As Christianity declines in the West, the faith is flourishing in sub-Saharan Africa, which is seeing the fastest growth in Christianity the world over. By 2060, more than 4 in 10 Christians worldwide are expected to live in sub-Saharan Africa, compared with just 1 in 10 in 1970, according to Pew Research.

But this growth is coming at a cost. Unlike their counterparts in the U.S., African Christians increasingly risk violent death for their beliefs.

Nigeria, home to one of Africa’s largest and fastest-growing Christian populations, has also become one of the world’s deadliest places to practice the faith. On June 13, about 200 Christians were massacred by a group of jihadists in Yelwata, a town located in Benue State, which is almost entirely Christian. Most of the victims were internally displaced people sheltering at a nearby Catholic mission, many of them women and children.

This tragically is not unusual in Nigeria. During Holy Week, more than 150 Christians were killed in targeted attacks across central Nigeria. Some watchdog groups estimate that more than 50,000 Nigerian Christians have been killed by Islamist extremists since 2009. The State Department reports that fatal attacks in Nigeria are ongoing.

Moreover, in this violent region, the atrocities aren’t limited to Christians. Innocents of all faiths fall victim to militants, including members of the Muslim faith, which is also growing rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa. Some reports estimate that tens of thousands of moderate Muslims also have been killed by extremists in Nigeria, reflecting the broader toll of militant violence.

Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe, a Catholic leader in Benue State where the atrocities occurred, testified in March before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, pleading with officials to take notice of what’s happening. He described his home as “one of the most dangerous and insecure places for Christians,” and his testimony came months before the June 13 attack. He noted that villagers sometimes are warned in advance of attacks and that even if they contact police for protection, no help comes and the slaughters happen anyway.

“Constitutionally, we are a secular country, but our unity has been fragile,” he said. “We live in fear because at any point, it can be our turn to be killed. But to remain silent is to die twice, so I have chosen to speak.”

Pope Leo offered a timely prayer for Nigeria during a June 15 address in St. Peter’s Square. “I pray that security, justice and peace prevail in Nigeria, a beloved country that has suffered various forms of violence,” he said.

We do not know the sort of fear of which Bishop Anagbe spoke because we live in a country that believes in the right to religious freedom.

It’s why we find alleged hate crimes such as the May slaying of a young Jewish couple, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, in Washington, D.C., so devastating. We feel as if we are shielded from the sectarian violence that afflicts other parts of the globe by virtue simply of being American and when hate-based violence occurs here, that confidence is undermined.

The First Amendment protects all our religious freedoms, hardly limited to the three great Abrahamic religions, but it doesn’t guarantee them. We write this not only to spotlight the horrors others face for expressing their faith, but to remind ourselves that America’s religious liberty is rare, fragile and worth protecting.

— The Chicago Tribune

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Extraordinarily narrow and unstable House and Senate majorities have become routine in modern American politics. The frantic, final maneuvering last week before Congress approved President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act shows why that’s likely to persist for some time. And that means business, local governments, non-profits and ordinary Americans need to buckle up for more hairpin turns in national policy that make it almost impossible to plan for the long term.

Political parity has become a defining feature of our times. Neither party has won a House majority greater than 10 seats in each of the past three congressional sessions. That hasn’t happened since the formation of the modern party system in 1828. Likewise, one or the other party has reached 55 or more Senate seats in only three of the 13 congressional sessions since 2000, compared to 17 of the final 20 sessions of the 20th century.

With narrower margins, partisan control is flipping more frequently. Since 1980, for instance, neither party has controlled the Senate for more than eight consecutive years; never has the Senate changed hands so often over such a long period. No president has gone into a midterm election with unified control of the White House and Congress and successfully defended it since Jimmy Carter in 1978.

As last week’s debate on the sprawling GOP budget bill demonstrated, the two parties have refused to downsize their legislative ambitions to these systematically smaller and more ephemeral majorities. “Both political parties are more ideologically homogeneous than they used to be, they have big goals, they want to do a lot of things,” said Vanderbilt University political scientist John Sides. “We are not in an era where either political party comes into power and says, ‘Let’s make a few tweaks.’”

