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news Ceuta & Melilla

Death Toll Rising After Thousands Storm Spain’s Wall in Africa

The death toll among those who attempted to scale the fence into the Spanish enclave of Melilla last week continues to mount. With 29 dead, mostly sub-Saharan African, the figure, if confirmed, is among the worst-ever disasters for the Spanish enclave on the north Moroccan coast.

EU Observer | 27 Jun 2022

event

De Facto Live #4

De Facto explores the realm of unrecognized states, fictional countries and curious border zones. On July 13 we organize a live evening with talks, art and music at De Roode Bioscoop in Amsterdam. Join us!

De Facto | 20 Jun 2022

news Hans Island

Canada and Denmark Settle ‘Whisky War’

Canada and Denmark resolved a half-century-old border dispute, splitting the ownership of Hans Island, a 1.2-square kilometer mound of rock halfway between Nunavut and Greenland. The new border will divide the island roughly in half, following a natural ravine from north to south.

Politico | 14 Jun 2022

news Taiwan

China Warns Taiwan Independence Would Trigger War

China has warned the US that any attempt to make Taiwan independent from China will trigger military action by Beijing’s forces. Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe met his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of an Asian security summit in Singapore.

BBC | 12 Jun 2022

news Northern Cyprus

Cyprus to UN: Turkey seeks full control of breakaway north

Cyprus will lodge a complaint with the United Nations over Turkey’s new financial assistance deal with breakaway Turkish Cypriots that demonstrates Ankara’s “complete control” over them, the president of the ethnically divided island nation said Monday.

The Washington Post | 6 Jun 2022

news Somaliland

Why Taiwan has found an unlikely friend in Somaliland

The small African state of Somaliland legally doesn’t exist. But Taiwan has spied an opportunity to make its mark.

ABC news Australia | 5 Jun 2022

event

De Facto Live in a Sold Out Roode Bioscoop

After two years of Covid, De Facto could finally go live again. It was a great evening, with talks, art and music.

De Facto Hester den Boer | 1 Jun 2022

analysis Nagorno-Karabakh

Nagorno-Karabakh in the Shadow of Ukraine

As the ripples of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pulse outward, they have left one region especially volatile: the South Caucasus. The Ukrainian conflict has paradoxically raised the likelihood of both further fighting and a negotiated peace in this area between the Caspian and Black Seas.

Foreign Affairs | 30 May 2022

news Jammu & Kashmir

India’s Kashmir sees upsurge in violence

Indian security forces have killed six militants in Kashmir in the past 24 hours while militants shot dead a female TV performer and a police officer, officials said on Thursday, following the conviction of the region’s best-known separatist.

reuters | 26 May 2022

event

Sold Out

Our De Facto LIVE #3 in De Roode Bioscoop (Amsterdam) is sold out. We are looking forward to this evening with talks, art and music. No tickets? Don’t worry, the next event will be on July 13. The program will be announced soon. Stay tuned!

De Facto | 24 May 2022

history Minerva

The Brief Life and Watery Death of a Libertarian Micronation

A wealthy American wanted to build an island republic. The king of Tonga had other ideas.

Slate | 21 May 2022

photography Somaliland

Art with Heart

Photographer Mustafa Saeed sees the potential of all art forms as therapy in a post-war nation, moving towards collaborative efforts to make this happen in Somaliland.

Forbes Africa | 11 May 2022

news Transnistria

Ukrainian War Casts Shadow over Transnistria

Moldova raises concerns over suspected destabilisation campaign in Russia-backed breakaway region.

Financial Times | 3 May 2022

art Sealand

Behind the Scenes at a Surreal NFT

A look inside at how the artist Robert Alice and their team pulled off an exhibition of NFTs and crypto art in the wildest setting imaginable, while at the same time taking these stories out of the confines of the screen and into the world.

Sotheby's | 21 Apr 2022

news Abkhazia

Georgian diorama artist protests against Russian aggression

Artist Tamuna Ianvarashvili uses the dioramas as a form of peaceful protest against Russia’s occupation of Georgian regions and its brutality in invading Ukraine in February.

AGENDA.GE | 19 Apr 2022

long read Nagorno-Karabakh

Stepanakert’s memory hotel

A small hotel in the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh unites several families who fled their homes during the recent war and provides a space to rekindle their hopes of finding a place to call home again.

