What does a ceasefire mean when the Lebanese state has limited control over the forces it is meant to restrain? New analysis looks at how Lebanon’s government remains on the sidelines of the Israel-Hezbollah truce.
In his prison memoir, Nasser Abu Srour writes in a long tradition of incarcerated authors left only with their thoughts and words as vestiges of their autonomy. Now free, he has a new challenge on his hands: how to make meaning of his new life in exile.
Editor’s Pick:
Fatimah Muhammed and @alamer.bsky.social report on Kuwait’s widening citizenship revocation campaign, which has seen tens of thousands stripped of their nationality, and the history that made it possible.
NEW: Iraqi Shiite militias are now the last intact link in Iran’s “Axis of Resistance.” As war reshapes the region, they are fighting for survival — politically, militarily and ideologically, reports Sami Zaïbi from Baghdad for @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/reportage/ir...
What does Victor Orbán’s defeat in Hungary’s election last week mean for his many devotees on the American right? @newlinesmag.bsky.social Politics Editor @dannypostel.bsky.social explores.
“Every time we get through a crisis, we look back and wish we can go back to the crisis just before.” Nada Bakri and Zahra Hankir join @faisalalyafai.bsky.social on The Lede to discuss Israel’s strikes on Lebanon and watching your country's destruction from afar.
From AI videos mocking Trump in the Iran war to the White House’s own meme-making, “slopaganda” is less about persuasion and more about capturing "some emotional truth," write @faisalalyafai.bsky.social & @chriselkholy.bsky.social . newlinesmag.com/spotlight/slopaganda-com...
“Fellow prisoners came and went. His father died. His mother visited whenever she could. His one constant was his wall.” Toby Lichtig profiles and interviews Nasser Abu Srour, released from Israeli prison after 33 years.
This past week, Egyptian TV viewers were treated to a rare sight: the humiliation of top government apologist and talk show host Ahmed Moussa, who strayed from the regime's talking points. @chriselkholy.bsky.social takes a deeper look.
“Our facilities and assets have been and still are deliberately targeted,” Wassim Daher, director of the South Lebanon Water Establishment, tells Paloma deDinechin. “Some of our main production sites have been obliterated."
https://shorturl.at/CkXUy
WATCH: @kayliwewe.bsky.social speaks with @chrisosieck.bsky.social & @ntabrizy.bsky.social on their recent investigation into “double-tap” strikes in the U.S.-Israel campaign in Iran, which are raising questions about targeting and civilian harm.
During his recent visit to Algeria, the pope missed a chance to celebrate the Tibhirine monastery, where a group of monks modeled the kind of coexistence that he’s been championing — and that the U.S. president has maligned. @erinclarebrown.bsky.social explains.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon are systematically crippling water infrastructure, leaving communities cut off from a basic necessity amid ongoing bombardment, reports Paloma de Dinechin.
Current Top Read:
Iran stoked conflict abroad for 40 years to avoid ever fighting at home. But the end of American restraint set off a cascade that led to the “Third Gulf War” and the likely hollowing out of the regime
In Kuwait, mass citizenship revocations have become policy: Tens of thousands have been stripped of nationality under an expanding campaign to roll back decades of reform.
"The basic foundations for a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon are weak. This is a war between Hezbollah and Israel, which happens to be taking place in Lebanon."
WATCH: Why are butterflies losing their vibrant colors? As deforestation and climate change alter diets, temperatures and humidity, wing patterns once evolved for camouflage are changing. @olasalem.bsky.social explains.
Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been detained in Kuwait for six weeks without charge amid broader criminalization of speech and a denaturalization campaign | @lsmwilson.bsky.social
The writer Nasser Abu Srour was released as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas — after 33 years in an Israeli prison — and immediately exiled to Cairo. Toby Lichtig interviews him
As we enter the realm of “slopaganda,” the use of AI-generated content for political messaging, Trump’s base is now taking his memes both literally and seriously, write @faisalalyafai.bsky.social and @chriselkholy.bsky.social .
“Optics matter, and the optics of Lebanese and Israeli senior officials meeting publicly under U.S. sponsorship will chip away at the long-running taboo against such contact.”
High-profile international journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been in prison in Kuwait for the past six weeks. It is feared that he and others will be tried under new national security laws for posting footage and photos relating to the Iran war.
"The [Ahmed] Moussa episode — or, rather, its abrupt disappearance ... points to the fragility of the Egyptian regime’s attempts to balance economic anxiety, the needs of refugees and its regional alignments." | @chriselkholy.bsky.social
Join our Politics Editor @dannypostel.bsky.social tomorrow in Chicago for a conversation with political theorist Laura Field about her new book, “Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right.”
www.eventbrite.com/e/furious-minds-the-maki...
“This exclusionary discourse would not have produced a nationality revocation campaign of such magnitude and speed had Kuwait’s legal framework not been prepared for it.” Inside Kuwait’s controversial new citizenship laws.
WATCH: After 33 years in an Israeli prison, Palestinian writer Nasser Abu Srour was freed in a hostage exchange — then exiled to Cairo. Toby Lichtig joins @kayliwewe.bsky.social to discuss his interview with Abu Srour and the challenges of freedom.
Editor's Pick:
In southern Lebanon, water workers move under drones, repairing shattered pipelines and keeping stations running after Israeli strikes, which are systematically destroying access to water, reports Paloma de Dinechin. https://shorturl.at/7lH31
In a new investigation, @chrisosieck.bsky.social&@ntabrizy.bsky.social trace a pattern of U.S.-Israeli “double-tap” attacks in Iran — strikes that retarget the same site, causing greater civilian harm
Ahmed Moussa, who hosts “Ala Masuliati”, was on air on the Sada Elbalad TV channel when he began criticizing the Egyptian government’s cooperation with the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR to economically integrate refugees in Egypt and provide them with development opportunities.