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
Kurdish referendum inspires statehood for Iraq's Sunnis too Last month's Kurdish independence referendum in Iraq has inspired some of the country's Sunni leaders to call for their own autonomous state in its Sunni areas. Iraq
Exploiting Palestinian workers is not ‘economic peace’ Palestinians increasingly depend on Israel’s goodwill to open its gates for poor West Bank workers. Palestine
Israel, Hezbollah exchange threats of imminent war As Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Israeli government continue to warn each other of a coming cataclysm, both sides predict it would take place in Syria as well as Lebanon this time. Israel
Are days numbered for Jerusalem's Greek Orthodox patriarch? The Greek Orthodox community in Palestine and Jordan is in open revolt against Patriarch Theophilos III over the sale of church lands to Israel and Israelis. Palestine
Is Egypt's parliament going after beauty queens? Egyptian lawmakers have called for the banning of the Miss Egypt Pageant until a law can be issued to provide government oversight for beauty contests. Egypt
Will Israel finally take responsibility for kidnapped Yemeni babies? Over the last year, the long-running affair of Israeli-Yemenite babies kidnapped and put up for adoption has risen on the public and political agendas. Yemen
'Nile Hilton Incident' tops box offices everywhere but Egypt Egyptian-Swedish Tarik Saleh’s award-winning noir thriller offers both a glimpse into Egyptian police corruption and the expanding power of the state security forces over the art world. Egypt
Huntsman heads to Russia to tackle Mideast, China New US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman Jr., a seasoned diplomat and no close friend of President Donald Trump, has his work cut out for him. Russia
Turkey convicts WSJ journalist of terror propaganda A Turkish Wall Street Journal columnist has been sentenced in absentia to two years in prison for engaging in terrorist propaganda, the latest dual citizen to be caught up in the government's sweep of remotely critical journalists. Turkey
International boycott hits labor meeting in Istanbul Protesting Ankara’s crackdown on dissent, two of the largest international labor organizations and dozens of national trade unions have boycotted a major multilateral meeting in Istanbul. Turkey
IRGC detains brother of Iran’s first vice president Fresh controversy erupts in Iran with the arrest of the brother of the first vice president. Iran
Are we headed for Turkish-American breakup? Former diplomats and analysts warn that Turkish-US ties could be heading for a point of no return. Turkey
