Abdi Latif Dahir

The New Imams | Aida Alami For years I have been working on a documentary film about young Muslims in France, centered on the 2017 trial that convicted a police officer of killing a

Fascinating and deeply reported piece from Aida Alami in @nybooks.com on what makes a uniquely Muslim American imam, and how they are helping themselves and their community navigate the demands of a secularizing, pluralistic, and Islamophobic country.

Text reads: "Aid Groups Warn of Starvation in Gaza, Saying Suffering Is at 'New Depths'" over an image of people holding empty metal pans and stretching out their arms while waiting for food. Photo by Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

More than 100 aid agencies and rights groups, including Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders, warned on Wednesday that mass starvation was spreading across Gaza, adding to calls for Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave. nyti.ms/46TKTRO

Protests in Kenya

My piece on the protests in Kenya against President William Ruto and his government leads @nytimes.com The Morning newsletter. Here's a gift link.

How Trump’s crackdown on Harvard and other universities is affecting the world Mr. Trump’s ideological war on universities is putting students, professors and scientists under pressure. That could undermine the global dominance that American science has enjoyed for decades.

Could America gamble away its scientific and educational leadership in the service of ideology? Together with my colleagues, we write about what Trump's crackdown on universities will mean for America and the world.

Zohran Mamdani and Mahmoud Khalil Are in on the Joke What it feels like to laugh when the world expects you to disappear.

“There was a brief silence among the three of us, a beat of shared recognition of the difficulties of staying alive.” Hanif Abdurraqib reflects on meeting Mahmoud Khalil and Zohran Mamdani at a comedy show.

Faith Kipyegon finishes a race, her head tilted back and eyes closed in exertion. A quote from her: "If it’s not me it will be somebody else — one day a woman will run under four.”

From @theathletic.bsky.social: Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon fell short in her bid to become the first woman to break the four-minute mile. Kipyegon ran 4:06.92, the fastest time over the distance recorded by a woman, breaking her own world record. nyti.ms/44AXZll

Kenyans Return to the Streets a Year After Deadly Tax Protests

Kenyan police used live rounds, tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters on Wednesday, as thousands marched nationwide to mark a year since huge demonstrations against a contentious tax plan turned deadly and laid bare the growing anger at President William Ruto’s government.

A map of Iran, with red dots on Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz. A headline reads: "Here Are the Three Iranian Nuclear Sites the U.S. Attacked"

The U.S. struck three key nuclear sites in Iran overnight on Saturday. President Trump claimed that three facilities had been “totally obliterated,” but top Pentagon officials said that it was too soon to say whether Iran still retained some nuclear ability. nyti.ms/45AFnD1

China’s Quiet Win: Outmaneuvering U.S. for Africa’s Future Leaders

The Trump administration’s tightening of visas for international students has raised fears the U.S. could lose its status as a top higher education destination. For tens of thousands of African students, that shift was already underway. Their destination: China. My latest.

Coco Gauff on an orange clay tennis court, celebrating a win with a fist pump and an open mouth. A headline reads: "Coco Gauff Becomes First U.S. Woman to Win French Open in a Decade." Photo by Julien De Rosa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

From @theathletic.bsky.social: Coco Gauff won the French Open, prevailing over the No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka in a tense and chaotic final match on Saturday. She is the first American woman to win on the clay since Serena Williams in 2015. nyti.ms/43OLRf7

Map: See the Countries Under Trump’s New Travel Ban Restrictions on travel will affect people from more than a dozen countries worldwide.

Here are the countries under President Trump’s new travel ban.

The Radical Courage of Noor Abdalla How the wife of Mahmoud Khalil has navigated becoming a new mother while fighting for her husband’s freedom.

How Noor Abdalla, the wife of Mahmoud Khalil, has navigated becoming a new mother while fighting for her husband’s freedom.

Through his novels, plays, and memoirs, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o listened to the chords of the African conscience, writing powerfully about the transgressions of colonialism, the corrupt postcolonial elite, the importance of African languages, and more. He will be sorely missed!

What to Know About the Deportees the U.S. Is Trying to Send to South Sudan

More background on the Djibouti/Sudan case, the Trump administration's emerging third-country deportation strategy, and the broader legal and human rights implications here, in our explainer.
With @lattif.bsky.social and @amandataub.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/26/w...

Ugandan lawyer Agather Atuhaire, who was arrested alongside Boniface Mwangi on the way to witness Tundu Lissu’s trial in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, remains unaccounted for. There is concern that she, like Boniface Mwangi, has been tortured. Mwangi was dumped at the Horohoro border this morning.

