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
Israel's plan to keep tech giants from fleeing Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has announced a plan to slash Israel's 25% corporate tax to just 6% for such internet giants as Google and Facebook in a bid to keep the companies in Israel. Israel
Saudi Arabia's Faisal: Iran is breeding chaos through Hamas Hamas tries to explain away Saudi Arabia's harsh words for the organization, as alliances appear to be shifting in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia
Pokemon Go brings Turkish gamers out to streets As the Pokemon Go game becomes a global phenomenon, the Turks question whether the game can be banned before becoming available in the country. Turkey
Watchdogs: US aid to Syria at high risk for fraud US partners could do more to ensure that humanitarian assistance gets to the right people, the GAO told Congress. Syria
Channel to monitor Iranian procurement awaits real test A new organization created by the Iran nuclear deal is waiting for foreign companies to seek approval to sell Iran nuclear-related goods and services and other items with possible military applications. United States
Kerry, Putin meet to salvage Syria peace talks US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russian President Vladimir Putin July 14 to see if they could reach an agreement on a US plan to deepen US-Russian coordination on Syria. Syria
Egyptians ditch daylight saving time Parliament has prevailed in its quest to keep the government from adjusting clocks twice a year, as daylight saving runs out of time in Egypt. Egypt
Moscow’s turnaround on Turkey Common national interests such as security and economic issues remain the prime core of improved relations between Moscow and Ankara. Syria
Rouhani's staff reshuffle fails to satisfy critics Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has made changes to two vice presidential positions, but the move did little to reassure those watching the economy continue to decline. Iran
Is the Islamic State planning a cyber-caliphate? Under pressure on the battlefield, IS has been moving its caliphate to the virtual world and is targeting Turkey in particular. Iraq
EU to push Israel-Palestine peace process as Quartet report flops Despite cold reactions by both Israelis and Palestinians to the Quartet report, the EU is determined to establish a roadmap for an international conference on a two-state solution process. Palestine
Will conflict continue as Iraq's Sunni areas are liberated from IS? A new type of conflict may arise in Iraqi areas recently liberated from the Islamic State as different Sunni forces compete to regain political and economic control. Iraq
