PolGeoNow

Nice photo essay from @CrisisGroup showing on-the-ground reality of separation between Republic of #Cyprus and internationally-unrecognized Turkish Republic of #NorthernCyprus. #geography #defacto #independence #Mediterranean #Europe

My latest photo essay, with @nigargoksel and @TuzovskayaN, is out here. It looks at how decades of separation continue to shape daily life, landscapes and limited forms of contact across the island. crisisgroup.org/phe/europe/cyp…

@AAGA_CAWLAN101 Thanks for the reporting. Did not realize this.

Meanwhile, reports from locals say that all of those valleys have once again come under the control of IS-S militants.

In late 2025, Puntland withdrew its forces from the valleys of Miraale, Baallade, and Maraagade. After withdrawing from those valleys, the forces moved toward Toga Jaceel, while most of them continued pulling out of the broader Calmiskaad mountain range.

Good map of an under-reported facet of the situation in #Gaza

Tactical donkey in Almiskaad, Puntland

@kevinjonheller Even for block quotes?

I'm not sure what's more monstrous in academic writing: not using the Oxford comma or italicising quotations.

@profreespeech2 We weren't endorsing them in any way. Troops at illegal bases are still "forces".

@PolGeoNow I'm implying your propaganda language doesn't whitewash their crimes. They are not "forces", they were illegal bases used to loot the country. Piracy is what they were doing, stealing Syria's oil. But now they are leaving because they don't want to steal from al-Qaeda.

News broke today that US forces have finished withdrawing from Qasrak, their last major base in #Syria. The base is labeled on our Syria control map from last month, which is otherwise still up-to-date: polgeonow.com/2026/03/syria-… #MiddleEast #MENAregion #geopolitics #geography

@profreespeech2 The leaders are former Al Qaeda members, but if you're trying to imply that they've imposed Al Qaeda ideology on the country, that's not really what's happened so far.

@PolGeoNow American terrorists achieved their goal. Al-Qaeda is now in power in Syria.

@mukeshkapila Yes, but we should also keep in mind the importance of Sudan's conflict is spread of a comparative wide area - would look different if we graphed deaths per capita. Maybe we should be doing both.

Revealing chart: how deadly is the #Sudan war?

Destroying the @InternetArchive's @WayBackMachine would be the equivalent of the burning of the Library of Alexandria - one of the worst losses of knowledge in history. Media giants are now threatening to do this. We can't let this happen. Pass it on.

Publishers have real questions about AI, but let’s be clear: @waybackmachine isn’t a backdoor for AI scraping. For 30 years, it’s been built for people, not bulk harvesting. We actively monitor to prevent abuse. Learn more ⤵️ techdirt.com/2026/02/17/pre…

“We are collateral damage.” - @MarkGraham, dir. of the @waybackmachine When preservation is caught in the crossfire, it’s not just libraries that lose—it’s the public’s access to history & knowlege. The web shouldn’t disappear behind closed doors. sfexaminer.com/news/technolog…

@_hudsonc Considering someone to have legitimately earned their role vs. taking them seriously...are two very different things.

How does the AU take seriously a leader who wins with nearly 98% of the vote? And how are we expected to take them seriously? au.int/en/pressreleas…

@willswanson @France24_en @bastien_rnl Will look out for those! Saw one on your X profile already. We're on Bluesky too, and will look for you on Instagram.

@PolGeoNow @France24_en @bastien_rnl Ps I’ll be sharing more photos from our shoot in Al Miskat here on X and instagram, and you can see some BTS I’ve already shared in older posts. Lots of easter eggs for keen PL watchers but the platform is not what it used to be, everything gets buried these days.

Somalia's frontline soldiers in the war against ISIS/Daesh in Puntland watch our documentary for @France24_en #REPORTERS now online: youtu.be/Esnczx8YiBw?si… #Somalia #ISIS #Puntland

@adrian_otoiu @victoriaslog But there are plenty of other possible criticisms of Russian policy that are more specific. Annexation by force (as in Crimea/Donbass) is nearly unique in the period since the end of WWII, for example (because intl law clearly condemns it). Nuclear brinkmanship, authoritarianism?

@adrian_otoiu @victoriaslog Whether they're normalized or universally condemned, Russia doesn't stand out in that regard. There's also the issue that in many or most cases, both countries claim the other grabbed the land from them, either most recently or the time before that.

A small reminder of why it’s horrible to be Russia’s neighbor. And it’s not just about stolen land. There’s also cultural destruction, genocide, and deprivation of national sovereignty, heritage, and traditions. These “invisible” in metrics things matter even more. *I have no idea who made this graphic. I saw it online and turned it into a collage

@France24_fr @bastien_rnl @willswanson Great report - thank you for making this happen!

#REPORTERS - En #Somalie, les forces armées luttent chaque jour pour repousser les jihadistes de l'organisation l'État islamique, qui se sont installés dans la région du #Puntland. Reportage exclusif de nos correspondants @bastien_rnl et @willswanson ➡️go.france24.com/Gem

Notice the #Puntland soldiers wearing prominent #Somalia flag patches. Despite not recognizing the federal govt in Mogadishu, Puntland still considers itself proudly part of Somalia. Last year we debunked misconceptions that it had declared #independence: polgeonow.com/2025/06/puntla…

In report's aerial shots, Sheebaab village is recognizable from satellite imagery, despite video's subtitles transcribing it incorrectly as "Sheebaad". #geolocation #OSINT #Somalia #Puntland

Good video reporting from frontlines of still-ongoing #Puntland vs. #ISIS war in northern #Somalia by @bastien_rnl, @willswanson, and @ARTEfr for @France24_en. Seemingly shot last Nov - reporters visited ISIS-Somalia's former "so-called capital", Sheebaab village in Almiskat Mts