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The Frankfurt book fair's cancelling of an award ceremony for Adania Shibli shows the risks of imposing one narrative on our cultural spaceMore than a decade ago, in a crowded bar in Tel Aviv, my friend and I found ourselves talking to a group of German tourists. At the time, the world was watching Israel's 2012 Gaza operation unfold. Most Palestinians are terrorists," one of the Germans explained to my friend, a Jewish Israeli who opposed the attack. And: Not supporting the IDF is betraying your legacy." A German, whose family is, like my own German family, implicated in historical atrocities, lecturing an Israeli about what moral or political lesson she may or may not derive from that very history was a grotesque sight to watch.In German society today, however, such views seem normalised. Support for Israel is seen as a prerequisite for a newly constructed, collective German identity. While a degree of sensitivity towards Israel seems understandable given Germany's brutal antisemitic history, the issue has turned ever more problematic in recent years. Palestinians, artists and curators from the so-called global south and leftwing Israelis are regularly reprimanded, dismissed or cancelled for views on Israeli policies that are deemed unpalatable. Last week, the Social Democratic co-party leader Saskia Esken even called off a meeting with Bernie Sanders due to his stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Sanders lost many family members in the Holocaust.Hanno Hauenstein is a Berlin-based journalist and authorDo 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 letters section, please click here.

The idea that Africans aren't aware of the dangers of migration, or haven't tried to build up their own countries' ignores the terrible despair they feel at the state of their governmentsOn the surface it seems darkly consistent for Europe and the UK to respond to calls for slavery apologies with intensifying efforts to create a Fortress Europe and small-boat-free" seas. The UK's Rwanda plans, the EU's barbed wire fences and Frontex coastal patrols around Africa's north and west, all send the message that Africans belong in Africa. Slavery was wrong, right? So, these slave ships should never have brought them to live with us in the first place and they want us to apologise for that.African strongmen, therefore, are now paid by the UK (Rwanda) and Europe (Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal) to keep Africans in Africa, in camps and jails if need be. This was the message, too, for Senegal when aid was tied to Frontex patrolling its shores; it was the message that came with funds and equipment for Libya for migrants to be sent towards torture-riddled detention camps. You may be an oppressor, but let's pay you. Continue reading...

Demography played a role, as did education and the voting system. All provide key lessons for Keir Starmer's LabourIn a darkening world, a radiant beam shines out from Poland. Look, it is possible to push back the authoritarian populist tide. Extreme rightwingers who sack judges, try to silence opposition journalists, impose a near-total abortion ban and create what activists decry as gay-free zones" can be overcome. Unprecedented numbers can be persuaded to vote, including usually reluctant young people.Britain, where one party of the right nearly always wins, with the press dominated by plutocrats and an electoral system warped to favour the Tories, has lessons to learn from how Poland's Law and Justice party (PiS) was vanquished. Labour will have watched the campaign of Donald Tusk's Civic Platform party and the other anti-PiS parties that are about to form a coalition. Continue reading...

US president said Americans must not walk away from their role as a beacon to the world' in rare Oval Office address

Thousands gathered in Times Square to demand the release of an estimated 203 people taken by Hamas on 7 OctoberThousands of people from New York's Jewish community gathered in Times Square on Thursday evening to demand the release of an estimated 203 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.Throughout the event, billed as the Bring Them Home Now" rally, faces of the missing were flashed across fifteen Times Square billboards. Continue reading...

Good handwriting and fast, accurate typing skills will always be invaluable - no matter how far technology takes us

Republicans unable to break impasse as congressman vows to press on with a Friday vote despite oppositionThe leaderless House was plunged deeper into chaos on Thursday after Republicans refused to coalesce around a speaker and a plan to empower an interim speaker collapsed.The party's embattled candidate for speaker, congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, vowed to press ahead, scheduling a long-delayed third vote on his nomination for Friday morning. Continue reading...

Yanqi Xu, 27, said she was shocked' by Jim Pillen's comments and has since received support from other journalistsThe Nebraska governor, Jim Pillen, is under fire for his dismissal of an investigative article into his family business, saying he didn't read the piece because the reporter was from communist China".The reporter, 27-year-old Yanqi Xu, said that she was shocked" by Pillen's comments concerning her nationality, especially after Pillen's office did not respond to several requests for comments for Xu's piece. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. For our latest reporting on the House speakership fight, you can read our latest report:

Decision could mean Black voters in state must vote for second time under map found to illegally weaken their voiceThe US supreme court said on Thursday it would not immediately lift a lower court's order blocking a judge from holding a hearing to consider a new congressional map for Louisiana that increases the power of Black voters. The decision could mean that Black voters in Louisiana will have to vote under a map that has been found to illegally weaken their votes for a second time.The decision, which had no noted dissents, is the latest step in an increasingly complex legal battle over Louisiana's congressional maps. A federal judge last year ordered the state to redraw its six districts to add a second district where Black voters could elect a candidate of their choice. Black voters currently represent about a third of Louisiana's population but have a majority in just one district. Continue reading...

