Arwa Mahdawi

1 day ago | theguardian.com | Arwa Mahdawi

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.

1 day ago | theguardian.com | Arwa Mahdawi

Ivanka 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.

5 days ago | theguardian.com | Arwa Mahdawi

It’s (not just) the sexism, stupidRaise 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. Obviously, I’m not the National Security Agency so I have no idea how many hands are up right now but I’d wager it’s not too many. Still, Biden seems to think we all want to relitigate the November election and has returned to the spotlight to explain exactly what went wrong.

6 days ago | theguardian.com | Arwa Mahdawi

America 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.

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Arwa Mahdawi

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.