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
Netanyahu’s vision of one-state-one-people solution Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promoting neither the two-state solution nor one state for the two people, but one state on Israeli and West Bank territories, only for the Jews. Palestine
Former athletes under fire in Tehran City Council elections This year’s local council elections appear likely to rid the influential Tehran City Council of former athletes amid public criticism of their qualifications. Iran
Khamenei warns against election unrest, George Soros Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned presidential candidates against stirring up unrest and warned George Soros against interfering in the election. Iran
Trump and Russia's Lavrov talk Syria at White House Shadowed by an investigation into Moscow's interference in the US election, US President Donald Trump welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the White House May 10. Syria
Is Russia’s planned missile sale to Turkey the real deal? Though some critics claim Turkey has no serious intention of buying defense systems from Russia, some military experts say the proposal is definitely feasible. Turkey
How to read Trump’s blow to Turkey on Syrian Kurds What motivated the United States' decision to directly arm Syrian Kurdish forces? Syria
Turkey angry, stoic with US decision to arm Syrian Kurds Will US-Turkish relations worsen in the wake of the Trump administration’s historic decision to directly arm Syrian Kurds? Syria
Despite crackdown on Victoria's Secret, Turkey's lingerie industry still in fashion The government’s TV watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council, fined two private television channels for supposedly endangering Turkish youth’s morals by showing the annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Turkey
Cairo's tentmakers struggle to save their craft from collapse Mahmoud al-Hariri, the last generation of a family of tentmakers in Cairo, is one of the few practitioners left of this profession in Egypt. Egypt
Jordan high on agenda for top US military adviser's Israel visit Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford visited Israel and met with his counterparts there to discuss the Islamic State and the effects of the Syrian war on Jordan. Israel
Israeli doctors reject force-feeding prisoners on hunger strike With Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike for the fourth week now, it is highly likely that some prisoners will suffer permanent health damage and possible death. Palestine
Turkey seeks to replenish severely depleted military Many say Turkey's military education system, which is being redesigned following the July 15 coup attempt, is increasingly being entrusted to the "devout" bloc. Turkey
