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Hetav Rojan

@hetavrojan.bsky.social
1.4K followers 352 following 298 posts

Lecturer of Int’nat’l Security at University College Copenhagen. Guest analyst @diis.dk. • Tracking how armed groups govern & manage political violence. • Training practitioners in the security sector. Priors: @ECFR.eu, Deloitte

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Reposted by Hetav Rojan
Sarah Parkinson @separkinson.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Hizballah has lost strength & support in recent years. That said, Israel’s current campaign, basically unanswered by the Lebanese gov’t & military, is seen in historical context. People don’t like being bombed & occupied. Israel has repeatedly done both. Remember: 82-00 was Israel’s Vietnam. 1/n
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Frederick Deknatel @freddydeknatel.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
“In perhaps the most revealing echo of all, the Trump administration said the Iranian regime would crumble or surrender under U.S. and Israeli bombardment, evoking the Bush fantasy of ‘shock and awe.’” My piece for @newlinesmag.bsky.social on uncanny echoes of Iraq: newlinesmag.com/essays/the-u...
newlinesmag.com
The Uncanny Echoes of Iraq in Trump’s War With Iran
The president has often defined his foreign policy approach in opposition to the Bush administration’s, but he is following in its footsteps
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Ayla Albayrak @aylushka.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Turkish survey results on espionage charges against jailed Istanbul opposition mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu: - Of all respondents across party lines 70% believe he is innocent - Fewer than third of AKP voters believe he's guilty of espionage, while 56% say they're undecided medyascope.tv/2025/11/04/i...
medyascope.tv
İmamoğlu'nun casusluk yaptığına AKP seçmeninin sadece yüzde 28'i inanıyor - Medyascope
CHP MYK'da, Ekrem İmamoğlu'na yöneltilen casusluk suçlamasının sorulduğu güncel anket verileri paylaşıldı. Ankete katılanların yüzde 70'i İmamoğlu'nun casusluk yaptığına inanmazken, AKP seçmenleri ara...
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Ayla Albayrak @aylushka.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited Helsinki today, said his country wants a renewed push towards EU membership. At presser with Finnish counterpart Elina Valtonen, both underlined importance of security cooperation (as agreed in a memorandum in June) 👇🏼 www.youtube.com/live/ov8AhOP...
youtube.com
Press Conference: FM Elina Valtonen and FM Hakan Fidan
YouTube video by Suomen ulkoministeriö
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Biruk Terrefe @terrefebiruk.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
The next time, I am asked what people can do with a degree in African Studies, I can finally say 'they can become mayor of New York.'
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Sam Hirst @samueljhirst.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Just published. A Turkish-language history of the Soviet Union, written with @onurisci.bsky.social. Somewhat in the way that Dan Diner asked in Cataclysms how 20th-century history might be told looking out from Odesa, we approach Soviet history with Turkish connections/comparisons in mind.
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Two Swedish citizens (18 & 20yo) charged with terrorism for allegedly throwing grenades at Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, which exploded near the building. First trial in recent DK history for an executed terror attack, rather than just a plot or attempt. www.dr.dk/nyheder/sene...
dr.dk
To svenskere tiltalt for terror: Kastede håndgranater mod Israels ambassade
Det er første gang i nyere tid, at der nu kommer en retssag, hvor de tiltalte er anklaget for en terrorhandling, som også er udført.
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Late to this, but UK removes HTS from the list of proscribed terrorist organisations to enable "closer engagement with the new Syrian government." www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
UK removes Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham from terrorist organisation list
An order has been laid in Parliament to deproscribe Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), enabling closer engagement with the new Syrian government.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 28/10/2025
San Francisco-based Zignal Labs is aiding ICE’s crackdown on free speech. Its AI surveillance program monitors 8 billion social media posts a day. Clients include the Israeli military and the Pentagon. Surveillance as a service, authoritarianism as a business model. truthout.org/articles/ice...
truthout.org
ICE Just Spent Millions on a Social Media Surveillance AI Program
The digital surveillance software, known as Zignal Labs, is also used by the Israeli military and the Pentagon.
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
»Turkey plans to supply military equipment to Syria, including armored cars, drones, and air-defense systems, to be deployed in northern Syria.« www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Turkey Plans to Supply Arms to Syria, Seeks Wider Deal on Kurds
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
»The Times verified that government security forces carried out at least one of the executions we documented. In two other executions, witnesses recounted that at least some of the fighters identified themselves as members of government security forces.« www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/w...
nytimes.com
Firing Squads and Forced Death Leaps: A Tipping Point in Syria
Ten months after rebels toppled the long-entrenched Assad regime, little-checked bloodshed has led many Syrians to abandon hope that the years of brutality may be over.
