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On the ground

In-depth Guardian video journalism from around the world

  • For generations, support for Israel was central to Jewish-American identity. But today, amid accusations that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, a growing generational and political divide is reshaping views in the US Jewish community. Matthew Cassel travels to New York City – the heart of Jewish-American life – to explore how Israel’s wars across multiple fronts are challenging long-held traditions and dividing families.

    Why so many American Jews are turning away from Israel – video

    For generations, support for Israel was central to Jewish-American identity. But today, amid accusations that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, a growing generational and political divide is reshaping views in the US Jewish community. Matthew Cassel travels to New York City – the heart of Jewish-American life – to explore how Israel’s wars across multiple fronts are challenging long-held traditions and dividing families.
    Video14:31
  • Chinese tourism is booming in Laos and the illegal wildlife trade is booming with it. Pangolin scales, rhino horn and elephant ivory are all being sold at secret shops and restaurants as a new high-speed rail line brings millions of visitors to the country. Working with Chinese activists, the Guardian goes undercover to investigate the criminal networks profiting from this trade and to reveal how wildlife trafficking is pushing the critically endangered pangolin ever closer to extinction

    Undercover in Laos: how Chinese tourism fuels animal trafficking – video

    Chinese tourism is booming in Laos and the illegal wildlife trade is booming with it. Pangolin scales, rhino horn and elephant ivory are all being sold at secret shops and restaurants as a new high-speed rail line brings millions of visitors to the country. Working with Chinese activists, the Guardian goes undercover to investigate the criminal networks profiting from this trade and to reveal how wildlife trafficking is pushing the critically endangered pangolin ever closer to extinction
    Video15:26
  • As England prepares to take on Mexico in the Fifa World Cup, another battle is playing out just beyond the Azteca Stadium. More than 130,000 people have been forcibly disappeared in Mexico as cartel violence surges, leaving thousands of families searching for answers. They say the authorities have failed them, and they are demanding justice. The Guardian follows two families as they confront the police and challenge the government, determined to use football's biggest tournament to expose Mexico's disappearance crisis.

    Mexico’s kidnapping crisis: 'How can they hold a World Cup?’ – video

    As England prepares to take on Mexico in the Fifa World Cup, another battle is playing out just beyond the Azteca Stadium. More than 130,000 people have been forcibly disappeared in Mexico as cartel violence surges, leaving thousands of families searching for answers. They say the authorities have failed them, and they are demanding justice. The Guardian follows two families as they confront the police and challenge the government, determined to use football's biggest tournament to expose Mexico's disappearance crisis.
    Video15:34
  • Across the US, thousands of people are injecting themselves with unregulated peptides in pursuit of weight loss, muscle growth and younger-looking skin. Despite being labelled 'not for human consumption', the substances are readily available online and have surged in popularity among people disillusioned by traditional healthcare. To find out why so many Americans are willing to risk unknown side-effects for the promise of a quick fix, Adam Gabbatt meets the users and influencers driving the peptide boom, and investigates what's really inside some of these so-called 'miracle' drugs

    The peptide boom: how the US got hooked on unregulated ‘miracle’ drugs | On the Ground

    Across the US, thousands of people are injecting themselves with unregulated peptides in pursuit of weight loss, muscle growth and younger-looking skin. Despite being labelled 'not for human consumption', the substances are readily available online and have surged in popularity among people disillusioned by traditional healthcare. To find out why so many Americans are willing to risk unknown side-effects for the promise of a quick fix, Adam Gabbatt meets the users and influencers driving the peptide boom, and investigates what's really inside some of these so-called 'miracle' drugs
    Video16:00
  • Is the UK really experiencing a Christian revival and to what extent is it being driven by nationalism? To find out, the Guardian visited churches across the country and uncovered a growing schism over how Christianity is being interpreted in modern Britain

    Is the far right driving a Christian revival in the UK? – video

    Is the UK really experiencing a Christian revival and to what extent is it being driven by nationalism? To find out, the Guardian visited churches across the country and uncovered a growing schism over how Christianity is being interpreted in modern Britain
    Video15:37
  • Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continues and is deepening divisions across Lebanon. Supporters of Hezbollah call the group “the resistance” and see the conflict as existential. Despite agreeing to a ceasefire, Israel still occupies parts of southern Lebanon and insists Hezbollah must disarm for there to be peace—a view shared by many Lebanese. With communities split over Hezbollah’s future, The Guardian travels across Lebanon to find out how the conflict is widening divisions and affecting life across the country.

