Happy New Year and welcome to the start of a momentous year for elections. About 2 billion people have the opportunity to cast their ballots in polls that span the globe from the United States to Taiwan, and India to Mexico in 2024. The outcomes, as our analysts and correspondents explain in our big story, have implications for us all. Washington bureau chief David Smith looks at the likely rerun of 2020’s Biden v Trump contest in November and explores what has changed and what has not in the US as the old adversaries square up. It is an almost foregone conclusion that Narendra Modi will be back for a third term as Indian prime minster, reports Hannah Ellis-Petersen from Delhi where analysts fear his victory will further imperil the country’s Muslim minority. And while Vladimir Putin will certainly continue as president in Russia, Pjotr Sauer explains why the man about to become fifth-time president might allow other candidates onto the ballot list. From Taiwan’s poll on 13 January to the 27-state European elections in June, how citizens vote will influence the geopolitical landscape for us all, while the conduct of campaigns will reveal how vulnerable democracies now are to misinformation and cyber interference from malign actors. Away from the ballot boxes, we look at what other big stories to watch for in 2024 with reports from Amy Hawkins on China’s social and economic travails to another crisis year for the natural world from biodiversity reporters Patrick Greenfield and Phoebe Weston. Our main feature read takes us back to a childhood in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles. Author Darran Anderson reflects on the cost of growing up in Derry, in British-controlled Northern Ireland, and recalls finding relative freedom over the border in the Republic of Ireland. His beautifully written essay discusses how he came first to crave sanctuary and, as an adult, sought it out practically and emotionally in a new life in London. In Culture, Mark Kermode interviews Yorgos Lanthimos ahead of the release of his highly anticipated new film Poor Things. It is the latest collaboration between the Greek director and actor Emma Stone, an adaptation of late Scottish novelist Alasdair Gray’s science fiction, Victorian romantic pastiche. We also meet artists who only got into their stride in later life and find out what’s behind the big band revival in jazz music. And while at Guardian Weekly we aren’t big on making new year resolutions – or perhaps not so great at sticking to them – this week’s issue does feature smartphones and fitness, things that many of us want to either renounce or embrace more fully in January. US writer Simar Bajaj considers whether over dependence on smartphones should be considered an addiction and science writer David Cox looks at the potential for developing medication to keep us fit. We hope you enjoy this issue and stick with the Guardian Weekly habit for the rest of year.