OC Media | 18 Apr 2022

news Transnistria

Journey to Transnistria: Inside Russia’s Disinformation Bubble

Reporters of The New York Times traveled inside Transnistria, a Moscow-backed breakaway state in Moldova, to find out how Russia’s disinformation campaign stretches beyond its borders.

The New York Times | 15 Apr 2022

sport Donetsk People’s Republic

Exiled by Russian Bombs, a Ukrainian Soccer Team Embraces Its Journey

Shakhtar Donetsk was forced from its home city and then its country by Russian invasions. Its next stop? A series of exhibition games drawing attention to Ukraine’s plight.

The New York Times | 11 Apr 2022

analysis Western Sahara

North African standoff

How the Western Sahara conflict is fuelling new tensions between Morocco and Algeria.

European Council on Foreign Relations | 8 Apr 2022

theater

Europadorp/Europadorf

In the audiovisual performance Europadorp/Europadorf, theater maker Silas Neumann takes us to the border area between Germany and the Netherlands. With video fragments, live soundscapes and augmented reality, he reconstructs the twenty year old utopia of a borderless village.

Jorie Horsthuis | 7 Apr 2022

news Donetsk People’s Republic

Russian separatists built new crypto to evade sanctions

Scammers targeted people in developing countries.

ACS | 6 Apr 2022

film

Movies that Matter

On April 8 the Movies that Matter Festival kicks off in The Hague (NL) and online. The festival’s selection focuses on movies and documentaries related to human rights. We selected three of them for you.

De Facto | 5 Apr 2022

news South Ossetia

Kremlin Plays Down South Ossetia Leader's Call to Join Russia

The Kremlin has played down a suggestion by the president of South Ossetia, a breakaway region of Georgia, that the unrecognized state could become part of Russia.

The Moscow Times | 31 Mar 2022

news Kuril Islands

How a war in Ukraine crushed the hopes of thousands of elderly Japanese

Soviet soldiers barged into Hirotoshi Kawata’s home on Sept. 4, 1945, searching for hidden Japanese soldiers and valuables. Kawata, then 11, remembers understanding only two words they said: tokei, or wristwatch; and sake, which they went on to loot from the home.

The Washington Post | 31 Mar 2022

interview Transnistria

The Transnistrian Dissident Who Fled to Ukraine

A young activist who documented the dire conditions in the Transnistrian army found herself in Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion.

IWPR | 30 Mar 2022

analysis Kosovo

Does Kosovo Still Rely on Goods from Serbia?

On September 24 last year, amid the latest flare-up in tensions between Serbia and its former province, Kosovo, a Kosovo Albanian businessman called Burim Piraj took to Facebook with a call to boycott goods made in Serbia.

Balkan Insight | 30 Mar 2022

news South Ossetia

Breakaway Georgian Region Seeks to Be Putin’s Next Annexation

The breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia will seek to join Russia, potentially leading to a new escalation in the Kremlin’s conflict with the West.

Bloomberg | 30 Mar 2022

film Abkhazia

‘Here, We Are Talking Freely’

What makes a place your country? What makes a home? In Little Man, Time and the Troubadour, director Ineke Smits searches for answers in Abkhazia.

Joost Smets | 29 Mar 2022

design

The Past and Future of Flag Emoji

Unicode will no longer accept proposals for new flag emoji. “The Unicode Consortium isn’t in the business of determining what is a country and what isn’t,” writes Jennifer Daniel, chair of Unicode’s emoji subcommittee, in a March 28 blog post.

UNICODE | 28 Mar 2022

analysis North Pole

With Eyes on Russia, the U.S. Military Prepares for an Arctic Future

As climate change opens up the Arctic for transit and exploration, Russia has increasingly militarized the region. The U.S. is preparing a more aggressive presence of its own.

The New York Times | 27 Mar 2022

news South Ossetia

Tanks with the flag of unrecognized South Ossetia spotted in Melitopol

In Melitopol, temporarily occupied by Russian troops, military equipment of the unrecognized South Ossetia, whose forces joined the invaders, was recorded.

The Times Hub | 27 Mar 2022

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