Mona Chalabi

Llandanwg Railway Station, New York

Data Editor at The Guardian

Data Editor, Guardian US. Trying to take the numb out of numbers, left with lots of ers. Email me… [email protected]

Articles

US TV’s first lead cartoon hijabi: how I animated Muslim women to look real

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Mona Chalabi

If you’ve seen a hijab on a screen – animated or otherwise – it’s likely that this Islamic head covering was one specific style. Think Princess Jasmine in the 1992 movie Aladdin, Claire Danes in the series Homeland, or the Zamins in the animated show The Proud Family: Photograph: Showtime/DisneyIn these fictional worlds, there’s typically a little hair poking out of a shawl that can be quickly slipped off. And people really do wear the hijab that way.
Egg prices have tripled, chicken has doubled: the cost of US inflation in 10 items

2 months ago | theguardian.com | Mona Chalabi

Egg prices have got a lot of attention in recent months as avian flu made this staple a luxury for US households. But the trend of food inflation in the US is a longstanding one. Since January 2005, egg prices have grown 310%, from $1.21 a dozen to nearly $5 a dozen, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But it’s not the only household item to see a dramatic rise. Beef prices increased 125% and electricity prices have doubled.
Plane crashes have people freaked out - but here’s what US data for 2025 shows

Mar 1, 2025 | theguardian.com | Mona Chalabi

People across the US are worried about flight safety after several high-profile plane crashes this year, including a commercial crash in Washington DC that killed 67 people. Google searches for “is flying safe” have jumped in recent weeks. But the numbers suggest 2025 has actually been a relatively safe year to fly – at least in terms of the overall number of accidents.
More than 80% of new California properties are in high fire-risk areas

Feb 15, 2025 | msn.com | Mona Chalabi

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
More than 80% of new California properties are in high fire-risk areas

Feb 15, 2025 | theguardian.com | Mona Chalabi

The Los Angeles wildfires last month destroyed thousands of homes, killed dozens of people and left a city reeling. They also raised serious questions about the region’s future – and where Americans choose to build. A rapidly increasing share of US homes are built in areas that are at risk of fire. In 1990, about 13% of new homes were built in places at high risk of fire. By 2020, that number had more than doubled to 31%.
More than 100 journalists were killed this year - over half of them in Palestine

Dec 23, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mona Chalabi

Worldwide, 104 journalists and media workers were killed in 2024 – and more than half of them were in Palestine. Journalists there have faced death more than their colleagues in any other country, according to the . Research by the IFJ, a non-partisan organization representing the rights of media workers, found that 55 journalists were killed in Palestine this year, compared with 49 in the rest of the world.
I’ve been heartbroken by America for a long time. Democrats must offer more than just hope | Mona Chalabi

Nov 7, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mona Chalabi

I woke up on Wednesday morning to an email from someone I barely know, a white woman I met at a party this summer. The email was empty and the subject line simply read: “What a heartbreak”. She was writing to me, someone she spoke to just once for five minutes, about Donald Trump winning the US presidency. This liberal (let’s call her Suzie) and millions of other voters are waking up with a fear that they haven’t felt this intensely in four years.
What are the odds of witnessing a deceased spouse? - datablog

Oct 21, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mona Chalabi

If you’ve recently seen a ghost, you could be in line for $100,000 – just so long as you caught your supernatural sighting on a Ring camera. With Halloween around the corner, the home surveillance company is offering a hefty sum to anyone who can capture footage of paranormal activity, with a Ghostbusters actor, Finn Wolfhard, helping to choose the winner. But while Ring’s competition might be a PR stunt, ghostly experiences can feel very real, especially for those who are grieving.
Chocolate and cheese aren’t so different! What data can tell us about flavor

Aug 19, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mona Chalabi

For some, recipe writing is an art, born of intuition and pragmatism. But like most disciplines, the culinary world has become susceptible to the pull of data. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. In recent years, food scientists and chefs have begun studying the flavor compounds that appear in certain ingredients and searching for similarities elsewhere.
‘It’s been over a year’: how civil war led to Sudan’s displacement crisis

Jul 11, 2024 | theguardian.com | Faisal Mohammed Ali |Mona Chalabi

Hajer Sulaiman, a 32-year-old communications specialist, was living in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, when a power struggle that had been simmering for months between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) burst into the open on 15 April last year. “My mother was telling me she wanted to head to the market that morning,” Sulaiman said. “We could hear loud explosions, but we thought it was to do with protesters, not that the entire country had slipped into a civil war.