4 h. ago Seeking bulldozer drivers to demolish Gaza: how a genocide is being outsourced | Arwa Mahdawi

The systematic destruction of Gaza is hardly a secret. Now, the IDF is posting Facebook ads for bulldozer operators to help demolish the stripOmer Bartov is an Israeli-American historian and one of the foremost scholars on genocide in the world. He has spent over 25 years teaching a class on the subject. He deals with atrocities for a living, analyzing some of the very worst things that human beings are capable of. And yet even Bartov has said he can’t bear looking at some of the excruciating images coming out of Gaza any more.What’s happening, Bartov says, is unprecedented in the 21st century. “I don’t know of any comparable situation. Recent estimates show that about 70% of the structures in Gaza are either completely destroyed or severely damaged,” Bartov says. “The argument that the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] is conducting a war in Gaza is simply cynical, there is no war in Gaza. What the IDF is doing in Gaza is demolishing it. Hundreds of buildings are being bulldozed every we...

Politics

10 h. ago Something stinks in Philadelphia – and it’s not just the uncollected garbage | Arwa Mahdawi

The city won’t give its sanitation workers the rise they are asking for. But there’s no shortage of money for the police or mayor Cherelle Parker and her inner circleIf nobody stopped me, I could talk about urban sanitation for hours on end. Unfortunately, somebody (normally my wife) always stops me – usually in the first minute or two. It seems few people share my pathological fixation with littering and ways to optimise waste management.Until recently, that is. Now every single resident of Philadelphia, my home town, is talking trash. Almost 10,000 city workers, members of the city’s largest blue-collar union, have been on strike since last Tuesday, affecting everything from libraries to public swimming pools. But the most visible signs of the strike are the huge piles of trash that are accumulating (nicknamed “Parker Piles” after mayor Cherelle Parker) because there is no garbage pickup. Did I mention it’s boiling hot? You can imagine the situation. The rats are in heaven; I am i...

Politics

28 h. ago Ghislaine Maxwell was not Jeffrey Epstein’s sole enabler. So why is she the only one in prison? | Arwa Mahdawi

This weekend, the Trump administration officially closed the file on the notorious billionaire Epstein. Maga aren’t the only ones who should be outragedGreat news, everyone! We can all stop thinking about Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged with the sex trafficking of minors in 2019 and found dead in his Manhattan jail cell shortly after, apparently of suicide. Great minds have looked into the case and discovered there is nothing more to uncover. So don’t waste your time wondering which powerful people might have been part of Epstein’s alleged trafficking operation. There’s nothing to see here – nothing at all. Case officially closed.That, in essence, was the message from the Trump administration over the weekend. On Sunday, Axios reported on a memo from Trump’s justice department and the FBI that concluded there is no evidence that Epstein was involved in blackmailing people, kept a “client list” or was murdered. Most importantly, the memo said there is no “evidence that could predica...

Events

4 d. ago Diddy’s trial is more proof the legal system can’t handle domestic violence | Arwa Mahdawi

The courts have failed to reckon with coercive control and survivors’ trauma. Same with the court of public opinionWouldn’t it be nice if, just now and again, bad things happened to bad people? Wouldn’t it be refreshing if violence against women was taken seriously instead of being treated like one big joke?Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago What would I do if I won the lottery? I’d blast the world’s worst people into space | Arwa Mahdawi

It shouldn’t be hard to lure them into my spaceship. I’d just have to tell them it was hosting a multimillion-dollar wedding partyThoughts and prayers to the thousands of Norwegians who have just had one of the best weekends of their lives, followed by one hell of a comedown. Thanks to a currency conversion snafu by the state lottery operator, numerous people were incorrectly informed on Friday that they had won life-changing amounts of money in the Eurojackpot. On Monday, a text message was sent to players informing them of the mix-up.It seems Norwegians are a prudent bunch; I haven’t found any examples of people spending Jeff Bezos-levels of money as soon as they were told they had won big. Me? I would have gone into evil billionaire mode immediately. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago I can’t believe I need to spell this out – but Trump is not your daddy | Arwa Mahdawi

From the Maga crowd to Nato’s secretary general, everyone is addressing the president of the US as if he was their actual father. Make it stop!Is your name Barron, Donald Jr, Eric, Ivanka or Tiffany Trump? No? Then I regret to inform you that President Donald John Trump is almost certainly not your daddy. I say “almost certainly” because narcissistic billionaires do have a nasty habit of spawning willy-nilly. Just look at Elon Musk and Pavel Durov – the latter is the Telegram founder, who has more than 100 children in 12 countries via sperm donation.Still, unless you are a very high-IQ individual, with an orange glow, an insatiable appetite for money-making schemes, and a weird belief that you invented the word “caravan”, I think it’s safe to say that you’re probably not Trump’s offspring. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Will I get deported for sharing this meme of JD Vance? | Arwa Mahdawi

True or not, people find it all to easy to believe that a humorous picture of the vice-president could get you barred from the USI have a very important public service announcement to make. Do not, under any circumstances whatsoever, make fun of Vice-President JD Vance by sharing one of the millions of unflattering memes dedicated to him. Don’t you dare chuckle at the images of him looking like the “lollipop kid” in Shrek (the resemblance is uncanny) or a chicken nugget. And, whatever you do, do not share the meme that you can find here, where he looks like a big bald baby. You risk hurting the poor man’s feelings and, also, you might get kicked out of the country. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The rules of age gap relationships? Here’s what we can learn from famous men | Arwa Mahdawi

