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
Exclusive: Egypt's Massacre, Viewed From Field Hospital A first-hand account of the siege of the Rabia al-Adawiya field hospital by Egyptian security forces on Aug. 14. Egypt
Return of Palestinian Bodies Essential To Peace Process Accompanying peace talks is a vocal call for the return of Arab bodies killed during the Arab-Israeli conflict and withheld by Israel. Palestine
Blast in Beirut Sparks Fears Of 'Iraqization' of Lebanon For the second time in just over a month, a major bomb attack has hit Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs. Lebanon
Iraqi Kurdistan’s Silent Revolution The KRG is becoming more, not less, dependent upon Baghdad to finance its social welfare programs through oil rents. Iraq
Al-Qaeda Looks to Build Support Among Iraq's Sunnis In Iraq's highly polarized sectarian climate, al-Qaeda has presented itself as the "defender of the Sunnis" to increase its support and influence. Iraq
Turkish Lessons for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Whatever its current mistakes, the success of the AKP — arguably the superstar of global Islamism — lies in the fact that it is less ideological and more pragmatic than its forerunners. Egypt
Erdogan’s Biggest Fear: The 'Concerned' Islamists Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is still resentful of Gezi protests because he fears losing the support of "concerned" Islamists. Turkey
Erdogan Weighs In on Egypt Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the loss of life in Egypt, but his words carry less and less weight both domestically and internationally. Egypt
Arab Spring Triggers Renaissance in Turkish Art More than 560 years after the fall of Constantinople, which precipitated an exodus of artists, the Arab Spring has created an influx of artists to Istanbul. Egypt
Can Palestinians Accept Existence of Jewish State? As long as Palestinians consider the conflict with Israel as an existential question — denying Jews the right of their own state — there can be no solution based on land repartition. Palestine
Hamas, Gaza's Armed Factions Struggle To Stay Out of Sinai Conflict Hamas and the main armed factions in Gaza are holding regular meetings to avoid being dragged into conflict in the Sinai. Palestine
Iranians Differ Widely On Military Intervention in Syria Most Iranians support their government seeking an end to the war in Syria, but differ on whether to provide direct military support to President Bashar Al-Assad's regime. Syria
