Durrie Bouscaren
@durriethekid.bsky.social
correspondent for hire, Istanbul Sound and words @NPR.org, @TheWorld.org https://www.durriebouscaren.com/
If anyone's in need of a good holiday conversation starter -- may I interest you in Turkish oil wrestling? @theworld.org #shortfilm #wrestling www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z6b...
Why Turkish wrestlers are covered in 2 tons of olive oil
YouTube video by The World News Radio
youtube.com
We've been experimenting with video shorts at @theworld.org, and this one about Turkish oil wrestling was absolutely fascinating. (Film by Helene Franchineau, edits by Marta Franco) www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z6b...
Why Turkish wrestlers are covered in 2 tons of olive oil
YouTube video by The World News Radio
youtube.com
Reporter @durriethekid.bsky.social explores the tradition and cultural significance of Turkish oil wrestling. Dating back to ancient civilizations, the Kırkpınar tournament sees roughly 800 participants cover themselves in two tons of olive oil over the course of a week.
The 664-year-old sport where anything goes
YouTube video by The World News Radio
youtu.be
English translation of a Haaretz article, asking Israelis why they don't see the parallels between starvation in Gaza and the Holocaust: robertreich.substack.com/p/a-betrayal...
A betrayal of the victims of the Holocaust
A view from Israel
robertreich.substack.com
FMA condemns the killing last night of five Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza by the Israeli military and stands in solidarity with our Palestinian colleagues, at least 178 of whom have been killed by Israel since the conflict began. Journalists are #NotATarget.
Committee to Protect Journalists@pressfreedom.bsky.social · last yr.An entire news crew working for Al Jazeera was killed by Israel as they sought to bring the world firsthand reporting from #Gaza. Among them was prominent journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who had been previously smeared and threatened by the IDF. #NotATarget Full statement: cpj.org/2025/08/isra...
An entire news crew working for Al Jazeera was killed by Israel as they sought to bring the world firsthand reporting from #Gaza. Among them was prominent journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who had been previously smeared and threatened by the IDF. #NotATarget Full statement: cpj.org/2025/08/isra...
Israel kills Al Jazeera journalists in targeted Gaza City airstrike - Committee to Protect Journalists
New York, August 10, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is appalled to learn of the killing today of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and M...
cpj.org
NEW: Of the 230+ Venezuelans deported to El Salvador: • Almost half had immigration cases that were not yet decided • More than 60 had pending asylum claims, some just days away from final hearings These men had followed U.S. immigration procedures. Then Trump changed the rules.
He Came to the U.S. to Support His Sick Child. He Was Detained. Then He Disappeared.
Like most of the more than 230 Venezuelan men deported to a Salvadoran prison, José Manuel Ramos Bastidas had followed U.S. immigration rules. Then Trump rewrote them.
propublica.org
The UN system is at a crossroads. It’s not just financial, although that’s a big part. It’s a crisis of mission, scope and purpose. The job losses are a symptom
A 20-year-old American citizen from Tampa was beaten to death by Israeli settlers on Friday while visiting family in the occupied West Bank www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Palestinian American from Florida killed in the West Bank, family says
Sayfollah Kamel Musallet, who lived in Tampa and was an American citizen, his family said, was visiting relatives in the West Bank when he was killed.
washingtonpost.com
NEW: Turkish government policies that are clearing the way for mining, tourism and unchecked development are also fueling unprecedented forest fires in the country, show @sofiacherici.bsky.social and @aylinlc.bsky.social in this @newlinesmag.bsky.social investigation newlinesmag.com/reportage/th...
The Political Machine Feeding Turkey’s Wildfires
The blazes ravaging the country have been worsened by climate change, but were set by policy decisions
newlinesmag.com
Forest fires in southern Turkey continue, despite a week of firefighting efforts: Four missing, and two confirmed deaths including an excavator operator fighting the fires and an 81-year-old who died from smoke inhalation, @medyascope.tv reports: medyascope.tv/2025/07/03/i...
İzmir'deki orman yangınlarında hayatını kaybedenlerin sayısı 2'ye yükseldi - Medyascope
Ödemiş'te yangın söndürme çalışmasında İbrahim Demir hayatını kaybetti. 81 yaşındaki İbrahim Erkan da yaşamını yitirdi.
medyascope.tv
We're on @npr.org 's State of The World podcast today -- talking about Iran's postwar crackdown on dissent. My colleague who made this possible can't be named for their safety, but they're doing an incredible job sharing the voices of people in Iran right now. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
A Crackdown Inside Iran
Podcast Episode · State of the World from NPR · 07/02/2025 · 9m
podcasts.apple.com
For @NPR, my colleague and I spent the day speaking to Iranians about the government's post-war crackdown on dissent -- both those still inside the country and those who have left. www.npr.org/2025/06/29/n...
