During the early twentieth century the inhabitants of Icaria took advantage of the war in the Balkans and the declining power of the Ottoman Empire to declare the Free State of Icaria (Ελευθέρα Πολιτεία Ικαρίας, Elefthéra Politía Ikarías) on 18th July 1912. The country enjoyed its freedom for five months until it was annexed by the Kingdom of Greece.

Overwhelmed by the vast offerings at The International Film Festival Amsterdam? Let yourself be guided by the IDFA Pathways. De Facto especially recommends ‘Palestine’, ‘The Law of the Land’ and ‘Life in Europe’. See you there?

And strangely enough, it means China and the Philippines have traded positions.

Taipei sets aside fears of Chinese invasion and trade-war crossfire to focus on potential cooperation with the new administration

In October, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that his country would transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. Diego Garcia, one of the islands, hosts a US military base and is at the center of the internationally lauded yet highly contentious agreement.

Georgia’s secessionist region of Abkhazia and its de facto government are becoming aware that Russian economic, political, and military support was never unconditional.

Yasha, who used to be a devoted Soviet worker, is struggling to adapt to reality after the Soviet Union’s collapse - he prefers to continue his life in a state that no longer exists. Edgar Baghdasaryan’s tragicomedy Yasha & Leonid Brezhnev will be Armenia’s submission for the upcoming Oscars’ Best International Feature Film.

The exhibition ‘Mir is Mirë’ (‘mir’ meaning peace in Serbian; ‘mirë’ meaning good in Albanian) opened in Serbia and Kosovo last week. Young artists from Serbia and Kosovo showcase their work on the themes of conflict and peace, wartime trauma, national identity and cultural resilience. The event encourages visitors to look beyond nationalist biases and political division. It takes place in the wake of the Serbian-Kosovar ‘Mirëdita, Dobar Dan!’ cultural festival, which was abruptly cancelled by the Serbian authorities last June.

A map unveiled by Somalia’s federal government during a recent ceremony in Mogadishu has sparked a backlash from Puntland and Hirshabelle, two key federal states.

It has been more than 30 years since fighting broke out between Georgia and Abkhazia. Some of those whom the conflict displaced found refuge in a former Georgian sanatorium: the Hotel Metalurg. Now, they’re under pressure to leave again. Watch the documentary here.

The UK has announced it is giving up sovereignty of a remote but strategically important cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean after more than half a century.

The BBC gained unprecedented access to Diego Garcia, the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago. It is strictly out of bounds to most civilians - the site of a highly secretive UK-US military base shrouded for decades in rumour and mystery.

In the regional capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, satellite imagery reveals hundreds of incidents of what appears to be ransacking across the city of Khankendi, known as Stepanakert to Armenians.

400 years after The Netherlands colonized parts of Taiwan, the International Performance Festival Feeling Curious? invites Stefan Kaegi to turn the theatre into an embassy. September 28 & 29 in Rotterdam, NL.

While Tatevik Khachatrian was forced to leave everything behind one year ago, Vasila Mammadova was hopeful that, for the first time in 30 years, there was a chance she might get everything back.

The Papua New Guinea and autonomous Bougainville governments have agreed on a moderator to be brought to try and repair an impasse over the province’s push for independence.

Moscow will consider any provocations against Russian peacekeepers and citizens in Transnistria is an attack on Russia.

Tens of thousands of people were going hungry in Nagorno Karabakh — but the International Red Cross faced growing obstacles as it tried to deliver help. Drawing on interviews, data about ICRC convoys provided by inside sources, and weeks of on-the-ground reporting, OCCRP has investigated how Azerbaijan obstructed their work.

raising flags is an ongoing project by museum in progress that has been realized at various locations since 2023, including virtual exhibition spaces online and media spaces in newspapers and magazines. Numerous artists participated and made flags, commenting on questions of social coexistence in challenging times.

After giving a speech from the symbolic Arc de Triomf in Barcelona and then evading a police dragnet, Carles Puigdemont has made it back to Belgium. ‘Today I’m in Waterloo after a few extremely difficult days,’ he posted on X.