If anything, each new president seems to have internalized the likelihood that he will lose unified control of government after two years and has front-loaded his ambitions in response. Even with very small congressional margins, both Joe Biden and Trump styled themselves as transformative presidents and set out during their first year to pass a massive omnibus statute — Biden’s Build Back Better plan and Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. Both parties have forgotten, or rejected, the advice of Thomas Jefferson, who wrote in 1808 “that great innovations should not be forced on a slender majority.”

Republicans attuned to Jefferson’s admonition might have drafted a more fiscally and politically balanced bill that exposed their marginal members to less risk. Instead, they assembled a polarizing grab-bag of MAGA priorities that ensured an intense backlash — and pressured their marginal members to accept it anyway by conspicuously threatening primary challenges against those who balked.

In the immediate sense, that strategy worked: Just one Republican representative and two GOP senators in vulnerable seats voted against the bill. (One other in each chamber opposed it from the right.) But one cost of that strong-arm approach quickly became apparent when Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina announced his retirement right after after Trump attacked him for opposing the bill, creating an open seat that will become Democrats’ best Senate opportunity in 2026.

Next year’s midterm election could bring more consequences. Polling has shown the bill facing enormous public opposition, particularly to its cornerstone feature of cutting federal health care programs for average families by more than $1 trillion to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.

The districts that will get hurt most by the bill are primarily non-urban, culturally conservative places where Democrats don’t expect to compete. But opposition to the principle of cutting health care for people who need it to fund tax cuts for people who don’t will likely prove a powerful Democratic argument. There are easily enough districts where white-collar suburban voters will be offended by the Medicaid cuts, even if they’re not directly affected by them, to cost the GOP the House majority next year.

The legislative contortions over the bill demonstrated how the parties have trapped themselves in a self-perpetuating cycle of instability. Because Republicans have such small House and Senate majorities, they could not give vulnerable members in either chamber a “hall pass” to vote against the measure. But because they could not grant such exemptions, Republicans increased the odds that some of those vulnerable members will lose next year and sink their majority, at least in the House. Passing a highly partisan and deeply unpopular bill with coercive demands for party loyalty isn’t a recipe for constructing durable congressional majorities.

The mismatch between the parties’ reach and their grasp makes it reasonable to expect that Congress will remain on a rollercoaster of narrow margins and frequent shifts in control. That’s not good news for any institution that needs stability from public policy, which is all of them. This bill erases Biden policies that prompted billions in investments from clean energy companies and medical providers. But if Democrats control the White House and Congress in 2029, it’s easy to imagine a different set of industries — oil companies, electric utilities, drug makers — facing equally disruptive swerves from Washington.

All American institutions would benefit from federal policies that attract support broad enough to outlast a single presidential term. The Republican choice to muscle through the most sweeping of innovations on the most slender of majorities shows why we’re unlikely to see many of those any time soon.

Ronald Brownstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. He is also a CNN analyst and previously worked for The Atlantic, The National Journal and the Los Angeles Times. He has won multiple professional awards and is the author or editor of seven books.

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After being closed for renovation most of last summer, the bike trail on the Mendota Bridge will close again in summer 2026 for a construction project to raise the bridge’s guardrail height — back to where it was before.

The Mendota Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2024, its bike and pedestrian railing was replaced as part of a bridge rehabilitation project and the railing was lowered to its historical height, 42 inches. That’s the minimum height standard for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Since then, however, Twin Cities bicyclists have raised concerns about the new railing. Many commented on a local biking Facebook page about the lower height, calling it “frightening” and “sketchy.”

“It’s low enough that if a strong wind or encounter with a passing cyclist happened to knock you sideways, you could possibly go right over the top of the railing and off the bridge,” said Zack Mensinger, chair of the St. Paul Bicycle Coalition.

After a review, MnDOT has decided to raise the railing to the department’s standard height of 54 inches. It will add a structure on top of the existing railing to give it the extra height.

The project will cost $2.5 million and is scheduled for summer into fall of 2026. Money from the project will come from state road construction funds for bridge projects, according to MnDOT.

