Soliman Hijjy's story has been published almost every day since he was rehired last week by the New York Times

A Princeton doctoral student has been kidnapped in Iraq while doing field work in the country, according to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. “Elizabeth Tsurkov is still alive and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being,” Mr Netanyahu wrote in a statement. Ms Tsurkov is an Israeli-Russian dual citizen, the Israeli prime minister wrote. She is also a fellow at the Washington DC-based think tank, New Lines Institute, and is a contributor to New Lines magazine. They wrote they hadn’t heard from her since 19 March, when she said she wanted to leave the Middle East and return to Princeton to write her dissertation. They added that just over a week after hearing from her, they “learned from our sources that a pro-Iranian militia had kidnapped her in Baghdad.” The writers underscored that Ms Tsurkov’s work “poses no threat to anyone.” The magazine also wrote that Ms Tsurkov “is an outspoken critic of all three of the major likely players involved in negotiating her release: Israel, Iran and Russia.” The group said that they reached out to US and foreign officials and will continue to do so. They urged the United States to get involved in her release, because despite the fact she is not a US citizen, she “is very much a part of America,” they wrote. “She works with a Washington think tank, writes for an American magazine and studies at Princeton University. She deserves America’s every effort to bring her to safety,” New Lines magazine writers said. Ms Tsurkov’s family also confirmed details of her disappearance in a statement. “She was kidnapped in the middle of Baghdad, and we see the Iraqi government as directly responsible for her safety,” the family’s statement said. “We ask for her immediate release from this unlawful detention.” Read More Missing two-year-old’s grandmother shares ‘mental torture’ after alleged kidnapper arrested Kremlin open to talks over potential prisoner swap involving detained WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich Death of student, 20, outside club ‘senseless and avoidable’, court told

Atlanta police have arrested three organisers behind a nonprofit group that provides bail and legal support to arrested protesters involved with a monthslong campaign against a sprawling, multi-million dollar law enforcement complex. Marlon Kautz, Adele Maclean and Savannah Patterson – all board members with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund – were charged with one count each of money laundering and charity fraud on 31 May. If convicted on money laundering charges, the organisers could face up to 20 years imprisonment and tens of thousands of dollars in fines. Bail fund organisers and civil rights groups have warned that the arrests mark a rapid and unconstitutional escalation of law enforcement retaliation against demonstrators involved with the “Stop Cop City” movement. Atlanta activists also fear that prosecutors are planning to indict those arrested in connection with the protests as a “criminal organisation” under Georgia’s sweeping state-level statute that has been used to target organised crime. Lauren Regan, executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center, called the arrests an “extreme provocation” from Atlanta Police Department and state prosecutors. “Bailing out protestors who exercise their constitutionally protected rights is simply not a crime,” she said in a statement. “In fact, it is a historically grounded tradition in the very same social and political movements that the city of Atlanta prides itself on. Someone had to bail out civil rights activists in the [1960s] – I think we can all agree that community support isn’t a crime.” The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center project has been at the centre of “Stop Cop City” protests and occupations since its proposal in 2021, expected to occupy 85 acres in a historically and environmentally significant forest area owned by the city of Atlanta. The police training facility in the South River Forest has drawn widespread opposition from environmental groups and criminal justice reform advocates. Police have arrested dozens of people during protests, including more than 40 people facing “domestic terrorism” charges. The Atlanta Solidarity Fund – among similar organisations across the country that provide bail support and legal aid – has predated the “Stop Cop City” movement and provided grants to a number of groups in the Atlanta area. The fund also has provided legal aid and bail assistance to protesters facing excessively high bonds, with some as high as $300,000. A statement from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation accuses the three arrested organisers with committing “financial crimes”; an arrest warrant for Ms Patterson connects a “money laundering” charge to reimbursements from the nonprofit to a personal PayPal account for expenses including “gasoline, forest clean-up, totes, [Covid-19] rapid tests, media, yard signs and other miscellaneous expenses.” In a statement defending the arrests, Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp called bail organisers “criminals” who “facilitated and encouraged domestic terrorism”. “As we have said before, we will not rest until we have held accountable every person who has funded, organized, or participated in this violence and intimidation,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said. The arrests of the bail fund organisers on 31 May comes roughly one week after news of the project’s $67m price tag, more than double the $30m projected cost, and days before the Atlanta City Council’s anticipated vote on 5 June on whether to fund the facility. In a written statement prepared in the event of an arrest, Kautz said that criminal charges against the Atlanta Solidarity Fund “will have repercussions on the ability of movements to create change across the country,” a tactic from “a new playbook that criminalizes the coalition of advocates who are providing financial and physical support to movements.” Fair Fight Action, a voting rights organisation founded by Stacey Abrams in 2018, stressed that “legal aid groups and bail funds are, and have long been, critical resources for those seeking to make their voices heard in their communities.” “The timing of the state actions – just one week before a controversial vote – is not a coincidence,” the group said in a statement condemning the arrests. “Bail funds were integral during the Civil Rights Movement, oftentimes serving as the only path to freedom for arrested protesters. The incendiary rhetoric against and criminalization of these institutions by the Kemp administration represents an alarming escalation of tensions in the face of serious community concerns.” Sherilynn Ifill, former president and director counsel of the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, said the arrests “demand explanation” from Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Atlanta Police Department chief Darin Schierbaum. “They may wish to recall that targeting the charitable status [and] legitimacy of groups involved in civil rights organizing has a long and ugly history in the South,” she said. “This is dangerous stuff. It is anti-democratic and menacing to organizing and protest – core protected activity in a democracy.” State Senator Josh McLaurin lambasted Mr Carr for what he called an “attempt to score cheap political points by being reckless with people’s lives.” “This empty, 1990s-style tough-on-crime bull**** is tired and dangerous,” he said. Georgia state Rep Saira Draper, whose district includes the area where the arrests were made, said she is “deeply concerned” about the case and the “grossly excessive” use of a SWAT team and helicopters to make the arrests. “What I do know is weaponizing the powers of the state for political gain is abuse of power,” she said. Atlanta City Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari also said the case deserves “the utmost scrutiny and sensitivity as it moves through the legal process.” Read More Marjorie Taylor Green falsely claims slain Georgia activist killed police officer at Cop City protest Autopsy strengthens case that ‘Cop City’ activist didn’t fire first before being gunned down by police