Relatives suspect Leonard Cure, 53, resisted traffic-stop arrest because of toll of 16 years in prison for crime he did not commitThe relatives of Leonard Cure, a Black man fatally shot earlier this week at point-blank range by a Georgia deputy during a traffic stop, said they suspect he resisted arrest because of psychological trauma from spending 16 years imprisoned in Florida for an armed robbery he did not commit.A video was released on Wednesday by a sheriff that showed Cure, who had been released and exonerated in 2020, being shot after grabbing the officer by the neck and forcing his head backward during the traffic stop on Monday. Continue reading...

The BBC is under scrutiny over reports of the Gaza hospital blast. But there is a lesson for all who want clarity when there is noneDeath has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses.Throughout these days of unbearable stories, from the slaughter of small children in their kibbutz bedrooms to the fireball at a Gaza hospital where families were seeking sanctuary from bombs, those words have echoed around my mind. Taken from the biblical book of Jeremiah, they entered my thoroughly godless ears via a comforting-sounding rabbi on the BBC and stayed. It is no criticism of its competitors to say that in this house at least, in times of trouble, it's always the BBC. Though nobody knows better than a journalist that journalists aren't infallible, there are times when only the Pavlovian effect of the pips or of Lyse Doucet's voice will do. Continue reading...

We are a group of Jewish American writers, artists and academics. We oppose what the Israeli government is doing with US assistancePresident Joe Biden:We are a group of Jewish American writers, artists and academics. Being Jewish means different things to all of us, but we all have at least one Jewish parent, which means we could move to Israel and qualify for Israeli citizenship. Continue reading...

Lindsey Graham, who said he wants to see Gaza levelled', among bipartisan group expected to visit Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt

Attorney general says justice department vigilant about threats of violence linked to Israel-Hamas war

Plea agreement includes fine, restitution to the state as well as an apology letter, six years' probation - and testifying at trial

The first repeat WNBA champions in two decades are one of the best teams ever seen in basketball - and a proof of concept for investment in women's sportsThe Las Vegas Aces made it look so easy for so long during their record-setting romp to a second straight championship that it was only fitting they were made to finish it the hard way. Down two starters and trailing the New York Liberty by double digits in the third quarter of Wednesday night's Game 4 of the WNBA finals, the Aces appeared on course for a second straight defeat and a winner-take-all fifth game on Friday back in Las Vegas. They were on wobbly legs, their ball movement sloppy and error-strewn, given no quarter by a deafening crowd of 16,851 hostile spectators in a building where they'd lost each of three previous visits this year by an average margin of 20 points.Then it came, more of a trickle than a deluge, but steady just the same. A running jumper by offensive dynamo Jackie Young. Back-to-back three-pointers by Cayla George, the former MVP of Australia's WNBL making her first career playoff start. Nine straight points from A'ja Wilson, the world's best player today no doubt inspired by her MVP slight. Two quick baskets from veteran wing Alysha Clark in the closing minute. All of a sudden the undermanned Aces led by two entering the fourth and would never trail again, finally celebrating their 70-69 victory in a mob at center court before a silenced arena after a last-gasp shot by New York's Courtney Vandersloot missed the target. Continue reading...

Josh Paul condemns administration's intellectual bankruptcy' in providing weapons and for its support of status quo of occupation'

The Biden administration also bears a wider responsibility for the deterioration in Gaza and the extinguishing of Palestinian political aspirationsJoe Biden flew to Israel on Wednesday to prove how deeply he and the US political establishment support Israel, even as it intensifies its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, demands the forced displacement of more than 1 million Palestinians, and prepares for a ground invasion of the territory. Biden could have paired his expressions of grief over the brutal attacks by Hamas on 7 October, which killed more than 1,400 Israelis, with pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza and an effort to prevent the fighting from spreading to other parts of the Middle East.Instead, Biden ended up doubling down on his administration's unwavering support for Israel and its leaders. As Biden met with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and survivors of the Hamas attacks, the US ambassador to the United Nations vetoed a security council resolution calling on Israel to pause the fighting and allow humanitarian corridors into the besieged Gaza Strip. The resolution criticized the heinous terrorist crimes by Hamas" but that wasn't enough for US officials who insisted that the text was unacceptable because it failed to mention Israel's right to self-defense. Continue reading...