Iranians fleeing to Turkey fear for the future
Activists in Iran say the government there is cracking down in an effort to undo infiltration by Israeli intelligence.
npr.org
Good morning from Istanbul. Big fires in Turkey's south have prompted evacuations: www.reuters.com/business/env... Satellite data screenshot from Copernicus fire locator this morning
At least 51 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza waiting for food trucks. Israeli forces also injured 200 people after opening fire on the crowd. “It was a massacre,” one witness said, adding the soldiers continued firing on people as they fled from the area. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
At least 51 Palestinians killed in Gaza waiting for food trucks, says health ministry
More than 200 also wounded on Tuesday morning as they waited for UN and commercial trucks to enter territory with aid supplies
theguardian.com
This is what rule by the confidently ignorant looks like; sabotage stuff you don't understand and then discover it was actually doing vital work well at trivial cost
Ellen Nakashima@ellenwapo.bsky.social · last yr.US scrambles to bring back VOA’s Persian service amid Iran-Israel conflict politi.co/3HHsTQ4, via @politico.com
Israel launched a series of strikes against Iran targeting the country’s nuclear program and killing three of the nation’s security chiefs. The attack prompted fears that long-simmering tensions between the heavily armed rivals were spiraling into war. Follow live updates. https://trib.al/KDSG5hl
frm @mfaturkiyep.bsky.social "(The attacks).. during intensified negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, clearly indicates that the Netanyahu government is unwilling to resolve any issue through diplomatic means and does not hesitate to risk regional stability and global peace for its own interests"
Israeli strikes near aid site in the Gaza Strip kill 31, medics say – Middle East crisis live
Israeli strikes near aid site in the Gaza Strip kill 31, medics say – Middle East crisis live
Gaza civil defence agency said Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting to enter a US-backed food distribution centre A 10-year-old Palestinian boy who survived an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month which killed his father and nine siblings was due to arrive in Italy on Wednesday for treatment, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). Adam and his mother, paediatrician Alaa al-Najjar, were due to fly to Milan in northern Italy on Wednesday evening alongside his aunt and four cousins, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said. Continue reading...
theguardian.com
“I struggle for adjectives to adequately describe the horror that this administration has visited on the world,” said a former State Department official. “It keeps me up at night.”
Death, Sexual Violence and Human Trafficking: Fallout From U.S. Aid Withdrawal Hits the World’s Most Fragile Locations
Exclusive State Department records show: As the Trump administration abandons its humanitarian commitments, diplomats are reporting that the cuts have led to violence and instability while…
propublica.org
Mid press-scrum on the Ukraine-Russia peace talks today, about an hour after I found out I’d been laid off due to budget cuts at @wgbh.org and @theworld.org We’re living through interesting times. Will miss covering it with some of the best people I’ve ever met.
Following Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul today, coming on the heels of a weekend full of drone attacks. Ukrainian delegation is asking for an unconditional ceasefire of at least 30 days, exchange of all prisoners of war, and the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia.
Wanted to explain another social media silence. Or maybe all of them – over the past six years of living in Turkey. www.durriebouscaren.com/post/on-prot...
This much we know -- the rise of autocracy will come for your right to speak first. If you stand for human rights at all, you have to be consistent.
Durrie Bouscaren@durriethekid.bsky.social · 2y agoMeanwhile, U.S. authorities appear to have revoked the visa of a Turkish Tufts student, Rümesya Öztürk, and imprisoned her 1600 miles away in Louisiana. For cowriting an opinion piece in a student paper asking her school to recognize genocide in Gaza. I'm floored. nytimes.com/2025/03/26/u...
Meanwhile, U.S. authorities appear to have revoked the visa of a Turkish Tufts student, Rümesya Öztürk, and imprisoned her 1600 miles away in Louisiana. For cowriting an opinion piece in a student paper asking her school to recognize genocide in Gaza. I'm floored. nytimes.com/2025/03/26/u...
Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts Student, Is Detained by ICE
The university was told that the student’s visa had been terminated, its president said in a late-night email to students and faculty members.
nytimes.com
Durrie Bouscaren@durriethekid.bsky.social · 2y agoTurkish judge has just ruled for the release of seven journalists arrested for covering pro-democracy protests in Istanbul. Journalism is not a crime!!
Turkish judge has just ruled for the release of seven journalists arrested for covering pro-democracy protests in Istanbul. Journalism is not a crime!!