55 h. ago ‘I can’t be silent. I’ve been through too much’: Dee Dee Bridgewater on singing with the greats – and confronting Maga with jazz

Fuelled by a loathing of Trump, the war in Gaza and anger at ‘the same old chauvinistic crap’, the 75-year-old – who cut her teeth with Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins and more – has no plans to stop protestingWhen I speak to Dee Dee Bridgewater, the jazz singer is preparing for a concert that evening in Des Moines, Iowa, performing classy selections from the Great American Songbook. But even though she has also recorded this material for her recent album Elemental, Bridgewater is not really in the mood. “I just don’t feel like it’s the time to be doing love songs and whimsical songs from the 1920s and 30s,” she says. “They’re beautiful, but there’s some kind of spirit and energy pushing me to sing songs saying: people, we have to protect our democracy.”Bridgewater is one of American jazz’s foremost voices. Capable of crooning and confronting, the two-time Grammy winner has a career that spans six decades and has never stopped evolving. She cut her teeth sharing the stage with severa...

Politics

5 d. ago Whistleblower Israeli soldiers describe killing unarmed Palestinians as they ‘demolish’ Gaza

IDF soldiers tell how they use teenage Palestinians as human shields in Gaza and have left the enclave a ‘zombie apocalypse’

Events

5 d. ago David Squires on Fifa’s peace prize and Donald Trump’s eligibility

Our cartoonist on how the US president’s actions in office may have put him in line for an awardBuy a Squires cartoon in our Print ShopDavid’s latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago BBC bosses quit in disgrace after corporation admits doctoring Donald Trump video and is accused of bias on war in Gaza and transgender reports

An impartiality row rocked the national broadcaster after an internal report accused it of bias, censorship and doctoring footage of Donald Trump.

Politics

6 d. ago Body of Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin abducted and killed in 2014 war finally released by Hamas after decade

ISRAEL has finally received the remains of an IDF soldier after a more than a decade-long wait. Israeli officials said the remains it received on Sunday from Hamas were those of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, an army officer killed in the 2014 Gaza war. Goldin's body has been held in Gaza since his death. Until now,...

Events

7 d. ago Palestinian man dismissed from Gaza border assistance role to sue EU

Exclusive: Case for Mohammed Baraka alleges discrimination on the basis of nationalityA Palestinian man who was dismissed from his job in Gaza after the war broke out is suing the European Union for allegedly breaching Belgian law.Mohammed Baraka, who worked at the EU border assistance mission (EUBam) at Rafah after its inception in 2006 as an unarmed civilian third-party presence, has filed his case in a Belgian court. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Maatsen and Malen help Aston Villa avoid more controversy in win over Maccabi Tel Aviv

The prevailing sense was of relief that, after all the breathless conjecture and discussion that had dominated the nation’s news cycle at times, an event with no real winners passed safely. At least Aston Villa did what was expected of them, ultimately coming through with comfort against a respectable Maccabi Tel Aviv team who had chances to make a sleepy affair more interesting. They needed the points to put their Europa League campaign back on track, settling for a rasping Ian Maatsen finish and, in the second half, a Donyell Malen penalty.This tie had loomed glaringly when it was drawn out in August. Back then there was a sizeable clamour for Israeli clubs to be barred from European competition, a stance pressed home by several placards held by protesters outside the stadium. That has largely quietened since a ceasefire was agreed in the Gaza war but the noise around Maccabi’s visit was ramped up when visiting fans were banned from attending the game on public safety grounds. In ...

Politics

9 d. ago How the Gaza war overshadowed the beautiful game as Tel Aviv fans banned from Aston Villa match

Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. supporters have been banned from a ground in Birmingham in a highly divisive move branded antisemitic. But Israeli football also has racism problems that need addressing, campaigners tell James C. Reynolds

Events

1 week ago Surge in antisemitism investigations at US universities after October 7 attacks, data shows

A report shared exclusively with the Guardian documents how a civil rights law has become a tool to impose ideological priorities on US schoolsUS government investigations into universities over antisemitism allegations surged following the 7 October 2023 attacks and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza, with more investigations open in the last two months of that year than in the two decades prior, according to a report published on Monday that was shared exclusively with the Guardian.The data, compiled by the Middle East Studies Association and the American Association of University Professors and relying on publicly available records, offers a detailed account of how landmark civil rights legislation – and particularly Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act – has become a primary tool to restrict speech on campus. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago ‘Beating, torturing, killing’: freed Palestinian author on life in Israeli jails

Nasser Abu Srour says prisons became like ‘another front’ in Gaza war and tells of struggle to adjust to life outsideA celebrated Palestinian author who was freed last month after more than 32 years in Israeli prisons has said the use of torture increased dramatically during his last two years of captivity as Israel came to treat its jails as another front in the Gaza war.Nasser Abu Srour, whose prison memoir has been translated into seven languages and is tipped to win a major international literary prize this month, was among more than 150 Palestinians serving life sentences who were freed as part of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire and then immediately exile to Egypt, where most remain in limbo. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Torture in Israeli prisons rose sharply during war, says freed Palestinian author