I, for one, spent a significant chunk of my late teens with long, lank unbrushed tresses dyed an unforgivable shade of burgundyA week ago, at the train station, four boys aged about 15, in matching uniforms, buffeted past me. Childless, I have minimal contact with rambunctious teens; small and easily knocked over, I've learned to cower in their presence when I do. Not this time! Oh my god!" I blurted, staring in shock at their bobbing heads as they departed: They've all got mullets!"Yes, I know that modern history's most infamous hairstyle has made its comeback; hair historians believe the hairdresserlessness of pandemic lockdowns liberated many a household barber from both scrutiny and shame. Last year its post-pandemic popularity was reported in the media as an amusing fad. Twelve more months have passed and it's still here... and it's completely freaking me out. Continue reading...

We are absolutely devastated,' says zoo director after fatal collapse of Rani, 27, last weekA female Asian elephant at the St Louis Zoo died shortly after her herd became agitated from a small dog running loose, zoo officials said.Rani died on Friday at age 27. The zoo announced her death on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Instead of running relief services, our staff are running for their lives. We need a ceasefire now - for the sakes of both Palestinians and Israelis

The new series was billed as a documentary event'. The reality is something more tedious that points to sport's transformation into a media assetWell, this wasn't quite how things were supposed to go.Lionel Messi arrived in America three months ago preceded by a freight train of expectations. His impact was immediate. A perfect free kick to win the game in the final seconds of his first match. A blitz of goals in the weeks that followed, including a strike in the Leagues Cup final that had all the skipping, curling, edge-of-the-box razzle-dazzle of the master in his Barcelona pomp. Inter Miami's first-ever trophy. A charge up the league table as he led his club, languishing at the foot of the MLS Eastern Conference when he got to Miami, in the race to secure a playoff berth. For those few, spacey weeks in late summer, as celebrities gawped and seal clapped from the stands while Messi merrily shredded the best defenses in America, it really did feel like soccer in this country would forever be divided, as Sergio Aguero suggested, into two eras: Before Messi and After Messi. Continue reading...

Outpouring of extreme statements from Republican politicians threatens safety of Arab Americans, groups warnSenator Lindsey Graham wants to see Gaza flattened. Congressman Max Miller said the laws of war should be swept aside. A former US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, suggested that Palestinians as a whole were responsible for Hamas's crimes.American politicians have rushed to plant their flags firmly with Israel after Hamas killed more than 1,400 people, and abducted about 200 others, in its unprecedented attack from the Gaza Strip. Some have echoed the demand by the Israel Defence Forces - You either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism" - reminiscent of the heated rhetoric in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the US. Continue reading...

Cash-strapped NGOs and legal aid groups are jumping in to help migrants figure out next steps as California cut fundingAbout 150 people, most of them men, were milling around on the corner of the Iris Avenue transit center parking lot in southern San Diego last Wednesday.It's one of several locations in the southern California city where Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the US border agency, since mid-September has been releasing asylum seekers who have crossed the US-Mexico border. Continue reading...

Any prospect of Polexit is now off the cards - the election results put us (unlike the poor Brits) back inside the EU tentTen days ago, my friends and I watched the performance of a strange play on Polish public television. Billed as a pre-election debate (indeed, the only pre-election TV debate), it featured people dressed up like journalists, acting the parts of journalists who asked the candidates such Orwellian questions as - I am paraphrasing - Do you want Poland to be rich and secure, like it is now, or would you rather that it was poor?"It was at this moment that we realised just how far Poland had strayed from even a semblance of democratic standards. Eight years ago, when PiS - the Law and Justice party - came to power for the first of two terms in government, nobody would have thought of hijacking public television for the propaganda aims of one party. This time, nobody was remotely surprised. The national broadcaster TVP was fully captured by PiS.Witold Szabowski is the author of How to Feed a Dictator. His book What's Cooking in the Kremlin: A Modern History of Russia Through the Kitchen Door, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, is published on 7 November Continue reading...

