Ethnic/Religious Minorities

A police speed boat patrols the port as oil tankers and high speed crafts sit anchored at Muscat Anchorage near the Strait of Hormuz on March 30, 2026 in Muscat, Oman.

Analysis

Hostage to Hormuz, can Gulf rewire future energy flows to bypass Iran’s chokepoint?

As the US-Israel-Iran war disrupts around 20% of global oil supply, experts point to opportunities and challenges facing a renewed push to develop alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

A Hezbollah flag is seen in a destroyed car after an Israeli airstrike in Nabi Chit (Al-Nabi Shayth), Lebanon, on March 26, 2026. In the first week of March, the Israeli army carried out an unsuccessful nighttime commando operation there to recover the remains of Ron Arad, a pilot missing since 1986, triggering airstrikes and destruction in the area that forced residents to flee their homes. (Photo by Fabio Bucciarelli / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Displacement and dissent: Hezbollah’s war with Israel splits Lebanon’s Shiites

The renewed Israel war against Hezbollah in Lebanon has divided the Shiite community, with some still backing the group as resistance against Israel’s expansionist vision and others refusing to pay the price of foreign conflicts.

Karim Safieddine

By Karim Safieddine

In Beirut, reporting on politics

Displaced families set up tents along Beirut's waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 10, 2026, after fleeing recent Israel-Hezbollah hostilities.

Lebanon scrambles to contain tensions over displacement as Israel ups threats

Displaced Shiites are facing growing resentment from host communities in areas outside of Hezbollah’s control in Lebanon amid uncertainty over their return to southern Lebanon, where Israeli attacks and advances signal a potential ground invasion.

Rabbi Daniel Walker and King Charles III view floral tributes during a visit to Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on Oct. 20, 2025, in Manchester, England.

UK, Netherlands probe Iran links to plots targeting Jewish sites: What to know

British authorities said two men had spied on the Jewish community in London for Iran, and synagogues were recently targeted in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Latest News

Analysis

Turkey cautious but unfazed by US plan to mobilize Iranian Kurds against regime

A group of Peshmergas of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) walks during military training near one of their bases in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, on March 1, 2025.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Which 6 Kurdish groups could join the war in Iran?

A picture from the formation of the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan on Feb. 22, 2026.

Amid chatter of local uprisings, eyes turn to Iran's minorities: What to know

Osama Al Maqdoni / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Syria begins prisoner exchange with Druze militia in south: What to know

Suwayda

MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP via Getty Images

Egyptian Christians alarmed by murder of Alexandria priest

The recent stabbing death of a priest in the northern coastal city of Alexandria has spread fear among Christians.

Turkey student

Turkey’s top court rules compulsory religion courses violate rights

Turkey’s top court ruled that forcing compulsory religious education on minors against their parents’ will violates their rights, but will the government heed it?

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Israel's Ultra-Orthodox not ready to take down Bennett government

Despite the political upset between the coalition and the opposition, the ultra-Orthodox seem in no hurry to topple the current government.

Members of the Palestinian Authority's security force deploy near the Jewish pilgrimage site of the Tomb of Joseph on the outskirts of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, early on April 11, 2022.

Israel condemns vandalization of Joseph’s Tomb by Palestinians

The site of Joseph’s Tomb in the environs of the West Bank city of Nablus again at the center of violence between Palestinians and Israelis.

A member of an Israeli tech delegation uses his phone in a video call during an evening meeting with Emirati counterparts at a hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Oct. 25, 2020.

Israel's tech future lies with Arab entrepreneurs

An increasing number of Israeli Arabs are taking the bold step of launching their own startup companies.

Idit Silman

Disaster for Israeli coalition as legislator walks out

Idit Silman has joined the opposition, ending the government's narrow majority in the Knesset.

Litzman

Ultra-Orthodox parties may offer Israeli government political safety net

Journalist Amit Segal claims that Yitzhak Shapira, the most-likely replacement for senior ultra-Orthodox legislator Yaakov Litzman, has been secretly negotiating with the government for a deal that would halt anti-ultra-Orthodox legislation.

GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images

Arabs across Israel condemn Islamic State-inspired attacks

Arab Israeli leaders have roundly denounced the terror attack March 27 in Hadera that killed two police officers.

American pastor Andrew Brunson.

Wave of expulsions shakes Turkey’s tiny Protestant community

Dozens of foreign Protestant missionaries have been forced to leave Turkey based on intelligence reports classifying them as security risks.

This picture shows a view of houses in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Sawaneen, Negev Desert, Israel, June 8, 2021.

Israel approves five-year development plan for Bedouin villages

Not everyone in the Bedouin community approves of the five-year development plan recently adopted by the government, as it does not resolve the issue of unrecognized Bedouin villages.

MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images

Death of influential rabbi marks turning point for Israeli ultra-Orthodox

Both ultra-Orthodox and secular Israelis were drawn to Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, whose Torah scholarship brought him influence he never sought.

Matan Kahana

Israel’s minister of religious affairs appoints women as latest reform

Minister of Religious Affairs Matan Kahana's appointment of women, as well as changes to kosher supervision and to conversion law, have drawn the enmity of the ultra-Orthodox community.