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
Morocco cracks down on fighters returning from IS The Moroccan authorities are deploying all efforts to curb the phenomenon of former Islamic State fighters returning to their home country by arresting them. Iraq
Gaza's new strawberry farmers make progress in their field With the help of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the municipality of Um al-Nasser in the northern Gaza Strip launched a project to distribute lands to residents and train them to plant and export crops. Palestine
What’s so special about this park in the West Bank? In a small village in the West Bank, the first-of-its-kind sustainable environmental park will open its doors to the local community. Palestine
Why many Palestinians didn't take to the polls in local elections As Hamas and other main factions boycotted the local elections held in the West Bank, Palestinians cast their votes in low numbers reflecting their mistrust in the political forces. Palestine
Jerusalem artist determined to keep puppets on stage Jerusalemite artist Abdel Salam Abdo pulls the strings in the Arab world to ensure that puppet shows are not a dying art. Palestine
Who expects more of Trump visit, Israelis or Palestinians? During Donald Trump’s visit, Israel wants him to realize wide right-wing objection to the two-state solution, while Palestinians expect that Trump would agree to launch shuttle diplomacy toward negotiations. Palestine
Meet Iran’s potential next first ladies Though some progress has been made since Iranian presidential candidate's wives first stepped into the campaign spotlight in 2009, they still do not fully participate in their husbands’ campaigns. Iran
Russia keeping a close eye on Algeria Algeria’s new legislature, facing tough economic times domestically, needs to make gains in foreign policy to regain citizens’ trust — something Russia might be able to facilitate. Algeria
How Egypt plans to crack down on antiquities theft Archaeologists and others say that changes to Egypt's antiquities law, if applied properly, will reduce the theft of artifacts and also make the lives of tourists more hassle-free. Egypt
How lucrative is Turkey’s defense industry? A permanent agenda item of Erdogan’s foreign travels is military cooperation and finding markets for Turkey’s defense industry products, but it's sometimes difficult to tell how much of the achievement touted in this area is real. Turkey
Iran’s Kurds voice frustrations, hopes heading into election Security and the economy remain high on the list of priorities for Iranian Kurds who depend on the smuggling of goods into their country. Iran
McCain reacts to DC brawl: Throw Turkey's ambassador 'the hell out' Calls are growing in Washington for a serious response to the violent behavior of the Turkish president's security detail as a high-level investigation opens and a prominent senator speaks out. Turkey
