Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · 18d

Stepping away from this app — and the news cycle — to recharge after a very intense period of book revisions. See you on October 6! 🙏🏽

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · 19d

Clarity from @unicef.org on the theft of aid intended for ~2700 malnourished Palestinian children: "A sustainable ceasefire [in Gaza] is essential to create an environment where such incidents no longer occur, and aid can reach those who need it most – safely, quickly, and effectively.”

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Alanna Vagianos @alannavagianos.bsky.social · 20d

It appears ICE is not following its own directives when it comes to the treatment of pregnant and postpartum women in detention centers, according to a letter shared exclusively with HuffPost.

Democrats Urge Trump Administration To Stop ICE Arrests Of Pregnant Women

It appears ICE is not following its own directives when it comes to the treatment of pregnant and postpartum women in detention centers, according to a letter shared exclusively with HuffPost.

www.huffpost.com

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · 21d

..political penalties. The Biden+Trump admins have both treated international law as largely irrelevant for their Gaza policy. But that understanding boosts the impetus for domestic critics of the policy to seek other redress, through, for instance, challenging future jobs/power for those involved.

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · 21d

..committed to international law & have courts that treat it with more reverence – so allied officials could face their own risks due to going along with DC on Isr/Pal & have their own greater, lasting skepticism of aligning with America on contentious international matters

All this links too to..

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · 21d

US government lawyers assumed (probably rightly) that US judges will defer to the exec branch on foreign policy. But other govs do exercise universal jurisdiction + the ICC is battered but still around. Also key to look at this in the context of US allies also implicated in the war: many remain..

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · 21d

In helping Israel pummel Gaza, US officials (particularly Biden aides) increasingly worried about being personally implicated in war crimes.

Today's UN finding of genocide is a big signal they could be held responsible for, among other matters, failing to stop it per their international obligations

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Lil Kalish @kalish.bsky.social · 23d

Los Angeles teachers are patrolling the streets, linking w immigration/ tenants’ advocates, and repurposing lockdown policies designed to protect students from active shooters or wildfires — all to protect them from ICE

@jessicaschulberg.bsky.social and I report

www.huffpost.com/entry/los-an...

This School District Is Preparing ‘Lockdowns’ — But Now It’s Not Just For Shootings

They’ve spent years preparing for natural disasters and school shootings. Now, they are ready to do lockdowns in response to immigration raids.

www.huffpost.com

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 25d

On today's Your Call @kalwradio.bsky.social, we discussed the fallout from Israel's airstrike in Qatar on the region and the conflict going forward.

Listen to the audio here, w/ @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com & Mouin Rabbani @jadaliyya.bsky.social:

www.kalw.org/show/your-ca...

What's the fallout from Israel's airstrike in Qatar?

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 64,656 Palestinians and wounded 163,503 since October 2023. Thousands more are believed to be under the rubble.

www.kalw.org

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · 26d

From 10am PT / 1 pm ET on, I’ll be live on @kalwradio.bsky.social discussing the latest around Gaza & US foreign policy. Tune in if you can — and let me know if there are questions or topics you’d like covered! 🙏🏽

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Matt Shuham @mattshuham.bsky.social · 26d

Looking back at Charlie Kirk's political commentary, his importance as an organizer, and his potential legacy in the MAGA movement:

www.huffpost.com/entry/charli...

Charlie Kirk Lit The Path For Trumpism And A Far-Right America

Kirk, who was fatally shot while on stage at a speaking event, lit a path for the future of Trumpism.

www.huffpost.com

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · 27d

"Signature Aviation [in which Bill Gates holds a key share is] popping up across Trump’s deportation pipeline...HuffPost scoured govt records, location data, spotting reports + matched photos to planes [linked] to ICE"

@mattshuham.bsky.social @gnobes.huffpost.com:
www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-g...

Donald Trump's Mass Deportation Agenda Has A Surprising Stakeholder: Bill Gates

One of the billionaire's investments has become a linchpin in the day-to-day machinery of Trump’s immigration enforcement apparatus.

www.huffpost.com

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Brandi Buchman @brandibuchman.bsky.social · 27d

I take a deep dive into the Supreme Court’s maneuver this week that embraced racial profiling by ICE in LA.

And if you think there's no way it could ever impact you, experts and analysts tell me exactly why that is wrong.

Brandi Buchman @brandibuchman.bsky.social · 27d

NEW: If you want your Fourth Amendment rights to mean something in America, you better not be Latino. Or look like you are. Or sound like it. Or work a job that some random ICE agent you have never met before thinks is an indicator of your legal citizenship status.

www.huffpost.com/entry/americ...

