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
Military Strike on Syria May Put Turkey at Risk Turkey may become the target of Syrian retaliation and face domestic unrest in the case of a US strike on Syria. Syria
Iraq Needs Unity to Deal with Syria Crisis As foreign military intervention in Syria grows more imminent, the Iraqi authorities would do well to set aside their internal differences and take the necessary precautions should its neighbor’s conflict spill over onto its territory. Iraq
Syria's Chemical Weapons Could Inform Iran Nuclear Talks By talking to Iran, the Obama administration could find a face-saving off-ramp for its Syrian conundrum and build trust for resolving Iran's nuclear crisis. Syria
Lebanon’s President Must Form Government to Prevent Collapse While the situation in Lebanon is increasingly affected by the crisis in neighboring Syria, President Michel Suleiman must form a government, even without the support of major parties, to end the country’s paralysis and save its economy. Lebanon
Car Bombs Come to Cairo The car bomb targeting Egypt’s Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim on Sept. 5 was just one incident in a long chain of bomb threats facing the country. Egypt
'Jews Aren’t Our Enemies,' Says Iran Foreign Minister Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has weighed in on Judaism and Zionism, saying Iran makes a clear distinction between the two. Iran
Syrian Kurdish Party Struggles With Dissent, Exodus In Amuda, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) has imposed a resolution banning Syrian Kurdish emigration after last month's mass exodus in pursuit of autonomy. Iraq
Egypt's Journalists Face Violence In Wake of Army Takeover Following the coup that toppled former President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s journalists have faced abuse at the hands of state security. Egypt
Palestinians Launch Six New Radio Stations Online community radio continues to thrive in the Palestinian territories. Palestine
Egyptian Government Crackdown Produces More Militants in Sinai Salafists say the military does not seem to be able to distinguish between ordinary citizens and militants. Egypt
What Does Syria Crisis Hold for US, Iran? The challenges of the Syrian crisis, and how Iran and the United States deal with it, will have a strong impact in the region. Lebanon
The Master’s Saga: Erdogan’s Documentary A documentary dedicated to the life of Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan reveals the fault lines in Turkish politics and society. Turkey
