UAE and Georgia sign security cooperation agreement The agreement will focus on policing and crime, and follows the United Arab Emirates' warming up to Georgia's historical foe Russia. United Arab Emirates
King Abdullah to be first Arab head of state to meet with Biden King Abdullah will visit Washington for the first time in two years and is to meet with US President Joe Biden on July 19. Jordan
Iran hosts Afghan government, Taliban for talks Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif celebrated the looming US withdrawal from Afghanistan during the event. Iran
Turkey's ruling party elites love to splurge while preaching frugality Turkey's Justice and Development Party is preaching belt-tightening to a suffering public, but will party leaders' often profligate spending cancel out the economic — and political — message? Turkey
Egypt finally releases ship that blocked Suez Canal The owner of the Ever Given has reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount with the Suez Canal Authority. News Brief
The Takeaway: Does Iran want to scuttle nuclear deal talks with militia attacks in Iraq? Also: Fresh reporting from Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Gaza; high oil prices may undercut GCC reforms; a cure for termites in Egypt; and more. Iraq
Rouhani blames sanctions for Iran's power outages As Iran swelters with electricity outages, President Hassan Rouhani is pointing to sanctions and arguing for meeting international financing demands that would life them. Iran
Tunisia submits UN resolution urging Ethiopia to halt dam filling The draft resolution also called for Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to finalize an agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam within the next six months. North Africa
Kyrgyzstan denies role in Turkey's rendition of Gulen-linked educator While the Kyrgyz government has denied helping Turkish intelligence services kidnap a Turkish-Kyrgyz educator, rights groups say it's unlikely that he could have been taken otherwise. Turkey
Isaac Herzog sworn in as Israeli president Newly inaugurated President Isaac Herzog pledged to work to mend the rifts and divides in Israeli society. Israel
Report raises cost of Gaza's recovery to $485M A report from the World Bank, United Nations and European Union found that the 11-day conflict caused between $290 and $380 million in physical damages alone to the Palestinian enclave. Palestine
Iraqi government calls militia's attack on US base terrorism Militia attacks on US bases in Iraq have risen and the government is beginning to treat them as terror groups. Iraq
Militias launch spate of attacks on US positions in Iraq Iraq's Ain al-Asad air base was hit with the second rocket attack in just over 48 hours. Iraq
Defections threaten Ahrar al-Sham jihadist movement in Syria Once considered by some Western observers as a formidable opposition movement, Ahrar al-Sham is experiencing major defections and facing survival challenges. Syria
Jordan prices entice Israeli vacationers High prices in Israeli hotels might drive locals to prefer trips to Jordan or Egypt as international travel cautiously resumes. Israel
Israeli government's Arab party pays dearly for place in coalition The drama over the citizenship law gave the Arab Raam Party its first bitter taste of life in the coalition. Israel
