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ruthmichaelson.com
Ruth Michaelson
@ruthmichaelson.com
7.5K followers 800 following 400 posts
Observer Middle East correspondent based in Turkey. Bylines @theobserveruk.bsky.social & seen in @theguardian.com, sometimes others. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] www.ruthmichaelson.com
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Ruth Michaelson @ruthmichaelson.com · Oct 28
Ever heard of the mystery of the 732 empty Disney-style castles in the middle of the Turkish countryside?

The excellent @berileski.bsky.social and I followed the strange tale of how they came to be there in the first place, and why they've been abandoned (and crumbling) since 2016.
‘If I had the power I’d destroy the whole thing’: what went wrong with the ghost town of Disney-style castles?
It was meant to be a dream development but, 13 years on, it remains unfinished – a microcosm of Turkey’s scandal-hit construction sector under Erdoğan
www.theguardian.com
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Reposted by Ruth Michaelson
cnn.com
CNN @cnn.com · 6d
A CNN review has found two dozen incidents of people posing as ICE officers in 2025 – more incidents than during the prior four presidential terms combined.
ICE impersonator incidents rise during Trump’s second term | CNN
A CNN review has found two dozen incidents of people posing as ICE officers in 2025 – more incidents than during the prior four presidential terms combined.
www.cnn.com
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couts.bsky.social
Andrew Couts @couts.bsky.social · 5d
NEW: ICE is planning to hire a team of nearly 30 people to surveil social media 24/7, build dossiers on people, and flag them for arrest and deportation. @dell.bsky.social has the scoop: www.wired.com/story/ice-so...
ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team
Documents show ICE plans to hire dozens of contractors to scan X, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms to target people for deportation.
www.wired.com
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attorneynora.bsky.social
Nora Benavidez @attorneynora.bsky.social · 6d
“This case is chilling for us all,” said Free Press’ senior counsel Benavidez. “And that’s the point — the administration will stop at nothing, not even the First Amendment, to bully people into silence.”

cpj.org/2025/10/jour...
Journalist Mario Guevara to be deported from US in unprecedented case  - Committee to Protect Journalists
Washington, D.C., October 2, 2025—In response to news that journalist Mario Guevara will be deported on Friday from the United States back to his native El Salvador, the Committee to Protect Journalis...
cpj.org
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Reposted by Ruth Michaelson
acarv.in
Andy Carvin @acarv.in · 6d
Absolutely awful to have to re-circulate @onthemedia.bsky.social's Breaking News Consumer's Handbook on Yom Kippur, but here we are. Stay safe, everyone.
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erinsnider.bsky.social
Erin A. Snider @erinsnider.bsky.social · 6d
"The protests, which began Saturday with demands for better education and healthcare, have been organized online by a loosely formed, anonymous youth group calling itself “GenZ 212.” The group has used platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and the gaming app Discord to mobilize support"

menasky
Morocco youth protests spread and turn deadly, two killed
Two people were killed and others injured in Lqliaa, near Agadir, when security forces used firearms to prevent a group of individuals from stealing their weapons on Wednesday night, local authorities said, in an incident that marks a deadly turn in anti-government protests that initially rallied for social justice reforms.
www.reuters.com
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ruthmichaelson.com
Ruth Michaelson @ruthmichaelson.com · 6d
12 years in maximum security Egyptian prisons, enduring torture, hunger strikes& isolation. Then suddenly last week, Alaa Abd el-Fattah arrives home in the middle of the night to a locked door and no one there.

His family were waiting for him outside a desert prison. For @theobserveruk.bsky.social
Alaa Abd el-Fattah is released into a changed world
Supporters fear the British-Egyptian pro-democracy campaigner has been freed into a different kind of prison
observer.co.uk
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ruthmichaelson.com
Ruth Michaelson @ruthmichaelson.com · 7d
Over 150,000 people fled Gaza City within a seven day period late last month. People describe watching their family members weeping as they left– fearing that their homes in the largest city in the strip will be razed to the ground.

