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
Appearances get people killed in Iraq Several Iraqis have been killed or received death threats recently because they are gay, "look gay" or in some way don't meet extremists' religious mandates. Iraq
Netanyahu's dangerous delusion Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the right remain under the delusion that they can sustain the occupation at no cost to Israel. Palestine
Al-Aqsa protests unite Jerusalemites The Palestinians of Jerusalem collaborated to keep the protests against Israel’s restrictions at Al-Aqsa Mosque ongoing. Palestine
Israel sees Bedouin polygamy as security threat Some Israeli Bedouin men continue to practice polygamy, in part to milk state benefits, but some worry the practice is creating a security threat. Palestine
Gaza's beaches unseasonably empty The Gaza Municipality has increased rent for the land used to set up beach resorts every summer, forcing many lodge owners to condense their facilities or close altogether. Palestine
Iran in no mood to renegotiate nuclear deal Iranian officials have rejected the possibility of renegotiating the nuclear deal and appear to be making contingency plans should the United States renege on it. United States
Engaging with PMU necessary to check Iran's influence in Iraq To those concerned about Iran’s role in post-Islamic State Iraq, there might be no choice but to engage with Tehran’s allies to balance the expansion of the Islamic Republic’s reach. Iraq
Turkey flexing military muscle in Qatar Turkey is signaling a shift to "hard power" foreign policy by incrementally building its military presence in Qatar to a brigade-level force. Saudi Arabia
Turkish courtroom already circus as 'Cumhuriyet 17' trial opens As outraged observers look on, the trial of 17 journalists and managers of opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet began today, the anniversary of the end of Turkish press censorship in 1908. Turkey
The motives behind Turkey's decision to reveal US military intel Turkish anger over US weapons being used by the Kurdistan Workers Party against its soldiers may be the leading cause behind the leak by its state-run news agency. Turkey
Turkey’s forex market in agony after drastic measures Many brokerage houses have closed in Turkey since February, when the authorities drastically lowered the leverage ratio for foreign exchange transactions. Turkey
Iraqi forces keep up fight for strategic areas south of Mosul Despite its recent losses, the Islamic State was able to temporarily retake some liberated areas such as the village of Imam Gharbi, cutting the key highway between Qayyarah and Shirqat for weeks. Iraq
