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The GuardianHumanityUSA
‘We felt someone was watching us’: author Rozina Ali on the untold story of Islamophobia in the US

‘We felt someone was watching us’: author Rozina Ali on the untold story of Islamophobia in the US

In her new book Seasons of Fury, Ali traces the impact of anti-Muslim policies in the US, from the 1967 Israel-Arab war and the ‘war on terror’ to TrumpGrowing up in the early 2000s in California, surrounded by piles of history books about the Kennedy family and her Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs, Rozina Ali’s childhood felt idyllic. She and her family had moved from Pakistan to the US when Ali was five years old and ever since she had immersed herself in her new world.“I really, really also believed in American exceptionalism,” said Ali, now a journalist working for New York Times Magazine, in a recent interview with , a Guardian podcast. So when her parents sat Ali and her siblings down in the hours after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, almost every word coming out of their mouths felt wrong.

18h ago
The GuardianAI
AI could kill all humans in next decade, warn experts: but how seriously should we take them?

AI could kill all humans in next decade, warn experts: but how seriously should we take them?

Alarming warnings from industry insiders increase pressure for curbs on artificial superintelligenceDoes artificial superintelligence really pose a risk greater than nuclear weapons? Is there a significant chance of “a Chornobyl-sized catastrophe”. Might there even be a greater than 10% chance that AI could “kill all humans” in the next decade?These warnings were issued over the past 48 hours on both sides of the Atlantic about the potential impact of a technology that most people still think of as a more talkative search engine.

20h ago
The GuardianFashionEngland
From a paediatric doctor to a podium dancer: meet the 2026 stars of The Great British Bake Off

From a paediatric doctor to a podium dancer: meet the 2026 stars of The Great British Bake Off

Yes it’s going to be the Nigella Show – but we need to make sure the bakers get a look-in too. Here are this year’s cohort, ranked from worst to bestThe new contestants of this year’s Great British Bake Off don’t know how lucky they are. Usually when a new intake arrives, all eyes are on them. After all, this is a show with such a long and storied history that its audience is primed for the slightest culinary mistake.But this time around the contestants will enjoy a temporary reprieve, because this is the year when Bake Off becomes The Nigella Show, and everyone will be so busy going moon-eyed over its glamorous that they’ll barely even give the bakers a second look.

2d ago
The GuardianWar & ConflictWorld
August was joint-hottest month ever recorded globally

August was joint-hottest month ever recorded globally

Temperatures reached 1.65C above preindustrial levels, months before El Niño system reaches full strengthAugust was the joint-hottest month ever recorded around the world, with global temperatures reaching 1.65C above preindustrial levels, scientists said on Thursday, amid warnings of further heating on the way.August 2026 tied with for the hottest month ever recorded, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Sea surface temperatures also soared to their highest levels on record for August.

8h ago
The GuardianElections
Conflicting court rulings on Missouri map threaten November’s election | First Thing

Conflicting court rulings on Missouri map threaten November’s election | First Thing

The state can’t use new congressional districts under one court order – or its old ones under another. Plus, the architects in Europe turning urban spaces into areas of climate respiteGood morning. Clashing court rulings less than two months before the November midterms that will decide which party controls a closely divided Congress.Conservative justice Brett Kavanaugh denied the emergency request from Missouri officials to use a congressional map in November that was redrawn with Donald Trump’s support to give Republicans an edge in the midterms, but a ruling by a federal judge in Missouri temporarily prevented the state from using its old congressional maps.Why is there legal action over the maps? The Missouri supreme court has previously ruled that the new map must go before voters to approve or reject the new districts, meaning it cannot be used in time for the November election. The president and Republicans had fumed over the decision, with Trump calling it “horrible, ridiculous, and unconstitutional”.What are the significant changes to the map intended to favor Republicans? The revised map targeted the fifth congressional district, held by longtime Democratic representative Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. It reassigned portions of Kansas City to two neighboring districts represented by Republicans and stretched the remainder of Cleaver’s district far eastward into rural Republican areas.What has the British prime minister said? Writing in the Guardian, he would “not stand by” as horrific suffering continued, and that for too long the UK had been hesitant to act “fearful of being accused of being anti-Israel”. “The measures we are taking,” he said, “are about targeting illegal settlements and increasing the pressure on the Israeli government to change course. We are not imposing sanctions on Israel as a whole.”How has Israel reacted? the closure of the British consulate in occupied East Jerusalem among retaliatory measures including entry bans on several UK lawmakers. The Israeli government added that longstanding British involvement in the training of Palestinian security forces on the West Bank would be terminated. Britain will also be excluded from the US-led Gaza coordination mission.

