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
Khamenei rep: Revolutionary Guard media needs to be accurate Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative to the Revolutionary Guard has said that some media outlets with ties to the armed forces should tread more cautiously in their coverage. Iran
Refugees help spark Turkish trade with Syria Despite the war, Turkish-Syrian trade is growing in several sectors, fueled in part by the influx of Syrian refugees. Syria
Egypt Salafist party leader defends decision to back Sisi In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Nader Bakkar, the deputy chairman for media affairs of Egypt's Salafist Nour Party, takes stock after the election of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as president. Egypt
Lapid slams Netanyahu for 'crisis' in US-Israel ties In a landmark speech, Finance Minister Yair Lapid broke ties with right-wing coalition members and laid claim to Israel's center-left. Palestine
ISIS 'hit and run' tactics reveal Iraqi security weaknesses The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is briefly occupying Sunni neighborhoods then immediately withdrawing, to weaken confidence in Iraqi forces and display its power. Iraq
Putin brings China into Middle East strategy Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China highlights the convergence of interests of Moscow and Beijing in the Middle East. Russia
Displaced Syrians target of new Lebanon law A recent law to revoke the displaced status of Syrian refugees if they return to Syria was meant to prevent Syrians from voting in the June 3 elections. Lebanon
Protests by Hamas government workers force banks to close Just days after the new Palestinian reconciliation government was announced, a crisis has broken out because employees of the former Hamas government in Gaza have not received salaries, unlike their Palestinian Authority counterparts in the West Bank. Palestine
Israeli left's baffling support for Rivlin If former Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin is elected president with support from the Meretz and Labor parties, it will reveal the bankruptcy of Israel's left. Israel
Rouhani, critics debate 'path to heaven' President Hassan Rouhani's public battle with hard-line clerics over Iranians' route to heaven is symptomatic of the broader war he faces over his reform efforts. Iran
Egypt’s Nubians demand rights on Aswan High Dam anniversary As Egypt celebrated the 50th anniversary in May of the construction of the High Dam, which displaced thousands of indigenous Nubians, the affected have revived their calls for justice. Egypt
Culture minister likens Iran's fear of Internet to fear of fax machine Culture Minister Ali Jannati has told Iran's Chamber of Commerce that the country needs to open up culturally and must accept new technologies as they are introduced. Iran
