Middle East churches, Al-Azhar, leaders mourn Pope Francis Pope Francis was praised by several regional leaders and churches, including Lebanon's Maronite Church and Iraqi officials, who noted his historic visit to Iraq in 2021. Lebanon
Pope Francis, voice for Middle East peace and first to visit Gulf, dies at 88 Pope Francis died on Monday after serving as pontiff for 11 years, advocating for human rights and inclusion in the Middle East and beyond. By Rosaleen Carroll In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East
Algeria-France crisis peaks as Algiers expels 12 diplomats: What we know A rift between Algeria and France has heated up on Monday as Algiers ordered a dozen French diplomats out of the country. Algeria
Feature Syrian Jews urge US sanctions relief to revive ancient community For Syria's Jewish diaspora, the country's economic crisis stands in the way of restoring their ancient heritage. By Elizabeth Hagedorn In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights
Analysis Are Lebanon, Syria ripe for peace with Israel or on cusp of more escalation? By Ben Caspit In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense
Feature Fearing for safety, Syria's Alawites who fled to Lebanon have no plans to return By Katya Hovnanian-Alexanian
Feature 'Afraid of what’s next': Alawites in Syria’s Homs on edge after revenge attacks By Elizabeth Hagedorn In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights
Turkey’s Kyrgyz colony struggles to keep traditional lifestyle alive In eastern Anatolia, a village of Kyrgyz resettled from Afghanistan has become an unlikely tourism hub and a fortress of Turkish nationalism. Turkey
Egypt looks to remove religion from ID cards — but is it too little, too late? A proposed bill to remove religious status from national ID cards is welcomed by activists, but they say much more needs to be done to counter the discrimination and unprecedented levels of persecution suffered by Egypt's religious minorities. Egypt
Can Israeli Druze bring about cancellation of Nationality Law? Spurred by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman’s resignation and the realization that elections will likely be moved to early 2019, the leaders of the Druze community are determined to fight against the Nationality Law. Israel
Iraqi artists, volunteers seek to restore morale in Mosul Singers, poets and volunteers try to revive pluralism in Mosul but old wounds, particularly between different religious groups, linger on. Iraq
‘Israelization’ of ultra-Orthodox affects municipal elections The integration of the ultra-Orthodox community into Israeli society at large and internal divisions within the ultra-Orthodox world have caused many ultra-Orthodox Jews to vote for candidates in the municipal elections, who are not themselves ultra-Orthodox. Israel
School bells ring again at Mosul's Christian school Shimon Safa Elementary School has welcomed students of many faiths for years, and now the Christian school has opened again, thanks to the residents of the city. Iraq
Why Iraqi Turkmens are excluded from the new government Iraqi Turkmens say they have been excluded from the new Iraqi government because they refuse to follow a sectarian approach to politics. Iraq
Israeli intervention in Jerusalem provokes Coptic Christians A recent run-in shines a spotlight on age-old disputes between Christian denominations in the Middle East. Palestine
Can Libya’s tribes help solve crisis? In an interview with Al-Monitor, the head of the Supreme Council of the Tuareg Tribes, Mawlay Qudeidi, speaks about the clashes between rival militias in Tripoli, the security situation and illegal immigration in the south, as well as the elections pushed for by the United Nations. Libya
Tunisia’s bold move to end racial discrimination Activists hailed the Tunisian parliament’s recent approval of a law criminalizing racial discrimination, although they believe the road is still long to completely eliminate racism that is deeply rooted in Tunisian society. Tunisia
Why demolishing West Bank village will cost Israel dearly Europe is warning Israel that demolishing Khan al-Ahmar, a Bedouin-Palestinian village, will constitute a war crime and lead to demands for financial compensation for facilities there provided by its members. Palestine
Israel’s ‘Mizrahi revolution’ enters a new stage Education Minister Naftali Bennett is acting to include works by Mizrahi figures in literature and poetry in the school curriculum. Israel