    Why Lebanon is divided over the war with Israel – video

    Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continues and is deepening divisions across Lebanon. Supporters of Hezbollah call the group “the resistance” and see the conflict as existential. Despite agreeing to a ceasefire, Israel still occupies parts of southern Lebanon and insists Hezbollah must disarm for there to be peace—a view shared by many Lebanese. With communities split over Hezbollah’s future, The Guardian travels across Lebanon to find out how the conflict is widening divisions and affecting life across the country.
    Video16:00
  • Politicians and pundits in the UK are fuelling a moral panic around “the Muslim vote." Once seen as a reliable base for the Labour Party, the Muslim community’s growing support for independent candidates and the Green Party is now being framed as a threat to democracy. As the country heads towards the local elections, Taj Ali investigates whether a singular “Muslim vote” exists, and examines how these divisive narratives around sectarian politics are shaping public debate and impacting communities across Britain.

    The Muslim Vote: Democratic threat or Islamophobic myth? | On the Ground

    Politicians and pundits in the UK are fuelling a moral panic around “the Muslim vote." Once seen as a reliable base for the Labour Party, the Muslim community’s growing support for independent candidates and the Green Party is now being framed as a threat to democracy. As the country heads towards the local elections, Taj Ali investigates whether a singular “Muslim vote” exists, and examines how these divisive narratives around sectarian politics are shaping public debate and impacting communities across Britain.
    Video15:12
  • The Guardian visits Oaxaca, a state synonymous with indigenous culture, where tourism has grown 77% since the pandemic

    'Gringo go home': Mexico’s growing tourism backlash – video

    The Guardian visits Oaxaca, a state synonymous with indigenous culture, where tourism has grown 77% since the pandemic
    Video15:32
  • Hate crimes are rising around the UK, after a summer of flags going up on lamp-posts across the country and racist riots in 2024. Taj Ali is a Muslim journalist who has been collating evidence of these attacks. Even in big diverse areas there is a sense of fear, but what is life like for smaller ethnic minority communities in smaller towns? On his journey with video producers Christopher Cherry and Maeve Shearlaw he finds a sense of anger about the loss of community but people everywhere determined to roll up their sleeves up and make things better

    'Abusing Muslims is not going to fix this country': rising hate in the UK

    Hate crimes are rising around the UK, after a summer of flags going up on lamp-posts across the country and racist riots in 2024. Taj Ali is a Muslim journalist who has been collating evidence of these attacks. Even in big diverse areas there is a sense of fear, but what is life like for smaller ethnic minority communities in smaller towns? On his journey with video producers Christopher Cherry and Maeve Shearlaw he finds a sense of anger about the loss of community but people everywhere determined to roll up their sleeves up and make things better
    Video15:18
  • It has been 10 years since the migrant crisis began - when thousands of people fleeing war, persecution and poverty sought refuge in Europe. A decade later, migration remains one of the continent’s most divisive and politicised issues

    How Europe’s immigration crackdown is fuelling smuggling gangs – video

    It has been 10 years since the migrant crisis began - when thousands of people fleeing war, persecution and poverty sought refuge in Europe. A decade later, migration remains one of the continent’s most divisive and politicised issues
    Video14:07
  • Hannah Ellis-Petersen visits communities living in the shadow of Bhalswa’s overfilled landfill heaps to see how they have become reliant on the landfill that is poisoning them

    Life and death on India’s toxic trash mountains – video

    Hannah Ellis-Petersen visits communities living in the shadow of Bhalswa’s overfilled landfill heaps to see how they have become reliant on the landfill that is poisoning them
    Video13:28
  • Child poverty in the UK is now at record levels, with 4.5 million kids living in poverty. One of the biggest drivers of this is the controversial two-child limit, which caps universal credit and tax credits to a family’s first two children​. With the Labour government’s Child Poverty Strategy due ​imminently, many charities and campaigners have called for this brutal policy to be scrapped, but what’s life actually like for mums under the limit and will the government listen to growing calls to abolish the austerity-era policy? Journalist and poverty campaigner Terri White speaks to women in her area of greater Manchester to find out.