22h ago
The GuardianElectionsUSA
Missouri congressional maps thrown into chaos after conflicting court rulings

Missouri congressional maps thrown into chaos after conflicting court rulings

Federal judge says old maps cannot be used in November election, hours after supreme court blocked redrawn maps A federal judge in Missouri on Tuesday temporarily prevented the state from using its old congressional maps in the November midterm elections, hours after the supreme court declined to intervene, the latest twist in a legal back-and-forth playing out less than two months before the midterms.On Tuesday the conservative justice Brett Kavanaugh denied the emergency request from Missouri officials to use a congressional map in November that was redrawn with Donald Trump’s support to give Republicans an edge in the midterm elections. The supreme court action came after the Missouri supreme court ruled that the map must go before voters to approve or reject the new districts, meaning it cannot be used in the November election.

1d ago
The GuardianScandal
Jamaica’s plea to the king: use your authority to ensure colonial slavery is examined | Olivia Grange

Jamaica’s plea to the king: use your authority to ensure colonial slavery is examined | Olivia Grange

The UK drew immense wealth from our country. But was the slavery that underpinned the empire ever lawful? We deserve a fair hearingOn 6 September 1781, the Zong slave ship set out on the final leg of its voyage to Black River, Jamaica. Four hundred and forty two enslaved Africans were on board – twice the number of people the ship could safely accommodate.Twelve weeks later, 132 enslaved people were murdered by the ship’s crew by being pushed overboard to their deaths. The crew’s justification was the ship had insufficient water supplies to keep everyone alive for the rest of the voyage – a claim later proved false in the British courts.

18h ago
BBCElectionsGermany
Germany's Merz attacks AfD in stormy debate after far-right election win

Germany's Merz attacks AfD in stormy debate after far-right election win

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has clashed with AfD leader Alice Weidel in parliament, calling her party a "destructive force" with a migration policy that amounts to "ethnic cleansing" for skilled workers. Merz was addressing the Bundestag in the aftermath of the anti-immigration party's sweeping victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt where it won almost 44% of the vote, while the chancellor's conservatives saw their vote halved.

22h ago
The GuardianElectionsGermany
Merz accuses AfD of ‘ethnic cleansing’ policy and cancels call with Trump

Merz accuses AfD of ‘ethnic cleansing’ policy and cancels call with Trump

German chancellor attacks Alternative für Deutschland after far-right party’s win in Saxony-Anhalt electionGermany’s chancellor, , has accused the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) of seeking “ethnic cleansing” with its “remigration” drive, after the nativist party’s seismic weekend victory in a state election.In his first public confrontation with the AfD since Sunday’s , Merz said at a raucous parliamentary debate that the far-right party would take an axe to one of the pillars of the German economy with a racist campaign of mass deportations.

20h ago
The GuardianElectionsGermany
Friedrich Merz is now on borrowed time. But that’s not why the AfD’s triumph is seismic | Jörg Lau

Friedrich Merz is now on borrowed time. But that’s not why the AfD’s triumph is seismic | Jörg Lau

The anti-fascist consensus about our Nazi past is fundamental to German democracy. But that, shockingly, is being shatteredAs shock at the scale of the in Germany reverberated on Sunday, not everybody was unhappy.Seconds after the first exit polls from Saxony-Anhalt were revealed, Donald Trump posted the results on his Truth Social platform, seemingly delighted by the devastation of the centrist-conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the surge of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).Jörg Lau is an international correspondent for the German weekly Die Zeit

