Human rights

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

Iranian authorities have stepped up their crackdown on journalists who covered the recent anti-regime protests.

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.

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

Iranian authorities arrested three prominent activists over the weekend, including Oscar-nominated screenwriter and journalist Mehdi Mahmoudian as arrests surge across Iran.

SIMON WOHLFAHRT / AFP via Getty Images

European Union adds IRGC to terror list, expands sanctions

As the extent of the killing of protests is gradually revealed, the European Union has decided to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.

Roj Camp

Feature

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

With Syrian government forces taking over nearby al-Hol and security breaking down, families of ISIS fighters at Roj Camp live in fear and uncertainty.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Iran seizes on killing of Alex Pretti, accuses US of hypocrisy

Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images

Iran blackout enters 12th day as filtered internet reveals crackdown

Pedestrians make their way along a path at Tehran Grand Bazaar, on Jan. 18, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.

Analysis

Bruised, not broken: Iran’s regime shows no deep structural cracks — yet

Fires are lit as protesters rally on Jan. 8, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Iran’s internet crackdown intensifies as Trump eyes Starlink: What to know

Flag of Iran on a computer binary codes falling from the top and fading away.

JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK/AFP via Getty Images

European Parliament set to debate Iran as members push for IRGC designation

More than 100 EU Parliament members are calling on the European Commission and EU member states to add Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to their terror lists and increase sanctions on Tehran.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

A man holds a sign with writing in Hebrew reading "we won't let you go back to the old days of the British Mandate" during a demonstration by lawyers against the Israeli government's controversial plans to overhaul the judicial system, outside the Tel Aviv District Court of Justice on January 12, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel faces internal threat in Netanyahu’s judicial reforms

After warning from Israel’s top opposition leaders, President of the Supreme Court Esther Hayut warns that the Netanyahu government judicial reform could crush Israel’s democracy.

A young woman from Syria (seated) reacts to a mild electric current in the gloves she is wearing that is meant to simulate the effect of Parkinson's disease at a jobs fair for refugees that promotes training programs and jobs in the caregiving and health care industries on January 14, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

'I do...I'm done': Divorce spikes among Syrian refugee women in Germany

The transition to their new lives in Germany has led some Syrian women to end their marriages away from the prying eyes of their home communities.

New Israeli Knesset (parliament) speaker Amir Ohana (C) speaks as his partner Alon (L), their children, and newly-sworn Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) attend a toast in his honour at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Dec. 29, 2022.

Cheers, jeers as Amir Ohana becomes Israel's first LGBTQ Knesset speaker

Ultra-Orthodox Knesset members are being criticized by their religious leadership for voting in favor of appointing openly gay Amir Ohana as Knesset speaker.

Ghassan Banat holds a picture of his brother, late Palestinian activist Nizar Banat, outside the International Criminal Court, after submitting a case accusing top Palestinian officials over his death in custody, The Hague, Netherlands, December 2022.

Family of Palestinian activist appeals to ICC to probe death

One and a half years after his death, the family of Palestinian political and opposition activist Niza Banat filed the first complaint against the Palestinian Authority before the International Criminal Court, accusing the security services of killing Banat.

Palestinians take part in a demonstration demanding the release of Nasser Abu Hamid, a Palestinian prisoner held by Israel who has cancer, Ramallah, West Bank, Sept. 21, 2022.

Cancer-stricken Palestinian detainee dies in Israeli custody

Nasser Abu Hamid, jailed by Israel since 2002, died on Tuesday morning following a battle with cancer. Palestinian rights groups accuse Israel of negligence.

ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images

Expulsion of French-Palestinian detainee 'clouds' relations with Israel, diplomats say

The French Foreign Ministry criticized Israel for deporting French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri, shortly after ending his nine-months’ administrative detention, and without letting him appeal the expulsion.

Tunisian demonstrators take part in a rally against President Kais Saied, called for by the opposition "National Salvation Front" coalition, in the capital Tunis, on December 10, 2022. (Photo by FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

The Takeaway: Tunisia's Saied visits US, days before controversial elections

Plus, Iran is expelled from a United Nations women's rights body and Morocco's underdog team is knocked out of the World Cup.

A still from the Turkish film "Burning Days."

Culture

Turkey's government wants refund for movie following LGBTQ controversy

The move is widely seen as a fresh episode of the culture war the government has been waging against the country’s artistic scene over critical opinions and queer content.

The delegation from Ethiopia arrives at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on December 11, 2022, to attend the US-Africa Leaders Summit. - The summit will take place in Washington, DC, December 13-15. (Photo by OLIVER CONTRERAS/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

At Biden's first Africa summit, US plays catch-up to China

The three-day summit will bring together African leaders from across the continent, including several with problematic rights records.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gives a speech in the central holy shrine city of Najaf, Iraq, Aug. 30, 2022.

Iraq's Sadr takes aim at LGBTQ community

Leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr made the headlines again in Iraq by announcing his opposition to homosexuality, several months into his withdrawal from the political process.

Maoz

Israeli mayors stand against anti-gay legislator on education

Mayors of liberal cities in Israel have joied the protest of outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid against anti-LGBTQ Knesset member Avi Maoz controlling the unit that decides on external education programs.