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Christiaan Triebert @trbrtc.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
When Bashar al-Assad’s regime collapsed in Syria, many of the officials who enabled and enforced his brutal regime disappeared. Our reporting uncovers who they are, what they did and where they fled. nyti.ms/3J1W5Cs
nytimes.com
The Vanishing Act: How Assad’s Top Henchmen Fled Syria, and Justice
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Jacob Ware @jacobware.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
A worrying observation from @slotkin.senate.gov: “We’ve never had an instance where there’s a secret list of what I understand to be dozens of new terrorist organizations that the American public and certainly the oversight committees don’t get to know.” www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
nbcnews.com
Members of Congress growing concerned over lack of information from administration about Venezuela strikes, sources say
Republicans and Democrats say the administration is failing to share basic information with Congress about the intelligence, rationale and goals of its war on drug trafficking.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
The Syrian government and the main Kurdish-led force in the country’s northeast have agreed in principle on a plan to merge the U.S.-backed force as a cohesive group into the national army, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi told Hogir Abdo for @apnews.com apnews.com/article/syri...
apnews.com
Syrian Kurdish forces reach agreement with Damascus to merge with national army, commander says
The Syrian government and the main Kurdish-led force in the country's northeast have agreed in principle to merge the U.S.-backed force into the national army.
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
»The authorities were jamming GPS signals in the city to make it harder for Israeli or American warplanes to locate potential targets. But that also made it near impossible for customers to hail his cab. Since June, his business was down 70 percent.« www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/w...
nytimes.com
Spies, Burgers and Bombs: After a New War, Old Wounds Resurface in Tehran
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Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard @sondergaard.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
👉 Hvorfor er Trump lykkedes med en våbenhvile mellem Israel og Hamas netop nu? 👉 Hvordan har amerikanernes syn på Israel ændret sig de seneste år? 👉 Hvordan harmonerer Trumps fredsdiplomati i Mellemøsten med hans America First agenda? Det talte jeg om i Deadline. www.dr.dk/drtv/se/dead...
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
I spent 3 weeks on a cargo ship in the Arctic, from Canada to Greenland. Our only company was blizzards, killer whales, thick fog and icebergs. Here is my story about how the West is lagging seriously behind Russia in the Arctic, and why it's so difficult to catch up www.wsj.com/world/inside...
wsj.com
Inside the West’s Race to Defend the Arctic
Sailors scanned for icebergs on a nine-day journey to the U.S.’s northernmost military installation this summer—part of an effort to erode Russia’s vast advantage in the region.
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Dr Steven Wagner @stevenbwagner.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
This is the first time in my adult life that Israeli media mention end-of-conflict scenarios. Suddenly no more pundit nonsense about 'total victory'. There is worry about disarming hamas, enforcement, etc. I don't remember this level of optimism since i was a kid.
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Globalnyt @globalnyt.dk · 09/10/2025
Efter søndagens valg i Syrien er en tredjedel af parlamentets medlemmer nu på plads. Valget har undervejs været præget af uvished, så Globalnyt har bedt adjunkt og Syrien-kender @hetavrojan.eu om at forklare, hvad den historiske valghandling betyder for landet. globalnyt.dk/adjunkt-om-v...
globalnyt.dk
Adjunkt om valget i Syrien: Kritikere kalder det "intransparent og nær-nepotistisk" | Globalnyt
For første gang siden den tidligere diktator Bashar al-Assad blev væltet i december sidste år har der været valg i Syrien. Det var dog ingen traditionel fol ...
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Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 08/10/2025
In valedictory @financialtimes.com interview, outgoing UN envoy Pedersen very critical on state of Syrian transition and Shara's management of process: www.ft.com/content/0af9...
ft.com
Syria on ‘knife-edge’ in wake of sectarian clashes, warns UN envoy
Slow place of reform adds to pressure on Ahmed al-Sharaa’s fragile new government
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
TL;DR Most seats went to Sunni men. Only 6 women and 10 minorities were elected nationwide. apnews.com/article/syri...
apnews.com
Minorities had hoped to break into Syria's new political order in the weekend vote but few succeeded
Syria's first parliamentary elections since the ouster of former President Bashar Assad have revealed deep divisions among the country's minority communities.
