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
Despite defeat of IS, Syria war risks major power conflict The United States and Russia should abandon "proxy wars" and back a new UN Security Council resolution for a regional peace conference. Israel
Israel, Syria, Iran clash in the skies Israel reacted strongly to the Iranian drone that penetrated its territory and to Syrian fire targeting an Israel Defense Forces jet. Israel
Will EU propose new Mideast initiative? The European Union hopes that minor additions to the Iran nuclear deal might pave the way for greater dialogue with the Trump administration on Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Palestine
How Egypt's government is responding to calls for election boycott Opposition groups are calling for a boycott of the March presidential elections after all would-be contenders were either jailed, prosecuted or intimidated out of the race. Egypt
Iranian women steadfast in campaign to attend soccer matches Despite crackdowns and unfulfilled promises by politicians, female soccer fans in Iran continue to protest — and to cross-dress — in their efforts to attend matches at stadiums. Iran
Democrat hawk says he’s sticking by Iran deal after reclaiming top panel spot Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., took back the top spot on the Senate Foreign Relations panel this week after prosecutors dropped corruption charges against him. United States
Iraq’s Sunnis want PMU out of their cities as elections near Sunni parties are pushing for the withdrawal of factions of the Popular Mobilization Units from Sunni areas for fear they might influence upcoming legislative elections. Iraq
Police chief interview plays into Netanyahu’s hands The interview of Israel’s Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh by Channel 2 was oddly premature, shifting the focus away from the investigation expected to lead shortly to recommendations to indict the prime minister. Israel
Iranian graffitists feel walled in The life of a graffiti artist's work can be as short as an hour in Iran, where municipalities wage a determined war on underground street artworks, unless the cities commission the wall paintings. Iran
Is interior minister deceiving Israelis about deportation of migrants? Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri claims that additional working permits will be issued for Palestinians to replace deported African migrants. Palestine
Pentagon plays down Russian influence in Syria after clash with US-backed forces Secretary of Defense James Mattis insisted that Moscow had little control over Syrian troops that attacked US allies; Mattis also dismissed fears that the United States is getting dragged into another Middle East war. Syria
Egypt imposes travel restrictions on journalists Reporters for state-run newspapers in Egypt will now have to get permission from the government to travel to certain countries. Egypt