Historical characteristics

Jennie Hinz is a communications officer for MnDOT.

“So much goes into these projects, and we do care so much about safety and construction and historic preservation,” Hinz said. “When we did hear concerns, we went back and reviewed it, and then had to work through all of those historic guidelines again. So it’s not an easy fix.”

Hinz said the 2024 railing renovation was partially funded by the Federal Highway Administration. Historic bridge work must comply with federal requirements called “The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.”

These standards include minimal changes to the historical characteristics of the structure. Hinz said the railing was lowered as part of efforts to preserve the historical characteristics of the bridge.

CJ Lindor, education manager at Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, said the alliance is part of the Minnesota Advisory Council on Traffic Safety and the Active Transportation Advisory Committee. Lindor said neither of these committees were consulted about the 2024 project ahead of time.

“The realization of how the project would look didn’t land until it was basically completed already and reopened,” Lindor said.

Hinz said MnDOT typically does not have public engagement on bridge preservation projects.

Differing opinions

Bicyclists pass each other on the Mendota Bridge. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

The trail over the bridge will be closed next summer into fall 2026. Andy Singer, former co-chair of the St. Paul Bicycle Coalition, said the construction cuts off a major route for cyclists trying to travel to and from the west side of St. Paul.

St. Paul resident Jeremy Norton biked across the renovated Mendota Bridge for the first time Wednesday. He said he didn’t think the railing was too low, and that the concerns might be an issue of “perception of safety versus actual safety.”

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“You’d have to be having a really bad day to get flung off the side,” he said.

Jim Tucker of Minneapolis said he has been biking over the Mendota Bridge for about 50 years. He also said he wasn’t concerned about the new guardrail height.

“It’s OK. It’s all brand-new,” Tucker said. “I remember when it used to be all rusted.”

Mensinger, of the St. Paul Bicycle Coalition, said he’s glad the railings are being raised, even if it requires closing the bike lanes again.

“While I’m glad the issue is getting addressed, it’s really disappointing that MnDOT staff didn’t think things through better initially,” Mensinger said.

For more information on the project, visit dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/hwy55mendotabridge.

My kids are surely among the last in the country to get out of school for summer break: Their year ended on June 26. That, along with some cool, rainy days that dampened the mood mid-June, meant that when summer vacation did finally come, it arrived with a big bang of watermelon, sweet corn, ice pops and pie. I’ve now had several grilled burgers and even more margaritas; we even set off fireworks in the yard one night (apologies to my very nice neighbors).

Summer eating can be exuberant like that. If you’re in need of seasonal inspiration, I’ve got five dinners from the list for you below.

July 4 is coming up, too, and I usually make a pie — maybe sour cherry? Blueberry? (Frozen blueberries are a dream in pie, by the way. I like to buy the small wild ones, which are also great in pancakes.)

Speaking of baking, I’m excited to spread the word about “Cookies,” our latest New York Times Cooking cookbook, which is arriving in late October. It’s written by Vaughn Vreeland and packed with 100 brilliant recipes for anytime treats.

1. Oven-Seared Salmon With Corn and Tomatoes

Oven-Seared Salmon With Corn and Tomatoes. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. (Mark Weinberg/The New York Times)

This one-pan dinner pairs browned fish with a colorful salad of charred corn, tomatoes, scallions, herbs and lime, proving that summer cooking is best when you get out of the way of the ingredients. The salmon develops a crisp crust without requiring a sear on the stovetop thanks to a light coating of mayonnaise and the direct scorch of the broiler. You won’t taste the mayonnaise; instead, it’s there to caramelize the salmon’s surface while insulating the delicate flesh. Corn kernels cook alongside just long enough to plump, sweeten and char in spots. The salmon and salad are a meal unto themselves, or you could accompany them with quinoa or garlic bread.