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Turkey extends airspace closure to flights to and from Sulaymaniyah Airport until January 6, 2026. The ban was initially imposed in April 2023. www.basnews.com/en/babat/896...
basnews.com
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David Wells @davidwellsct.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
New paper out with the CoE exploring how and how quickly terrorists adopt new technologies. It identifies factors inhibiting or encouraging new tech adoption - with two case studies on virtual assets and drones - and analyses the impact of new tech on terrorism in Europe rm.coe.int/report-on-th...
rm.coe.int
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Rich in detail: this report traces how July’s violence in Sweida pushed Druze factions toward seeing autonomy as a viable political option. apnews.com/article/syri...
apnews.com
Druze seek Sweida autonomy and turn toward Israel, adding new twist to Syria's tensions
When Syrian government forces entered the minority Druze enclave of Sweida this summer, it backfired.
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Rare primary-source look at Druze groups in Suwayda w/ Hijri endorsements. This interview with a National Guard constituent group offers valuable insight into local dynamics often missing from broader analyses. www.aymennaltamimi.com/p/druze-fact...
aymennaltamimi.com
Druze Factions in al-Suwayda' after the National Guard Merger: Interview with a Constituent Group
Since late August, virtually all Druze armed factions in the southern Syrian province of al-Suwayda’ have merged into the ‘National Guard’ initiative that is endorsed by Hikmat al-Hijri (one of the th...
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
This is a well-sourced report on Turkey’s evolving Syria policy, drawing on Turkish-language material that’s often missing from English-language debates. www.ispionline.it/en/publicati...
ispionline.it
Turkey-Syria Relations: The Outcome of Long-Term Cooperation  | ISPI
Turkey’s swift embrace of Syria’s new leadership has transformed Damascus from a security file into a partner in diplomacy, trade, and reconstruction, reshaping regional dynamics and testing internati...
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
As Syria holds its first election since Assad’s exit, Syrians must look to European courts for accountability. www.reuters.com/world/middle...
reuters.com
German police arrest Syrian man suspected of crimes against humanity
German police arrested on Tuesday a Syrian man suspected of committing crimes against humanity, including killing and torturing, as a militia leader in 2011 in Aleppo, prosecutors said.
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
In Syria, a new generation has been shaped by competing political projects as much as by war. On the eve of the first election in 50 years, their exclusion risks reinforcing the very divides the vote is meant to bridge. www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
The Women Who Helped Defeat ISIS Are Fighting for Their Place in the New Syria
Kurdish forces that have elevated women are wary of the Islamist values of Syria’s new governors.
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Turkey recap @turkeyrecap.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Sunday extras: "Can Turkey and Israel Find Common Ground in Syria?" with Kenneth Pollack, @gonultol.bsky.social and @natansachs.bsky.social . [1/5]
youtube.com
Can Turkey and Israel Find Common Ground in Syria?
YouTube video by Middle East Institute
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 05/10/2025
Syria is holding parliamentary elections for the first time since the fall of the country’s longtime autocratic leader, Bashar Assad, who was unseated in a rebel offensive in December. Here’s a breakdown of how the elections will work and what to watch:
bit.ly
What to expect as Syria goes to the polls for the first time since Assad's ouster
Syria is holding parliamentary elections for the first time since its autocratic former president, Bashar Assad, was unseated in December.
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Aron Lund @aronlund.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Fascinating survey of Syrian public opinion by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies. Found through @abuaardvark.bsky.social's Substack newsletter (which is also fascinating). arabcenterdc.org/resource/ara...
arabcenterdc.org
Arab Opinion Index: Syrian Public Opinion Survey 2025
The results of the latest public opinion poll conducted in Syria between July and August 2025, surveying more than 3,500 Syrians. The poll provides rare and valuable insights into public attitudes in ...
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DIIS - Danish Institute for International Studies @diis.dk · 29/08/2025
A new DIIS report maps the patchwork of armed political actors in Syria after Assad’s exit. Get to know the competing power centres and their transnational ties to understand Syria’s transition 👉 www.diis.dk/en/node/27819 @hetavrojan.eu @monakanwalsheikh.bsky.social
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EADI @eadi.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Also featured in our newsletter yesterday mailchi.mp/eadi/nl2augu...
mailchi.mp
EADI eNewsletter #8/2 | Meritocracy, Inequality, Water & More
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
My report "Syria in Transition" is live. This is a field guide to Syria 2.0. It maps how domestic and external actors are asserting control in competing power centres. Made possible by @monakanwalsheikh.bsky.social, our team at @diis.dk & the peer reviewers. Thank you. → www.diis.dk/en/research/...
Front page of a report with the title Syria in Transition. Background is beige-hued and the central motive is a map outline of Syria with water-color shadings of different colors to imply the diversity of identities in Syria.
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Black Hawk was attacked by cocaine-trafficking group. “This is the first drone attack we’ve heard of in Antioquia,” www.wsj.com/world/americ...
wsj.com
Police Helicopter Downed by Drone in Colombia, Killing 12
A Black Hawk was attacked by cocaine-trafficking group, officials said, the latest in an escalating series of drone attacks against security forces.
