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 arrives to Trump White House in turmoil The Israeli prime minister, who has long hoped to work with a Republican US president, arrives to a White House in crisis, but early enough, he hopes, to influence policies. Palestine
Breathing new life into Egypt's Nubian heritage The Egyptian government is working to direct Nubians' attention away from the controversial displacement issue, pouring investments into Nasr al-Nuba village. Egypt
Are Russia, US ready to cooperate on Syria and beyond? Moscow is taking a wait-and-see position as the new US administration takes shape, but Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to see the potential for military and political cooperation with the US not witnessed since World War II. Syria
Congress preparing new round of Syria sanctions The House and Senate are ready to take on Russia's support for Damascus but differ on timing. Syria
Egyptian artist turns home into cultural venue The Artellewa Art Space in a poor neighborhood in Giza province is a great success and lauded by the local community. Egypt
Turkish daily scraps anti-referendum interview with Nobel laureate In the Turkish press' latest act of self-censorship, Hurriyet has axed its interview with Orhan Pamuk after the celebrated novelist said he will vote no on the upcoming presidential referendum. Turkey
Can Turkey take on Raqqa before concluding al-Bab? Turkey is expanding its targets by proposing to partner with the United States at Raqqa before ending its al-Bab operation, a course that is laden with traps. Iraq
Can fragile Ankara-Moscow friendship survive Russian strike? Though Turkey and Russia are working ever more closely together in Syria, the two cautious allies are holding back over their policy disconnects and incidents like the Russian airstrike that killed four Turkish soldiers near al-Bab. Syria
Do Iranian MPs want to send working women back home? The Iranian parliament’s approval of a law to allow women to apply for early retirement after only working for 20 years triggers heavy criticism of the economic and social consequences. Iran
Controversy surrounds hijab during Swedish visit to Iran Iranian hard-liners took the government to task for allowing an event where female Swedish diplomats did not wear the hijab, while the Swedish women faced blowback at home too. Iran
How Hamas' new Gaza leader came to power With Hamas’ military commander Mohammed al-Deif suffering from multiple injuries, Yahya Sinwar has been elected the overall leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Palestine
Netanyahu won't cut any deals in Trump's office Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's commitment to the two-state solution changes entirely depending on the public or person he is trying to please, and he couldn't advocate it at his Feb. 15 meeting at the White House even if he wanted to. Palestine