By Ali Slagle

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS

4 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 4 ears)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper

4 (6- to 8-ounce) skin-on salmon fillets, patted dry

1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 lime

3 scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup basil or cilantro leaves

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the broiler to high and set a rack in the upper third of the oven. On a sheet pan, toss the corn with 1 tablespoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Push to one side. Add the salmon to the empty side of the pan, skin-side down. Season the salmon all over with salt and pepper, then coat the tops with a thin layer of mayonnaise. Broil, stirring the corn occasionally, until the salmon is opaque with a browned crust and the corn is bright in color and browned in spots, 6 to 8 minutes.

2. To the corn, add the tomatoes, scallions and remaining tablespoon oil. Zest the lime on top of the vegetables, then squeeze half the lime on top; cut the remaining half into wedges for serving. Stir to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper, then top with the basil leaves. Serve the salad alongside the salmon, with a squeeze of lime as you like. (After cooking, wedge your spatula between the salmon and skin to easily remove the skin.)

2. Chicken Gyro Chopped Salad

Chicken gyro chopped salad. Food styled by Samantha Seneviratne. (Julia Gartland/The New York Times)

This upgraded chopped salad harnesses all the delight of a classic gyro into bite-sized, flavor packed components using ingredients and pantry items that may already be in your kitchen. Seared chicken takes the place of the usual spit-roasted chicken, pork or lamb. The meat is marinated in yogurt and a homemade Greek seasoning blend, tenderizing the meat in less than an hour. This step can also be done the day prior, with the chicken marinating for up to 24 hours. The feta adds just the right amount of tangy, briny flavor with support from the creamy tzatziki-style dressing. For a vegetarian version, swap the chicken for extra firm tofu or hearty vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower.

By Kia Damon

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Total time: About 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons dried basil

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne

3 tablespoons garlic powder

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup full-fat Greek yogurt

7 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice (from about 2 small lemons)

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced horizontally in half

1/2 cup dill, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 large head romaine lettuce, quartered lengthwise and sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces (about 10 cups)

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 large cucumber, peeled, quartered lengthwise and sliced into 1/4-inch pieces

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup slightly crushed pita chips

4 ounces feta, crumbled, plus more for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Marinate the chicken: In a large bowl, whisk together the oregano, cumin, cinnamon, basil, paprika, cayenne, 2 tablespoons of the garlic powder and 1 tablespoon salt with 1/4 cup of the yogurt, 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Add the chicken to the marinade. Massage the chicken in the marinade, coating completely. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes, or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

2. Meanwhile, make the dressing: Whisk together the dill, mayonnaise, 1/4 cup olive oil and the remaining 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1/4 cup yogurt and 2 tablespoons lemon juice in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then set aside.

3. When the chicken is done marinating, drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil on a grill pan or nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Let the excess marinade drip off the chicken and then cook the chicken, a few pieces at a time, for 5 minutes, flip and cook for another 3 minutes. The chicken should be browned on both sides and cooked though. (Because of the dairy in the marinade, expect it to caramelize a bit in the pan. Turn down the heat if it begins to burn.) Set the chicken aside to rest; it will continue to cook off the heat. Repeat with the remaining chicken. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, chop into 1/2-inch pieces.

4. Assemble the salad: Make a bed of romaine in a large salad bowl or serving plate, then create rows of tomatoes, cucumber, onion, chicken, pita chips and crumbled feta. Drizzle with about half of the dressing and serve with the remaining dressing and more feta, if desired, on the side.

3. Chilled Tofu With Gochujang Sauce

Chilled Tofu With Gochujang Sauce. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. (David Malosh /The New York Times)

This silken tofu, draped in a tangy, savory, chile-sweet gochujang sauce, is a warm weather epiphany: No cooking whatsoever. The sauce is essentially a chojang, a portmanteau of the Korean words for vinegar, cho, and for gochujang, the fiery fermented red chile paste, one of South Korea’s most delicious exports. Often served alongside salted boiled broccoli with sesame, this sauce is also excellent with tofu or on cold, crisp lettuce or hydrating cucumber and pepper. Make a double batch of the sauce, if you like, to keep in the fridge for last-minute crisper-drawer raids. Enjoy this on its own or with a bowl of rice.

