Archives for November, 2025

A researcher of MiDRASH, a project dedicated to analysing the National Library of Israel’s digital database of all known Hebrew manuscripts using Machine Learning, including manuscripts from the Cairo Geniza, holds fragments of an aggadic-midrashic work of Torah exegesis and retellings of biblical stories, in Jerusalem November 24, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Vast trove of medieval Jewish records opened up by AI

Reuters

Protesters hold placards during a mass demonstration organised by Defend our Juries, against the British government's ban on Palestine Action, at Trafalgar Square in London, Britain, October 4, 2025. REUTERS/Toby Melville

UK ban on pro-Palestine group under scrutiny in court

Reuters

Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius blessed the converted popemobile which is intended to become a children's clinic in Gaza

Popemobile transformed into Gaza mobile children's clinic

Agence France-Presse

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on Sept. 23, 2022.

Former PM Kadhimi: Vote shows Iraqis turning toward new leadership

Mustafa al-Kadhimi told Al-Monitor that the strong performances of parties that ran on their own, as opposed to those on lists, indicate a desire to shake up the status quo.

Supporters of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood take part in a protest in the village of Sweimeh, near the Jordanian border with the occupied West Bank, on May 21, 2021.

Analysis

Trump’s Muslim Brotherhood move rekindles US debate over Islamist movement

The executive order targeting Muslim Brotherhood chapters comes after President Trump weighed designating the entire movement in his first term.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad at a search in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on November 21

Israel says Gaza hostage coffin received

Agence France-Presse

This picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency shows a view of the fire in the forests of Chalus on Nov. 21, 2025.

Analysis

Iran’s mismanagement in focus as fires ravage 25-million-year-old forests

Prolonged wildfires are raging across Iran's northern Hyrcanian forests, highlighting mismanagement, insufficient resources and climate stress, and forcing volunteers and foreign aid to intervene.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Mansour Abbas, head of Israel's conservative Islamic Raam party, speaks to the press before casting his ballot at a polling station in the northern Israeli village of Maghar on November 1, 2022. - Israelis began voting in their fifth election in less than four years, with veteran leader Benjamin Netanyahu campaigning for a comeback alongside far-right allies. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Trump’s Muslim Brotherhood move reignites Israel’s battle over Raam

Israeli officials hailed the decision by President Donald Trump to start the designation process of Muslim Brotherhood chapters, though the move risks generating havoc within Israeli politics.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a statement to the press with members of the Government and of the French Army, following a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on November 25, 2025. JULIEN DE ROSA/Pool via REUTERS

France's Macron: working with EU countries on Ukraine financing solution

Reuters

People take part in a demonstration to call for the liberation of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan outside the European Council in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Sept. 15, 2025.

Analysis

PKK leader Ocalan gains legitimacy in Turkey, bigger sway over Syria’s Kurds

The ongoing deadlock between Damascus and the SDF is seen as a major obstacle to progress in Turkey’s efforts to address its long-standing Kurdish issue.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad at a search in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on November 21

Israel says Gaza hostage coffin received from Red Cross

Agence France-Presse

BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s spy chief holds talks in Egypt over trapped Hamas militants

Turkey’s spy chief met with Qatari, Egyptian officials as the Gaza ceasefire process stalls over Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels.

Salah Malkawi/Getty Images

Jordan-Syria trade surges as Damascus restores transit routes

Bilateral trade rose for the first nine months of 2025, since the change of administration in Damascus.

Turkey, Egypt, Qatar discuss second phase of Gaza ceasefire deal, Turkish source says

Reuters

Bassam Hammoud the vice president of the Jamaa Islamiya in Lebanon, brandishes a rifle as he delivers a speech during a demonstration in Sidon in southern Lebanon on July 19, 2024, a day after an Israeli strike in the Bekaa region killed Mohammed Hamed Jabara, the commander of the Hamas-allied group in Lebanon. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Lebanon's Jamaa Islamiya in spotlight as US moves to designate Muslim Brotherhood

The Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, is a major Sunni political party in the country. But its armed wing has repeatedly attacked Israel during the war with Hezbollah, putting the group under US scrutiny.

Beatrice Farhat

By Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images

Trump’s plan to label Muslim Brotherhood tightens pressure on group in Egypt, Jordan

The Muslim Brotherhood has historically had strong support in both countries but has also faced increasing repression from authorities.