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
Turkish court releases detained journalists, issues prison sentences pending appeals In a mixed verdict, three Turkish journalists charged with revealing state secrets were released from jail during a trial Wednesday. Turkey
Arab League refuses to back Palestinians in rebuke of Israel-UAE deal The pan-Arab body dropped a resolution that would have condemned the recent normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Palestine
Jordan resumes international flights after delays Jordan previously said it would resume regularly scheduled flights in and out of Amman in August. The country's harsh anti-coronavirus measures have been successful but also criticized. Jordan
Arms from Iran, Western countries prolonging Yemen’s war: UN A panel of UN investigators found all of Yemen's rival factions have violated international law and in some cases, may have committed war crimes. Yemen
Iran infuriated as Charlie Hebdo reprints 'sacrilegious' cartoons Iranian officials are expressing rage at a provocative rerunning of cartoon portrayals of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, but have refrained from calling for retaliation or issuing death fatwas. Iran
More than 2,000 US troops to leave Iraq in September, CENTCOM says CENTCOM head formally announces long-awaited reduction of US forces in Iraq. Iraq
Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize following Israel-UAE deal A right-wing Norwegian politician made the nomination, but Trump is not necessarily likely to win it. Originals
Cairo’s downtown slow revival amid efforts to restore architectural heritage The collapse of an old building in downtown Cairo has shed light on the state of historic buildings in the area, while heritage preservation is the focus of various projects. Egypt
Egypt, Cyprus focus on natural gas pipeline amid tensions in eastern Mediterranean At a time when tensions are on the rise in the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt and Cyprus are intensifying talks to start building an offshore gas pipeline from the Aphrodite gas field to Cairo in preparation for re-export to Europe. Egypt
Gaza factions say Hamas cut them out of deal with Israel Hamas’ abrupt announcement of a Qatari-brokered deal with Israel to contain the escalation in Gaza was met with doubts as some parties complained of being left out of the talks. Palestine
Intel: Iran claims it found agents behind Natanz nuclear explosion Saboteurs responsible for the July 2 explosion at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility have been identified, said a senior Iranian energy official as reported by the country's semi-official state media outlet, Fars News Agency. Iran
Israeli, UAE politicians to visit White House for agreement ceremony The United Arab Emirates and Israel agreed to establish relations in late August. The UAE is only the third country in the Arab world to recognize Israel, and Donald Trump is talking up the issue during the US elections. Originals
