Ethnic/Religious Minorities

US President Donald Trump (L) welcomes Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on Aug. 8, 2025.

Feature

Backed by Trump and Turkey, Armenia's Pashinyan eyes third term in pivotal poll

As Russia and the West vie for influence, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan appears on track to secure a new mandate for his peace agenda with Azerbaijan and rapprochement with Turkey.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ahmed Tibi takes part in a demonstration against rising crime rates against Arab-Israelis in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 31, 2026.

Interview

Ahmad Tibi says Arab parties in Israel can block Netanyahu without joining next government

Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Israeli Ta’al party, accused US President Trump of enabling Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to continue the war in Gaza and escalate settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Ahmad Tibi

Ahmad Tibi

Israeli Arab lawmaker

San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl speaks at a press conference following a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego in Southern California, on May 18, 2026.

Three victims identified in San Diego mosque attack: What to know

One of the victims, Amin Abdullah, was a security guard at the center who "played a pivotal role in preventing this from being much worse," San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.

Ali al-Zaidi

Iraq's Shiite alliance nominates Ali al-Zaidi as PM candidate: What to know

Ali al-Zaidi, who leads a bank accused of money laundering, received support from previous nominee Nouri al-Maliki and incumbent Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, though it remains unclear whether the Trump administration will approve of him.

Latest News

Iran arrests Ahwazi separatist leader amid war crackdown: What to know

Iranians carry the coffin of one of the people killed in a shooting attack, during their funeral in the city of Izeh in Iran's Khuzestan province, on November 18, 2022. In some of the worst violence since the protests erupted, assailants on motorbikes shot dead seven people, including a woman and two children aged nine and 13, at a central market of Izeh on the evening of November 16, 2022, state media said. (Photo by ALIREZA MOHAMMADI / isna / AFP) (Photo by ALIREZA MOHAMMADI/isna/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

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

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.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

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

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)

Karim Safieddine

By Karim Safieddine

In Beirut, reporting on politics

Lebanon scrambles to contain tensions over displacement as Israel ups threats

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

Volunteers check IDs in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Nov. 17, 2021. There are fears emergency measures are leading to the profiling of ethnic Tigrayans.

Ethiopia detaining Tigrayans deported from Saudi Arabia, rights group says

Human Rights Watch urged Ethiopia to release the arbitrarily detained Tigrayans and called on Saudi Arabia to stop its deportations.

Gaza Christmas

Gaza at Christmas: a bleak outlook

A Christmas tree brings some joy; Gaza’s Jewish quarter and a new wall; "We want to live" protests Hamas policies; Hamas, PIJ killings continue; Racism persists against Black Gazans.

A girl holds on to a fence as she stands near the lit-up Christmas tree in the courtyard of the YMCA Gaza in Gaza City on Dec. 10, 2021.

Gaza’s Christians light Christmas tree

Gaza's tiny Christian community celebrates Christmas in a giant way.

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Arab Knesset member shocks crowd, says Israel 'born Jewish'

Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas made big waves when he said that Israel was and will remain a Jewish state.

Gaza Christians

Gaza's few Christians lift economy

Gaza’s very small Christian community has been a strong force for the economy.

Jewish cemetery Iran

Israelis long to reconnect with Arab, Islamic homelands

Many Israeli Jews with Middle Eastern origins remember a painful expulsion from their homelands and want to preserve and celebrate the history of those Jewish communities.

kanievsky

Ultra-Orthodox anti-vaxxers threaten leading Israeli rabbi

When the Grand Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky called on his followers to vaccinate children, vaccine opponents within the ultra-Orthodox community turned against him.

Kakais Najwa Hamid (KDP) and Ahlam Ramazan (PUK) were elected to Iraqi parliament in October 2021.

Kakai minority scores two seats in Iraqi parliament

After years of absence, two female candidates from the Kakai minority managed to reach the Iraqi parliament following the fifth Iraqi legislative elections held on Oct. 10 for the provinces of Ninevah and Kirkuk.

Lebanese arriving to Cyprus

Will Lebanon’s economic crunch stir demographic change?

The emigration of Lebanese, especially Christians, raises concerns in Lebanon in terms of the demographic change that it may lead to, in light of the economic crisis that the Lebanese have been experiencing for nearly two years.

Circassian

German video reignites Turkish Circassian controversy

Turkey’s Circassian groups have found themselves in the crosshairs of nationalist parties after complaining of assimilation.

An Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jew talks on a mobile phone as others pray during the Passover blessings.

Israeli ultra-Orthodox rabbis make case to keep 'kosher' mobile phones

A delegation of the most senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis met with Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel to express their concerns over his panned communication reform.

This picture shows the Mughrabi ramp, leading from the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound that includes the Dome of the Rock Mosque (background) in Jerusalem's Old City, on Sept. 10, 2021.

Western Wall rabbi in eye of storm

Progressive Jews believe Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz is preventing them from obtaining an egalitarian prayer space, but for the ultra-Orthodox, Rabinowitz is too much of a compromiser.