A British family was forced to flee in the middle of the night as the wildfires ravaging parts of Greece broke out in Corfu on Sunday evening and came within metres of their holiday home. Rebecca Bell, 50, of Sheffield, was among those who received an evacuation order via a text message overnight as dozens of blazes erupted on the western island, with more than 2,000 people moved to safety. “It did feel like the end of the world yesterday,” she told The Independent from the village of Sinies, describing the intensity of the heat, “banks of flames” cascading down the hillside, and a “yellow glow of fire” in the sky. The blaze broke out in the northern part of Corfu, which is popular with British tourists, on Sunday evening, with those in Sinies, Santa, Megoula, Porta and Palia Perithia told to evacuate to Kasiopi. Have you been affected by this story? Email tara.cobham@independent.co.uk Firefighters have struggled through the night to contain 82 wildfires across Greece, 64 of which started on Sunday, the hottest day of the summer so far, amid strong winds and successive heatwaves driven by the climate crisis. The most serious fire was on the island of Rhodes, where 19,000 people had been evacuated from several locations as wildfires burned for a sixth day, Greek authorities said, in what was "the largest evacuation from a wildfire in the country". Ms Bell, who works for a technology company, arrived at their rented villa in Sinies on Friday with her husband, Mat Pennell, their 18-year-old daughter, and the teenager’s friend for the family’s two-week summer holiday. They were all about to leave for dinner on Sunday evening when they received the evacuation order. But, unable to see flames, only smoke, and reassured by the villa owner, they decided to continue with their evening plans. It was when they got into the car after eating and attempted to return to the villa that was the most frightening moment, she said. “We saw banks of flames coming down the hillside and realised it was serious.” The roads to the village were shut and police cordons were in place, but the family were allowed to collect their passports from the villa. “We packed up in 10 minutes and threw everything into the car,” said Ms Bell. “I’ve never packed a bag that quickly in my life. “When we were up there by the villa it was hot, you could feel the heat. The fire was perhaps about 400 metres from our villa.” She spoke of giant fire and water trucks driving up the hill as they were coming back down. The family went to the evacuation point Kasiopi but said there was nothing happening there, so they sat in the car until about 2am when they realised they would not be making it back to the villa that night. “It felt weird driving around like, ‘What do we do now?’ It was bizarre, very disaster movie-esque,” said Ms Bell. They spoke with a local businessperson who let the family stay in his home for the night. “Because we had rented privately it was down to us to work out our next move, and we ended up with some kind strangers,” Ms Bell said. “My husband and I slept on the sofa in the man’s living room, which was super kind and amazing to be so welcoming to people in such a crazy situation.” She said they did not sleep a huge amount and heard helicopters presumably dropping water on the hillside at sunrise. The family managed to make it back to the villa on Monday morning, shortly before receiving a text message that advised people to return to their accommodation as “the situation is under control and the fire is receding”. Ms Bell said smoke can still be seen rising in the hills but the yellow glow of fire has been replaced by clear skies. “The fire looked pretty close to the villa, but nothing has burned,” she said, adding: “Safety first, but I am very glad the holiday plans didn’t go to rack and ruin.” Read More Greece fires – live: Corfu evacuations begin as tourists fleeing Rhodes inferno spend second night in airport ‘Like hell on earth’: Brits evacuated from Rhodes describe devastating Greek wildfires Greece wildfires: Everything you need to know How to tell if you have Covid or heatstroke Why do heatwaves in the UK feel hotter than abroad?

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