• Republicans organise hearings they cast as being opposed to sharia.
• Muslim groups say such hearings cast Muslims as outsiders.
• Democrats say such hearings are a distraction used by Republicans.

WASHINGTON: Muslim American groups said congressional hearings that Republican lawmakers cast as aimed at making the US “sharia-free” are being weaponised against Muslim minorities in the United States by stoking fear against them.

Republicans, who hold a majority in both chambers of Congress, titled a Wednesday hearing by a House Judiciary Subcommittee as “Sharia-Free America: Why Political Islam and Sharia Law are Incompatible with the US Constitution.” A similar hearing was also held in February.

“The radicals pushing political Islam do not want to coexist with America’s culture and ⁠political order. They want to replace it,” Republican US Representative Chip Roy said in the hearing.

Critics have said such hearings single out Muslims for ridicule, revive tropes and conspiracy theories against them, and are unnecessary because American laws prevail on US soil.

There is no evidence that any mainstream US Muslim group has advocated for imposing sharia on the United States.

The US Council of Muslim Organisations, which represents over 50 Muslim groups, condemned what it called the “weaponisation of government against American Muslims” and said the ⁠hearings engaged in “the politics of fear.”

“Anti-Sharia hearings are not about protecting the Constitution. They are about demonising Islam and portraying Muslim Americans as perpetual outsiders,” the Council on American Islamic Relations’ Maryland director, Zainab Chaudry, said.

Democratic US Representative Jamie Raskin, a ranking member of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, said the hearings were a distraction and attacked religious liberty.

US rights ⁠advocates have over the years noted rising Islamophobia, attributing it to the September 11, 2001 attacks; and more recently to anti-immigration policies, white supremacy and the fallout of Israel’s war in Gaza.

CAIR says it recorded 8,683 anti-Muslim and anti-Arab complaints in the US in 2025, ⁠the highest since it began publishing data in 1996.

A study in April by the Centre for the Study of Organised Hate think tank says anti-Muslim bigotry by Republican elected officials has surged since early 2025, citing over ⁠1,100 online posts by Republican members of Congress and governors.

Republican governors in Florida and Texas have cast CAIR, which has opposed Republican President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration and pro-Palestinian protests, as a “terrorist” group. CAIR and other civil rights groups have denounced the claims.

Emilia Clarke has opened up about the terrifying moment she believed she had “cheated death” after suffering two brain haemorrhages during her time on Game of Thrones. 

Speaking on the How To Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast, the 39-year-old actress revealed that the medical emergencies left her emotionally shut down and convinced, at one stage, that she was “meant to die.” 

Clarke, who rose to fame playing Daenerys Targaryen, admitted that the constant fear of her own mortality consumed her every thought following the second incident.

The first haemorrhage struck just after the first season of the hit HBO show had wrapped. 

Clarke recalled collapsing during a workout at a gym in London, describing the sensation as if an elastic band had snapped inside her head. 

As she waited for medical help, she repeatedly told herself she was “an actor” in a desperate attempt to stay conscious and protect the dream job she had only just started. 

However, the recovery was marred by a deep sense of shame, as she feared her employers would view her as “weak” or “broken” if they knew the extent of her condition.

While Clarke told showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss about her health, she kept the ordeal private from the public for years. 

Her health took another turn for the worse while she was performing on Broadway in New York, where a second aneurysm required emergency surgery that nearly claimed her life. 

She recalled the harrowing moment her parents were told by doctors every half hour that they believed she was going to die. 

This second ordeal was even more taxing, causing her to disconnect from the world as she felt her body and brain had failed her in a way no one else could perceive.

The actress admitted she gave herself very little grace during her recovery, instead viewing the illness as a personal failure. 

At one point, while promoting the show at San Diego Comic-Con shortly after surgery, she remembered thinking that if she were going to die, she would “do it on live TV.” 

Despite the trauma, Clarke credited her career for helping her survive the emotional fallout, stating that she doesn’t know what she would have done without her work to focus on.

Today, Clarke uses her experience to help others through her charity, SameYou, which she founded in 2019 to support brain injury survivors.

She has been candid about the profound sense of loneliness that often follows such an injury and aims to help others overcome that isolation.

Looking back on her decade-long stint on Game of Thrones, she now views the series as “lightning in a bottle” and a defining chapter of her youth.

Pete Davidson and Elsie Hewitt have split, just five months after welcoming their daughter Scottie Rose.

According to The Sun, the relationship broke down under the strain of Davidson’s demanding work schedule following baby Scottie’s arrival on 12 December 2025. 

“Pete has been traveling so much for work, but Elsie was craving more support from him at home after their daughter was born,” an insider told the outlet. 

“It was very hard for him because, obviously, he has to work to make money.”

A separate source confirmed the split happened recently, adding that both Davidson, 32, and Hewitt, 30, are now firmly focused on co-parenting. 

“They are just focusing 100% on Scottie,” the insider said. “Working out the best co-parenting solution is their top priority.”

The news, while not entirely unexpected, still marks a swift and sad end to a relationship that had moved quickly from the start. 

Page Six first reported the pair were dating in March 2025, with sources saying the Saturday Night Live alum was “very happy” to be with someone “very different from” his previous girlfriends. 

The couple went public shortly after, making their debut during a PDA-filled holiday in Palm Beach.

Things moved fast from there. 

Hewitt announced her pregnancy in July 2025 with a typically candid Instagram post, “welp now everyone knows we had s–“, accompanied by ultrasound footage and couple photos. 

A bunny-themed baby shower followed, complete with a very public kiss, before Scottie Rose Hewitt Davidson arrived that December.

Earlier this month, sources had already hinted to Page Six that the pair were “navigating relationship struggles” and that it was “unclear” where things were heading. 

Now there’s an answer, even if it isn’t the one either of them would have hoped for.