SAT-7’s Middle East Briefing brings you a monthly roundup of news from the Middle East and North Africa, with a particular focus on the experiences of believers and the challenges facing the Church in the region. It’s available as a long-read article, or as a 7-minute podcast. Read the articles below or listen to all our latest podcast episodes here. You can also listen and subscribe on Spotify, Apple or Google Podcasts – just search “The Middle East Briefing”.
Middle East Briefing – May 2023
May 2023Conflicts in Sudan and the Holy Land are balanced this month by diplomatic changes that could bring greater stability to the region. Regional powerhouse, Türkiye, meanwhile, has had important elections. Above: Former Khartoum resident Bernadette Hanna tells Another Angle how fighting came to her area on Easter Day (in the Eastern calendar). She tells how God led her and her […]
Middle East Briefing – April 2023
April 2023Christian communities in the Middle East and North Africa have been celebrating the unchanging message of Easter this month against a backdrop of changing political tides and economic and environmental pressures. One of the largest displays of the region’s Christian presence was in the Nineveh plain of Iraq. There, tens of thousands processed through palm-decorated streets in the Christian town […]
Middle East Briefing – March 2023
March 2023As Türkiye and Syria begin to pick up the pieces after being rocked by earthquakes, there was a diplomatic breakthrough for Saudi Arabia and Iran and pardons for Iranian protesters Thousands of aftershocks have continued five weeks after two powerful earthquakes struck Türkiye near its Syrian border. More than 48,000 people in Türkiye and 7,000 in Syria lost their lives and over 1.5 […]
Middle East Briefing – February 2023
February 2023A week after twin earthquakes in Türkiye destroyed buildings across an area the size of Germany the human scale of the disaster was becoming clear. By Sunday the combined death toll in Türkiye and Syria had passed 33,000, the number of lives claimed in Türkiye’s 1939 quake. Reports spoke of towns where 80 per cent of buildings had been levelled […]
The Briefing – January 2023
January 2023At the start of a new year, what countries and developments should we be watching? Where should we be focusing our prayers? High in our concerns this year must be the nation of Iran. “In the midst of all the bad news we are hearing there is only one piece of good news. It is that Christ is the Lord […]
Middle East Briefing – November 2022
November 2022The world’s eyes are on the Middle East this month, drawn by the courageous protests in Iran, a bombing in the heart of Istanbul and world gatherings in Egypt and Qatar for COP27 and the World Cup respectively. Women-led protests in Iran calling for an end to repression have continued into a ninth week. This is despite the arrests of […]
Middle East Briefing – October 2022
October 2022Protests in Iran have entered a fourth week. The country is still raging over the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who was detained for incorrectly wearing the hijab. Since then, young women who courageously removed and set fire to their headscarves have inspired protests in many parts of the country, uniting people of diverse religious, ethnic and cultural […]
Middle East Briefing – September 2022
September 2022The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll led the news in many Middle East states last weekend and prompted messages of condolence from national leaders. Jordan and Lebanon respectively declared seven and three days of mourning. The patriarch of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Christians, Pope Tawadros ll, led Christian tributes when he said he was “personally thankful for the interaction […]