4 d. ago Why on earth would Meghan still want to be called the Duchess of Sussex? | Arwa Mahdawi

She and her husband seem keen on their titles and accolades, and less enthusiastic about putting in the work that ordinarily goes with themMeghan may be a resident of Montecito, California, but she is still the Duchess of Sussex, and she won’t let us commoners forget it. Despite their highly publicised separation from the royal family, Harry and Meghan remain extraordinarily loyal to their fancy titles. They have been asked before why they cling to their aristocratic honorifics and shrugged off the question. “What difference would that make?” Harry told Anderson Cooper in 2023, when asked why the couple didn’t renounce the titles.The difference, Mr Duke, is that people might stop wondering why you and Megs are so keen on reminding everyone that you’re royals, while living in a country that famously has no monarchy. And this question isn’t going away. It keeps popping up and it’s back in the news now thanks to a Harper’s Bazaar cover story on Meghan.Do you have an opinion on the issu...

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8 d. ago Why is Ghislaine Maxwell getting the Club Fed treatment? | Arwa Mahdawi

Her privileges in America’s two-tiered legal system reportedly range from from unlimited toilet paper to puppy playtimeI don’t know what, if anything, keeps Ghislaine Maxwell up at night. But it’s certainly not the prospect of running out of toilet paper in the minimum-security prison where she’s residing. Maxwell is serving a 20-year-sentence for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation. Rather than doing hard time, however, it seems Maxwell is having a relatively easy go of it. While most inmates get an allocation of two rolls of toilet paper per week, for example, CNN reports that Maxwell gets an unlimited supply.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

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9 d. ago Trump says he ‘doesn’t mind’ Mamdani calling him a fascist as they bury the hatchet in stunning press conference: Live updates

Trump anticipated a ‘civil’ meeting with Mamdani, despite insulting each other during New York City’s mayoral race

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9 d. ago Trump set for first meeting with Mamdani as backlash over attack on ‘seditious’ Democrats grows: Live updates

Trump anticipated a ‘civil’ meeting with Mamdani, despite insulting each other during New York City’s mayoral race

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1 week ago Mamdani keeping Jessica Tisch on as police commissioner as he tries to quell voters’ fears over past remarks

Tisch never commented on the race for mayor or Mamdani’s politics during the campaign

Events

1 week ago ‘May I meet you?’ is just the latest in horrible dating advice from billionaires | Arwa Mahdawi

Bill Ackman thinks his pickup line could aid population rates. Given the track record of the mega-rich, it may do the oppositeSit down and pay attention, because this column might change your life. I bring you tidings from the Nazi-filled wilderness that is now X, where Maga-adjacent billionaire Bill Ackman has generously decided to dispense romantic advice to the masses. Online culture, Ackman notes, has “destroyed the ability to spontaneously meet strangers”. The antidote to this, he suggests, are four simple words.“May I meet you?” Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Welcome to Trump’s America! A place where people can’t afford to call an ambulance | Arwa Mahdawi

How are people expected to handle increased health insurance costs when everything else in life has become more expensive? I think the answer is: they’re notI’ve got a genius business idea for people with few discernible skills. First you establish a “health insurance” company and get people to pay you large sums every month. Then, when a customer tries to use their insurance to cover medical costs, make a habit of denying their claim. While doing that, pay lobbyists to keep politicians amenable. Repeat this strategy until your company is worth billions.I’m not saying this is exactly how the US health insurance industry works, but it’s close enough. There is a reason Americans spend the most on healthcare in the industrialised world, but have the worst health outcomes, according to an analysis by the Commonwealth Fund. Privatising a public good is great for a few well-remunerated executives but rarely benefits the masses. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Will Marjorie Taylor Greene turn the Maga movement against Trump? | Arwa Mahdawi

Whatever her motives, the Republican congresswoman’s ‘revenge tour’ against the president is proving surprisingly effectiveThere are 535 members of Congress; only a dozen or so are household names. If you want to achieve that sort of brand name recognition, there are a few tried-and-tested ways to do so. You can spend years working your way up the ranks until you’re a power-broker like Nancy Pelosi. You can burst on to the scene and dramatically unseat an incumbent like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did. Or you can go the Marjorie Taylor Greene route and achieve notoriety by being utterly unhinged.Since becoming a congresswoman for Georgia in 2021, Greene has kept herself in the news by spouting conspiracy theories, fighting with colleagues, and being one of Trump’s biggest cheerleaders. In recent months, however, something strange has been happening. Greene has continued to generate headlines, but largely because she has turned on her party and is part of a growing Maga civil war. Green...