There has been much discussion this week about the romance between actor Anna Camp, 42, and her 24-year-old girlfriend – which is a bit surprising, given the many more egregious examplesHere’s a maths problem for you. If actor Anna Camp (42) has a new girlfriend called Jade Whipkey (24), meaning there’s an 18-year age gap between them, is this a) disgusting; b) perfectly fine; c) something I have no desire to think about?If you answered c), then I’m afraid large sections of the internet disagree with you. There has been heated debate about the propriety of the Camp-Whipkey romance ever since the two went public – so much so that Camp recently spoke out on the matter. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago I wish I had known more about alcohol when I started drinking | Arwa Mahdawi

It seems a sensible move to use explicit warning labels on products. What I’m more sceptical about is the ‘No amount of alcohol is safe for you’ messaging ...You’re going to want to sit down with a big glass of water for this one, because I’m afraid I have some bad news. Here we go: alcohol is not terribly good for you. Shocker, right? You’ve probably never heard anything like this before in your life. No doubt, you’ve been choking down a glass of pinot with dinner whenever you can stomach it because you thought it was good for your cholesterol. Instead, it is elevating your risk of cancer.If public health experts have their way, the fact that alcohol is carcinogenic is going to be very hard for British drinkers to ignore. Dozens of medical and health organisations recently wrote to Keir Starmer urging the prime minister to force companies to include “bold and unambiguous” labels on booze bottles, warning that alcohol causes cancer. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Why does this billionaire have 100 kids in 12 countries? | Arwa Mahdawi

Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, plans to leave his money to all his offspring – conceived out of ‘civic duty’Pavel Durov is a Russian-born billionaire whose interests include doing half-naked photoshoots with baby goats and having lots and lots of (human) kids. The 40-year-old billionaire founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram revealed last year– in a post on his own app – that while he isn’t married and prefers to live alone, he has over 100 biological children in 12 countries via sperm donation.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Why establishment Democrats still can’t stomach progressive candidates like Zohran Mamdani | Arwa Mahdawi

The anti-Mamdani mobilization is depressingly predictable, with a party that is allergic to fresh blood and new thinkingWho’s afraid of Zohran Mamdani? The answer, it would seem, is the entire establishment. The 33-year-old democratic socialist and New York City mayoral candidate has surged in the polls in recent weeks, netting endorsements not just from progressive voices like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders but also his fellow candidates for the mayoralty, with Brad Lander and Michael Blake taking advantage of the ranked-choice voting system in the primary and cross-endorsing Mamdani’s campaign.With the primary just around the corner, polls have Mamdani closing the gap on Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former governor of New York. This has spooked the establishment, which is now doing everything it can to stop Mamdani’s rise. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago What SJP's selfie trick tells us about the terrifying rise of conspiracy theories | Arwa Mahdawi

The actor used to point vaguely to the sky and suggest the government was watching when asked for a photo. Nowadays, that could lead to some very awkward conversationsSarah Jessica Parker, the Sex and the City star and Booker prize judge, has a nifty trick for getting out of taking selfies with her fans. “I did this for a really, really long time and it worked for ever,” Parker said in an interview with Howard Stern. “I used to say, ‘I can’t, because of the government,’ and I’d do this,” Parker said, pointing up to the sky. “It really confused people. This was through different administrations, so it wasn’t political.”It is not entirely clear why Parker – who has said she refuses to take selfies and would rather “have a conversation” instead because “it’s much more meaningful” – stopped using this brilliant excuse. But one does have to wonder whether it is because the US has become a nation of conspiracy theorists. Rather than backing away from the weird “the government is watching”...

Events

3 w. ago Let women be horny – but Sabrina Carpenter’s album cover isn’t helping | Arwa Mahdawi

The Man’s Best Friend image has reopened a debate: sex-positive feminism or soft porn for the male gaze?Please join me for a quick game of “is this sex-positive feminism or just a lazy repackaging of the patriarchy”? Today’s protagonist is Sabrina Carpenter, a pop star whose music videos have got a Brooklyn priest demoted and might have played a small role in getting the mayor of New York, Eric Adams, indicted.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Strangers on the street: please stop asking me if my wife is my twin sister | Arwa Mahdawi

My spouse and I do, indeed, look vaguely similar, but being asked repeatedly whether we are twins isn’t a load of fun – especially during PrideIt is Pride month, and you know what that means. Anyone identifying as heterosexual must immediately present to the Office of Homosexual Affairs (OHA) to receive a list of instructions on how to comport themselves during this most hallowed of holidays.OK, fine, I may be misrepresenting things somewhat. But I’m in manifesting mode: putting my hopes and dreams out there. And, in the absence of OHA, this gay has one humble request. Strangers on the street: please stop asking me if my wife is my twin sister! Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago I really hate to say it, but I agree with JD Vance. Britain has a free speech problem | Arwa Mahdawi

Despite the ongoing crackdown on protesters in Los Angeles, the US constitution (for now) provides far more freedom of speech than there is in the UKHello from the US where, if you’re a fan of things such as civil liberties and not getting shot in the leg by masked thugs sporting law enforcement badges, the situation is somewhat suboptimal. Over in Los Angeles, national guard troops have been brought in to rough up protesters who are demonstrating against immigration raids. There were at least 27 attacks on journalists by law enforcement recorded at the protests between 6 and 8 June, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).One of the most alarming things about the crackdown against protesters in LA is the memo greenlighting it. It acts pre-emptively, a first in the US, authorising the military to be deployed in locations where protests are “likely to occur”. Scarier still, Donald Trump has said he won’t rule out invoking the Insurrection Act: an 1807 law that empowers the presi...

Politics