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.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - AUGUST 28: New Jewish immigrants walking down the airplane during a welcoming ceremony after arriving on a flight from Ethiopia, on August 28, 2013 at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel. Over 400 Ethiopian Jews arrived on the flight to Tel Aviv, the last of a series of monthly flights that were part of Operation Dove's Wings, an Israeli government initiative to bring to Israel the remainder of the Falash Mura, members of the Ethiopian Jewish community whose ancestors converted to C

Israeli-Ethiopian community divided on bringing 8,000 Falash Mura

Minister of Immigration and Absorption Pnina Tamano-Shata presented last week a plan to bring to Israel 8,000 Falash Mura from Ethiopia by the end of 2022.

Nubian Egyptian women sell souvenirs in the village of Gharb Suhail near Aswan in Upper Egypt, some 920 kilometres south of the capital Cairo, on February 5, 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 harness the Nile's annual flood

Egypt shows interest in Nubian community after years of marginalization

The marginalized Nubian community is back at the forefront in Egypt with a boat race festival to preserve Nubian heritage, held for a second time in Aswan governorate.

A general view shows the terraced gardens and the golden Shrine of Bab following renovation works at the Bahai World Center, in the Israeli port city of Haifa, on April 12, 2011. The restoration work in the Bahai Faith second holiest site began in 2008 and was carried out by volunteers from Mongolia, China, Ecuador, Kenya, Germany, Canada, U.S, South Africa, Vanuatu, India and New Zealand . The gardens, tucked into the steep slopes of mount Carmel, are designed in nine concentric circles around the shrine w

The lesser of two evils: Yemen’s Bahais from prison into exile

Shortly after their release, six members of the Bahai community in Yemen were sent into exile, in a stark example of the political climate in this war-ravaged country.

Intel: Syria to build Hagia Sophia replica with Russian backing

With support from Russian officials and the Orthodox Church, Syria will begin construction on a small-scale replica of the Hagia Sophia that will serve as an Orthodox cathedral.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 24: In this handout picture released by the Turkish Presidential press office, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and invited guests attend Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque during the buildings first official prayers after being reconverted into a mosque on July, 24, 2020 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Handout/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Getty Images)

Istanbul's Hagia Sophia holds first Friday prayers since reconversion to mosque

Is Turkey's reconversion of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque a politically expedient decision or part of Turkey’s growing global assertiveness?

A picture taken on January 13, 2020 shows flooding in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan region with rain water covering the village Dashtiari, as severe downpour led to floods across region, blocking roads and damaging homes. (Photo by ALIREZA MASOUMI / ISNA / AFP) (Photo by ALIREZA MASOUMI/ISNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Gulf of Oman development continues to disenfranchise Baloch fishermen

The Baloch people residing in the Gwadar Bay between Iran and Pakistan have been marginalized due to the environmental destruction of the area.

Freed American pastor Andrew Brunson (L) prays for US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, October 13, 2018. - Brunson, held for two years in Turkey, returned to the US earlier Saturday after a court freed him in a case that sparked a crisis in Ankara's ties with Washington and trouble for its economy. The court in the western town of Aliaga convicted Brunson on terror-related charges and sentenced him to three years, one month and 15 days in jail. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP) (P

Turkey expels Protestant missionaries for 'threatening public order'

The Turkish Protestant community is witnessing a purge as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government turns up pressure against the church.

Assyrians caught in crossfire between Turkey, PKK fighting

Wars, attacks by the Islamic State, pressure from remaining militia groups and now attacks by Turkey have emptied or destroyed many Assyrian communities in northern Iraq.

DOUZ, TUNISIA: An abandoned Berber village sits in dunes in the vicinity of Zaafarane, near the southern Tunisian town of Douz, 24 December 2006 as the 39th International Sahara Festival opens. The festival, held 600 kms (370 miles) south of Tunis, draws locals and tourists for a cultural event that celebrates the region's heritage and desert people. AFP PHOTO FETHI BELAID (Photo credit should read FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

Amazigh languish in underserved pockets of southeast Tunisia

Post-revolutionary Tunisia has been friendlier to its indigenous Amazigh, but the concentration of wealth and power in the north continues to marginalize the remote communities.

A member loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) waves an ISIL flag in Raqqa June 29, 2014. The offshoot of al Qaeda which has captured swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria has declared itself an Islamic "Caliphate" and called on factions worldwide to pledge their allegiance, a statement posted on jihadist websites said on Sunday. The group, previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as ISIS, has renamed itself "Islamic State" and proclaimed its leader

Intel: US doubles reward for information on Islamic State leader

The US government is offering $10 million for information leading to the location of Islamic State leader Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla.

Sunni figures in exile return to Iraq as part of national reconciliation

Rafi Isawi has returned to Iraq to face trial for accusations related to terrorism; other Sunni figures with similar cases have expressed readiness to return to Iraq.

Turkish army tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APC) are seen near the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province, Turkey January 23, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC1FA0C88540

US watchdog group: Turkey’s actions in Syria endanger religious diversity

The partial withdrawal of US troops from northeast Syria in October created a vacuum for religious repression, a bipartisan US agency says.