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
Congress clashes with Trump administration over aid for Iraqi Christians The Senate is under pressure to quickly pass a House bill encouraging the State Department to bypass the United Nations in doling out humanitarian assistance. Iraq
Iran's parliament speaker moves to position himself as Rouhani’s successor Moderate-conservative parliament Speaker Ali Larijani’s public appearance next to former Reformist President Mohammad Khatami raises debate on whether he’s preparing to succeed President Hassan Rouhani. Iran
Amman Design Fair pays homage to disappearing crafts Amman Design Week, one of the budding events in the region, underscores the need to modernize traditional crafts with new design. Jordan
PMU spearheads Hawija battle, as IS fighters 'vanish' A long-besieged pocket of Islamic State-held territory and surrounding villages in north-central Iraq have been retaken by a mixture of local Sunni and non-local Shiite-led Popular Mobilization Units, alongside Defense and Interior Ministry forces. Iraq
Syrian refugee athletes struggle to get back in the game Some Syrian competitors in the martial arts who fled the war and now live in Egypt have established their own sports clubs to help other Syrian athletes based in Egypt get back into competitions. Egypt
Waiting for Abbas Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to visit Gaza in recognition of the reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah and reassertion of Palestinian Authority control over the territory. Originals
Israel’s Labor Party loses Knesset stars With Labor’s new chair Avi Gabbay controlling the party institutions, Knesset members Manuel Trajtenberg and Erel Margalit have decided to resign from their posts. Israel
Netanyahu's fuzzy math on settlement construction Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a tough spot trying to please his right-wing electoral base with more settlement construction without upsetting President Donald Trump with too much construction. Palestine
Egypt’s army destroys Sinai homes to expand Gaza buffer The Egyptian army is bulldozing the homes of citizens in the Egyptian city of Rafah as part of a plan to build a buffer zone with the Gaza Strip, with no alternative plan to relocate the citizens who are left homeless. Egypt
Egyptian military breaks into movie business The Egyptian movie world is chock full of films glorifying the country's military and security forces, and security bodies are becoming increasingly involved in the industry. Egypt
Egypt raising awareness about mental illness The Ministry of Health and Population has launched a campaign to raise awareness of mental illness and to challenge the social stigma surrounding it. Egypt
Erdogan targets US envoy over escalating visa row Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to blame the suspension of Turkish visa applications to the United States on outgoing Ambassador John Bass, but US administration sources say Bass acted with full White House support and analysts judge the suspension of consular services as inevitable, if harsh. Turkey