By Eric Kim

Yield: 2 servings

Total time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons gochujang

1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

2 teaspoons dark or light brown sugar

1 garlic clove, finely grated

Salt

1 (14- to 16-ounce) block silken tofu, cold

1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions or chives

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, stir together the gochujang, vinegar, brown sugar and garlic until the sugar dissolves. Season to taste with salt.

2. Run a paring knife around the edge of the box of tofu and tip out as much water as you can, then flip the tofu onto a plate. (Alternatively, you can scoop out large chunks with a spoon.) Pour the sauce over the tofu, then shower with the scallions. Serve cold.

4. Crispy Gnocchi With Spinach and Feta

Crispy Gnocchi With Spinach and Feta. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. (Julia Gartland/The New York Times)

Inspired by the herbaceous and jaunty flavors of spanakopita, the savory, ever popular Greek pie, spinach and feta headline this textural gnocchi salad. The spinach is not cooked, but is simply massaged, which softens it while ensuring it maintains its leafy structure. Incorporating some feta to the spinach massage is a functional move — the salt in the feta helps to tenderize the leaves — but it also adds a hint of quiet luxury to this dish, as the leaves become coated with the creamy, briny cheese. Be heavy-handed with your herbs and lemon, as these bring boldness and freshness that play off the saltiness of the feta. Everyday shelf-stable gnocchi from your local supermarket is perfect for crisping in the pan; if you choose to use the frozen variety, no defrosting is required.

By Hetty Lui McKinnon

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS

5 ounces baby spinach

6 ounces Greek feta, crumbled (about 1 cup)

1 lemon, halved

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 (16- to 17-ounce) package potato gnocchi (shelf-stable, fresh or frozen)

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 scallions, thinly sliced

Big handful of chopped dill

Big handful of chopped mint

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the spinach into a large bowl. Add half of the feta, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a big pinch of salt; rub the ingredients vigorously into the spinach to tenderize it. Leave to sit and soften further while you cook the gnocchi.

2. Heat a large (about 12-inch) cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high; add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the gnocchi to the pan, breaking up any that are stuck together. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, tossing every 2 minutes, until golden and crispy all over. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes; they will further crisp as they cool.

3. Add the gnocchi to the spinach, along with the red pepper, scallions, dill and mint. Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add the remaining crumbled feta and toss to combine. Squeeze the remaining lemon juice over top and serve.

5. Grilled Hasselback Kielbasa With Jalapeño Honey

Sweet, spicy and crisp, these grilled sausages and onions are a good reason to fire up the grill. Instead of leaving the sausages and onions plain, coat them with a mixture of honey, whole-grain mustard and pickled jalapeños beforehand. When hit with the heat, it will caramelize into a sticky glaze. Cutting deep slits in the sausage creates more crispy bits and area for the glaze to settle, and ensures that the sausage won’t explode or shrivel. The pickled jalapeños cut through the richness and can be nestled between the slits on the kielbasa for surprising pops of heat. Pile the sausage and onions into buns, eat alongside coleslaw and potato salad or cut the jalapeno-studded kielbasa into small pieces to serve with toothpicks for an appetizer.

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By Ali Slagle

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil, plus more for greasing

2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

Salt and black pepper

14 ounces to 1 pound kielbasa

1 large red onion, halved through the root, then cut through the root into 1/2-inch wedges

1/4 cup pickled jalapeño slices

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the grill to medium. In a large dish, such as a 9-by-13-inch pan, use a fork to stir together the honey, oil and mustard. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside while you prep the kielbasa.

2. Stopping short of cutting all the way through, make cuts 1/2 inch apart along the top of the kielbasa. Add the kielbasa, onions and pickled jalapeños to the dish. Use the fork to brush the kielbasa and onions with the honey mixture. Spread some of the honey mixture in between the kielbasa slices.

3. Clean and lightly grease the grill grates. Add the kielbasa and onions and cook, turning occasionally and basting with the honey mixture, until warmed through, tender and golden, 10 to 15 minutes. (Keep the top of a gas grill closed between flips.) Don’t worry if the kielbasa breaks apart; you’ll need to slice it for serving anyway. As ingredients are done, add them back to the dish. If you like, stick some of the jalapeños in between the slices of kielbasa.