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
Local book fairs catch summer readers on Egypt’s coasts The organizers of Egypt's Cairo International Book Fair, the largest event in the Arab literary world since 1969, are branching out with smaller coastal book fairs this summer. Egypt
The path to Washington passes through Jerusalem Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has morphed from persona non grata at the White House into the leader with the most influence over the US president. Israel
Does Israel really need to be in a state of emergency? State of emergency regulations established by the interim Israeli government in 1948 are still in place 70 years later. Israel
Congress calls on Trump to recognize Israeli sovereignty over Golan After President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, congressional Republicans are rallying around the Netanyahu government’s next big ask. Palestine
Hopes soar for US pastor's release as Trump fist-bumps Erdogan The odds look better than ever that American pastor Andrew Brunson will finally be freed from a Turkish prison after President Donald Trump made friendly gestures toward President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Brussels, but there are no guarantees that Brunson will walk free. Turkey
Drought, inefficiency lead to major power shortage in Iran Blackouts return to Iran’s electricity grid in the face of prolonged drought and record power consumption. Iran
Hamas leaders opt for gradual cease-fire Hamas leaders refuse to stop the campaign against Israel of incendiary kites and balloons all at once, lest it be perceived as admitting to failure. Palestine
Is Iran’s youngest minister biting off more than he can chew? Iran's minister of communications and information technology is advancing the agenda of his transparency initiative, but Iranian officials are pushing back. Iran
Homemade beauty remedies mean ugly business in Gaza Desperate for income, many Gaza women are selling homemade beauty products without letting obstacles like testing or permits get in their way. Palestine
Turkey wary of US-Russia deal on Syria Ankara is increasingly concerned that Washington is working with Moscow to secure an accord for northern Syria between the Bashar al-Assad regime and the Kurds. Syria
Erdogan makes major security changes as he starts new term Turkey is redesigning its security structure to be compatible with the newly established executive presidency, but some questions have yet to be answered. Turkey
Palestinians pin hopes on Irish efforts against Israeli imports Palestinians are hoping an Irish bill that would ban imports of products from occupied territories will help launch a unified European stance against Israeli settlements. Palestine
