Ethnic/Religious Minorities

People attend the funeral ceremony of Mahan Setareh, a member of the paramilitary Basij force who was killed in the recent Israeli attacks on June 26, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. A cease-fire between Israel and Iran has brought an end to 12 days of daily aerial attacks that started with Israel's strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites on June 13. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Female commander in Iran's Basij units assassinated: What to know

Violence in the Sistan and Baluchistan province has become a regular occurrence, marked by clashes with armed groups and ambushes on Iranian security forces.

In first, Israel’s Netanyahu says he held call with Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa

It is the first publicly disclosed contact between the leaders of Israel and Syria, which lack formal relations and have fought several wars. Sharaa’s government began US-mediated talks with Israel in 2025.

This picture shows the border wall between Iran and Afghanistan at the Milak border crossing near the town of Zabol, in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan bordering Afghanistan, on Dec. 17, 2025.

Iran’s IRGC says 5 killed in Baluchistan after dismantling ‘militant cell’: What to know

Iran’s IRGC announced a new operation against armed militants in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, which is witnessing almost daily attacks and clashes.

Youths play the daf, an Iranian frame drum, during a protest demanding the right to education in the Kurdish language in Al-Qamishli, Syria, on September 22, 2026. The demonstrations follow a decision by the Syrian Interim Government to allocate only Kurdish language classes in schools. (Photo by Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Syria's Kurds, Arabs find common cause in battle for language rights

As Kurdish students protest language restrictions, unexpected alliances are emerging between Syria’s Kurds and Arabs.

Latest News

Feature

Syria Golan detentions fuel fury at Israeli forces, doubts in new government

A member of Syria's security forces stands guard outside a former army base near the city of Quneitra in southern Syria, on the edge of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on Sept. 21, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Fresh clashes leave 6 dead in Iran's Sistan and Baluchistan: What to know

Iranian security forces stand guard in the capital city on July 03, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.

Israel election committee bars two Arab lists from upcoming vote: What to know

Leader of the Arab Israeli party Ra'am (United Arab List) Mansour Abbas (R) and Israeli politician Yoav Segalovitz (L) attend a news conference in Nazareth on August 31, 2026. Abbas announced that Segalovitz, an Israeli Jew, will join his party for the upcoming Israeli elections. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images)

Third Sunni cleric killed in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan Province: What to know

Milak border crossing near the town of Zabol, Iran

RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images

Israel's Christians horrified by hate crimes in Jerusalem

Verbal and physical attacks are rising against Christians and Christian sites in Jerusalem.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Culture

Turkey recovers 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible in smuggling raids

The 28-page leather-bound collection of papyrus scripture was seized during Turkey's latest smuggling crackdown in Istanbul.

Parliament Speaker Rachid Talbi Alami (R) shows Israel's Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana the parliament building in Rabat, Morocco, June 8, 2023.

Analysis

Will Israel recognize Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara?

Visiting Rabat officially for the first time, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering recognizing the kingdom’s sovereignty over the disputed region.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Activists for the independence of the Western Sahara wave flags and banners reading "Sahara: Only Pace!" during an annual protest organised by the state coordinator of associations of solidarity with the Sahara in Madrid on November 11, 2016 marking the 4th anniversary of the tripartite Madrid agreements demonstrators deem illegal. - The Western Sahara is a territory bordered by Morocco and Algeria and disputed by Spain and Morocco who both claiming sovereignty. (Photo by GERARD JULIEN / AFP) (Photo by GERA

Analysis

One year on, Algeria-Spain blockade shows little sign of easing

Since Algeria imposed trade sanctions on Spain on June 8, 2022, both economies have lost out on billions of dollars in business.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Jordan Christians

Christians in Jordan welcome progress on inheritance law

Experts say the Jordanian Civil Code must differentiate between Christians and Muslims, so that the recent draft law on equal inheritance between female and male Christians can be implemented without controversies.

Rana Husseini

By Rana Husseini

JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli-Palestinian violence erupts in West Bank on eve of Flag March

The clashes in the Palestinian city follow a cease-fire between the Israeli military and Gaza-based armed groups and come ahead of the controversial Jerusalem Flag March.

Iraq Sako

Iraqi division intensifies between church, Christian Babylon Movement

The institutional Iraqi church and the Christian political party of Babylon are feuding over the leadership of Christian affairs in Iraq.

Women gather oustide a house at the Hara Kebira, the main Jewish quarter in the resort island of Djerba, after attending a ceremony at the Ghriba synagogue following a shooting spree by a police officer on the southern Tunisian island on May 10, 2023. Tunisian authorities were investigating the shootings that claimed five lives and sparked mass panic during a Jewish pilgrimage at Africa's oldest synagogue today. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP) (Photo by FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

Tunisia: Attack on Djerba synagogue was premeditated by national guard member

Tunisia’s interior minister identified the assailant and revealed details of the attack at an ancient synagogue on the island of Djerba that killed at least five people.

Tunisian synagogue Djerba

Shooting attack in Tunisia synagogue kills at least four

Tunisian authorities are now investigating the attack on the ancient El-Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba, where two guards and two Jewish visitors were shot and killed.

North Africa Pulse

Pope Francis (L) poses for a picture with the Grand Imam of al-Azhar mosque Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb during their meeting at the Papal residence near the Sakhir Royal Palace, in the eponymous Bahraini city on Nov. 4, 2022.

UN Security Council invites Pope Francis, Al-Azhar imam for joint speech

In a first, the world’s two most prominent religious leaders are expected to deliver a joint speech on peace at the UN Security Council at a time when wars and conflicts are raging across the world.

Portraits of Armenian intellectuals, detained and deported in 1915, are displayed during a rally on the Istiklal avenue in Istanbul, on April 24, 2017 to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey bans Armenian Genocide commemoration ahead of May elections

The Istanbul governor has blocked the commemoration of the 1915 atrocities amid reactions to the opposition leader’s proclamation of his Alevi roots.

Turkey's Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman and Presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Turkey's Kilicdaroglu garners record attention in Alevi video

Turkish presidential candidate and top Erdogan challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu garnered record attention in a video he made appealing to the country's youths.