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Haid Haid @haidhaid22.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
My latest argues that the ceasefire may have stopped the shooting, but it’s no return to normal. Syria has changed at its core, and without tackling the underlying causes, this calm won’t hold. en.majalla.com/node/326545/...
en.majalla.com
Solution needed: Suweida’s ceasefire is a pause, not peace
The guns may have fallen silent but in Syria's Druze-dominated southern city, they have enforced the status quo. That is dangerous, since it fails to recognise that Syria has now fundamentally changed
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Quick backdrop: Iraq halted oil exports via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in March 2023 after an international arbitration ruling found Turkey in breach of the agreement for allowing independent KRG exports without Baghdad’s approval.
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Turkey has announced it will terminate its 1973 oil pipeline agreement with Iraq, effective July 2026. While framed as a legal move, the decision is likely a strategic manoeuvre in ongoing energy negotiations with Baghdad.
t24.com.tr
Türkiye-Irak Petrol Boru Hattı Anlaşması, seneye sona erecek
Türkiye-Irak Petrol Boru Hattı Anlaşması, seneye sona erecek
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Mesut Uyar @mesutuyar.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
#OTD From my private collection Turkish airborne propaganda leaflets dispersed at the beginning of the Turkish amphibious and airborne operation to Cyprus on 20 July 1974. Turkish Special Operations Department prepared 12 leaflets in 5 colours
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
There are "real fears that Syria is heading towards being broken up into statelets,” a senior Gulf Arab official told Reuters. Great dispatch from Maya Gebeili. www.reuters.com/world/middle...
reuters.com
Exclusive: Syria believed it had green light from US, Israel to deploy troops to Sweida
Syria's government misread how Israel would respond to its troops deploying to the country's south this week, encouraged by U.S. messaging that Syria should be governed as a centralized state, eight sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
@ajaltamimi.bsky.social Hi Aymenn, would you mind following back for a quick DM exchange? Thanks!
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Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi @ajaltamimi.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
New: some observations from a meeting with media activist/spokesman for 'mainstream' Druze al-Suwayda' faction Liwa al-Jabal, focusing on the issue of relationship between al-Suwayda' factions and the Syrian central government/Ministry of Defence www.aymennaltamimi.com/p/the-druze-...
aymennaltamimi.com
The Druze in Southern Syria: A 'Mainstream' Perspective
In 2017, when the Druze militia group ‘Liwa al-Jabal’ (‘The Mountain Brigade’) first emerged in the southern Syrian province of al-Suwayda’, the group’s spokesman and media activist Ziyad Abu Tafesh c...
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
‘Shot in the head, as if executed’: four days of violence end with hundreds dead in southern Syria www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
theguardian.com
‘Shot in the head, as if executed’: four days of violence end with hundreds dead in southern Syria
Sectarian divisions prompted the worst unrest in Syria since March as the Druze population of Sweida province suffered massacres and executions
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
PKK’s leader wearing a greige Lacoste polo has absolutely broken my Kurdish WhatsApp channel. www.rudaw.net/turkish/midd...
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Jared Malsin @jmalsin.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Since December we have been investigating the Assad regime's killings in Saydnaya prison. Based on interviews with 21 former detainees, we show the extent of the atrocities committed in the prison, including an incident in March 2023 in which some 600 men were executed in one week:
wsj.com
A Syrian Death Factory Gives Up Its Secrets
Under the Assad regime, Saydnaya prison became a mass-killing machine; ‘a symbol of shame for the whole world.’
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Darin Self @darinself.com · 01/07/2025
If a sitting president can openly muse about arresting and disappearing someone who is likely to become mayor of the country's largest city, while also getting the funding for a massive secret police, it'd be hard to find sufficient evidence to qualify that country as a democracy.
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Hetav Rojan @hetavrojan.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
Turkey is a gift to any summer news room. Many stories coming out these days. Among them, this curveball: www.reuters.com/world/middle...
reuters.com
Cyprus invites Turkey's Erdogan to summit despite long rift over 1974 invasion
Cyprus said on Monday it would invite arch-foe Turkey to a summit during its European Union presidency next year despite a decades-long rift over Ankara's 1974 invasion and its backing of a breakaway state on the divided island.
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Yevgeniy Golovchenko @golovchenko.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
1/ What happens when you give social data science students 821.6 GB of public vessel geolocation data (AIS) and just 9 hours to identify potentially suspicious behavior near the Danish coast? papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
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Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
"Was it really this dumb in 2003" guys they renamed french fries
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