“‘The first thing that happened when the regime fell is that the mobile phones started working again!’ It was, maybe, a good omen.” @emilywither.bsky.social for @restofworld.org : restofworld.org/2025/syria-t...

"When you’re in Silicon Valley, you never really think of the ordinary. You’re always thinking of the disruptive. Syria will be the ultimate disrupter." @emilywither.bsky.social @restofworld.org restofworld.org/2025/syria-t...

“Take the only fertility clinic in Gaza. They smashed the tanks, killed those embryos.” Navi Pillay, Chair of the UN commission of inquiry, tells @krishgm.bsky.social they were “thorough” in determining that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Read and watch: www.channel4.com/news/why-my-...

Assad is out. Startups are in. Read @emilywither.bsky.social's feature on the new Syria restofworld.org/2025/syria-t...

📰Sunday extras! "Turkey's 'Year of the Family'" by @emilywither.bsky.social and @zbilginsoy.bsky.social. [1/5]

President Erdogan wants women to have at least three children to boost the country's declining birthrate. Will it work? My programme on Turkey's 'Year of the Family' initiative for BBC World Service 🎧 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

Xi and Modi are ‘partners not rivals’ in attempt to repair China-India ties www.channel4.com/news/xi-and-...

We covered the announcement yesterday on @channel4news.bsky.social on new chickenpox vaccines www.channel4.com/news/nhs-to-... but with vaccine uptake at a 15 year low we spoke to Dr. Okorocha about how social media is fuelling hesitancy.

Another five journalists were killed in Gaza in an Israeli double tap strike on a hospital - among them Mariam Dagga who had just told her sister she believed she would be killed ‘today or tomorrow’. Our piece for @channel4news.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=EevA...

Huge thanks to ‪@rorypecktrust.bsky.social‬ for making sure freelance & independent journalists (like we three!) receive the safety training we need to work in high risk envir. Many of us work as freelancers without the security of big newsrooms, this is one org making sure we are looked after.

Once bustling Syrian neighbourhoods in Turkey are now noticeably quieter. As 100s of thousands of Syrians head home after Assad's fall - I take a look at the implications for Turkey's economy, and for Syrians that want to remain 🎧 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

"The Syrian businesses leaving Turkey" by @emilywither.bsky.social. [3/5]

Syria’s Alawites were once feared because of their long standing connection to the brutal Assad regime. Now the minority Shia sect are fearing for their lives. I’m in Lebanon speaking to Alawites, after 1000s fled sectarian violence, about their faith and future 🎧 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

Scientists have long been predicting a powerful earthquake could strike Istanbul. Last year we made a documentary about how hundreds of thousands of the buildings in the city are unsafe and the complexities of trying to replace them: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Reports of magnitude 6 earthquake in the Marmara region. Felt strong shaking in Istanbul followed by several tremors. Many have left their homes and come out on to the streets. People are understandably worried and wondering if it’s safe to stay indoors.

Gaza: Hamas rejects latest Israeli ceasefire plan www.channel4.com/news/gaza-ha...

Important investigation from @alexcrawfreports.bsky.social & team laying out evidence that contradicts Israel's official account of the killing of 15 aid workers in Gaza: t.co/QZcYnehWCY

Well-known investigative journalists Timur Soykan & Murat Ağırel were detained this morning in Turkey after a complaint by suspects in a money laundering case. Their homes were searched & their digital devices confiscated. FMA calls for their release because #JournalismIsNotACrime

On BBC Radio 4 I take you back to 2019 when a teenager coined a campaign slogan for Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu, telling him: 'Everything will be fine'. Now they are both in jail; the boy a symbol of a movement which worries that everything is far from fine: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

We're live 19gmt #TheNewsroom here ---> www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... - 📻 Group chat row with @nomiaiqbal.bsky.social; @sebusher.bsky.social on anti-Hamas protest in Gaza; @emilywither.bsky.social in #Istanbul

Great to join BBC Woman's Hour for a discussion w/ feminist activist Feride Erlap about women protesting in Turkey - femicides rising here, tough economy hits women harder, women's rights being eroded & there are few female politicians: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

As 5th night of demonstrations took place in Istanbul after the Mayor of the city Ekrem Imamoglu was jailed pending trial... protesters told us this wasn't about politics but a fight for the future of the country's democracy. For BBC News At Ten: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmqj...

