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Ola Labib holding a copy of her memoir How Not to Lead a Double Life. Artwork by Hyphen. Photograph courtesy of Ola Labib Ola Labib is a British-Sudanese comedian and writer from Portsmouth. After working as a pharmacist, she began performing standup and has gone on to appear on Comedy Central Live and TV panel shows Richard Osman’s House of Games and Sorry I Didn’t Know. Her comedy short for Channel 4, The Pharmacy, aired in 2025.

The Blind Couple from Mali tells the story of one of the country’s most popular musical acts. Film still courtesy of Makers In 2023, Canadian film-maker Ryan Marley made the journey to a suburban Barcelona studio to witness two of his musical heroes, Amadou & Mariam, at work.

Conservative MP Blake Stephenson speaking in the Commons, December 2025. Photograph ©House of Commons Community organisers, faith leaders and police in Luton have rejected claims by a Conservative shadow Home Office minister that there are “zones” in the town where “white people won’t go”, with some warning that the claims are racist and risk fuelling division.

Police officers at London Central Mosque. Latest government figures show reports of religious hate crime against Muslims have increased by 15%. Photograph by Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images Reports of religious hate crimes targeting Muslims in England and Wales increased by 15% in the year to March 2026, Home Office figures published on Thursday reveal. According to the data, police recorded 11,419 religious hate crimes against all faiths in 2025-26, up 13% from 10,067 the previous year.

Aisha Hussain, Nafisa Darod, Malek Bouraine, Baboucar Badjie. Artwork by Hyphen/photographs courtesy of Aisha Hussain/Nafisa Darod/Malek Bouraine/Baboucar Badjie These days, social media appears to have fully embraced corporate jargon and self-optimisation culture. The latest example can be found in The Great Lock-in, the idea that people use Q4 — October, November and December to the rest of us — to make the final push towards their 2026 goals.

The Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra. Photograph courtesy of the Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra Blue light fills the stage. A sole qanun player is silhouetted against the backdrop; the instrument’s mournful strings are the only sound. A dancer, carrying another, comes into view as the light shifts from blue to gold and more musicians emerge. The music begins to change — one man plays the oud, another an electric guitar, while another sings in Arabic. Past and present come together.

Lucha Britannia wrestler Marduk Malik, AKA Malik Waseem. Photography for Hyphen by Hassan M Raja Inside the Garage, a live music and event space in north London, a rectangular wrestling ring sits in the middle of the room. It’s a Thursday night and the room is filled with an excited audience, gathered to witness the stars of Lucha Britannia bring the theatricality of Mexican wrestling to Highbury.

Slow Spokes cycling club members outside the South Lakes Islamic Centre, Dalton-in-Furness. Photograph courtesy of Clare Gelderd Photography Cumbria’s first purpose-built mosque hopes to finally open its doors in November to Muslims of all denominations, after a group of 67 cyclists raised more than over the weekend.

Fazl Mosque. Photograph courtesy of Ahmadiyya Muslim Association UK One hundred years ago, a call to prayer echoed through the south London neighbourhood of Putney. It heralded the opening of the capital’s first purpose-built mosque and the institution’s promise to welcome worshippers. More than 600 dignitaries, including MPs, peers and foreign diplomats attended the inauguration of the Fazl Mosque, which had been financed almost entirely through donations from the Ahmadiyya community in India.

Ahmed Masoud is a writer and founder of PalArt Collective. Photograph courtesy of Ahmed Masoud Ahmed Masoud still remembers his father’s reaction when he began writing plays as a university student in Gaza. “He just slammed the door and left,” he says. Masoud thought his father was angry that he was writing instead of working to support their family. But then, “he came back with a cup of tea and said, ‘Please, do finish it’”. The encounter was formative.