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2 w. ago Chuck Schumer should quit – but would his imaginary friends agree? | Arwa Mahdawi

The US government was shut down for weeks – and then Democrats shrugged their shoulders and gave upChuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, has a pair of very sweet imaginary friends. They’re a middle-class couple called Joe and Eileen Bailey and they live on Long Island. At one point the imaginary couple, who feature in Schumer’s 2007 book, Positively American, were called the O’Reillys. According to the Hill, one Schumer aide said the name then was changed because the publisher thought O’Reilly was “too ethnic” for mass consumption. Another aide said that claim was false, and Schumer just wanted a name that “sounded more national”. Naming strategy aside, the key point here is that Schumer has said he runs all his policy decisions by this completely fictional couple. He’s referred to them hundreds of times throughout his political career.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Everybody panic – the workplace has become too ‘feminized’! | Arwa Mahdawi

This week, Mexico’s president was groped in public. But a New York Times podcast is fretting about excessive wokenessLean in (to misogyny), ladies!Are you a woman? Do you want to rapidly raise your profile and get booked on the speaking circuit? Are you good at mental gymnastics?Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Mamdani’s mayoral race was marred by unhinged Islamophobia. It’s not going away soon | Arwa Mahdawi

The racist abuse that Zohran Mamdani is still facing proves how normalized bigotry is. We need to keep calling it outPack your bags and flee, infidels: New York City has fallen to a cabal of socialist jihadists. With Zohran Mamdani to become the city’s first Muslim mayor, many are celebrating the democratic socialist’s historic win. Billionaires, Islamophobes and Republicans, however, are in the throes of hysteria. But what’s new? The New York mayoral race has been marred by bigotry so unhinged it’s almost impossible to parody.Far-right activist and unofficial Trump adviser Laura Loomer posted on X, for example, that “there will be another 9/11 in NYC” under Mamdani. New York City councilmember Vickie Paladino called the 34-year-old a “known jihadist terrorist”. Actor Debra Messing, meanwhile, has been having a Mamdani-induced meltdown on Instagram, posting story after story about how the puppy-eyed politician is a threat to civilization. She recently posted: “In Judaism and Christi...

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3 w. ago Seth Meyers on Mamdani’s win: ‘The kind of energy Democrats have been desperately seeking for years’

Late-night hosts discussed Democrats’ wave of election wins, from governorships to New York City’s mayorLate-night hosts reacted to Democrats’ slate of wins across the country and Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory in the New York City mayoral race. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’

Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a givenAfter New York City’s race for mayor catapulted Zohran Mamdani from state assembly member into one of the world’s most prominent progressive voices, intense debate swirled over the ideas at the heart of his campaign.His critics and opponents painted pledges such as free bus service, universal childcare and rent freezes as unworkable, unrealistic and exorbitantly expensive. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Zohran Mamdani NYC Mayor win could 'inspire left' sparking huge changes in UK

The massive victory for young left-wing Zohran Mamdani, in the New York City mayoral race, could signal a huge moment for change in the left and the Labour Party in the UK

Politics

3 w. ago The Guardian view on Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York: the Democrats can build on an uplifting night | Editorial

A historic campaign that focused on the theme of affordability can offer wider lessons to a re-energised oppositionSince the re-election of Donald Trump last November, a demoralised Democratic party has struggled to reverse a palpable sense of downward momentum. At a grassroots level, amid plunging poll ratings, there has been a yearning for renewal and a more punchy, combative approach in opposition. Against that bleak backdrop, the remarkable election of Zohran Mamdani to the New York City mayoralty is a moment for progressives to savour.Mr Mamdani entered the mayoral race last October as a socialist outsider with almost zero name recognition. He won it with more than 50% of the vote after the highest turnout in more than half a century, and despite the best efforts of billionaires to bankroll his chief rival, the former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, to victory. That achievement makes him the youngest mayor of the US’s largest city for more than 100 years and the first Musl...

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3 w. ago Mamdani's historic win as New York City's mayor sparks excitement and hope among many US Muslims

Zohran Mamdani's historic New York City's mayoral race victory has sparked excitement and hope among many American Muslims

Politics

3 w. ago 'Beacon of hope': Ugandans find inspiration in Mamdani's win and ask if they can do the same

Zohran Mamdani's victory in the New York mayoral race inspires many in Uganda, though it feels distant

Politics

3 w. ago Trump ducks blame after big election night losses for Republicans from coast to coast: ‘I wasn’t on the ballot’

The president posted on Truth Social minutes after it was announced that Democrat Zohran Mamdani had won the race for New York City mayor

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3 w. ago New York City Mayoral Election 2025: Democrat Zohran Mamdani wins New York City mayor’s race

Mr Mamdani, 34, becomes the first Muslim mayor and youngest person in over a century to lead the largest city in the US.

Politics

3 w. ago Zohran Mamdani: 'Trump's worst nightmare' wins New York mayoral race as Sadiq Khan celebrates result

Sadiq Khan says New York has chosen ‘hope over fear’ as poll winner Zohran Mamdani tells Trump: ‘Turn the volume up!’

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