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
Rebuilding Bridges to Iraq's Jewish Heritage Iraq's Jewish community is remembered with both nostalgia and tragedy. Iraq
Turkey Reconsiders Support For Jabhat Al-Nusra Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan tells US President Barack Obama he is “disturbed” by the rise of extremist groups in Syria. Syria
After Gezi, Is Turkey’s AKP Correcting Course? A report indicates that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) may be implementing a course correction in its handling of the Gezi park protests to better position itself for next year’s elections. Turkey
Friday Sermons Used to Incite At Iraqi Mosques With the liberation afforded by the fall of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s regime, Friday sermons at Iraq’s mosques have become platforms for oftentimes escalatory political discourse. Iraq
Hamas to Persist With Public Executions Despite Objections Hamas will go ahead with public executions by the end of August despite an outcry by human rights groups. Palestine
Israeli Army Seeks to Evict Villagers to Expand Firing Zone The Israeli army wants to evacuate the Palestinian West Bank villages of Masafer Yatta to accomodate its live-fire training area. Palestine
Saudi Arabia Keeps Tight Grip on Yemen Saudi Arabia is treading carefully in Yemen, especially following the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi in Egypt. Saudi Arabia
Hamas Monitors Facebook Activism Hamas' security services in Gaza are keeping a close eye on Facebook activity for hostile opinions and planned protests. Palestine
Has Al-Qaeda Infiltrated Lebanon? Amid regional chaos, some fear that al-Qaeda may have spread to Lebanon in the form of sleeper cells. Lebanon
Iran on Quest to Legitimize Velayat-e Faqih in Iraqi Seminaries Iran has always tried to secure religious legitimacy for its velayat-e faqih doctrine by supporting loyalists in the Qom and Najaf Shiite seminaries. Iraq
Will Syria War Mean End of Sykes-Picot? There is speculation that the Syria war could signal a change in long-standing borders. Near East
US Rep. Keith Ellison Calls For Obama-Rouhani Summit In an interview with Al-Monitor, Ellison says, “If the United States had direct negotiations with Iran, the first item should be stopping the bloodshed in Syria.” Palestine
