5 h. ago Who would win in a fight between 100 Brits and 100 Americans? I know how to find out | Arwa Mahdawi

Americans could have a psychological edge – but British people have a high tolerance of physical discomfort, which could provide all sorts of advantages ...Shall we take a brief moment to forget the hellworld outside and focus on something utterly inane? That was a rhetorical question, because you’re coming with me immediately to the far depths of TikTok, where there is a furious argument raging about a hypothetical transatlantic brawl. Riffing on an online debate about whether 100 men or a single gorilla would win in a fight, someone posted a viral video asking: “100 British people v 100 Americans. One big room. No weapons. Who’s winning?”I have not conducted a thorough analysis of the answers, but from my cursory glance it would seem the consensus is the Americans would win. For science’s sake I polled a real-life American (my wife), and her opinion, largely based on the whole 1776 thing, was also that there would be a US victory. “We just care more about winning,” she told me (a ...

Politics

23 h. ago Ivanka Trump is now a food waste entrepreneur – but there's just one glaring problem | Arwa Mahdawi

It’s a little bit rich to talk about food insecurity in the US when your last name is Trump. But after stints as a feminist influencer and political adviser, the president’s favourite daughter has found a new pathIvanka Trump has had her manicured fingers in many pies. She’s designed jewellery and shoes. She’s written a book called Women Who Work, marketed at women who work, full of inspirational quotes and touching anecdotes about how she, a woman, has sometimes worked so hard that she has had to sacrifice massages.That was Early Influencer Ivanka, anyway. Then came Ivanka’s political era. During Donald Trump’s first term as president, she appointed herself Daddy’s special adviser and did a lot of very special advising. In that capacity she gallivanted around the globe, dropping in on the G20 and hobnobbed with world leaders, all while insisting: “I try to stay out of politics.” And, of course, the president’s eldest daughter, who very nearly became the head of the World Bank, tire...

Politics

4 d. ago Biden still thinks he could have beaten Trump. Do we really need this? | Arwa Mahdawi

The former president points to sexism as the reason for Kamala Harris’s election loss. That’s a dangerous cop-outRaise your hand if you’ve been desperate for Joe Biden to pop up and tell us all, yet again, how he would have handily beaten Donald Trump in 2024.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago An American has become pope. Will he be the moral leader we desperately need? | Arwa Mahdawi

Pope Francis spoke for the most vulnerable, from Palestinians in Gaza to immigrants in the US. Let’s hope that Leo will follow in his footstepsAmerica is back, baby. Not only has the Gulf of Mexico been successfully Americanized, the Vatican is now officially US territory. OK, fine, not officially, but, on Thursday, the Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost was announced as pope. The 69-year-old, who has taken the papal name Leo XIV, is the first clergyman from the United States to lead the Roman Catholic church.While Prevost was a frontrunner for the papacy, his victory seems to have taken many experts by surprise. There has long been resistance to an American pope for a number of reasons, including the fact that it might make it appear as if the Vatican is aligned with the world’s strongest economic and military power. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Ivanka Trump to push healthy foods as her company echoes MAHA mindset sweeping DC

Ivanka Trump, who has kept a low profile during her father’s second term as president, will speak Thursday at the Heartland Summit in Arkansas

Politics

7 d. ago Does your child identify as a cat? There’s a man in Texas who can help | Arwa Mahdawi

Are schools really providing litter trays for kids whose pronouns are Puss and Purr? Or is state representative Stan Gerdes just stoking the culture war with his proposed FURRIES Act?Move over, Wagatha Christie: Furlock Holmes is investigating “non-human behaviour” in Texas schools. A Republican state representative called Stan Gerdes recently filed a bill called the Forbidden Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Educational Spaces (FURRIES) Act, which would ban schoolkids from acting like animals. No hissing during history, no meowing during maths, and absolutely no relieving yourself in a litter box during lunch break, according to the FURRIES Act.Are animal impersonations a serious issue in Texas’s schools? Gerdes insists so, noting in a press release that he had heard reports of a “furry-related incident” in at least one school. When pressed on the issue, however, he was unable to provide any actual evidence of schools providing litter boxes for students who identify as fel...

Politics

8 d. ago Mark Zuckerberg tried to convince us he was human. Sorry, ZuckBot: you’ve failed | Arwa Mahdawi

No matter how many system updates the Meta boss runs, there will always be something about him that screams ‘creepy automaton’. And the $270m apocalypse shelter doesn’t helpOver the past few years Mark Zuckerberg has been conducting a very expensive experiment. If he grows his hair and revamps his wardrobe, will it make him seem more relatable? If he takes up mixed martial arts, goes wild boar hunting, and tells manosphere-adjacent podcasters such as Joe Rogan that companies need more “masculine energy”, will red-blooded American males respect him? With the help of a small army of stylists, personal trainers and PR gurus, could Zuck transform himself from an unlikable dork into an alpha bro?For a brief moment, the answer to all that seemed to be a tentative “yes”. Zuck’s shock of shaggy new hair made the billionaire seem less like three Lego figures in a trenchcoat and more like an adult human male. His gold chains and jazzy new outfits sparked excited chatter of a “Zucknaissance”. ...

