Muslim New Yorkers have steadily become a political force amid post-9/11 Islamophobic sentiment. Mamdani is their most accomplished expression

Life was never the same for New Yorkers after the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001, with every resident coping with the trauma and devastation of that day.

But for Muslim New Yorkers there was an added burden: the suspicion and sometimes physical harm now lurking around every corner.

Conservative chair of public accounts committee to raise questions about Andrew’s deal at Royal Lodge. This live blog is closed

Rachel Reeves has announced a £500m investment package for new homes and stronger transport links between Oxford and Cambridge as part of a bid to create “Europe’s Silicon Valley” in southern England, PA Media reports. PA says:

The Cowley Branch railway line in Oxford will reopen with new stations in Littlemore and Cowley, which the Treasury said would support up to 10,000 new jobs.

The investment will also go towards the development of affordable homes in Cambridge, with plans to launch a consultation on forming a new centrally led development corporation to support the growth of the city.

After fleeing Chinese repression, Uyghurs Idris and Zeynure Hasan thought their family would be safe. But Beijing’s growing influence led to Idris’s arrest and a long battle to be reunited

Zeynure Hasan was at home in Istanbul in July 2021 when her husband finally called. It had been four days since she last heard from him as he got ready to board a flight to Casablanca. The silence had been torturous.

But the news Idris now shared with her was even worse. He had been arrested and imprisoned on arrival in Morocco and told he was going to be deported to China. “You should call anyone who can help me, anyone who can rescue me,” he told her, before the phone went dead.

Labour MP condemns shadow justice secretary’s assertion there is a ‘strong argument’ in favour of ban

Labour is spending significantly more on levelling up projects than previous Conservative government, new research suggests.

In a New Statesman article, Anoosh Chakelian reports on figures produced by the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods thinktank that show that Keir Starmer has spent more on levelling up projects in his first year than any of his Tory predecessors did in the same timescale. Chakelian says:

In its first year in office, Keir Starmer’s government has invested £2bn more than Johnson did in his first year – with £4.5bn allocated to regional investment programmes in Labour’s first year compared with £2.5bn spent in the equivalent period under Johnson – according to new analysis by the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods.

Investment in the North East will be seven times higher than under Johnson, and five times higher in the North West and Yorkshire and Humber by the end of the Parliament, based on current trends identified in this analysis of 46 government programmes and funds.

Lab, Con & LibDems today all agreed the decision by Weds Mids police to ban the Jewish fans is wrong, disgraceful etc, but nothing they can do because ‘operational independence’. Only Reform UK will change the law to put the police under the control of elected politicians.

East London Mosque received hateful emails after event for men, boys, and under-12 girls only – but organisers say women’s race was undersubscribed

A female leader at a British mosque accused of excluding women from a charity run has said women in the community have a voice and do not “need saving” by critics who lack an understanding of Muslim values.

East London Mosque, in Tower Hamlets, found itself at the centre of a media firestorm and received dozens of hate mail messages after staging the Muslim Charity Run, open to “men, boys of all ages and girls under 12”. The communities secretary, Steve Reed, later said he was “horrified”.

I grew up in Kabul and Karachi. In both, I learned the value of the quiet rituals observed while no one is watching

When I was leaving London for Melbourne, my eldest sister-in-law told her kids not to forget the “tradition” – to throw a bowl of water behind me as I stepped out the door. Just a small splash on the ground, a gesture older than borders. “La har azaab po aman se,” she whispered in Pashto under her breath – may all hardship stay away from you. The little ones giggled and waved their goodbyes as they spilled the water, somewhere between shy and amused.

My mother used to do this too, back in Afghanistan. Every time I left for a journey, especially international ones, she’d quietly follow me to the gate with a bowl of water, whispering prayers I couldn’t always hear. But this moment, between two western cities, with children growing up in a world so far from where that habit began, felt different. It was softer. Bittersweet. Like watching an old song being hummed in a new language.

If signed into law, the bill proposed by far-right party would follow other European countries in banning face veils

Portugal’s parliament has approved a bill banning face veils worn for “gender or religious” reasons in public, in a move seen as targeting Muslim women who wear face coverings.

The measure was proposed by the far-right Chega party and would prohibit coverings such as burqas (a full-body garment that covers a woman from head to foot) and niqabs (the full-face Islamic veil with space around the eyes) from being worn in most public places. Face veils would still be allowed in airplanes, diplomatic premises and places of worship.

American art historian and museum curator with a special focus on Iran and the Islamic world

For more than four decades, Sheila Canby, who has died aged 76 from complications of lung cancer, devoted her working life to Islamic art, and to the arts of Iran in particular.

She published extensively, created groundbreaking exhibitions – notably at the British Museum in London – and oversaw the installation of new galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

PM hails Trump’s part in Middle East peace deal but says what matters now is implementation. This live blog is closed

Europe’s most senior human rights official has called on Shabana Mahmood to review UK protest laws after mass arrests over the ban on Palestine Action, Rajeev Syal reports.