My reporting with Aseel Mousa for @theobserveruk.bsky.social
‘We were forced to run, losing our will to live’: escape ...
Remnants of blighted lives piled in trucks, the air acrid with burnt oil, sewage by the roadside and piercing screams – the grim landscape of a tragic ex...
observer.co.uk
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ruthmichaelson.com
Ruth Michaelson @ruthmichaelson.com · 7d
"One diplomatic official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the restrictions, said it was understood that Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, had ordered the blackout to prevent the diffusion of “vice.”"
nytimes.com
The New York Times @nytimes.com · 7d
A nationwide internet outage in Afghanistan entered a third day on Wednesday, deepening a sense of dread and uncertainty for millions of Afghans who were already feeling isolated under the four-year-old government that rules the country.
Internet Blackout in Afghanistan Enters 3rd Day
Banking services have stopped, planes are grounded and aid distribution has been halted. The scope of the blackout is rare, even for a government that has increasingly rolled back freedoms.
nyti.ms
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mccrum.bsky.social
Dan McCrum @mccrum.bsky.social · 12d
Today's must read is the FT investigation from @helenwarrell.bsky.social into the covert Russian Military unit probing UK infrastructure vulnerabilities, the equally clandestine Nato response, and the threats to Ireland as Europe's neutral soft underbelly.
The Russian spy ship stalking Europe’s subsea cables
Covert operations in waters surrounding the British Isles pose a grave threat to critical infrastructure and a fresh challenge to Nato
www.ft.com
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ruthmichaelson.com
Ruth Michaelson @ruthmichaelson.com · 12d
You're totally right, but the cameras – rightly or wrongly – I think are viewed as something that the public has no say in, or should be forced to accept. ID cards are constantly proposed by governments for reasons that sound like bad intentions, and there's an illusion of choice there.
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joolia.bsky.social
Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 13d
Microsoft will no longer allow Israel to use its cloud services to enable its mass surveillance of occupied Palestinians – "the first known case of a US technology company withdrawing services provided to the Israeli military since the beginning of its war on Gaza"
Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians
Exclusive: Tech firm ends military unit’s access to AI and data services after Guardian reveals secret spy project
www.theguardian.com
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cengizyar.com
Cengiz Yar @cengizyar.com · 15d
"The readers are telling us sometimes pretty directly, we don’t want to use these tools, we don’t have an interest in them. But there continues to be this impulse from organizations to build them anyway." @andrewdeck.bsky.social ethicsandjournalism.org/2025/09/18/n...
Nieman Lab’s Andrew Deck Has Been Tracking AI Use in the Journalism Industry for Years. Here’s What He Says We Need to Know. - Ethics and Journalism
Since the public launch of ChatGPT nearly three years ago, the media industry has cycled through many phases of AI adoption and experimentation.
ethicsandjournalism.org
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Reposted by Ruth Michaelson
jeffjarvis.bsky.social
Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis @jeffjarvis.bsky.social · 15d
This is not helping local news or communities. Cloudflare is cutting off local communities from discovery of news. Who died and made Cloudflare cop of AI?
Helping protect journalists and local news from AI crawlers with Project Galileo
blog.cloudflare.com/ai-crawl-con...
Helping protect journalists and local news from AI crawlers with Project Galileo
We are excited to announce that Project Galileo will now include access to Cloudflare's Bot Management and AI Crawl Control services. Participants in the program, which include roughly 750 journalists...
blog.cloudflare.com
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Reposted by Ruth Michaelson
akmckeever.bsky.social
Alexander McKeever @akmckeever.bsky.social · 15d
Joint HRW/Syrians for Truth & Justice/Syrian Archive report I contributed to on the open source side of things, covering the March coastal massacres

www.hrw.org/report/2025/...
“Are you Alawi?”
The 51-page report, “‘Are you Alawi?’ Identity-Based Killings During Syria’s Transition,” documents widespread abuses by government forces, government-aligned armed groups, and armed volunteers, inclu...
www.hrw.org
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amrmagdi.bsky.social
Amr Magdi @amrmagdi.bsky.social · 16d
Alaa's family deserve to live in peace and justice. Alaa, and everyone detained for their peaceful activism, deserve freedom. Freedom to all Egyptians in Sisi's jail!
ruthmichaelson.com
Ruth Michaelson @ruthmichaelson.com · 16d
Momentous news that will reverberate far beyond Egypt: A presidential pardon for Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

His family worked for years for this moment: His mother went on a hunger strike that very nearly killed her to secure her son's freedom. His sister camped outside the British foreign office.
Egypt announces pardon for top activist who's spent 6 years behind bars
Egyptian authorities on Monday announced the presidential pardon of prominent activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, according to his lawyer Khaled Ali and an announcement by Egypt’s state TV.
apnews.com
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ruthmichaelson.com
Ruth Michaelson @ruthmichaelson.com · 16d
A good time to reflect on his most significant piece of work, You Have Not Yet Been Defeated, composed of essays that include several smuggled out of a maximum security desert prison outside of Cairo.
You Have Not Yet Been Defeated: Selected Works 2011–2021 | Fitzcarraldo Editions
Alaa Abd el-Fattah is arguably the most high-profile political prisoner in Egypt, if not the Arab world, rising to international prominence during the revolution of 2011. A fiercely independent thinke...
fitzcarraldoeditions.com
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ruthmichaelson.com
Ruth Michaelson @ruthmichaelson.com · 16d
Momentous news that will reverberate far beyond Egypt: A presidential pardon for Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

