Ethnic/Religious Minorities

Police vehicles are seen on a road after a shooting incident at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Dec. 14, 2025.

What we know about Ahmed al-Ahmed, bystander who wrestled attacker in Sydney shooting

The 43-year-old was shot twice, is a father of two and owner of a fruit shop in a suburb of Sydney.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Iranian soldiers keep watch at a patrol post in Zabol, southeastern Iran, near the Afghan border, on Oct. 10, 2012.

Analysis

Militant merger in Iran’s Baluchestan signals new threat to Tehran

The group’s outreach to broader ethnic communities reflects a strategic bid for wider legitimacy and a role in the wider struggle against the Islamic Republic.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Head of Israel's Raam, Mansour Abbas, speaks at his campaign headquarters in the northern Israeli city of Tamra before national election polls close, on Nov. 1, 2022

Analysis

Stunt or recalibration? Israel's Raam to break with Muslim Brotherhood

Raam leader Mansour Abbas took a huge political risk this week, announcing the party will sever its ties with the Islamic Movement.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

rabbi

Culture

In first, Syria approves restoration of Jewish property, synagogues

The new organization is the latest sign of Damascus’ outreach to Syria's dwindled Jewish community.

Latest News

As Syria marks one year since Assad fall, some minorities skip celebrations

TOPSHOT - This aerial view shows people gathering to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the uprising against Syria's former president Bashar al-Assad for the first time since he was toppled in the Umayyad Square in the centre of Damascus on March 15, 2025. The rally in Damascus was the capital's first after years of repression under Assad, during which the square was the sole preserve of the ousted president's supporters. Activists called on people to hold similar demonstrations in the major cities of Homs

Pope Leo gets rock star's reception in Lebanon, drawing cheers, celebrations

Pope Leo XIV waves to a crowd of youths upon his arrival at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke, north of the capital Beirut, on December 1, 2025. Leo prayed for peace in Lebanon and the region on December 1 on day two of his trip to the multi-confessional country, with joyful Lebanese welcoming the pontiff at two famous pilgrimage sites. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon celebrates Pope Leo’s visit as Israel escalates attacks

A giant billboard of Pope Leo XIV along the highway leading to Beirut's international airport, Nov. 20, 2025.

In first foreign visit, Pope Leo meets Erdogan, urges Turkey to uphold pluralism

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets Pope Leo XIV during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace, Ankara, Nov. 27, 2025.

Women of the Wall

New Israeli legislator smuggles Torah scroll for Women of the Wall

One of the first actions of new Labor Knesset member Rabbi Gilad Kari was sneaking a Torah scroll into the Western Wall plaza for women activists to pray from.

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

New ultra-Orthodox residents make Israel's Dimona nervous

Many secular residents of the southern town of Dimona are afraid that new residents, families from the Gur Hasidic community, will change the character of their town.

A picture taken on Oct. 3, 2016 shows a general view of the interior of the Shaar Hashamayim Synagogue in Cairo, also known as Temple Ismailia or Adly Synagogue.

The lost Jewish surnames of Cairo

An extensive list of the surnames of the Jewish families who lived in Cairo has been published, helping tell stories across generations.

Syria’s Armenian community resilient, but faces uncertain future

Syrian Armenians, despite the fragility of their presence in the region, are determined to stay and rebuild.

Pope's pilgrimage to Iraq and land of Abraham begins

The first-ever papal visit to Iraq starts as Pope Francis lands in Baghdad.

Israelis blame ultra-Orthodox for coronavirus pandemic

Many secular Israelis express hatred towards the ultra-Orthodox, whom they blame for the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

Pope Francis dismisses uncertainty over upcoming Iraq trip

Francis' visit to the country next month will mark the first time a pope has visited Iraq.

Pope Francis, Shiite leader al-Sistani to meet in historic Iraq trip

Francis and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani are scheduled to meet in the Iraqi city of Najaf during the first papal visit to the country.

Biden ends Trump’s ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries

Immigration advocates hailed Biden's decision, but said undoing the effects of the travel ban won’t happen overnight.

Nubian girls play outside their home in the village of Abu Simbel in Egypt's far south, over 1100 kilometres south of the capital Cairo and near the border with Sudan, on February 4, 2020. - The Nubian language, according to locals, is unpractised by many in the generation born decades after their mass eviction from their ancestral lands to make way for the construction of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile in the 1960s. Built under Egypt's late president Gamal Abdel Nasser, the colossal project aimed to harnes

Egypt’s Nubians get second chance at requesting compensation

On the occasion of the anniversary of laying the foundation stone of the Aswan dam, the Egyptian state opened the door to the second phase of the compensation paid for the Nubians who were displaced from their lands.

Coptic Orthodox worshippers attend Christmas Eve mass at the Nativity of Christ Cathedral in Egypt's administrative capital, 45 kms east of Cairo, on January 6, 2020. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Acquittal in assault of Christian woman casts pall over Christmas for Egypt's Coptic community

The acquittal by a Minya court of three defendants who in May 2016 stripped an elderly Christian woman naked and dragged her through the streets of her village has provoked outrage among Christians and rights groups.

Palestinian Orthodox Christians attend a Christmas Mass at the Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City on January 7, 2020. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

Christians in Gaza celebrate gloomy Christmas this year

Christians in the Gaza Strip will be celebrating Christmas at home this year in light of the lockdown and travel restrictions imposed to stem the skyrocketing number of coronavirus cases.