YouTube video by The Booker Prizes Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi win the International Booker Prize 2025 for 'Heart Lamp'

Watch the moment Heart Lamp was announced as the winner of the #InternationalBooker2025, and hear what Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi said in their speeches.

youtu.be/uVH0blFhSFc

Koyo Kouoh, Prominent Art World Figure, Is Dead at 57

Koyo Kouoh, one of the global art world’s most prominent figures, who had been slated to become the first African woman to curate the Venice Biennale, died on Saturday in Basel, Switzerland. She was 57.

White South Africans Granted Refugee Status by Trump Leave for U.S.

A U.S.-funded charter plane carrying dozens of white South Africans who claim to have been victims of discrimination in their home country left Johannesburg on Sunday, heading for the U.S., where the Trump administration is welcoming them as refugees.

"The big theme the story showed was the systematic way these deaths were happening... The abuse happens and there's a system, particularly in East Africa and Saudia Arabia, that is covering up this abuse." @lattif.bsky.social
@nytimes.com

@krishgm.bsky.social

Rwanda in Early Talks With U.S. to Take Expelled Migrants Discussions with the Central African country come as the Trump administration looks for more countries willing to accept deportees as part of a sweeping crackdown.

Rwanda is in talks with the Trump administration about taking in migrants who have been deported from the United States, potentially making it the first African country to enter into such an agreement since President Trump began a sweeping crackdown on migration www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/w...

Lydia Mugambe: UN judge who forced woman to work as slave jailed for more than six years Lydia Mugambe, 50 was found guilty of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law, facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspirac...

Lydia Mugambe, a United Nations judge, has been jailed for six years and four months after being convicted of forcing a young Ugandan woman to work for her as a slave in Britain.

📰 The Secrets of Saudi’s Maid Trade
Inside a year-long investigation into how the Saudi elite exploit and abuse East African domestic workers while politicians profit.
🗣️Justin Scheck @lattif.bsky.social @krishgm.bsky.social
Livestream 7 May: sirharrysummit.org/watch
Full agenda: tinyurl.om/322jwf8y

Mohsen Mahdawi wearing a keffiyeh scarf as he stands atop a platform, surrounded by people. The text reads: "Columbia Student Who Was Arrested at Citizenship Interview Is Freed." Photo by Bing Guan for The New York Times.

Breaking News: Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student and organizer of the pro-Palestinian movement, was freed from federal custody on Wednesday after ICE tried to rescind his green card and deport him. nyti.ms/4iGIa0m

Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, 83, Dies; African Scholar Challenged the West He deconstructed what he called “the colonial library”: the accounts of Africa by Europeans whose aim, he said, was to further colonialism.

Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, a Congolese-American philosopher, cultural historian and novelist who questioned the West’s intellectual tools for appraising Africa, identifying them as part of what he deemed a colonizing apparatus, died on Monday in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was 83.

Dozens Killed in Attack on Migrant Facility in Yemen, Houthis Say There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military, which the Iran-backed Houthi militia blamed for the attack in Saada.

Dozens of people were killed in an attack on a migrant facility in Houthi-controlled northern Yemen, the Iran-backed militia and aid officials said on Monday. The Houthi militia blamed the U.S. for the strike.

Pope Francis waving and smiling. Text reads: "1936-2025. Pope Francis." Photo credit: Zach Gibson/The New York Times

Pope Francis died at 88, the Vatican announced Monday, ending a pontificate that sought to reshape the Roman Catholic Church into a more inclusive institution. Cardinals will now decide whether to continue his approach or restore more doctrinaire leadership.

Follow live updates: nyti.ms/42RZB9n

Trump Draft Order Would Drastically Overhaul U.S. State Department The draft executive order to be signed by President Trump would eliminate Africa operations and shut down bureaus working on democracy, human rights and refugee issues.

A draft White House executive order proposes a drastic restructuring of the State Department, including eliminating almost all of its Africa operations and shutting down embassies and consulates across the continent.

The open gates to Harvard are pictured. Headline reads: "Trump Officials Blame Mistake for Setting Off Confrontation With Harvard." Photo credit: Sophie Park for The New York Times.

Breaking News: Trump officials blame a mistake for setting off the tectonic confrontation with Harvard. nyti.ms/4ioHtIT

African Breakaway State Offers U.S. a Chance to Stick It to China After years of building relationships with congressional Republicans and conservative think tanks, officials in Somaliland believe President Trump will grant their ultimate wish: statehood.

After years of building relationships with congressional Republicans and conservative think tanks, officials in Somaliland believe President Trump will grant their ultimate wish: statehood. My latest story from Hargeisa and Berbera with photos by Joao Silva.