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The Takeaway: Uneasy calm returns to Iraq but deep divisions remain

Israel’s top figures divided on Iran deal; Turkish pop star arrested; Iranian museum fumigates for bugs; Cairo evicts Nile island residents; and Hamas reacts to Turkish-Israel rapprochement.
Iraq protest

Our take: Baghdad’s worst period of violence in years has subsided, but the underlying tensions between Iraq’s Shiite political factions have not.

President Joe Biden and Iraq’s caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi spoke by phone Wednesday after fighting in the capital this week killed more than 30 people and injured hundreds, in an unnerving episode of violence set against the backdrop of Iraq’s political gridlock.

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