How The Supreme Court Just Launched A New Phase Of American Dystopia

The obvious end point of the Supreme Court’s logic is something normally associated with fascist regimes.

www.huffpost.com

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Wesley Morgan @wesleymorgan.bsky.social · Sep 3

So far during the second Trump administration, this puts the US military at:

—1,000+ air strikes in Yemen (in March-April)
—65+ air strikes in Somalia
—5 air strikes and 2 JSOC ground raids in Syria
—1 night of B-2 strikes on 3 sites in Iran
—1 air strike in Iraq
—1 air strike in the Caribbean

Wesley Morgan @wesleymorgan.bsky.social · Sep 2

Rubio’s tweet announcing a US military strike somewhere in the Caribbean…if I’m not mistaken, first combat action by SOUTHCOM since the Clinton administration called off the invasion of Haiti three decades ago.

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · Sep 3

thehill.com/opinion/inte...

Biden will keep his promises and stand by Israel in its hour of need

Biden is keeping his promise to my parents of “never again.”

thehill.com

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · Sep 3

Wiesel especially interesting given his ties to Biden and consistent access to his top advisors. In criticizing Biden’s limited hold on bombs for Israel, he compared those supporting the move to those opposed to bombing the train tracks to Auschwitz — a comment I’ve heard got White House attention.

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · Sep 2

"Absent much stronger & immediate action by the outside world, Gaza could soon be physically erased, its surviving people herded into camps or expelled entirely ..such an outcome would stain not only Netanyahu + his cabinet but also a generation of world leaders."
www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-...

The World’s Shame in Gaza | International Crisis Group

Israel’s Gaza campaign has entered an even more nightmarish phase. The world must press Israel harder to stop the war regardless of “day after” questions – lest its offensive destroy Palestinian life ...

www.crisisgroup.org

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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · Sep 1

Jerry Nadler ends his remarkable career, conceding that his brand of politics on the Middle East is over. “I don’t know what to say at this point,” he said. “I can’t defend what Israel is doing.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/n...

Nadler, Pillar of Democratic Party’s Old Guard, Will Retire Next Year

www.nytimes.com

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · Sep 1

“As of Aug. 10, 70.4% of immigration detainees, or 41,822 out of 59,380 detainees, do not have a criminal record

‘She’s paranoid… She doesn’t want to talk to anyone. I think she’s permanently damaged.’”

Taiyler S. Mitchell @taiylersimone.bsky.social · Sep 1

ICYMI: ICE detained a mother of 4 last month after she traveled back to the US w/ her passport + valid green card. Her attorney claims she wasn't given any justification for her detainment except a pardoned misdemeanor marijuana conviction from 22 yrs ago www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-de...

Legal U.S. Resident Detained For 10 Days After Returning From Vacation With Her Family

During her 10-day detainment, Jemmy Jimenez Rosa was hospitalized twice, transferred to a male detention facility and denied access to her legal team, her attorney said.

www.huffpost.com

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · Sep 1

..their approach was not making Netanyahu more open to a deal; in a call after Hersh's murder, Biden, Jake Sullivan +Brett McGurk agreed there was still no need to course-correct

A week later, flaws in US policy helped drive the killing of another American, by the IDF in the West Bank: Aysenur Eygi

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · Sep 1

2 I think about a lot are Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American who got unique attention from the Biden White House & Carmel Gat, killed after her sister-in-law Yarden was freed in the first truce

That even they were failed by the policy underscores its comprehensive rot–as US officials knew..

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · Sep 1

In arming Israel under Biden & Trump —regardless of its battlefield conduct or sincerity about a ceasefire deal— the US has always said it's prioritizing Hamas hostages in Gaza.

It's now been exactly a year since H executed 6 amid the fighting, 3 of whom could have been quickly freed under a deal.

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Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · Sep 1

Happy Labor Day everyone!

A reminder that Trump has just about decimated the federal workforce. Nearly 10% of all federal workers forced out of their jobs since Jan.

"We’re seeing the arson of our government." www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

Trump Pushed Out A 'Stunning' Number Of Federal Workers — And Now We Know Exactly How Many

“We’re seeing the arson of our government,” warned Max Stier of Partnership for Public Service, which has been tracking people's lost jobs since January.

www.huffpost.com

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · Sep 1

Settlers celebrate "the first kindergarten to be opened in one of the former settlements evacuated in 2005...

'We will also open new kindergartens in Gush Katif,' he said, referring to the [former Jewish] settlement in Gaza"

www.jpost.com/israel-news/...

Settlers open kindergarten in Homesh settlement in W. Bank | The Jerusalem Post

"We will also open new kindergartens in Gush Katif," Yossi Dagan said, referring to the settlement in Gaza forcibly dismantled during the Disengagement.

www.jpost.com

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Jessica Schulberg @jessicaschulberg.bsky.social · Aug 30

I got to talk with @lataco.bsky.social's @eltragon.bsky.social about his tireless documentation of immigration raids in LA, and how his knowledge of the city's street food scene makes him a better immigration reporter

They Spent Years Covering L.A.'s Taco Scene. When ICE Raids Began, They Were Ready.

"It's very personal to me," Memo Torres told HuffPost. "L.A. is home. So you attack my home, you’re attacking my people."

www.huffpost.com

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