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
Gaza’s sick, newborns fall victim to power outages Palestinians in Gaza are suffering, and some are dying, as the Palestinian reconciliation fails to produce the relief they were promised months ago. Palestine
Libya's revolutionaries: Where are they now? Several politicians, ministers, diplomats and high-ranking civil servants who were once a part of the Libyan revolution now find themselves in different circumstances. Libya
Lebanon's Animal Welfare law put to the test A video of municipal workers in the Beirut area killing stray dogs has raised the ire of activists and calls for adherence to the Animal Welfare law. Lebanon
New Palestinian metropolis offers economic route around occupation Palestinian leadership should focus on advancing economic independence, and the new Palestinian metropolis Rawabi is certainly a first step in this direction. Palestine
Gazan artists, intellectuals seek to revive culture cafes The mushrooming cultural salons in the Gaza Strip provide writers and artists with an outlet for expression. Palestine
Conflicting reports emerge as Turkey's Olive Branch rakes Afrin In the chaos of Turkey's offensive in Afrin, Syria, both the Turks and Syrian Kurdish militants continue to claim the upper hand and dismiss each other's casualty reports as propaganda. Syria
Rouhani moves to leverage unrest to loosen IRGC grip on economy The Hassan Rouhani administration appears to be leveraging the recent protests in Iran to continue pushing for its agenda of greater accountability and lesser military involvement in the economy. Iran
Muslim Brotherhood crumbling around Erdogan As many Turks openly say the president's party has lost its mojo, it really means Muslim Brotherhood networks are collapsing there; the reasons also help explain the rise and potential fall of the cult of Erdogan. Turkey
What lurks behind Turkey’s unending emergency rule? Alarm grows in Turkey over the government’s intentions after a sixth extension of the state of emergency, declared over the 2016 coup attempt. Turkey
Syrian stakeholders woo tribes to influence country's future After the defeat of IS in Raqqa, the still-warring Syrian regime and opposition forces as well as outside interested parties are trying to win over Syrian tribes to their sides to guarantee their roles in determining Syria's direction. Syria
Iran 'concerned' by Turkish assault on northern Syria While Iran has expressed its concerns that Turkey’s operations against Kurds in northern Syria will further inflame the war, it didn't outright condemn the offensive. Turkey
Israel’s Hamas dilemma Israel blames Hamas for the suffering faced by Gaza's residents yet ignores its own contribution to the suffering caused by years of closure. Palestine