His family worked for years for this moment: His mother went on a hunger strike that very nearly killed her to secure her son's freedom. His sister camped outside the British foreign office.
Egypt announces pardon for top activist who's spent 6 years behind bars
Egyptian authorities on Monday announced the presidential pardon of prominent activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, according to his lawyer Khaled Ali and an announcement by Egypt’s state TV.
apnews.com
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Reposted by Ruth Michaelson
sumitra.bsky.social
Sumitra Badrinathan @sumitra.bsky.social · 18d
i don’t think people on bluesky understand the severity of this situation.

i woke up to literally hundreds of texts from friends and family thinking about either moving back home to india or applying to other countries for jobs. this includes me.
gergely.pragmaticengineer.com
Gergely Orosz @gergely.pragmaticengineer.com · 18d
Those on an H1B cannot return to the US from tomorrow (Sunday) unless paying $100K. This is an out-of-the blue presidential action. We’ll see software engineers stranded abroad.

One easy to predict outcome: those on US visas will travel less… for work, for conferences etc.
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ruthmichaelson.com
Ruth Michaelson @ruthmichaelson.com · 18d
For anyone who might be unfamiliar, this is exactly the kind of narrative that authoritarian regimes use - looking at you Egypt - to suffocate the media. The idea that only the official account is acceptable, despite obvious falsehoods, bluster or obfuscation.
scottnover.bsky.social
Scott Nover @scottnover.bsky.social · 19d
NEW: The Pentagon told journalists it will require them to pledge they won’t gather any information — even unclassified — that hasn’t been expressly authorized for release, and will revoke the press credentials of those who do not obey. @washingtonpost.com
Pentagon demands journalists pledge to not obtain unauthorized material
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is imposing strict new rules that would severely limit the ability of journalists to report on the Pentagon.
www.washingtonpost.com
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Reposted by Ruth Michaelson
mharrisondupre.bsky.social
Maggie Harrison Dupré @mharrisondupre.bsky.social · 20d
NEW: ChatGPT is causing chaos in marriages, as one spouse becomes deeply fixated on AI therapy/advice/spiritual wisdom — alienating the other spouse and, often, resulting in divorce.

In some cases, ChatGPT-enmeshed spouses are using the tech to bully their partners.

futurism.com/chatgpt-marr...
Futurism Poison Tongue Sep 18, 11:05 AM EDT by Maggie Harrison Dupré ChatGPT Is Blowing Up Marriages as Spouses Use AI to Attack Their Partners "My family is being ripped apart, and I firmly believe this phenomenon is central to why." Image: A frustrated-looking woman holding up her phone to a man who looks confused.
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ruthmichaelson.com
Ruth Michaelson @ruthmichaelson.com · 21d
“The alternative to organized, transparent, legal accountability is vigilantism and generalized revenge attacks which threaten to spill over into sectarian violence, and risk destabilizing Syria’s fragile transition,” - @qunfuz.bsky.social for TIME.
Why We Launched the Syria Prisons Museum
Prisons were central to the Assad family's brutality. They may also be key to future trials against the regime, writes Robin Yassin-Kassab.
time.com
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jameeljaffer.bsky.social
Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 22d
Trump's lawsuit against the NYT is meant to intimidate news organizations from doing the work we need them to do--and more broadly to silence anyone who might be tempted to criticize or embarrass the president. It's a garbage lawsuit, just thuggery. knightcolumbia.org/content/trum...
Trump Lawsuit Against New York Times Weaponizes Defamation Law to Silence Critics, Knight Institute Says
knightcolumbia.org
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bgrueskin.bsky.social
Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 22d
I beg of journalists: What Trump filed vs the NYT today is not a "$15 billion lawsuit."

This is a lawsuit in which the plaintiff has come up with a number -- $15 billion -- that he is seeking as damages. He will never win that amount.

And yes, I am going to die on this hill.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP demands judgment against Defendants NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY, SUSANNE CRAIG, RUSS BUETTNER, PETER BAKER, MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT, and PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE LLC, as follows: (a) On Counts I and II, compensatory damages in an amount not less than $15,000,000,000;
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sharonk.bsky.social
Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 24d
korean reporting is nightmarish on the conditions Korean workers were contained in
Their waists and hands were tied together, forcing them to bend down and lick water to drink. The unscreened bathrooms contained only a single sheet to cover their lower bodies. Sunlight barely penetrated through a fist-sized hole, and they were only allowed access to the small yard for two hours. Detained by US immigration authorities for eight days, the workers and their families expressed shock, describing human rights violations and absurdities they could not have imagined as ordinary Koreans living in 2025.
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ruthmichaelson.com
Ruth Michaelson @ruthmichaelson.com · Sep 7
“It felt like women were invisible,”- jaw dropping details of rescue workers pulling women out from the rubble by their clothes or simply not helping trapped women at all after the deadly earthquake in Afghanistan.
After Afghan Quake, Many Male Rescuers Helped Men but Not Women
www.nytimes.com
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