Events

1 week ago Will Jeffrey Epstein’s victims ever get justice? | Arwa Mahdawi

I have a suggestion for conspiracy theorists: instead of searching for secret plots, why not grapple with some very clear facts?Last weekend the terrible news broke that Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent victims of the disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, had died by suicide. Conspiracy theorists immediately started circling. A tweet from 2019, in which Giuffre said she wasn’t suicidal, was dredged up. Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest failson, then amplified the theory to his millions of followers, adding that “other than the Clinton’s [sic] no one has more suiciding going on”.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago I live in the US and have a green card. If I leave the country, will I be allowed back in? | Arwa Mahdawi

Even a summer holiday isn’t straightforward any more - and all across the US, millions of people are having to make calculations like mineLet me start with a message to my wife. SORRY!!! I apologise in advance for everything you are about to read.My more sensible half, you see, is a US citizen, who keeps telling me (a green card holder) that I should stop making jokes about getting sent to a detention centre or deported.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The ‘rat person’ trend is here – and I thoroughly approve | Arwa Mahdawi

Do you like sleeping, eating and scrolling? Me too. What if I told you this was also a way to protest capitalism?Somewhere in Zhejiang province, China, a woman is living my dream. She gets up in the morning and then, almost immediately, goes back to bed. She lies prostrate all day long, scrolling, eating some food, opening some packages, showering at 2am, then snoozing again. As a longtime sleep enthusiast – and the mother of a child who thinks that 5am is a good time to start the day, all systems go – I think this sounds like bliss.The woman in Zhejiang is known as @jiawensishi – and also “rat person”. I am not being rude; that’s what she calls herself. There are lots of rat people out there: it’s a whole trend in China. You might have heard of the “lying flat” movement a few years ago, when young people lazed around displaying symptoms of mild depression, and some thinkers, including the novelist Liao Zenghu, theorised that it was a passive-aggressive resistance movement, rebellin...

Politics

3 w. ago Why is the US right so obsessed with the Obamas’ marriage? | Arwa Mahdawi

Conservative commentators can’t stand the idea that people they loathe can live fulfilling livesAn estate on Martha’s Vineyard. A nine-bedroom house in DC. A family home in Chicago. Barack and Michelle Obama own about a gazillion dollars’ worth of property. Turns out they don’t need any of their fancy mansions, however, because they live rent-free in rightwing commentators’ heads. While the right has always been fixated on trying to find fault with former president Obama, they have now become unhealthily obsessed with the idea that Barack and Michelle’s marriage is failing. There’s no evidence to support this, mind you. Just vibes.Picking up on these mysterious vibes is conservative commentator Megyn Kelly, who recently proclaimed on her podcast that she thinks Michelle and Barack “married the wrong people”. Many straws were grasped at to come to this conclusion – including the fact that Michelle once said that she likes going to bed early (wise woman) and her husband doesn’t. Conti...

Politics

3 w. ago Why do Trump voters have no regrets? Because the people they hate are getting hurt more | Arwa Mahdawi

Even amid political chaos and rising prices, what matters most to his supporters is a macabre form of payback and vengeanceThe stock market is plunging, prices are rising, federal workers are getting laid off, students are being snatched off the street by immigration agents. The US is many things at the moment, but stable is not one of them. So, amid all this turmoil, how are all the Donald Trump voters feeling? Has buyer’s remorse set in? Are they starting to wonder whether voting in a convicted felon as president – a man who has declared bankruptcy six times – might not have been the wisest move?Not according to the polls. Rather, the US appears to be a nation of Édith Piafs: they regret rien. I’m not saying that disillusioned Republicans don’t exist; do enough digging and you can certainly find a few. And journalists have been doing a lot of digging. During Trump’s first term, there was a steady stream of media pieces profiling the regretful Trump voter. The genre has remained po...

Politics

4 w. ago You too can look as good as Donald Trump in your dotage. Here’s how | Arwa Mahdawi

The 78-year-old president is in great shape, says the official White House physician. Must be all those ‘hamberders’Forget yoga, pilates or eating leafy greens. If you want to improve your health, just look to Donald “My Body Is a Temple” Trump for pointers. The US president just had his annual checkup and emerged with flying colours. “President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and general physical function,” White House physician Sean Barbella said in a report released on Sunday.How does the 78-year-old, who is the oldest person in history to be inaugurated US president, stay in such great shape? The report cited an active lifestyle, noting Trump’s many speeches and “frequent victories in golf events”. But if you’re not a golfer, don’t worry. I have put together a four-point Donald John Trump Wellness Plan so that you can be as perky as the president. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Don’t worry, gen Z! A billionaire boomer says your lives are going to be great | Arwa Mahdawi

The CEO of JPMorgan Chase says young people needn’t worry – the future is bright and AI-enhanced. So why does the world feel so precarious?Chin up, everyone. Things may seem grim at the moment but a billionaire has swooped in to reassure everyone – particularly impecunious young people – that everything is going to be OK. Better than OK, in fact. According to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, despite the current economic and political instability, gen Z should be grateful for what will be a very bright and AI-enhanced future.“These kids, anyone who’s depressed – as long as we don’t have nuclear war – they’re going to have an unbelievable life,” Dimon said in a recent interview with Fox News. “People say the next generation’s in bad shape,” he added. “Really? They’re going to inherit a country that’s worth two [or] three hundred trillion dollars. They’re probably going to live to 120; AI is going to cure some cancers They shouldn’t be bemoaning their situation.” Continue reading...

Society