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A local magazine for the world.

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In October 2024, The Reckoning Project reported in @newlinesmagazine how Russia has pursued a targeted deportation campaign against disabled Ukrainian children. A month after publication, one of these children was located — and has now returned home to Ukraine. Read the full article at the link in our story.

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In late March, the Princeton graduate student, @newlinesinstitute scholar and New Lines magazine contributor Elizabeth Tsurkov disappeared in Iraq. She deserves America's every effort to bring her to safety.

Visit the link in bio to read the full story.
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"Liz’s research is heavy on political science, and her fieldwork in the Arab world poses no threat to anyone. She is, however, an Israeli national, so there are parts of the Middle East where her very identity places her at grave risk. Iraq’s flirtation with 'resistance' politics made it inhospitable, to say nothing of the pro-Iranian militias embedded and running amok in it. Some of us are from there and hold no romantic notions about attitudes toward Israel. But Liz is committed to a specific style of granular, hyperlocal research that requires fieldwork, and she never seems frightened of anything. She stayed in Iraq.

"What followed Liz’s kidnapping were months of public silence but nonstop efforts to learn more about her situation. We sought information and wanted to help bring her back. We reached out to contacts on the ground and friends in the media. We reached out to American and foreign officials, and we badgered Princeton University. We will continue to do all of this. We hope she will be released in a negotiation, and although we don’t know for certain where she is, it would probably involve Iran. Since Liz is also a Russian national, it may well involve Russia, too.

"Somewhat ironically, Liz, who some claim was kidnapped for being the 'Zionist enemy,' is not a Zionist at all. Indeed, she is a fierce critic of Israeli national security policy. While some of her critics see her Israeli nationality as an indelible stain, whatever her beliefs, many who follow her work know that she is deeply passionate about the region and empathetic toward its people. It is unclear whether her kidnappers actually believe she is the enemy or merely useful."

Kidnapped Scholar Elizabeth Tsurkov Deserves America’s Every Effort To Bring Her to Safety
✍️ New Lines staff
📷 Photo of Elizabeth Tsurkov

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A Nigerian Senator, His Daughter and the Failed Organ Plot: A trial in London's Old Bailey reveals how Ike Ekweremadu's plan to harvest a victim's kidney unfolded.

Visit the link in bio to read the full story.
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"The frantic testimony he gave over the next few hours would culminate in the dramatic downfall of one of Nigeria’s most prominent political families. In March 2023, Senator #IkeEkweremadu, his wife Beatrice and Dr. Obinna Obeta were convicted of conspiring to harvest the man’s organs, in the first such case tried under modern slavery laws introduced in 2015 in the U.K. The couple’s daughter Sonia, for whom the kidney was intended, was found not guilty.

"In the process of issuing a landmark prosecution decision, the trial exposed a Dickensian juxtaposition of affluence and deprivation in #Africa’s most populous country. It also shone light on the U.K.’s continuing role in facilitating corruption. And, not least, it raised troubling questions about the prevalence of this macabre form of exploitation hiding in plain sight."

An Organ-Trafficking Plot Lands a Nigerian Senator in a #UK Prison
✍️ Andrew Connelly @connellyandrew
📷 Beatrice Ekweremadu (R), wife of Nigeria’s former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, leaves the Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court, on Jan. 31, 2023. / Adrian Dennis / AFP / Getty Images

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Anarchist literature and letters to political prisoners: Reading a book, discussing the political meaning of a painting or expressing a personal opinion out loud about a war they want no part of are acts of resistance for #Russian exiles who are realizing life can be different – in #Turkey & in #Russia.

Visit the link in bio to read the full piece.
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Russians in Turkey Are Finding New Ways To Oppose the War in #Ukraine
✍️ Futura D’Aprile
📷 Twenty-nine-year-old bookstore owner Saniya Galimova poses during an interview in Istanbul on Jan. 25, 2023. / Ozan Kose / AFP / Getty Images

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Spotlight: The repeated misreading of the #Turkey elections and the wishful thinking that accompanies them should spur reflection within international media outlets, writes @kshaheen85.

Visit the link in bio to read Spotlight and subscribe to New Lines newsletters.
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"Rather than campaign, media outlets should let their journalists write, uncovering the truth and bearing witness, letting the facts — like Turkey’s economic ruin, the dozens of journalists on trial, the country’s misadventures abroad, the hundreds of thousands of civil servants fired without cause and oppressed civil society — speak for themselves. The facts laid bare are also good for democracy."