Nasser Abu Srour says prisons became like ‘another front’ in Gaza conflict and tells of struggle to adjust to life outsideA celebrated Palestinian author who was freed last month after more than 32 years in Israeli prisons has said the use of torture increased dramatically during his last two years of captivity as Israel came to treat its jails as another front in the Gaza war.Nasser Abu Srour, whose prison memoir has been translated into seven languages and is tipped to win a major international literary prize this month, was among more than 150 Palestinians serving life sentences who were freed as part of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire and then immediately exiled to Egypt, where most remain in limbo. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago In Gaza cemeteries, some displaced Palestinians live among the dead

Skeletons are neighbors for some Palestinians in Gaza who found nowhere else but cemeteries to shelter from the war

Events

2 w. ago Graves badly damaged after Israel bombs Hamas supply tunnel next to British war cemetery 

Hamas used the last resting place of hundreds of British soldiers buried at the British War Cemetery in Daraj Tuffah, Gaza City and Deir El Belah, also in Gaza, to store weapons.

Events

2 w. ago Gaza sliding into deadly limbo of ‘no war, no peace’, top Qatari diplomat warns

Majed al-Ansari calls for international force to be urgently set up to pave way for Israeli withdrawalGaza is sliding towards a deadly limbo where a ceasefire is nominally in place but killing continues, a top Qatari diplomat has warned, calling for rapid progress in setting up the international security force and administration to pave the way for full Israeli withdrawal.“We don’t want to reach a situation of no war, no peace,” said Majed al-Ansari, adviser to Qatar’s prime minister and spokesperson for the foreign ministry. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Gaza risks sliding into deadly limbo of ‘no war, no peace’, top Qatari diplomat warns

Majed al-Ansari calls for international force to be set up urgently to pave way for Israeli withdrawalGaza risks sliding towards a deadly limbo where a ceasefire is nominally in place but killing continues, a top Qatari diplomat has warned, calling for rapid progress in setting up the international security force and administration to pave the way for full Israeli withdrawal.“We don’t want to reach a situation of no war, no peace,” said Majed al-Ansari, adviser to Qatar’s prime minister and spokesperson for the foreign ministry. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Residents begin to rebuild Swiss village five months after devastating landslide

Residents hope the town is habitable by 2030.

Politics

2 w. ago This isn’t a real ceasefire in Gaza – it’s a holding pattern before war returns | Sanam Vakil

Israel’s airstrikes have exposed the fragility of Trump’s ‘peace plan’. Without international support, it risks crumbling altogether Israel’s recent airstrikes in Gaza, which have killed more than 100 people, show just how fragile this arrangement truly is. This is not the first violation since it came into effect on 10 October, but rather one of many over past weeks – showcasing that without stronger enforcement mechanisms and determined planning this is a ceasefire in name only.According to Israel, this round of violence resulted from Hamas fire against IDF forces in Rafah, an area still under Israeli control, resulting in the death of an IDF reservist. Hamas has denied involvement. Israel responded with additional strikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis. With each side interpreting violations to suit its own interests, the ceasefire’s vague structure leaves a wide margin for miscalculation and opportunism.Sanam Vakil is a senior research fellow in the Middle East and North Africa pr...

Events

2 w. ago Pope condemns antisemitism and vows to fight it as tensions rise over Israel's war in Gaza

Pope Leo XIV has reaffirmed the Catholic Church's commitment to fighting antisemitism amid rising tensions from Israel's war in Gaza

Events

3 w. ago Independent Arabia receives Press Freedom Award on behalf of its late correspondent Maryam Abu Daqqa

The International Press Institute honours late photojournalist who was killed in an Israeli strike in August while covering the Gaza war

Events

3 w. ago The war in Gaza is supposed to be over. But be warned: without truth and justice, it will never truly end | Simon Tisdall

A fragile ceasefire is in place, but what’s needed is an international tribunal for resolution and reparation. That’s the only route to lasting peaceDonald Trump insists the war in Gaza is over. No, it isn’t. The violence is much reduced. Yet Israeli forces have reportedly killed about 100 Palestinians and wounded hundreds more since the 10 October ceasefire began. Food aid supplies are still heavily restricted. The occupation continues, in Gaza and the West Bank. US officials fear prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his accomplices may renege on the deal, as in the past.Likewise, Hamas elements and rival gangs have kept fighting. The terrorist group is not disarming; Israeli forces have not fully withdrawn to the agreed lines. US-framed security, governance and reconstruction proposals remain vague, hypothetical and contentious. The war’s root causes, principally the denial of Palestinian sovereignty and statehood, are not addressed. Unless that changes, it will all kick off agai...

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