to institutional racism, and are almost twice as likely to have their births investigated for NHS safety failings, according to analysis and interviews by Tobi Thomas. Jessica Murray spoke to the head of a large-scale review into the failings of maternity services in the English city of Nottingham that has found appalling discriminatory and racist behaviour towards pregnant women by NHS staff. Also in Nottingham, Jessica covered the inquest into the shocking case of Inga Rublite, who was found dying under her coat in a hospital emergency ward in January after staff may have mistaken her for a homeless person seeking shelter.

Josh Taylor conducted an experiment to see what Facebook and Instagram’s algorithm would automatically fill his feed with, if left entirely alone. He unleashed it to run on a completely blank smartphone linked to a new, unused email address. What it showed him was deeply troubling. Three months later, without any user input, they were riddled with sexist and misogynistic content.

Four food critics shared their secrets of how they try to survive dining out on rich food for a living, after New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells announced he was retiring due, in large part, to poor health from gorging on decadent meals for 12 years. It’s not all plain sailing for cooks either. Feast columnist and bestselling recipe writer Meera Sodha wrote about losing – and regaining – her appetite for food and life following burnout.

I thought George Monbiot’s column about the soul-deadening effect that money has on the super-rich was one of the best I’ve read for a long time. As George reflects when he comes across a pod of dolphins off the coast of Devon, only to see it disturbed by an act of mindless entitlement from some people on a speedboat, extreme wealth “can hollow you out, socially, intellectually and morally”.

One more thing … I’ve been watching the fab TV series Poker Face (from 2023). Natasha Lyonne plays Charlie Cale, a woman on the run who can tell when people are lying … which comes in handy when murders happen all around her. It’s brilliantly written and intriguingly plotted; Charlie is irresistible. The Chloë Sevigny episode is my favourite so far.

Cook this | Nigel Slater’s apricots, bulgur and mint salad to share

A humble and sustaining salad, comforting and gently spiced, jewelled with fruit and herbs. This is a riff on a classic parsley-flecked tabbouleh, to which Nigel Slater has added the warmth of harissa and ripe, sweet apricots. A dish that feels both ancient and contemporary, light and yet thoroughly satisfying.

Listen to this | The mother who forgave her daughters’ killer – but not the police

Mina Smallman’s world fell apart after the murder of her two daughters. Then came a shocking revelation about the police’s behaviour. She explains how she found the strength to fight back in this episode of Today in Focus.

Watch this | How I survive: a seven-year-old’s life in Gaza

This incredibly powerful piece from November was filmed by local freelance video producer Majdi Fathi. Majdi is currently living in a car park in a hospital in central Gaza. This week, the film was nominated for an Emmy. The Guardian is continuing to work with Majdi as the war continues.

The Guardian’s crosswords and Wordiply are here to keep you entertained throughout the weekend.