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
Turkey claims 'no need' for US, EU as Western ties deteriorate After a week of sparring with the United States, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused European allies of undermining Turkey and dared them to walk away from EU membership talks. Turkey
Netanyahu’s strategy of chaos Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mistakenly thought that by appointing his associates to key positions in the police and the judicial system, he could protect himself from investigations. Israel
Hamas, Fatah ignore elephant in the room, for now Egypt believes that building trust between Hamas and Fatah should precede clarifying the remaining difficult issues between them, such as what to do about Hamas’ military wing. Palestine
Palestinian farmers go global to claim their rights Palestine will witness the birth of the first movement of farmers in the Arab world, which will advocate the rights of Palestinian farmers before Arab, regional and international institutions. Palestine
Gazans abroad eager to visit, but unready to move home Although the burgeoning reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah has given hope to thousands of Palestinians, Gazans abroad remain cautious about resettling in the Gaza Strip. Palestine
Tunisian women break taboo saying no to children A women's association in the Tunisian countryside works on breaking the societal taboo of women remaining childless by choice. Tunisia
With evacuations looming, 'de-escalation zone' announced for south Damascus New "de-escalation" initiative presents new status quo for south Damascus suburbs, but how will it work? Egypt
Current crisis could ignite long-smoldering US-Turkey relations Longtime observers of Washington and Ankara's tense relationship won't be surprised by recent escalations. Turkey
Can cinema help Egypt’s overpopulation problem? With the 2017 census raising discussion of overpopulation in Egypt, a debate has ensued on whether movies have and can help create awareness of the need for family planning? Egypt
Egypt holds training camps for imams to uproot terrorism Egypt's imams are trained by Al-Azhar to spread moderate teachings and recognize extremist behavior among youths in order to curb ideologies that encourage terrorism. Egypt
Polarization increases in Egypt as election draws near Efforts to launch President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's re-election bid are underway in Egypt amid fears that he will only face, by hook or by crook, a token opposition. Egypt
Iran Quds commander pays respects at Talabani's tomb as Kirkuk crisis escalates Qasem Soleimani in Iraqi Kurdistan; Turkey looks to Syrian tribes for allies; UN Syria envoy seeks to build on cease-fire progress with "realism." Saudi Arabia
