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.

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.

Iran's Christians face renewed fears ahead of Christmas

The case of Dabrina Bet Tamraz and her parents highlights a string of crackdowns against Evangelical and Protestant Christians across the country that have forced many to flee.