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
Turkey’s Islamists can’t get enough of Lindsay Lohan US celebrity Lindsay Lohan has become an unlikely promoter of Turkey. Syria
Grieving Iranians beat South Korea in soccer After weeks of debate over the confluence of the Iran-South Korea soccer match and the most significant Islamic holiday for Shiite Muslims, Iran beat South Korea — while people cheered and mourned simultaneously. Iran
Is Turkey ditching Saudi Arabia for Iran? The recent string of high-level meetings between Iranian and Turkish officials suggests that the two regional powerhouses may be moving closer on Syria. Saudi Arabia
How realistic is Turkey’s pledge for free factories? Its budget already gaping, the Turkish government plans to spend even more under an ambitious project to revive the economy in the conflict-hit, mainly Kurdish southeast. Turkey
What’s behind Sadrists’ return to Iraq’s Shiite National Alliance? After boycotting the alliance for months, the Sadrist movement says it has returned, conditionally, to prepare a united front for the upcoming elections. Iraq
Just how neutral is Oman in Yemen war? Oman has claimed neutrality in the war in Yemen, but Saudi and coalition forces say the sultanate is smuggling weapons through its border with Yemen to Iran-backed Houthis. Oman
Threats drive out beauty pageant in Upper Egypt Controversy surrounding the Miss Upper Egypt beauty pageant turned ugly, forcing organizers to cancel the event. Egypt
Why Egypt's 'revolution of the hungry' isn't coming soon Despite rumors that protests have been planned for Nov. 11, it seems many Egyptians don't want — or can't afford — an uprising at this time. Egypt
Power struggle erupts in Turkey’s security structure Two very different groups are vying to fill all the personnel holes Turkey's purge punched into its military and intelligence agencies. Turkey
What US-Russia fallout means for Syria A collapsing US-Russia relationship could have profound consequences for Syria’s civil war and the Middle East. Syria
Turks blame US, Iran for encouraging Baghdad against Ankara Turkey's opinion-makers think Iraq isn’t acting alone in its calls for Turkish troops to leave a camp near Mosul. Iraq
Campaign for missing Kurdish politician winds up with a rare happy ending A Kurdish politician who went missing amid bloody clashes in Turkey in May has turned up safe and sound in Iraq, sparking fresh controversy over his disappearance, which had mobilized human rights activists in Turkey. Iraq
