The suspect in the DC attack had joined a CIA-backed Afghan paramilitary unit during the U.S. war in Afghanistan to earn money for his family and get medical training, not for ideological reasons, a friend of his told @nytimes.com. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...

Pakistan is no longer the refuge that generations of Afghans once found. One million of them have been expelled or forcibly returned this year. Expulsions are not new, but the indiscriminate nature of the current drive is. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/w...

“The State Department instructed its diplomats to stop processing all visas for Afghan passport holders. If visas have been approved and printed but not handed to the applicant, diplomats should destroy the printed visas.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/u...

R. Lakanwal, the Afghan suspect behind the DC shooting, served in the CIA-backed Zero Unit in Kandahar. He suffered from mental health issues even before the Taliban takeover and was disturbed by the casualties his unit had caused. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/u...

It’s hard to fathom the scenes of devastation in northern Pakistan, and yet they’re becoming the norm.

More than 3,000 Afghan women applied for asylum in July in Germany — twice as much as in June. www.infomigrants.net/en/post/6627...

Last week I went to the border between Iran and Afghanistan to report on the mass expulsions and forced returns of nearly 1.5 million Afghans living in Iran this year. The story is on today's front page of the New York Times.

I’m coming back from the Iran-Afghanistan border where 20,000+ Afghans return everyday amid a wave of mass expulsions from Iran. 435,000 have returned since July 1, per UNHCR. 800,000 since June 1 and 1.4 million this year. When was the last time we’ve seen such figures?

What it’s like to work as a moto taxi driver in one of the world’s five least livable cities, Karachi, when it’s 40 degrees. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/12/w...

🇦🇫🇵🇰 Some news! Over the next several months I will be reporting from Afghanistan and Pakistan for the Times. First story from Kabul this week: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/w...

On M23's challenges in governing Goma: "Seizing is easy, ruling is harder." continent.substack.com/p/seizing-is...

R. Kelly, meet pro Ibrahim Traoré propaganda 🇧🇫 youtu.be/aFrOKH0Rqvo?...

African Catholics on Francis: “Being from Latin America, he felt for our predicaments as a third-world continent struggling in a world controlled from far away” said Cardinal Onaiyekan, the fmr archbishop of Abuja who voted in the conclave that elected Francis. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/w...

What migration looks like in Africa — via @nytopinion www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

🎸🇲🇱 A tribute to Amadou Bagayoko of Amadou & Mariam, featuring his childhood friend, mentor, and son. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/w...

UNICEF on the conflict in eastern Congo 🇨🇩: children make up between 35 to 45 percent of the nearly 10,000 cases of rape and sexual violence reported in January and February of this year. (AFP)

Finally had a chance to read @johnalechner.bsky.social’s fascinating book on Wagner. I highly recommend it. John explains with jaw-dropping details and fine analysis what Prigozhin represented for Russia’s state apparatus and vice versa. About Wagner’s in Africa… 🔽 www.bloomsbury.com/us/death-is-...

Congo and our story on the M23 armed group, with an interview with one of its leaders in Goma last month, on the front page of today’s print edition of The New York Times. 📸 Guerchom Ndebo

🇨🇩 I interviewed the M23 and Congo River Alliance leader Corneille Nangaa on my trip to Goma last month. I’ll share a few highlights here. 🧵

A few hypotheses on what might happen in eastern Congo after Congo's and Rwanda's presidents called for yet another ceasefire in a surprise meeting in Qatar yesterday. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/w...

The abuse, starvation and death that domestic workers from East Africa face in Saudi Arabia. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/w...

Monday: the EU sanctions Rwandan government and military officials over their involvement in the conflict in eastern Congo. Also on Monday: Rwanda severs diplomatic ties with Belgium. Tuesday: M23 leaders and Congo expected to meet for peace talks in Angola. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/w...

Insightful conversation on the future of politics in the Sahel www.csis.org/podcasts/afr...

Re-posting here as well our report from Goma as the city buried its dead www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/w...