Twenty trucks are preparing to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing, but US president says aid will halt if it is seized by Hamas. Plus, Naomi Klein on populists, conspiracists and real-world activismGood morning.Trucks carrying humanitarian aid will enter Gaza from Egypt's Sinai peninsula in the coming days, according to the White House, after Joe Biden's whirlwind visit to Israel that followed a deadly blast at a hospital in the besieged territory.Why did the US veto the UN's call for humanitarian pause' and corridors into Gaza? The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the resolution, carefully crafted by Brazilian diplomats, was unacceptable because it made no mention of Israel's right to self-defence. The UK abstained, saying the resolution lacked mention of the way Hamas was using ordinary Palestinians as human shields.What happened at Al-Ahli Arab hospital? Palestinian officials blamed an Israeli airstrike for the explosion that Gaza's health ministry said on Wednesday had killed 471 Palestinians and wounded 314 others. Israel has said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which has denied blame. Forensic reviewing of open source videos and news broadcasts have given a clearer picture of what happened on Tuesday night.How did the vote go yesterday? Twenty-two Republicans and all Democrats opposed Jordan, leaving him far short of the 217 votes needed to ascend to the speakership. Four Republicans who had supported him on the first ballot flipped against him yesterday. Only two Republicans who initially voted against Jordan, Doug LaMalfa of California and Victoria Spartz of Indiana, dropped their opposition. Continue reading...

President Biden's visit stopped short of addressing the root causes of this endless cycle of violence - that should be his aim

Librarians now can hit the bigot button' for their school book fairs. But the publisher's ham-fisted move is sure to increase salesThe largest US publisher of books for children has a new collection that sounds wonderful. It's called Share every story, celebrate every voice".But the backstory isn't so wonderful.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

A telecommunications breakdown has made talking to family members trapped under Israeli bombardment in Gaza difficultSince coming to the US, Loay Elbasyouni has built a remote-controlled helicopter he can fly on Mars, but he can't contact his elderly parents in northern Gaza.I'm in a big state of frustration," said the Nasa engineer, who lives in the Los Angeles area. I heard from them on the first day of the war and they were close to the bombing. Then nothing for seven days." Continue reading...

Pharmacists say increased workloads and cut hours are the perfect recipe for medication errors, which can be fatalPharmacists and support staff at some of the US's biggest drugstore chains say they are at a breaking point: as the companies take on more healthcare services, both staffing levels and hours have declined, and the pressure is too much, some say.Angered by increasing workloads and cuts to their hours, workers have walked off the job. Continue reading...

In Romney: A Reckoning by McKay Coppins, the Utah senator recounts his brief flirtation with controlling US foreign affairsMitt Romney entertained the idea of serving Donald Trump as secretary of state - a flirtation that ended in humiliation on the world stage - out of a mix of noble motivations and self-centered ones", the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, now a Utah senator, reflects in a new biography.Romney: A Reckoning by McKay Coppins, the product of close cooperation between biographer and subject, will be published in the US on Tuesday. The Guardian obtained a copy. Continue reading...

The US has blocked a resolution calling for Israel to allow humanitarian corridors into the Gaza Strip, a pause in the fighting and the lifting of an order for civilians to leave the north of the besieged territory, by using its veto at the UN security council.The text - supported by 12 of the 15 members of the security council on Wednesday - contained criticism of 'heinous terrorist crimes by Hamas' and made no direct reference of Israel. In an attempt to win US support, the draft resolution did not explicitly call for a ceasefire, instead referencing a 'humanitarian pause'.But the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the resolution, carefully crafted by Brazilian diplomats, was unacceptable because it made no mention of Israel's right to self-defence. The UK and Russia abstained

Teams have shown an increased willingness to make swings at the deadline in recent seasons. Here are a few possible deals worth looking out forWelcome to trade season!Unlike the NBA and MLB, where franchises shift into buyer' or seller' mode as they head toward trade deadline, NFL teams have always struggled with the same sense of self-awareness. Continue reading...

People from both sides of the border have reasons to hate one another, but the only way to end this war is to treat each other humanelyI grew up in the south of Israel with my parents and four siblings in a small village called Netiv Haasara, which is one of the closest Israeli villages to the Gaza Strip. What I remember most vividly about my childhood is the scenery - beautiful sand dunes overlooking the Mediterranean. As a teenager, I would run for an hour to the beach, and my father would come and pick me up afterwards in his truck.Every summer, including the last, my family and I travelled from London to spend time with my parents in the village. They enjoyed entire happy days with my three small children, getting to know our little 10-month-old boy, the youngest of their 11 grandchildren. We were so happy together - playing card games, swimming in the sea, doing artwork, working in the garden. It is hard to think of this place as a war zone, as the tragedy of the Hamas attack unfolds daily. Both my parents - my beloved wonderful parents, Yakov and Bilha Inon - are now dead.Magen Inon is a London-based father of three from Israel who is a teacher and holds a PhD in philosophy of educationAs told to Kirsty MajorDo 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 letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Protesters rallied in Washington DC, calling on the Biden administration and Congress to press for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. About 200 demonstrators, many from the group Jewish Voice for Peace, filled the rotunda of the Cannon House office building on Capitol Hill and staged a sit-in, calling for an end to the bombing and to 'let Gaza live'. A number of arrests were made by US Capitol police, who handcuffed protesters and escorted them out of the building

