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
Iraq’s Security Apparatuses Focus On Human Rights In an ever unstable security situation, Iraq’s security apparatuses have a reputation for violating human rights and resorting to extreme use of force, a reputation the government is working to do away with. Iraq
Can Erdogan Keep PKK Peace Process on Track? The Kurdistan Workers Party attempted to showcase its force in Sirnak’s Cizre province on Sunday, June 23, creating concern that the PKK is violating the negotiation parameters. Turkey
Rouhani Makes Job Creation Top Economic Priority After Hassan Rouhani's victory in the Iranian presidential election, he stated that reducing Iran's unemployment was among his main goals. With Iranian unemployment at 12.5%, the president may need to enlist the help of the private sector. Iran
Zarqawi's Legacy Continues: Rising Sectarianism in Islamic World Anti-Shiite sectarian violence is on the rise in the Islamic world, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's followers. Pan Arab
Iraq: Iran’s Economic Gateway To the World Amid strict international sanctions, Iranian exports are increasingly flowing into Iraqi markets as one of its few remaining lifelines in the region and around the world. Iraq
Hamas Military Wing Boasts About Israeli Kidnapped Soldiers The propaganda film produced by Hamas' military wing showing Israeli soldiers kidnapped since the 1980s is nothing more than a sign of weakness. Palestine
Washington Pushes Israel And Palestinians to Negotiate US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to jump start negotiations for a final status agreement instead of a more feasible interim agreement might prove dangerous should he fail. Palestine
Erdogan’s Proposed Gaza Visit Reignites Controversy Despite opposition from Israel, the United States and the Palestinian Authority, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Gaza is set to take place by July 5. Palestine
Drug Use Spreads Among Iraqi Youth There is a growing drug problem among Iraqi youth, who deflect criticism of their drug use by offering social and economic justifications. Iraq
Netanyahu Loses Control Over Likud Convention Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw the extreme right infiltrate his party, but instead of putting up a fight, he demonstrated apathy and flaccidity. Israel
Egypt's Salafists Are Hoping To Capitalize on Morsi's Failure The Salafist al-Nour Party is in a prime position to benefit the most from the Muslim Brotherhood's declining popularity. Egypt
Erdogan Doesn't Have Luxury of Suspending PKK Negotiations Although the Gezi protests led to debate on the position of the Kurds between the government and the protesters, they helped the government to refocus on the peace process with the Kurds. Turkey
