Human rights

MOJAHID NAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

'Apartheid': Arab countries including UAE, Jordan decry new Israeli law

A group of foreign ministers struck out at a new Israeli law requiring the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of terrorism in military courts.

Osama Al Maqdoni / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Amid chatter of local uprisings, eyes turn to Iran's minorities: What to know

Ethnic minorities in Iran, historically marginalized and repressed by Iran's central government, are gaining attention as potential political actors amid escalating US and Israeli strikes.

People walk through a heavily damaged street in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 12, 2025.

'No meaningful protection': Israel’s new Gaza aid rules raise data, security risks

The guidelines expand Israeli authority to deny NGO registration in the Palestinian territories and visas for foreign aid workers as Gaza continues to reel from two years of war.

A displaced Sudanese woman who left El-Fasher after its fall with others, walks amid the remains of a fire that broke out at a camp in Tawila on Feb. 11, 2026.

UN points to 'genocidal path' in RSF assault on Sudan’s El-Fasher

A UN fact-finding mission says the scale and coordination of atrocities in Darfur mark a shift in its assessment of the paramilitary group’s campaign.

Latest News

Iran fires TV director over 'Death to Khamenei' blunder: What to know

TOPSHOT - An Iranian crosses a street next to a billboard bearing the portrait of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a quote reads in Persian 'Sing Oh Iran' at the Enqelab Square in Tehran on July, 9, 2025. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran arrests Oscar-nominated writer, civil rights figures in expanding crackdown

A state building is covered with a giant anti-US billboard depicting a symbolic image of the destroyed USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in downtown Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 1, 2026.

European Union adds IRGC to terror list, expands sanctions

SIMON WOHLFAHRT / AFP via Getty Images

Feature

ISIS brides face uncertain future as Damascus clashes with Syria’s Kurds

Roj Camp

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Syrian refugees prepare to leave Lebanon toward Syrian territory.

Lebanon deports dozens of Syrian refugees amid spike in racist rhetoric

The deportation of more than 50 Syrians to the war-torn country comes amid growing anti-Syrian sentiment in Lebanon.

Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin (R) listens to MP May Golan during a session at the Knesset, Jerusalem, March 20, 2023.

Who is May Golan, Israel's self-styled 'racist' considered for NY consul general?

The Likud party confirmed Minister without portfolio May Golan, known for her strong support of the judicial overhaul, was proposed the much-coveted position of consul general in New York.

The head of Tunisia's Islamist movement Ennahdha Rached Ghannouchi greets supporters upon arrival to a police station in Tunis on Feb. 21, 2023, in compliance to the summons of an investigating judge.

US warns of 'troubling escalation' in Tunisia after Ghannouchi arrest

The State Department expressed alarm over the stifling of political activity under Tunisia's increasingly authoritarian president, Kais Saied.

Members of the Syrian army deploy in the al-Rashidin 1 district, in Aleppo's southwestern countryside, on Feb. 16, 2020.

Three Assad advisers indicted in France for Syria war crimes

Sending a strong signal to the Assad regime, a French court decided to indict three senior intelligence advisers for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Morocco lgbt

In Morocco, YouTube is one tool to attack LGBTQ, vulnerable communities

After a Moroccan content creator targeted the transgender community, the damaging videos were left on YouTube for two weeks before being removed.

A reveller flashes the V-sign in front of a bonfire during a gathering of Turkish Kurds for Newroz (or Nowruz) celebrations marking the Persian New Year in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, on March 21, 2023.

'Police beating' of 14-year-old Kurd highlights claims of impunity in Turkey

Kurdish teenager allegedly assaulted and humiliated by officers in Diyarbakir.

Mounted Israeli police stand guard as protesters gather outside Israel's parliament in Jerusalem amid ongoing demonstrations and calls for a general strike against the hard-right government's controversial push to overhaul the justice system, on March 27, 2023. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli PM Netanyahu, under pressure from military brass, delays judicial overhaul

The dramatic developments in Israel in the past 48 hours seemed to have pushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put a pause on the judicial changes.

Protesters clash with the police during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023. - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 26, 2023 fired Defence Minister Yoav Galant a day after he broke ranks, citing security concerns in calling for a pause to the government's controversial judicial reforms. On a day when 200,000 people took to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest the reforms, Galant -- who had been a staunch Netanyahu ally -- on Saturday sai

General strike in Israel, Netanyahu under pressure to freeze judicial overhaul

Spontaneous rallies have been taking place across Israel since Sunday night, including some violent confrontations with police, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

People demonstrate at the Brandenburg Gate during the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against possible legislation in Israel that would undermine the role of Israel's Supreme Court, Berlin, Germany, March 16, 2023.

Analysis

Avalanche of security chiefs warn Netanyahu: Israel on brink of the abyss

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems deaf to warnings by Israeli security chiefs that the growing rift within Israeli society could end up in a strategic disaster.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Netanyahu

Israel's Netanyahu to continue judicial overhaul despite security warnings

In a televised address, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed ahead for Knesset approval next week of the next step in the controversial plan.

Israeli police confront protesters during ongoing demonstrations in Tel Aviv on March 23, 2023, against controversial legal reforms being touted by the country's hard-right government. - Israel's ruling coalition presented an amended version of a key element in its contentious judicial overhaul, in hopes of allaying concerns at home and abroad for Israeli democracy. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

'Day of paralysis' in Israel, as Knesset adopts anti-impeachment law

Organizers of the anti-judicial overhaul plan are expecting half a million demonstrators today across Israel, rallying, blocking roads and marching through cities.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) sits with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before a dinner at the Prime Minister's residence March 9, 2010 in Jerusalem, Israel. Biden, visiting Israel as part of U.S.-led efforts to restart Middle East peace talks, on Tuesday condemned Israel's plans for 1,600 new homes in an area of the occupied West Bank it has annexed to Jerusalem. (Photo by Baz Ratner-Pool/Getty Images)

Biden losing patience with Netanyahu over judicial overhaul, democratic values

After statements by several senior US officials criticizing Israel’s judicial overhaul plan, it was President Joe Biden himself that scolded Benjamin Netanyahu and urged him to forge a compromise in Israel.