2d ago
The GuardianHumanityNorth America
Death and fear stalk Haitians in Ohio city amid Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown

Death and fear stalk Haitians in Ohio city amid Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown

Springfield community mourns one of its own after Pierre Damas Bel, who was forced to wear electronic ankle bracelet by ICE, walked into traffic and was killed by truckFor 20-year-old Pierre Damas Bel, the humiliation of starting college last month with an electronic ankle bracelet – attached by ICE agents this summer – was deeply traumatic.“I’m walking through the streets of the United States with a GPS monitor on my leg, carrying a feeling of shame and humiliation that I never imagined I would experience,” he wrote on Instagram in July.In the UK and Ireland, can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the at 988 or chat at. In Australia, the crisis support service is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at

22h ago
The GuardianDiplomacy
Trump’s repeated threats to ‘wipe out’ Iran are normalizing mass violence | Mohamad Bazzi

Trump’s repeated threats to ‘wipe out’ Iran are normalizing mass violence | Mohamad Bazzi

The president’s latest warning barely registered, written off as typical behavior. But the threats have real-world consequencesAs the US and Iran fought around the strait of Hormuz last week, Donald Trump issued one of his typical threats. In an interview with a Fox News correspondent, would be “totally wiped out as a country” if it retaliated for the latest wave of US air strikes.That threat by the US president to wipe out another country generated , even during a relatively slow news week by Trump administration standards.

1h ago
The GuardianElectionsUSA
Trump officials push to exclude undocumented immigrants from US census

Trump officials push to exclude undocumented immigrants from US census

Census Bureau also considers race and ethnicity questions in overhaul that would have dramatic effect on voter mapsThe Trump administration on Wednesday proposed changes to the US census intended to exclude immigrants without legal status in addition to other groups, with potentially significant effects on the allocation of federal resources and drawing of districts in the House of Representatives.In a proposed rule published in the Federal Register, the Census Bureau also announced it was considering changes to the data it collects about race and ethnicity, amid the Trump administration’s push to rid the government of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

13h ago
The GuardianAIUSA
Lawmakers blast AI companies after researcher warns of human extinction by 2030

Lawmakers blast AI companies after researcher warns of human extinction by 2030

Former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon said AI will become ‘superhuman systems’ that can cause human extinction by the end of the decadeJust a day after three Anthropic researchers warned that artificial intelligence could kill off humanity within the decade, lawmakers have begun lashing out about the risks of the burgeoning technology.Ted Cruz, a republican senator from Texas, said in an on ABC’s The View, that AI poses a “catastrophic risk” and that he “read that whole tweet thread that that developer put out. It was highly concerning.

9h ago
The GuardianHumanityUnited Kingdom
Ministers to put white working-class people in UK at heart of new equalities unit

Ministers to put white working-class people in UK at heart of new equalities unit

Bridget Phillipson to announce creation of unit which will make class a key part of its equalities agendaThe government is putting class at the heart of its equalities agenda by creating a new unit which will make tackling white working-class inequality a priority.The unit, which minister for women and equalities, Bridget Phillipson, will announce on Wednesday, will sit within the Office for Equality and Opportunity and examine disparities linked to class and socioeconomic background across all ethnic groups.

23h ago
The GuardianSex & Identity
‘She blazed in and opened my eyes to the real world’: Readers remember Gloria Steinem

‘She blazed in and opened my eyes to the real world’: Readers remember Gloria Steinem

To generations of women, the feminist campaigner was an inspiration, a fearless challenger of sexism and domestic violence. Guardian readers share memories of her courage, intelligence, and warmthWhat I appreciated most about Gloria was she let me feel normal. I graduated in engineering as one of three women in a class of over 150. In her world, a feminist was a woman that wanted to be judged for her capabilities and not her gender. She was very inspirational and empowering when I first read her books as a young engineer. Teresa, Switzerland

1d ago
The GuardianDiplomacy
Burnham sees sanctions against Israeli settlements as an electoral asset

Burnham sees sanctions against Israeli settlements as an electoral asset

While a survey found Labour, Lib Dem and Green voters to be the strongest backers of such a ban on trade, even Tory and Reform voters were in favour overallThere was a time when placing Israel under strict trade sanctions would have been a politically risky thing for a British prime minister to do. Andy Burnham, however, considers it an electoral asset.As Kemi Badenoch attacked him over defence spending at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Burnham deliberately turned the topic to the trade ban on illegal settlements which he had announced on Tuesday.

