The Takeaway: Would Hamas complicate US plans for reset with Palestinians? Also: the back story on the spat between Israel and Jordan; Gulf post-COVID economic trends; Turkey’s Kurds; Egypt and Somalia; and more! Originals
Egypt sentences activist Sanaa Seif to 18 months in prison Seif, who had been in pretrial detention since June, was convicted Wednesday of spreading false news and misusing social media. Egypt
Ukraine rejects Iran's final report on downed passenger plane The Iranian government said last year's shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was the result of a human error. Iran
Palestinians receive first batch of vaccines through COVAX More than 60,000 doses of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines arrived in Ramallah on Wednesday. Palestine
How this youth group plans to put Upper Egypt on cultural map In hopes of shining a spotlight on Egyptian culture, a group of Egyptian artists has started a new center for children to provide cultural programs and activities unfamiliar to Upper Egypt. Egypt
Nameless graves leave grim reminders of refugee plight on Turkey's coasts Nameless refugee graves on the Turkish and Greek coasts remain as grim reminders of the deadly refugee flow across the Aegean Sea, which has been largely stemmed since the Turkey-EU deal in March. Syria
The triumph of Jerusalem's Gay Pride Parade The large participation of politicians and of figures from the Orthodox-Zionist stream at the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade was a victory for liberalism over incitement against the LGBTQ community. Israel
Stalled death sentences spur debate in Iraq Following the recent terrorist attacks in Baghdad, Iraqi authorities are under pressure to expedite the execution of terrorism convicts. Iraq
FaceTime beats WhatsApp in Turkey’s failed coup Turkey's coup failed because FaceTime and Facebook Live democrats beat the WhatsApp junta. Turkey
Turkey's failed coup reveals 'army within an army' The detention of about one-third of the upper ranks of Turkey's military following the July 15 coup attempt shows the army had not been a real army for a long time, and it could take decades to rebuild its status. Turkey
Iranian academics still divided over nuclear deal As proponents of Iran's nuclear deal point to its achievements, some Iranian academics discuss their criticism of the deal with Al-Monitor. Iran
Will Gadhafi's son be Libya's next leader? After his release, analysts are debating whether Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of late leader Moammar Gadhafi, will be playing a role in Libya’s political scene from the inside or from abroad. Libya
Why many Jordanians have little stomach for upcoming elections Distrust toward parliament, stemming from electoral fraud and doing nothing about the struggling economy, has generated Jordanian apathy toward parliamentary elections in September. Jordan
After approving constitution, what's next for Syria's Kurds? The Kurds have declared a federation in northern Syria despite continuing objections by the Syrian opposition, while the Syrian Democratic Forces are about to finish the battle to liberate the city of Manbij. Syria
Planning for the 'day after' Mosul As preparations advance to retake Mosul from IS, defense and foreign ministers from some 30 nations met in Washington to plan how to provide humanitarian relief and services for hundreds of thousands of people expected to be displaced. Iraq
Why Iran’s bond market isn’t attracting the money it needs Without reform to existing legislation on foreign currency-denominated government sukuk, Iranian authorities will continue to fail to attract the investment they need. Iran
