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
Money Laundering in Billions, Iraqi Official Estimates Conflicting reports by Iraqi officials bring attention to allegedly rampant money-laundering operations in Iraq. Iraq
Egypt Loses Its Humanity In Military Campaign Many young Egyptian revolutionaries reject both the Muslim Brotherhood and the military. Egypt
Turkey Condemns Egypt's Coup Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party has strongly denounced Mohammed Morsi's ouster and subsequent attacks on Muslim Brotherhood supporters. Egypt
Reconciliation, Decision-Making In Iraq As the security situation continues to deteriorate, Iraqi political groups must reconcile and work together to ensure all players have a say in the decision-making process. Iraq
Hamas, Islamic Jihad Gunmen Clash Over Mosque A fiery sermon critical of Hamas' government resulted in armed clashes that injured three Islamic Jihad supporters. Palestine
Will Jerusalem Derail Talks Again? As secretive Palestinian-Israeli negotiations continue, the final status of Jerusalem remains the thorniest of issues. Palestine
Iraqi Kurdistan Struggles With Influx of Syrian Refugees Like other countries in the region struggling to take in the huge influx of Syrian refugees fleeing the war at home, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has not received the international support needed to do so. Iraq
Egypt’s Coup Breathes New Life Into Al-Qaeda Egypt's tumult and coup will become central points in al-Qaeda’s narrative for years to come, also giving rise to al-Qaeda's next generation. Egypt
Rouhani Appoints Controversial Justice Minister Hassan Rouhani's justice minister played a controversial role in executions during the 1980s, according to human rights organizations. Iran
Israel Needs Better Grasp Of US Concerns on Egypt Israel’s efforts to get the Obama administration to hold back on its response to the killing of hundreds of demonstrators in Egypt signifies a dearth of any deep understanding behind US policy and its underlying values. Egypt
Keeping Sane During an Israeli Summer For Israelis, traveling abroad equals a therapeutic exercise, leaving behind the habit of constantly listening to news casts and the burden of an ongoing existential stress. Egypt
Regional Crises Deepen Divide in Kuwaiti Politics The Arab uprisings have reverberated in Kuwait, the Gulf's only "democratic" state. Kuwait