19h ago
The GuardianDiplomacyLondon
Burnham says Britain will ‘continue to act in support of our values’ after UK launches sanctions on Israel – as it happened

Burnham says Britain will ‘continue to act in support of our values’ after UK launches sanctions on Israel – as it happened

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, earlier claimed that the UK was ‘systemically working against the state of Israel’ The Liberal Democrats say they have been granted a Commons urgent question today about t. A Foreign Office minister will be responding at about 12.30pm.Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, has said that Britain will be “on the wrong side of history” if it goes ahead with plans to ban trade with the illegal settlements on the West Bank.Later today, we expect to see headlines announcing certain British trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria.If this happens – and other nations may join – I believe it will prove to be a grave miscalculation, a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history.

1d ago
The GuardianDiplomacy
Will UK sanctions have any impact on Israel’s ‘settler terrorists’ in West Bank?

Will UK sanctions have any impact on Israel’s ‘settler terrorists’ in West Bank?

A look at whether Ed Miliband’s plans will be effective and what they signal for future Israel-UK relationsThe British foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, has announced plans for an import ban on goods for illegal settlements in occupied Palestine and sanctions for companies that “finance or facilitate” the construction, infrastructure and marketing of illegal settlements.He also said “settler terrorists” were in the occupied West Bank, while the government turned a blind eye and some members of the government supported it.

1d ago
BBCWellnessNorth West England
Prince William launches sport mental health toolkit

Prince William launches sport mental health toolkit

Fans remember former Everton, Leeds and Newcastle midfielder Gary Speed, who took his own life in 2011 Prince William has urged sport at every level to make suicide prevention part of its culture through a new nationwide toolkit. Launched by the Prince of Wales and the Royal Foundation, On Your Side, external is a set of resources available online that aims "to make suicide prevention as much a part of sport as warm-up, training and performance".

10h ago
The GuardianHistoryWestern Europe
Prince William to represent King Charles at funeral of Norway’s King Harald V

Prince William to represent King Charles at funeral of Norway’s King Harald V

Duty falls by precedent to William to attend service of late monarch, alongside Princess Royal, who is godmother to new king Haakon VIIIThe Prince of Wales is to represent his father at the funeral of King Harald V of Norway next week, Buckingham Palace has announced.William, the heir to the throne, will be joined by his aunt the Princess Royal, who is attending in a private and personal capacity as godmother of the new king, Haakon VIII.

4d ago
The GuardianDiplomacyVenezuela
The Guardian view on Donald Trump’s oil deal: Venezuela pays for his vanity | Editorial

The Guardian view on Donald Trump’s oil deal: Venezuela pays for his vanity | Editorial

The US president seized a nation’s natural wealth in a modern-day version of gunboat diplomacy to feed his ego – not to lower Americans’ fuel billsImperialism does not require a flag to be planted or a governor dispatched. It can be a powerful nation deciding who governs a smaller, weaker country, and on what terms and for whose benefit its resources will be developed. Donald Trump’s kidnapping of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, putting his deputy – Delcy Rodríguez – in his place as president, and then her signing a deal handing a , amount to a modern version of 19th-century gunboat diplomacy. Regime change supplied America’s commercial concession.This won’t bother Mr Trump. But it should. The US president has oversold his neocolonial spoils. The additional production Venezuela is supposed to bring might bring down oil prices eventually, but not soon. Crucially, what Mr Trump calls “t” won’t cause the price at the pump to fall before November’s midterms. When so many American voters , it’s hard to see how unrealised Orinoco Belt riches are going to help Republican candidates.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our section, please .

