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
Israel's culture minister pressures theater over Palestinian poet An event hosted by the Arab-Hebrew Theater in Jaffa supporting Israeli-Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour generated a harsh reaction by Israel's Culture Minister Miri Regev, who threatened to cut state funding to the theater. Israel
Palestinian graduate's thorny business blossoms Haneen Ghanem's cactus-collecting hobby has flowered into the creation of a cactus nursery on a rooftop in the Jenin refugee camp. Palestine
Quitting the propaganda machine Al-Monitor contributor Shahira Amin reflects on her time as an Egyptian state TV anchor as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi consolidates control of the media. Egypt
Turkish dam project would wipe out ancient town A Turkish government dam project is threatening to flood a 12,000-year-old ancient settlement, bringing Turkey to the verge of losing traces of at least 10 civilizations. Turkey
Erdogan takes Turkey-Germany feud to next level Already-strained Turkish-German ties take a turn for the worse as Erdogan calls on Turks in Germany not to vote for mainstream German political parties, including Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party. Originals
Ankara makes overtures to Idlib militants The English-language edition of Yeni Safak has reported that Turkey asked the group to dissolve itself and for the militants, who seized Idlib province last month after routing Turkish-backed Ahrar al-Sham rebels, to relinquish the critical Bab al-Hawa border crossing linking Idlib to Turkey’s Hatay province. Syria
Iranian Reformist MPs under fire for confirming conservative ministers The Reformist Omid faction in the Iranian parliament is under fire for having voted to confirm controversial conservative ministers. Iran
Tensions flare between US, Shiite factions in Iraq The recent escalation by Iran-affiliated Iraqi Shiite militias against US forces on the Iraqi-Syrian border may offer an early indication of the coming confrontation between the two sides after the Islamic State is eliminated from Iraq. Iraq
Jordan’s Islamists win big in local polls amid voter apathy An Islamic-led coalition, which had boycotted the previous two elections, scored major gains in Jordan’s recent local elections amid low voter turnout. Jordan
Hamas mulls proposal for ‘chaos’ in Gaza In a bid to force change in the long-suffering Gaza Strip, Hamas’ military wing is proposing that it and other Palestinian military factions take control of Gaza security. Palestine
Turkish foundation helps Syrians recover from devastation of war The Turkiye Diyanet Foundation is restoring mosques in the Syrian province of Aleppo, recruiting preachers and teachers and providing hundreds of job opportunities. Syria