    Raising kids in poverty: The UK’s ‘inhumane’ two-child limit

    Child poverty in the UK is now at record levels, with 4.5 million kids living in poverty. One of the biggest drivers of this is the controversial two-child limit, which caps universal credit and tax credits to a family’s first two children​. With the Labour government’s Child Poverty Strategy due ​imminently, many charities and campaigners have called for this brutal policy to be scrapped, but what’s life actually like for mums under the limit and will the government listen to growing calls to abolish the austerity-era policy? Journalist and poverty campaigner Terri White speaks to women in her area of greater Manchester to find out.
    Video15:04
  • Reporter Matthew Cassel speaks to Israelis in Tel Aviv, to see what they think of the war, famine and genocide happening next door, and the growing international condemnation against it

    'Our Genocide': How do Israelis feel about the war in Gaza? – video

    Reporter Matthew Cassel speaks to Israelis in Tel Aviv, to see what they think of the war, famine and genocide happening next door, and the growing international condemnation against it
    Video15:34
  • Summer 2025 was marked by a surge in anti-immigrant protests, attacks on mosques and racist graffiti across the UK. The unrest, stoked by far-right agitators such as Tommy Robinson, sought to pit communities against each other. But in Luton, where Tommy Robinson himself grew up, writer and journalist Taj Ali explores how the communities of his home town have resisted this division and fought back against radicalisation; and asks whether today’s economic hardships threaten to unravel that progress

    Luton v Tommy Robinson: the myth of a town divided – video

    Summer 2025 was marked by a surge in anti-immigrant protests, attacks on mosques and racist graffiti across the UK. The unrest, stoked by far-right agitators such as Tommy Robinson, sought to pit communities against each other. But in Luton, where Tommy Robinson himself grew up, writer and journalist Taj Ali explores how the communities of his home town have resisted this division and fought back against radicalisation; and asks whether today’s economic hardships threaten to unravel that progress
    Video12:59
  • Fish and Chips, the iconic meal widely regarded as Britain’s signature dish, is under threat, with up to half of the country’s 10,000 chippies at risk of closure this year. Once upon a time this simple dish was available to all, reasonably priced, and even avoided rationing during World War II. But today, with prices and overheads continuing to increase, the meal is becoming a luxury. The Guardian visits the Yorkshire and Humber coast, an area steeped in fishing tradition, to see how this decimated industry has impacted the national dish, and ask what the future holds for battered fish

    Battered: why half of UK’s fish and chip shops face closure – video

    Fish and Chips, the iconic meal widely regarded as Britain’s signature dish, is under threat, with up to half of the country’s 10,000 chippies at risk of closure this year. Once upon a time this simple dish was available to all, reasonably priced, and even avoided rationing during World War II. But today, with prices and overheads continuing to increase, the meal is becoming a luxury. The Guardian visits the Yorkshire and Humber coast, an area steeped in fishing tradition, to see how this decimated industry has impacted the national dish, and ask what the future holds for battered fish
    Video12:51
  • The British pub, long a staple of community life, has been in a state of decline for years – and it’s getting worse. Last year 400 pubs closed their doors. A record low number remain and with the average price of a pint now more than £5, the battle to survive is getting harder. Pubs are more than just places to get drunk – they occupy a unique space in the UK’s cultural landscape and provide a social hub for people across the class and wealth spectrum. With alcohol consumption also in decline, and successive governments never keen to offer pubs a helping hand, can this great British institution survive?