✍️ Turkey’s Election and Its Malcontents – Kareem Shaheen @kshaheen85

📷 Turkish President Recep Tayyip #Erdogan attends a ceremony in #Kayseri, Turkey, in 2022. / Photo by Sercan Kucuksahin / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

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No one knows who is behind the fires that often rip through the #Nairobi neighborhood where Muslims first settled a century ago. But residents of #Pumwani allege they are arson attacks by developers eyeing the land.

Visit the link in bio to read the full piece.
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"In this once predominantly #Muslim community, with its original inhabitants first settling here a century ago during the colonial era, many residents believe these fires are only the most visible component of larger government attempts to systematically cleanse Pumwani of its local Muslim population and erase the city’s distinct Muslim history with them.

"With Muslims now comprising a minority of Pumwani’s population — and scores facing imminent evictions from their own community — it is not difficult to understand why this theory is so widespread.

“'Pumwani is always burning,' Wambui says, after she regains her composure. 'I think it’s the rich people who are coming here and starting these fires.' Her eyes scan the scorched earth around her, her lips trembling. 'They don’t want us here.'"

✍️ The Burning of Nairobi’s Historic Muslim Community – Jaclynn Ashly @jaclynnashly

📷 All photos / @jaclynnashly

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Last week, photographer Skyler Dahan @skylerdahan left Tunisia’s ancient El Ghriba synagogue only a few hours before before a gunman opened fire at the complex, killing two pilgrims and two police officers. Dahan captured the raucous, joyous reunion that had drawn pilgrims to it from around the globe for New Lines.

In a conversation with North Africa editor Erin Clare Brown @ecce_b, he shared what he saw and experienced before the shooting — and what he feared could be lost if antisemitic violence kept people away from the pilgrimage.

Visit the link in bio to see the full photo essay.

📷 All photos by Skyler Dahan @skylerdahan
✍️ Words by Erin Clare Brown @ecce_b

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This year’s CPAC in Budapest brought together leading right-wing nationalist figures from around the world. @bencexavier attended the event and wrote a dispatch for New Lines.

Visit the link in bio to read the full piece.
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"My head was hurting from the LED screens and I was feeling a bit sad, so I left slightly early. #CPAC exhausted me. It was an event at which political and social concerns became existential risks. It seemed designed to make you fearful: LGBTQ people are coming for your kids, your culture is disappearing and society is in danger. It was a whirlwind of fear, invented enemies and high stakes.

"I knew I would have to document the hypocrisy at CPAC. My family is #Hungarian, and I was born in #Hungary, so I was also aware that, when I did so, I would be a target, labeled a traitor, like my friend. I suspect this will be my last CPAC, not because I’m unwilling to report on it again, but because I would likely be thrown out of future events. If the 'nationalist populist' leaders ever did consider me a #journalist, they certainly won’t anymore. I left CPAC full of an existential dread."

✍️ Fearmongering at CPAC Hungary – Bence X. Szechenyi @bencexavier

📷 Hungarian Prime Minister #ViktorOrban addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest, Hungary, on May 19, 2022. / Attila Kisbenedek / AFP / Getty Images

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The 4th Division — an elite unit of the #Syrian army whose main purpose is to protect the army from both internal and external threats — is now seizing power even from those who have stayed loyal to the #Assad regime.

Visit the link in bio to read the full story.
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"Because of the excessive militarization of #Syrian society and civil institutions, the regime’s destructive policies toward civilians in opposition-held areas have now been extended to the entire population. This has substantially reduced institutions’ ability to provide essential services such as sanitation, clean water, electricity and transportation. Moreover, Assad’s elites, including the 4th Division and the secret bureau’s activities, create an additional layer of economic repression. (The secret bureau has historically been linked to the 4th Division and is often involved in extorting business owners.)

" ... Residents of traditionally regime-loyal Shiite villages such as Nubul and al-Zahraa never imagined they would one day complain about the 4th Division’s abuses. But recently, some prominent militiamen and elite families expressed bitterness when the division’s checkpoints obstructed the access of two deliveries loaded with essential goods for their villages for two weeks, until the cargoes were taxed."

✍️ Inside an Elite Syrian Military Unit’s Power Grab – Annsar Shahhoud

📷 A poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the old city of Aleppo on Sept. 27, 2019. / Maxime Popov / AFP / Getty Images

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#Manipur, a state with a troubled history in the eastern corner of #India, is facing intense ethnic clashes. At root, the conflict is about land ownership, emancipation of tribal communities & a new form of nativist, majoritarian politics.

