Statement says it made clear to Michaela community school that ‘in winter it would not be possible to pray later’

One of the UK’s most prominent mosques has denied providing advice to the Michaela community school that all afternoon prayers could be deferred, disputing claims heard in court.

Katharine Birbalsingh, who runs the non-faith state school in Wembley and is often called “Britain’s strictest headteacher”, defeated a high court challenge this week to her policy of stopping pupils praying at lunchtime.

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Amid the devastation, there is a flicker of the same resilience that has sustained my family through generations of displacement.

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik throws professors under the bus amid McCarthyite attack.

News report (01:21); Aseel Mousa on reporting from Gaza (22:10); Paul Biggar on Israel’s use of artificial intelligence and how tech workers are organizing (46:53); Jon Elmer analyzes videos from the resistance in Gaza and the West Bank as well as the Iranian missile counterstrike against Israel (01:22:39); Group discussion on Iran and repression in Germany (02:07:03).

We would like to hear from Muslims in the UK about theirs or their children’s experiences of prayer at school

A Muslim pupil has lost their high court appeal against Michaela community school in Brent, north-west London, over its ban on prayer rituals. The pupil had claimed the ban was discriminatory and breached her right to religious freedom.

We would like to hear from Muslims in the UK about their experiences of prayer when they were at school. We’re particularly interested in hearing from Muslims aged 18 or over who were able to pray at school in the UK and parents who are comfortable with sharing their children’s experiences.

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Authors and activists Ghada Karmi and Andrew Feinstein discuss the global response to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and lessons from the anti-Apartheid movement.

EU boss pledged full support to Israel as massacres got underway.

The authorities declared the senseless act of violence in Wakeley a terrorist act within 18 hours – why the rush?

As I reflect on the tragic events involving the stabbing of the Assyrian Orthodox bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel while presenting a sermon in his church in south-western Sydney, I am filled with a profound sense of sorrow and concern for the state of our society.

This senseless act of violence, labelled as an act of terrorism by authorities, raises questions about radicalisation and the vulnerability of young people within our communities.

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Israel has denied us the right to education.

Kids pausing their football so a friend can pray; theology chats over lunch – I’ve seen the richness that religious diversity brings to school life

A Muslim student at Michaela community school in Brent, north-west London, has lost a high court challenge to the school’s ban on prayer rituals. As a Muslim secondary schoolteacher, I have to say I am disappointed – but not surprised.

The appeal was lost on the grounds that the school declares itself secular. This is something the headteacher, Katharine Birbalsingh, insists all students and parents know when applying. In the written judgment dismissing the student’s case, Mr Justice Linden went as far as to say that: “The claimant at the very least impliedly accepted, when she enrolled at the school, that she would be subject to restrictions on her ability to manifest her religion.”

Nadeine Asbali is a secondary school teacher in London and the author of Veiled Threat: On Being Visibly Muslim in Britain

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 letters section, please click here.

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Muslim pupil loses case against Michaela community school, run by former government social mobility tsar Katharine Birbalsingh

A ban on prayer rituals at one of the highest-performing state schools in England, famous for its strict discipline and high-profile headteacher, has been upheld by a high court judge.

The case against Michaela community school in Brent, north-west London, was brought by a Muslim pupil, known only as TTT in court proceedings, who claimed the ban was discriminatory and breached her right to religious freedom.

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Israel forced the men in a family to strip before they were evacuated.

Featuring stars including Riz Ahmed and Nabhaan Rizwan, the event aims to celebrate the ‘rich tapestry of Muslim experiences via the medium of film’

The UK’s first major film festival dedicated to Muslim cinema announced its inaugural lineup on Tuesday, with a slew of award-winning films featuring the likes of Riz Ahmed and Informer’s Nabhaan Rizwan.

Ahmed, winner of an Oscar for best live action short film, will appear in Dammi, a short film directed by Yann Demange, the French film-maker best known for Top Boy and Northern Ireland-set drama ’71. Ahmed co-stars with Isabelle Adjani in a story about a man confronting his French and Algerian heritage on a trip to Paris. Rizwan plays the lead in In Camera, a British feature directed by Naqqash Khalid that screened at the London film festival, as an actor struggling to make a career in the film industry in the face of repeated rejections.

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Opening remarks and videos of Iran’s military action (00:23); Dr. Mohammad Marandi analyzes Iran’s retaliation and broader regional implications (14:15); Group discussion (55:26).

Israel killed our neighbor.

A region known as ‘God’s land’ offers a glimpse of the future if Indian prime minister’s BJP party retains its power

For centuries it has been known as the “land of the gods”. Stretching high up into the Himalayas, the Indian state of Uttarakhand is home to tens of thousands of Hindu temples and some of the holiest Hindu pilgrimage sites.

Yet as Hindu nationalism has become the dominant political force in India under prime minister Narendra Modi over the past decade, the government is accused of weaponising Uttarakhand’s sacred status for politics, making the state a “laboratory” for some of the most extreme rightwing policies and rhetoric targeting the Muslim minority.

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Israel refuses to release body of Walid Daqqa.

Elbit UK has already lost two government contracts even as the political environment grows more hostile to pro-Palestine activism.

The aroma of cooking has been replaced by the stench of death.

The scale of destruction is shocking.