    Last orders: a pub crawl across the UK’s dying booze industry – video

    The British pub, long a staple of community life, has been in a state of decline for years – and it’s getting worse. Last year 400 pubs closed their doors. A record low number remain and with the average price of a pint now more than £5, the battle to survive is getting harder. Pubs are more than just places to get drunk – they occupy a unique space in the UK’s cultural landscape and provide a social hub for people across the class and wealth spectrum. With alcohol consumption also in decline, and successive governments never keen to offer pubs a helping hand, can this great British institution survive?
    Video12:27
  • In scenes echoed across southern Europe, Spain’s Canary Islands are suffering from a crisis of too many tourists – 18 million are projected to visit in 2025. On Tenerife, where tourism accounts for 35% of the economy and which draws the largest number of mostly British holidaymakers, it is tourists, not immigrants, who are seen as a threat to local identity. As protests across the Mediterranean continue, local people vent their anger at an exploitative, extractive and unsustainable tourism model. But is it still possible to change course, and are political leaders listening?

    ‘Tourists go home’: Inside the angry protests on Spain’s holiday islands – video

    In scenes echoed across southern Europe, Spain’s Canary Islands are suffering from a crisis of too many tourists – 18 million are projected to visit in 2025. On Tenerife, where tourism accounts for 35% of the economy and which draws the largest number of mostly British holidaymakers, it is tourists, not immigrants, who are seen as a threat to local identity. As protests across the Mediterranean continue, local people vent their anger at an exploitative, extractive and unsustainable tourism model. But is it still possible to change course, and are political leaders listening?
    Video13:00
  • When ministers announced major changes to welfare, many were left in shock that such deep cuts would be enacted by a Labour government. The Guardian spent time with dissenting voices in the run-up to the vote, to learn what was at stake for disabled people, already disproportionately affected by rising poverty in the UK

    ‘Voting Labour is my biggest regret’: UK government's betrayal of disabled people – video

    When ministers announced major changes to welfare, many were left in shock that such deep cuts would be enacted by a Labour government. The Guardian spent time with dissenting voices in the run-up to the vote, to learn what was at stake for disabled people, already disproportionately affected by rising poverty in the UK
    Video12:30
  • Young men and women are pulling apart ideologically – in the US, UK, South Korea, France, Germany and elsewhere, young women now take far more liberal positions on immigration and racial justice than young men, while older age groups remain evenly matched. At the same time, as Reform UK polls neck and neck with Labour, a new group of voters referred to as ‘radical young men’ make up one of Reform's largest voting blocks, mirroring the Trump campaign’s focus on the ‘manosphere’ during the US election. The Guardian's Damien Gayle goes in search of these young men to ask why they are turning to the right

    'They want to feel like men': Why are gen Z men turning to rightwing politics?

    Young men and women are pulling apart ideologically – in the US, UK, South Korea, France, Germany and elsewhere, young women now take far more liberal positions on immigration and racial justice than young men, while older age groups remain evenly matched. At the same time, as Reform UK polls neck and neck with Labour, a new group of voters referred to as ‘radical young men’ make up one of Reform's largest voting blocks, mirroring the Trump campaign’s focus on the ‘manosphere’ during the US election. The Guardian's Damien Gayle goes in search of these young men to ask why they are turning to the right
    Video12:56
  • In a remote corner of central Bolivia, hundreds of coca farmers have armed themselves with sticks and makeshift shields to protect the country’s former president, Evo Morales. For nearly 14 years, he dominated national politics and oversaw a gas-fueled economic boom that lifted millions out of poverty. Today, he is in hiding after an arrest warrant accused him of statutory rape and human trafficking. Tiago Rogero gained access to his hideout in the depths of the Bolivian jungle

    Tracking down Evo Morales, Bolivia’s fugitive ex-president, in his jungle hideout – video

    In a remote corner of central Bolivia, hundreds of coca farmers have armed themselves with sticks and makeshift shields to protect the country’s former president, Evo Morales. For nearly 14 years, he dominated national politics and oversaw a gas-fueled economic boom that lifted millions out of poverty. Today, he is in hiding after an arrest warrant accused him of statutory rape and human trafficking. Tiago Rogero gained access to his hideout in the depths of the Bolivian jungle
    Video12:45
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