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
Anxious Turkish investors eyeing opportunities abroad Mounting political tensions, uncertainties and declining rule of law in Turkey are pushing Turkish entrepreneurs to consider investing abroad. United Arab Emirates
Iraq's Sistani becomes top target as elections approach Both militant and media efforts to undermine top Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani are increasing, likely part of a campaign to reduce his influence and hold him and others accountable for corruption in the Iraqi government. Iraq
Will Great Mosque of Samarra and its minaret survive? The 1,200-year-old minaret of the Great Mosque in Samarra is in dire need of restoration, which the Iraqi authorities and UNESCO have started working on. Iraq
Tillerson deviates from Trump's position on Palestinian refugee agency US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson supports developing a sustainable funding mechanism for UNRWA, but it is unclear whether he can convince anyone else in the Trump administration of such an approach. Palestine
Old meets Magic Kingdom: Disneyland-style park comes to Egypt After years of planning, Egypt is finally making progress toward establishing its own Disneyland-style theme park. Egypt
Migration from Libya down but threat of torture, death remains Despite the risks of getting caught and tortured or killed, migrants still chance the route to Europe through Libya, where the volatile security situation can work in their favor. Syria
Turkish-Egyptian war of words in eastern Mediterranean heats up In an official statement, Egypt warned of any violation of its rights in the eastern Mediterranean region in response to the official Turkish position, which refused to recognize the legality of the agreement between Egypt and Cyprus on the exploitation of natural resources of the two countries’ exclusive economic zones. Egypt
Will Israel, Qatar cooperate to save Gaza? US Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt called for Israel and Qatar to cooperate in order to save the Gaza Strip from a humanitarian crisis. Qatar
Hamas enters new phase of confrontation with Islamic State Hamas in the Gaza Strip broadcast a video where two Islamic State members confessed to working for IS, which reveals a new phase in the relationship between the two groups. Palestine
Kurdish fighters join Turkey's Afrin operation In its intervention, Turkey is capitalizing on Kurdish fighters affiliated with the Free Syrian Army who want to liberate Afrin from Kurdish rivals. Syria
Egyptians divided over army's foray into culture The Egyptian Ministry of Defense organized a stand at the Cairo International Book Fair to showcase the army’s achievements in the cultural scene, but some critics warned of ulterior motives. Egypt
Israeli education minister prepares for Netanyahu’s succession battle HaBayit HaYehudi leader Naftali Bennett, the only Cabinet minister to criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after police recommended indicting him, is preparing for the fight to lead the Israeli right in the post-Netanyahu era. Israel