16h ago
The GuardianElectionsGermany
‘I fear the price could be high’: Inside the German state where the far-right surged

‘I fear the price could be high’: Inside the German state where the far-right surged

After the AfD’s landslide win in Saxony-Anhalt, people in the state capital share what they make of the result – and what comes next•Asking residents in a city where a seismic political event has just taken place ‘How do you feel?’ demands chutzpah – this struck me as I walked around Magdeburg, Germany on Monday. The night before, the far-right populist, anti-immigrant, pro-Kremlin party Alternative für Deustchland (AfD) had landslide 44% win in Saxony-Anhalt’s state elections, sending shock waves to Berlin, across Germany and way beyond. Regardless of how people in the capital voted, it felt like a bit of an affront to probe. Given the radical plans of the victors, a party classified by domestic intelligence as , that is what I wanted to know. But from the 21-year-old Guinean-German paramedic I met at the central bus station, collecting donations for a local hospice, to the elderly couple returning to their apartment after a stroll down the Elbe river, almost everyone I met opened up to me warmly.Judith, 88, was initially reluctant to talk, but shared some of her life story. Her experience as an eight-year-old refugee, forced to leave Poland in 1946 and eventually ending up move with her family in Magdeburg, had shaped her outlook on life, her successful career as a project engineer – as well as her politics. The news that AfD had not only won the election, but by such a wide margin, was “heartbreaking”, she said.

19h ago
The GuardianElectionsGermany
‘It breaks my heart’: far-right’s big election victory sparks dismay in German state capital

‘It breaks my heart’: far-right’s big election victory sparks dismay in German state capital

Fears expressed for immigrants and for country’s future after AfD vote hits historic high in Saxony-AnhaltMaryam and her best friend were ambling through Magdeburg toward the railway station, talking over the dramatic events of the previous evening and the surge by the far-right Alternative für Deutschland .“Don’t laugh at me,” she said, “but I wish we could go back to the days of Angela Merkel, when things were OK in Germany”.

2d ago
The GuardianElectionsGermany
German chancellor vows to stay in office despite AfD triumph in state election

German chancellor vows to stay in office despite AfD triumph in state election

Friedrich Merz said his conservative CDU was shaken ‘to its very foundations’ after far-right victory in Saxony-AnhaltA “shocked” and chastened Friedrich Merz has vowed to stay in office despite that has brought anti-immigrant, pro-Kremlin politicians within striking distance of power.The German chancellor, appearing ashen-faced in front of reporters in Berlin, said on Monday that the landslide victory by the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Saxony-Anhalt had shaken his conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) “to its very foundations”.

2d ago
The GuardianElectionsGermany
Merz says ‘shock’ AfD victory in key German state ‘is an election result we cannot simply move past’ – as it happened

Merz says ‘shock’ AfD victory in key German state ‘is an election result we cannot simply move past’ – as it happened

German chancellor says vote for far-right party ‘will have repercussions’ across the countryAfD’s Chrupalla continues in this vein, saying the German public wants to see a change in direction, and specifically saying the electorate is “fed up” as the government keeps “transferring billions of our tax money to Ukraine … instead of using it for our own population.”He says the party has “a clear mandate” to rule in Saxony-Anhalt and will hold discussions with others about what can be done.

2d ago
The GuardianPoliticiansUSA
Democrat John Fetterman makes surprise appearance at Republican convention

Democrat John Fetterman makes surprise appearance at Republican convention

Senator praises ‘great friend’ Dave McCormick and says he will work with him and Trump to support steel in PennsylvaniaDemocratic senator John Fetterman made a surprise virtual appearance at the Republican midterm convention, delivering a video address supporting Dave McCormick, a Republican senator in Pennsylvania.Fetterman, who has increasingly broken with his party since his election in 2022, said he would always reject “extremes and socialism” in the video, repeating an oft-used Republican critique of the Democratic party’s increasingly popular left wing.

9h ago