This is the line in one small neighborhood in Istanbul as people queue up to vote for the jailed Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu - in an unofficial ballot called to show support for him. CHP members are also voting (around 1.7 mil) for him to be their presidential candidate.

Turkey arrests dozens over online posts after Erdogan rival detained. University students marched on the streets in Istanbul chanting, "We are not scared, we won't be silenced" Updates throughout the day on @bbcnewsofficial.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Unexpected item in the bagging area

The latest installment of Inkstick's Critical State newsletter, this week recommending: - @memomiller.bsky.social at the Border Chronicle - @emilywither.bsky.social at @thedialmag.bsky.social - @malichudis.bsky.social & @chrjkb.bsky.social at @wearesolomon.bsky.social - @prx.org & more

The families of victims of Turkey’s 2023 earthquakes are seeking justice for the negligence of building owners and contractors. @emilywither.bsky.social reports on the slow and ineffective court proceedings, and on new evidence of governmental malpractice: www.thedial.world/articles/new...

Two years after Turkey’s earthquakes, victims' families are still battling bureaucracy as they seek accountability for faulty construction that cost their loved ones' lives. I wrote about the slow pace of justice for this month's @thedialmag.bsky.social www.thedial.world/articles/new...

"Feminism is my jihad" by @emilywither.bsky.social.

For this week’s Heart and Soul on the BBC World Service I meet the founders of Turkey’s first Muslim feminist movement, finding out how they navigate faith and activism in a polarised, often patriarchal society: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

Saudi Arabia’s film industry is just artwashing—distracting from brutal repression. Fear of speaking out means arrests, travel bans, or worse. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Saudi Arabia's film industry is booming. But as I find out on the red carpet in Jeddah, while many Saudis are revelling in their newly found freedoms the Kingdom is still a place where not every story can be told. Listen to my documentary on @bbcradio4.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I visited Jeddah's Red Sea Film Festival to look at how the country is positioning itself as a rising star in the film industry. Actors & executives are travelling to the Kingdom looking for cash, but questions remain over how to do ethical business in Saudi Arabia: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

Listen to my chat with @yoruk.bsky.social on the BBC World Service about witnessing history from the banks of Istanbul's Bosphorus. He tells me about spotting evidence of mounting Russian involvement in Syria in 2015, and now its invasion of Ukraine 🎧 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

More than 50 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza today. Many of the strikes were in "safe zones". But if Israel claims they see a threat - promises of safety are as flimsy as the zone’s flooded tents. Latest for @channel4news.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...

Our wrap of the New Year’s Honours list:

On 'From Our Own Correspondent' this week I have a dispatch from Saudi Arabia @ 22:32. I just got back from the country's flagship international film festival, now in its 4th year. Alongside sport the Kingdom is also heavily investing in the film industry... www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Worth reading this message from a young Syrian I first met 10 years ago describing his feelings on the astonishing events inside his country over the last week...

📰Sunday extras! "What’s the future for Syria’s divided north?" a backgrounder for current events by @emilywither.bsky.social

If you want to hear four leading analysts dissect Northern Syria’s fragile complexities, take a listen to our programme from earlier this week:

Northern Syria is highly volatile; IS are resurgent, Turkey threatening new offensive, all as Trump ponders withdrawing US troops. On The Inquiry we ask: What’s the future for Syria’s divided north? Hear from Charles Lister, Qutaiba Idlbi, @burcuozcelik.bsky.social & @ejbeals.bsky.social

Autumn adventures in eastern Anatolia

I wrote a slightly more personal essay to accompany Kiana Hayeri's powerful photo essay on Afghan women's lives, for our long-term project No Woman's Land. Here it is: www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

❓"Is Turkey getting more dangerous for women?" by Emily Wither.

🏙️"Tempting fate - Istanbul's earthquake dilemma" by Emily Wither. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

"Istanbul’s church of wishes" by Emily Wither.