As Jews, we condemn what Israel is doing in Gaza. Any mass slaughter will not just be on Israel's hands, but on the hands of AmericaIt is now impossible for US politicians to ignore the slaughter in Gaza: more than 3,500 Palestinians have been killed in the 12-day barrage, including the 500 reportedly killed Tuesday at Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist hospital. Some 50 entire families have been wiped out - every living relative, including children and babies, gone. And Israel has issued a directive to those remaining that amounts to an ultimatum: leave northern Gaza, all 1.1 million of you, for your own safety" - in other words, evacuate or risk death in the impending blitz and ground invasion.The United Nations says such a mass evacuation is impossible" and has potentially devastating humanitarian consequences," pleading with Israel to rescind the order. A UN special rapporteur was clear, calling the order a crime against humanity and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law."Ellen Brotsky is a longtime Jewish activist and volunteer with Jewish Voice for Peace Bay Area, a chapter of the world's largest anti-Zionist Jewish organization in solidarity with Palestinian freedom.Ariel Koren is an anti-Zionist Jew who quit Google in protest of the company's military contract with Israel; she is the founder of Respond Crisis Translation, a rapid-response language justice collective Continue reading...

Tally showed 22 members of his own party opposing him, including four Republicans who supported Jordan a day earlierThe House of Representatives again failed to elect a new speaker on Wednesday, after the hard-right congressman Jim Jordan failed to win the gavel in the second round of voting.The second vote tally showed 199 Republicans supporting Jordan and all 212 Democrats supporting their leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Twenty-two Republicans opposed Jordan on Wednesday, leaving him far short of the 217 votes needed to ascend to the speakership. Because of Republicans' razor-thin majority in the House, Jordan can only afford four defections within his party and still become speaker. Continue reading...

Fundraising email from Florida congressman said Rinos are working with radical Democrats ... to block Jim Jordan'The Florida Republican representative Matt Gaetz has issued an apology over a fundraising email sent out allegedly without his team's approval.On Wednesday, Gaetz apologized for an email sent by a vendor without my team's approval" and said that it should have never been sent". Continue reading...

North Carolina congressman has been leading House since Kevin McCarthy's ousting, and some want him to stay in roleThe speaker pro tempore, Patrick McHenry, who has been presiding over the US House of Representatives for the past two weeks after Kevin McCarthy was ousted, could become the next actual speaker, at least temporarily.Efforts by Republicans to elect a new speaker have stalled after a top contender, the congressman Jim Jordan, repeatedly failed to get enough votes, leaving the chamber without a leader and sitting largely idle on congressional work for two weeks. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. For our latest reporting on the House speakership election, you can read our latest report:

Arthur Engoron gives warning after ex-president conferred aloud in court and threw hands up in frustration as witness testifiedA judge warned Donald Trump and others at his New York civil fraud trial to keep their voices down on Wednesday after the former president threw up his hands in frustration and spoke aloud to his lawyers while a witness was testifying against him.Judge Arthur Engoron gave the admonition after Trump conferred animatedly with his lawyers at the defense table during real-estate appraiser Doug Larson's second day of testimony at the Manhattan trial. Continue reading...

The US president is betting that public solidarity with Israel will give him credibility to influence the country's leaders in privateJoe Biden's trip to Israel this week is without precedent in US history. Never before has a US president rushed to a conflict zone so quickly after the outbreak of a war, much less one in which no US troops are directly engaged. The unprecedented nature of the visit is a testament to the stakes. Israel is at war after suffering the worst violence in its history, and a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the threat of wider regional war remains ever-present. Into the maelstrom comes Biden, hoping to shape what comes next - and making decisions which will reverberate for decades to come.It's clear that Biden's first priority is to signal his unwavering support for Israel. From the opening moments of the crisis, Biden has made it clear that he will provide Tel Aviv with both moral and material support in its battle against Hamas. A presidential visit is intended as another signal that Biden stands with Israel, but sending that signal also carries risks. At a time when anger is boiling over and casualties are mounting in Gaza, Biden is essentially giving the US seal of approval to what Israel is doing - and to whatever it will do next. Continue reading...