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Neil MacFarquhar

@nmacfarquhar

New York Times correspondent and author covering Russia, the Middle East and sometimes homegrown extremism.

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Latest posts by Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar

Plus the FDR line is not to be missed

05.03.2026 02:56 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Former MI6 chief: Iran war โ€˜unnecessary,โ€™ risks spiraling out of control | CNN John Sawers, former Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service, speaks with Christiane Amanpour about Trumpโ€™s war on Iran, and the potential consequences.

www.cnn.com/2026/03/04/t...

05.03.2026 02:43 ๐Ÿ‘ 8 ๐Ÿ” 8 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

A voice of reason and intelligent analysis amid the unhinged clamor surrounding the Iran war, CNN source of interview

05.03.2026 02:43 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Speaker Johnson: "We are not at war right now."
Sounds rather like President Putin calling his invasion of Ukraine "a special military operation" and sending Russians who call it -- rightfully -- a war to prison for up to 15 years.

04.03.2026 15:52 ๐Ÿ‘ 4 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Arabic spokesman for the Israeli military, Avichay Adraee, issues a statement warning the residents of more than 40 villages across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa valley to evacuate for their own safety. (First strikes in Beirut suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, came without warning.)

02.03.2026 02:19 ๐Ÿ‘ 15 ๐Ÿ” 5 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

The Israeli enemy cannot continue its aggression, which has persisted for fifteen months, without receiving a deterrent response aimed at stopping this aggression and forcing a withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories.

02.03.2026 01:44 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The leadership of the Resistance has consistently affirmed that the continuation of Israeli aggression and the assassination of our leaders, our youth, and our people grants us the right to defend ourselves and to respond at the appropriate time and place.

02.03.2026 01:44 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

and in defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the framework of responding to the repeated Israeli aggressions, the Islamic Resistance targetedโ€ฆthe Mishmar HaCarmel missile defense site south of the occupied city of Haifa, with a barrage of precision rockets and a swarm of drones.

02.03.2026 01:43 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

In retaliation for the pure blood of the Guardian of the Muslims, His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Imam Sayyed Ali al-Husseini al-Khamenei (may his noble secret be sanctified), which was unjustly and treacherously shed at the hands of the criminal Zionist enemyโ€ฆ.

02.03.2026 01:41 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Hezbollah claims responsibility for missile attack on military target near Haifa as response to Khamenei assassination. Israel now striking across Lebanon. (Hezbollah refers to itself as โ€œthe Resistance.โ€)

02.03.2026 01:39 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 2 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Journalists slain at record level in 2025, majority by Israel, watchdog says An increasing number of journalists were killed by drones, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. The IDF said it โ€œstrongly rejectsโ€ the groupโ€™s findings.

Last year was the deadliest on record for journalists.

For the third year in a row, Israel killed more journalists and media workers than any other country amid the war in Gaza, according to a report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

27.02.2026 02:00 ๐Ÿ‘ 100 ๐Ÿ” 71 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5 ๐Ÿ“Œ 7

Americans Fed Up With a Balky Health Care System, School Shooters and Chaotic Politics are Leaving the US in Record Numbers for Europe, Mexico and elsewhere

27.02.2026 02:29 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Iran mess underscores chaotic White House approach and dubious past claims about countryโ€™s nuclear program.

26.02.2026 03:43 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Epstein Files Are Missing Records About Woman Who Made Claim Against Trump

New questions raised about why Epstein files released did not include three FBI memos about an investigation related to Trump. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/u...

26.02.2026 03:35 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Once upon a time, when I worked in dictatorships like Syria, we used to laugh at the propensity to plaster the dear leaders face on every government buildingโ€ฆ

21.02.2026 14:23 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Russia Takes the Gulag Out of the Gulag History Museum in Moscow

This had been among the most interesting institutions in Moscow, where there was plenty of competition. But murdering your own citizens is not the Russian exceptionalism that Putin wants known. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/w...

21.02.2026 10:46 ๐Ÿ‘ 7 ๐Ÿ” 7 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

When I lived in Moscow, there was this small, terrifically compelling Gulag museum that focused on the ordinary victims of Stalinโ€™s terror. Naturally Putinโ€™s Kremlin eventually shuttered it, and it wiil reportedly now reopen as a museum to victims of Nazism. Manipulating historyโ€ฆ

20.02.2026 12:33 ๐Ÿ‘ 7 ๐Ÿ” 4 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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A Russian โ€˜Village of Military Valorโ€™ Waits for Its Reward

In a Russian village of 250 people, 39 of 67 men went to war in Ukraine and at least 19 are dead or missing. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/w...

