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
Turkey’s Kurdish Peace Process On a Knife’s Edge The killing of a Kurdish protester by Turkish security forces has heightened fears that the fragile peace between the government and the PKK may be coming to an end. Turkey
Iran’s Seminarians React To Rouhani’s Election Qom Seminary in Iran seems to have pinned its hopes on Rouhani's ability to reduce international pressure and restore the clergy's standing domestically. Iraq
Turkish Kurds Find Common Ground With Protesters A visit to Turkey’s Kurdish southeast reveals common ground between the Gezi Park protesters and Turkish Kurds. Turkey
Turkish Media a Casualty Of Erdogan’s Policies Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's policies have eroded the credibility of Turkey's mainstream media. Turkey
Israel Should Not Misread Egypt Again Until now, Israel’s leadership regarded the Egyptian revolution as a threat, but the millions demonstrating in Cairo prove that there is room for opportunity there, too. Egypt
Egyptian Women Brave Crowds to Protest Morsi Egyptian women remain wary of sexual harassment during protests but still turned out in large numbers to join the demonstrations against President Mohammed Morsi. Egypt
Iraqi Kurdistan Seeks Cinema Revival With Erbil slated to be the 2014 Arab Capital of Tourism, the city has teamed up with the private sector to build 14 movie theaters, decades after general interest in cinema had dwindled. Iraq
AKP May Have Gotten Message From Gezi Park The Justice and Development Party (AKP) may be coming around to the notion that participatory, not majoritarian, democracy is the answer for Turkey. Turkey
Hamas Cautious on Qatar Power Transfer Hamas says it has learned its lesson from previous experiences in Syria and Jordan, and is prepared for any sudden policy change from Qatar's new emir. Palestine
Another Israeli Summer Of Occupation, Apathy US Secretary of State John Kerry's failure to restart negotiations is no surprise, in view of Israeli and Palestinian apathy and lack of public outcry. Palestine
Bahrain Salafists Increase Involvement in Syria War Bahraini Salafists are playing a role in the fight against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Bahrain
