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Daybreak: Thinking of a Master Plan

Plus a new Egyptian constitution, and more in the news

by
Marc Tracy
June 06, 2012
Kofi Annan on Sunday.(Karim Jaafar/AFP/GettyImages)
Kofi Annan on Sunday.(Karim Jaafar/AFP/GettyImages)

• Kofi Annan, the U.N.’s Syria envoy, says he has a new plan which he thinks could (crucially) get Russian and Iranian buy-in. It would involve elections and President Assad exiling himself to Russia. David Ignatius seems more intrigued than dismissive, which makes one of us. [WP]

• There are tensions between the P5+1 and Iranian nuclear negotiators as they jostle for position before this month’s meeting in Moscow. [Al Monitor Backchannel]

• Egypt’s parliament apparently has 48 hours (less now that I’m writing this) to come up with a new constitution in advance of the presidential elections in ten days. [NYT]

• A cold war is emerging between neighbors Iran and Azerbaijan, with a main sticking point being Azerbaijan’s military deal-making with Israel. [NYT]

• Kippah-clad tourists in Jordan were harassed and run out of town. [JTA]

• A group of Orthodox rabbis visiting the White House yesterday gave President Obama a copy of George Washington’s famous 1790 letter to the Touro congregation. [Forward Thinking]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.