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
Conflict over Kirkuk oil returns As the Kurdish political dispute rises up, a military force from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) seized the Kirkuk oil field and stopped the oil flows in order to push Baghdad to arrange a new oil agreement in the favor of the PUK. Iraq
Will Karbala be added to list of World Heritage sites? The council of the holy city of Karbala wants to ensure that the pre-Islamic ancient sites of the city of Karbala are added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites. Iraq
Why French carmakers are real winners of Iranian protectionism While Iran's steep import tariffs for vehicles are ostensibly designed to protect local industry, it appears that the primary benefactors are French carmakers. Iran
How training brings Syrians, Sudanese closer in Egypt CARE International organized an event reflecting its efforts to end gender-based violence and help Syrian and Sudanese communities integrate into Egyptian society through psychodrama. Egypt
Azhar-Vatican ties witness major breakthrough after long hiatus Al-Azhar and the Vatican have resumed talks that address the root causes of extremism, highlighting the means of combatting terrorism and religious extremism. Egypt
Will Jordan extradite woman convicted in Jerusalem bombing to US? A US request that Jordan extradite Alham Tamimi, convicted for involvement in a 2001 terror attack in Jerusalem that cost American lives, has put King Abdullah II in a difficult position. Palestine
Why Netanyahu offended his finance minister The public rift between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon never really threatened the integrity of the coalition, as none of its members is interested, at least for now, in early elections. Israel
Arab MK: Israel must 'pay a price' for occupation Israeli Knesset member Ahmad Tibi believes that the two-state solution remains the best possibility for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict despite waning enthusiasm for it. Palestine
Gaza book fair encourages youth to put down cellphone, pick up book As social media and e-books increase in popularity, a group of young Palestinians organized a book fair in the Gaza Strip to promote paper books and encourage reading among youth. Palestine
Egypt sees progress in settling Nile issues Cairo appears to be making some headway in realigning with members of the Nile Basin Initiative and resolving its issues with the Entebbe Agreement, seven years after it was signed. Egypt
Runners in grueling marathon persevere, as do Sahrawis Each year, runners brave the harsh conditions of the Sahara Marathon to benefit and show solidarity with the Sahrawi people. Algeria
Congress slams Trump proposal to reduce military aid Key lawmakers of both parties vow to fight effort to shift aid from grants to loans. Congress