16.02.2026 13:21 ๐Ÿ‘ 8 ๐Ÿ” 4 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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We have a federal administration led by idiots and criminals.

11.02.2026 01:49 ๐Ÿ‘ 23573 ๐Ÿ” 5871 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 838 ๐Ÿ“Œ 248
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Bafflement with Bezos The whole debacle of the Washington Post brand hara-kiri last week dispatched the myth that a tech billionaire could save serious journalism.

tinabrown.substack.com/p/bafflement...

11.02.2026 01:55 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Video: How Battlefield Tech Was Used in Minneapolis Our reporter Thomas Gibbons-Neff, who deployed twice to Afghanistan as a Marine and later was our Kabul bureau chief, looks at the battlefield technology used for an immigration arrest at a home in Mi...

How Battlefield Tech Was Used in Minneapolis www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...

29.01.2026 12:02 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Russia Jails U.S. Navy Veteran for Five Years

The Russians shanghaied another American veteran, jailing him for five years. No American diplomat has been able to see him while in the slammer for 7 month yet no public criticism from @state-department.bsky.social or @whitehouse-47.bsky.social (Picture is deceptive. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/w...

24.01.2026 11:49 ๐Ÿ‘ 7 ๐Ÿ” 3 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Iranโ€™s Supreme Leader, Unbending Over Time

Iranian society has evolved but its Supreme Leader, 86, has not and little change will come while he endures. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/w...

17.01.2026 14:28 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Is the Russian Military Adapting Effectively to the Drone Age?

โ€œFrankenstein tanksโ€ are not working against drones, prompting roiling debate about tactics and training in Russia www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/w...

17.01.2026 14:19 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Marxists and Mullahs Fought Together Once Before. What Happened?

โ€œThe Revolutionistsโ€ uses short, telling profiles to illustrate the transition in the Mideast from leftist militants to murderous jihadists during the 1970s. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/b...

12.01.2026 12:13 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Putin at a ceremony marking Orthodox Christmas: โ€œAt all times in Russia, this is how people have regarded their warriors, as those who, as if at โ€‹the Lordโ€™s behest, carry out this holy โ€‹mission."
In this case their "holy mission" is slaughtering their fellow Orthodox Christians in Ukraine.

07.01.2026 00:11 ๐Ÿ‘ 6 ๐Ÿ” 3 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Russia Once Offered U.S. Control of Venezuela for Free Rein in Ukraine

Russia once suggested (unofficially) that it would cede Venezuela to US interests if Washington would do the same for Moscow with Ukraine.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/w...

06.01.2026 03:32 ๐Ÿ‘ 18 ๐Ÿ” 13 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

In other words, Putin is trying to have it both ways, grab the land but still influence what government rules in Kyiv, both failed goals of his invasion. Maximalist demands make it look like he is interested in peace when he really is not. Will DC push back? No sign....

19.12.2025 15:29 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Putin also insisted at his annual press conference Friday that 5-10 million Ukrainians living on what he calls Russian territory be allowed to vote in Ukrainian elections. (Presumably some of the same Ukrainians whom the occupiers have been forcing to take Russian citizenship to use govt services.)

19.12.2025 15:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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ะขะะกะก โ–ถ๏ธ ะ’ะปะฐัั‚ัŒ ะฝะฐ ะฃะบั€ะฐะธะฝะต ะดะพะปะถะฝะฐ ัั‚ะฐั‚ัŒ ะปะตะณะธั‚ะธะผะฝะพะน, ะฐ ะฑะตะท ะฟั€ะพะฒะตะดะตะฝะธั ะฒั‹ะฑะพั€ะพะฒ ัั‚ะพ ะฝะตะฒะพะทะผะพะถะฝะพ, ะทะฐัะฒะธะป ะŸัƒั‚ะธะฝ. ะ’ะธะดะตะพ: ะขะะกะก/Ruptly

Putin, without irony, always says that Ukraine should hold elections for the government to become โ€œlegitimate,โ€ as if there are real elections in Russia. t.me/tass_agency/...

19.12.2025 13:37 ๐Ÿ‘ 6 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0