The Commons authorities have confirmed that there will be two statements in the chamber after 12.30pm: first, Keir Starmer on the Middle East peace summit, and then Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, on the Northern Ireland Troubles bill being published today.

Event in Victoria Park organised by East London mosque and London Muslim Centre was open to ‘men, boys of all ages and girls under 12’

The communities secretary has said it was “absolutely unacceptable” for women to be excluded from taking part in a Muslim charity run in London.

The event on Sunday, in Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets, was advertised on the Muslim Charity Run website as an “inclusive 5km race” for “runners and supporters of all ages and abilities” – open to “men, boys of all ages and girls under 12”.

Judge says Hamit Coskun has ‘right to offend’ and overturns conviction for religiously aggravated public order offence

A man who was fined for setting fire to a Qur’an outside the Turkish consulate in London has won an appeal against his conviction after a judge backed his “right to offend”.

Hamit Coskun was found guilty of a religiously aggravated public order offence in June after shouting “fuck Islam” and “Islam is religion of terrorism” while burning the holy book in February.

Four people have so far been arrested as part of police investigation into attack in East Sussex, which caused ‘significant damage’

Police have made further arrests over an arson attack on a mosque in East Sussex.

The building in Phyllis Avenue, Peacehaven was badly damaged by the fire at about 9.50pm on Saturday. Nobody was injured, but police said “significant damage” was caused to the front of the building and a nearby vehicle.

Shaista Gohir says latest government figures are probably an ‘underestimation’ as many incidents go unreported

The head of a leading UK Muslim charity has said she is “deeply worried” about the unprecedented levels of anxiety in the community as government data shows hate crimes against Muslims are up by nearly a fifth.

Shaista Gohir, the cross-bench peer and head of the Muslim Women’s Network has criticised ministers for being “silent” and called for a public government response to figures which she believes to be “an underestimation”.

Residents in Michigan city on edge as threats against their community rise, and some are reassessing their support for Trump

Amirah Sharhan recalls it being a regular fall afternoon in October 2024.

The Yemeni American, who had been living in the Dearborn and Detroit area for four years, was preparing dinner while her mother took Amirah’s seven-year-old daughter, Saida, to a nearby playground to play with her friends.

Fire at mosque in Peacehaven on Saturday night left front entrance damaged and a car burnt out

A suspected arson attack on a mosque in an English seaside town is being investigated by police as a hate crime.

The front entrance to the mosque in Peacehaven, East Sussex, was damaged and a car parked outside was entirely burnt out after the incident on Saturday night, which has been condemned by political figures and faith groups.

A suspected arson attack on a mosque in an English seaside town is being investigated by police as a hate crime. The front entrance to the mosque in Peacehaven, East Sussex, was damaged and a car parked outside was entirely burned out after the incident on Saturday night, which has been condemned by political figures and faith groups

• Suspected arson attack at East Sussex mosque investigated as hate crime

Shaker, wanted over his connection to deadly shootout between militants and army, had been hiding out in Palestinian refugee camp

A Lebanese pop star turned wanted Islamist militant handed himself over to the country’s military intelligence service 12 years after going on the run.

Fadel Shaker had been on the run since the bloody street clashes between Sunni Muslim militants and the Lebanese army in June 2013 in the coastal city of Sidon. He was tried in absentia and sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2020 for providing support to a “terrorist group”.

Serbian nationals also accused by Serbian police of defacing Jewish sites, as French officials investigate foreign interference

Serbian police have arrested 11 people, accusing them of “inciting hatred” in France and Germany, and linking them to acts that include placing pigs’ heads near mosques and defacing Jewish sites.

The arrests came days after French prosecutors said foreign interference was probably to blame for a spate of provocative acts that had targeted Jewish and Muslim sites in France in recent years, as tensions run high over the war in Gaza. French officials have previously said they were investigating Russia’s role in destabilising operations that have stoked social tensions and sown division in France.

Bass player and founder member of Pentangle who worked with John Martyn, Nick Drake and Kate Bush

Afounder member of the British folk-rock band Pentangle, the double bass player Danny Thompson also added depth and resonance to recordings by artists as varied as Nick Drake and Kate Bush, Cliff Richard and Everything But the Girl, Graham Coxon and John Martyn – to name a handful among the hundreds of sessions he played on from the early 1960s into the 21st century.

Thompson, who has died aged 86, was a musician’s musician, his bass always compl. His fluid playing enriched the albums Five Leaves Left (1969) by Drake and Solid Air (1973) by Martyn, and he went on to form a long working relationship with Martyn, and, later, the singer-songwriter Richard Thompson (no relation).

Manchester mayor urges Keir Starmer to reveal plans to deliver reform but denies he is plotting to replace PM

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has described Nigel Farage over his comment implying Donald Trump might be right about paracetamol posing a risk to pregnant women. (See 10.23am.)

Dangerous and irresponsible.

This man is a snake oil salesman and it’s time people stopped buying.