Visit the link in bio to read the full piece.
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"Who qualifies to be listed as a Scheduled Tribe is not clearly defined in the constitution, but a community’s perceived primitiveness, geographical isolation, shyness and social, educational and economic backwardness are considered to distinguish them from other dominant communities. While ST communities form the majority in northeastern states like #Nagaland and #Mizoram, in Manipur they comprise less than 40% of the population.

"... The #Meiteis and #Kukis are also clashing over their recollection of the autonomy that the self-governed hill tribals exercised in precolonial times under the #Kangleipak monarchy. Even after the state became a protectorate under the British, following the Anglo-Burmese War in 1826, the hills were administered separately from the valley.

“'They (Meiteis) changed the narrative by saying that the hills were also a part of the monarchy but it wasn’t like that. We always had a different civility and culture,' said Sitlhou."

✍️ Indigenous Politics Leads to Ethnic Clashes in India’s Far Eastern Corner – Makepeace Sitlhou @makes_25

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1/ People wait at a temporary shelter after fleeing ethnic violence in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur on May 7, 2023. / Arun Sankar / AFP via Getty Images

2/ An Indian army #soldier inspects the remains of a house set on fire by a mob in the village of #Heiroklian in India’s Manipur state on May 8, 2023. / Arun Sankar / AFP / Getty Images

3/ An Indian army soldier inspects the debris of a ransacked church set on fire by a mob in the village of Heiroklian in India’s Manipur state on May 8, 2023. / Arun Sankar / AFP / Getty Images

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MultiCam, the ubiquitous #camouflage pattern we see worn by opposing sides on battlefields today, has its origins in Brooklyn, New York, reports Wesley Morgan.

Visit the link in bio to read the exclusive from the second issue of #NLMinPrint, in Barnes & Noble now.
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"The pattern is called #MultiCam and, compared to its flashier predecessors like tiger stripe or desert chocolate chip, not much stands out about it — one key to its success. It was devised not long after the 9/11 attacks by a crew of art- and engineering-school graduates based in #Brooklyn, New York City. The company, called Crye, set out to disrupt the world of military camouflage. No single pattern can blend into every environment, so Crye decided to create one that simply didn’t stand out in any setting.

"The pattern soon became beloved by an elite clientele: U.S. special operations units in #Iraq and #Afghanistan. These weren’t the regular troops bearing the bulk of the military’s staggering losses. Even as the broader wars sputtered, the limited tactical successes of these units created a longing for the type of conflict many soldiers — and citizens — had wanted and expected. They weren’t aimlessly patrolling insurgent territory, waiting for a sniper’s bullet or a roadside bomb explosion. They were jumping out of helicopters, kicking down doors, and capturing and killing insurgents — increasingly, as the wars continued, while wearing MultiCam."

✍️ The Empire’s New Clothes (and Everyone Else’s Too) – Wesley Morgan @wesleysmorgan

📷 Illustration by @joannaandreasson for New Lines

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The Unibeton squat in #Paris was like its own little migrant village — until the police cleared it out, many say, to make way for the #Olympic Village.

Visit the link in bio to read the full piece.
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"Since 2020, #Unibeton has served as a refuge for up to 500 people at a time, mostly migrants from north and central Africa, making it the largest squat in the Paris region. But in February — three years to the month after it was opened — residents were told by the regional prefect that they would have to leave. 'The site, unfit for habitation, presented risks for the inhabitants,' the prefect said in a statement to local media.

"While the authorities claimed the safety of the inhabitants was their primary concern, the timing of the squat’s evacuation, the residents said, belied the government’s real motives. Unibeton lies just a few hundred meters from the future #OlympicVillage, which will host athletes for three weeks during the 2024 Summer Olympics, just over a year away. The expulsion of the Unibeton squatters, many felt, fell in line with an aggressive policy — often using mega-events like the #Olympics as a catalyst — of urban renewal, which they say prioritizes development over human lives and disperses vulnerable populations, such as migrants and people experiencing homelessness, further from big cities in the interest of 'sanitizing' them."

✍️ In the Shadow of Paris’ Olympic Village, Migrants Are Pushed Into the Cold – Phineas Rueckert @phineasjfr

📷 Residents of the Unibeton squat in Paris protested their eviction, demanding housing for all those displaced. / Phineas Rueckert

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