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
Don’t expect IS fighters to flee en masse to Syria The logistics of the battle for Mosul and beyond don’t point conclusively to the Islamic State taking the fight into Syria next. Iraq
Turkey detains editor, staff of leading opposition paper Opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet was raided this morning and several senior staff members were arrested as part of what the government called a "terrorism probe" into some of its shareholders. Turkey
Is Yemen headed for partition? An open-ended cease-fire is needed for Yemen, but a de facto partition of the country is more likely. Saudi Arabia
Iranian hard-liner hints Ahmadinejad not completely out of the game An Iranian hard-line former MP reveals that Tehran Mayor and two-time presidential candidate Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was barred from running in the 2009 presidential election — and that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may not be completely out of the game. Russia
How Iraqi real estate became the subject of corrupt dealings Real estate in Baghdad and other Iraqi areas has been subject to corrupt deals and law violations for some time, sparking governmental and popular concern about a growing phenomenon involving criminal gangs and corrupt public employees. Iraq
How Turkey’s AKP undid its legacy on 'Kurdish question' President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ended up reverting back to the "Old Turkey" concepts that he had criticized for years. Turkey
The billion-dollar deal that is stirring up Israeli army Senior IDF officers say that Israel should not have purchased three new submarines from Germany, but rather invested the money in air and ground defense. Israel
Is Israeli Zionist Camp facing its last chance? The Zionist Camp might be facing its very last chance to save itself from oblivion by reinventing its image and uniting the center-left electorate. Israel
How Netanyahu is keeping secret his move to help Palestinians Israel's failure to publicize a decision that benefits the Palestinians shows just how preoccupied Israel’s right-wing government is about a settler backlash. Palestine
Why 30 Palestinians celebrated Jewish holiday with settlers After a group of Palestinians accepted the invitation to celebrate the Sukkot holiday with residents of Efrat settlement, four of them were arrested by the Palestinian security service. Palestine
The man behind potential breakthrough in Hamas-Egypt ties Hamas and Egypt appear to be adjusting their attitudes toward each other, and Fatah’s dismissed leader Mohammed Dahlan probably has a role in this regard. Palestine
Hamas’ release of Fatah military wing leader raises speculation of deal Hamas has released Zaki al-Sakani from prison, raising questions of whether it was part of a deal between Hamas and Mohammed Dahlan, with whom it just restored relations. Palestine
