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.

Amhara militiamen and villagers stand near a mass grave for victims killed in an alleged massacre in the village of Chenna in Ethiopia, on Sept. 14, 2021.

Egypt weighs impact of Ethiopia's civil war

The civil war further threatens Ethiopia as Tigray forces threaten to advance toward Abbis Ababa.

Netflix's "The Club."

Why was cosmopolitan Istanbul so threatening to Turkish identity?

A new Netflix series has kicked off conversations on long-hushed questions about Turkish identity.

"The Club," a Netflix series released on Nov. 5, looks at the turbulent past of the Jewish community in Turkey in the 1950s.

Netflix series awakens ghosts of past for Turkey's Jews

"The Club" explores the old wounds of Turkey’s minuscule Jewish community, from lost Ladino songs to the wealth stolen by a draconian 1942 tax.

Naftali Bennett, head of the Habayit Hayehudi party, the Jewish Home party, during a visit to the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, on Jan. 21, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel.

Bennett in bind over prayer space by Western Wall

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett knows that in the current political constellation, he has little choice but to advance the outline for a Jewish prayer space by the Western Wall.

Ethiopian Jews

Israel agrees to allow entry of 5,000 Ethiopians with links to Judaism

Israel's National Security Council had initially opposed the proposal to bring in more Falash Mura.

A Druze woman casts her ballot in the northern village of Maghar, Israel, Jan. 22, 2013.

Mixed feelings in Israel over first Druze city

Residents of Maghar would have preferred Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked to announce it as a new Arab city, and not as the first Druze city in Israel.

Egypt Christian

Egypt churches play matchmaker as Christians' marriages decline

Egypt's churches are trying to help their unmarried male and female members tie the knot, but the move is making some people angry.

Muslims attend a ritual ceremony to commemorate the Mawlid of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, outside Al-Hussein Mosque, Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 16, 2018.

Egypt celebrates Prophet's birthday with Sufi music stars

Egypt held the first Mawlid festival with Sufi chanting performances to highlight the main core of Sufism, which is combining all religions and urges people to accept each other, whatever their religion is.

Taras Press

Children's books share Sudan's endangered Nobiin with new readers

Three Nubian-Sudanese writers have published children's books written in the Nobiin language and using the Old Nubian script.

Israeli Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana arrives for a photo at the president's residence during a ceremony for the new coalition government, Jerusalem, June 14, 2021.

Israeli minister promotes controversial reform on conversion into Judaism

Minister of Religious Affairs Matan Kahana is determined to break the monopoly of ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate over conversions into Judaism.

An Ethiopian Orthodox priest wafts incense during a prayer inside Bole Medhanialem church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on June 20, 2021.

Egypt strengthens influence in Africa through church

The Egyptian government is working through the Egyptian Orthodox Church in Africa, especially in the Nile Basin countries, as part of a soft power strategy to boost its influence in light of the crisis over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images

Three Israeli ministers visit Emirates on sidelines of Dubai expo

Three Israeli ministers are using the opportunity of the 2020 Dubai Expo to visit the country and meet with their Emirati counterparts.