Muhsin Hendricks, a South African credited by some as being the world’s first openly gay imam, was shot and killed in South Africa on Saturday. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/w...

Lake Kivu & Mount Nyiragongo, Congo & Rwanda 🛥️🌋🇨🇩🇷🇼

Kagame who a week ago said he didn’t know whether Rwandan troops were in eastern Congo, now calls their presence “obvious.” www.jeuneafrique.com/1657080/poli...

A small sample of programs affected by Trump’s aid freeze across the world 🌍 Full story ⬇️ www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/w...

Today is West Africa's "Brexit" day www.nytimes.com/2025/01/29/w...

🧵 Some recent stories on the ongoing crisis in eastern Congo, as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels say they have captured Goma www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/w...

"People had nowhere to go but Goma. Then on Monday morning, M23 announced it had captured Goma." www.nytimes.com/card/2025/01...

M23 says it is in control of Goma. The airport is closed, and negotiations are ongoing with UN to evacuate staff (MONUSCO) and re-establish humanitarian access. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/w...

🇨🇩 More than 400,000 people displaced in eastern Congo since the beginning of the year, according to UNHCR www.barrons.com/news/over-40...

Sharp escalation of violence in eastern Congo this week: - USAID staff evacuated from Goma, as M23 closes in - town of Saké controlled by M23 as of Thursday evening, per UN sources - more than 230,000 people displaced in North and South Kivu since start of 2025 www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/w...

Libya is ramping up deportations of Sub-Saharan Africans. Over 600 Nigerien men were recently deported, and at least two died upon returning to Niger. Reports of mistreatment in Libyan prisons include beatings and guards pouring melting plastic on a man. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/w...

Back from a week of holidays in Tunisia where among other things I discovered this very cool project on satellite imagery and new forms of political domination (1st pic) www.paulmesnager.com/geography-of...

"Our door is open." Why some in Africa are optimistic about Trump coming back to the White House. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/27/w...

Russia keeps pushing the claim that the U.S. is setting up “biolabs” in Africa. Earlier this year I reported on Russian-driven disinformation against efforts to stop the spread of malaria in Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 www.nytimes.com/2024/10/14/w...

"The virus’s spread [in Kinshasa] has drawn a response far less robust than that for mpox outbreaks in other parts of Congo. Yet it poses a significant threat: to the people who live there, to the rest of the country and to the world beyond." www.nytimes.com/2024/12/23/h...

The Final Days of the Assad Regime www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/w...

🇳🇪 Civilian deaths in Niger have nearly doubled since the military took power in July 2023, compared with the 18 months that preceded it. And over the past six months, it has recorded the highest number of deaths among the AES countries — Burkina, Mali. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/22/w...

"Sub-Saharan Africa dangerously lacks air pollution monitoring infrastructure, making it difficult for policymakers to act with the urgency and effectiveness necessary." africanarguments.org/2024/12/how-...

Worst air quality in the world today: Dakar 🇸🇳📍

Important story from my colleagues Alissa Rubin & Diego Ibarra Sanchez on the plight of women migrants left behind by their Lebanese employers who fled Israeli bombing in September. "Women from Sierra Leone are among the worst off of Lebanon’s migrants." www.nytimes.com/card/2024/12...

148 Chinese nationals and 645 others arrested for cyberfraud and romance scams in Lagos punchng.com/148-chinese-...

Situation getting nastier between Mali and Barrick | "If shipments remain suspended, Barrick will be compelled to suspend operations, further impacting the viability of this critical economic driver for Mali."

Important story from @elianpeltier.bsky.social with powerful pix by Arlette Bashizi on the deteriorating situation in Burkina Faso – happening quickly, with hundreds of thousands of people at risk, with very little international attention www.nytimes.com/2024/12/15/w...

I went to northern Côte d'Ivoire this fall to interview refugees from Burkina Faso. Most of the three dozen people I spoke with told me the same thing: the state-backed militia known as the VDP forced them to flee by evicting them or killing their relatives. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

💽 Today’s listen: Gili Men, Baaba Mall 🇸🇳, remixed by Auntie Flo