Dispatch
The view from the ground.
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Mansour Abbas, head of the Israeli party Raam. An Arab Kingmaker in Israeli Politics?
With election results deadlocked, an Arab-led party is seen as a possible swing faction.
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israel covid haredim protests Did Israel’s Security State Fail the COVID Test?
Netanyahu’s focus on maintaining ultra-Orthodox support as the pandemic raged didn’t help him win, but it has left deep scars.
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An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man walks past a billboard of Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu. Exit Polls Put Netanyahu on Track to Win Israeli Election
He appears to have beaten back challengers who include defectors from his own party.
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Migrant domestic workers carry placards during a protest to abolish the kafala system in Beirut on May 5, 2019. Why Lebanon Can’t Kick Its Addiction to Indentured Labor
The country is almost bankrupt, but it still forks out on migrant workers under the heavily criticized kafala system.
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U.S. President Joe Biden with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the White House, Mar. 8. Austin Calls for ‘Responsible’ End to Afghan War
The U.S. defense secretary, in a surprise visit to Afghanistan, warned that Taliban violence remains “pretty high” as Biden weighs withdrawal.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump. How Do You Say ‘Stop the Steal’ in Hebrew?
As another Israeli election nears, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s surrogates take a page from Trump’s playbook.
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Protesters defend themselves against riot police in Myanmar. Myanmar’s Protesters Adapt Under Siege
Activists have changed their tactics in response to deadly crackdowns, frustrating the military regime.
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Israeli lawmaker and leader of centrist Yesh Atid party, Yair Lapid, speaks at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 2, 2015. How a Journalist-Turned-Politician Became the Best Hope for Israel’s Anyone-but-Bibi Camp
Centrist Yair Lapid refused to join Netanyahu’s coalition last year. Now the decision is paying off.
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After waiting for hours, Nazir Ahmad Kondoo rows his boat toward other fishermen on Anchar Lake in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on Feb. 16. Photos by Shefali Rafiq for Foreign Policy The Last Fishermen of Kashmir
Once teeming lakes are fast disappearing and with them, a lucrative career for tens of thousands of people in the region.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine What if Countries That Excel at Vaccinations Still Don’t Achieve Herd Immunity?
Israel emerges as a test case.
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A recent undated picture shows prominent Lebanese activist Lokman Slim, who was found dead in his car in southern Lebanon on Feb 4. In Publisher’s Death, Lebanese See One More Unsolved Murder
Hezbollah suspected in the killing of Lokman Slim but accountability is unlikely.
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Law enforcement officers patrol outside of the NASH TV channel headquarters during a demonstration in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 6. Protesters accused NASH TV of being pro-Kremlin and demanded it be taken off the air. Ukraine’s President Finally Flexes His Muscles
Volodymyr Zelensky is taking on his country’s pro-Russian media machine. But can he emerge victorious?
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Yeliz Guzel practices her musical instrument, the baglama—a kind of lute, in her one-room apartment in Mersin, Turkey, on Nov. 23, 2020. Singing for Inclusivity in Turkey
Yeliz Guzel’s pride choir brought LGBTQ Turks together—but left her ostracized.
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Turkish plain clothed police officers hold a group of protesters during a demonstration in support of Bogazici University students in front of Istanbul's courthouse, on Feb. 11. The High Stakes of Turkey’s University Protests
The Erdogan regime has gotten used to controlling the country’s social institutions, but university students have had enough.
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Manifestation in Favor of Bolsonaro's Impeachment Amidst the Coronavirus (COVID - 19) Pandemic Will Brazilians Ever Dump Bolsonaro?
Brazil’s president downplayed the risk of COVID-19, delayed the purchase of lifesaving vaccines, and dithered as citizens died in Manaus—but his hold on power remains strong.
