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
Will Salafi groups trigger Israel-Hamas clash? Salafi groups have adopted the tactic of firing rockets at Israel in an attempt to weaken Hamas by pushing it into a military confrontation with Israel. Palestine
Are Libyans abandoning democracy in search of stability? More and more democratically elected governments in Libyan localities are being replaced by military rule. Libya
Terror groups exploit Iraqi homeless As the country's economic and security crises drag on, unemployed young Iraqis are finding themselves on the streets and vulnerable to militant groups that use them to gather information and even commit acts of terror. Iraq
Has Israel’s defense minister given up on toppling Hamas? Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman seems to have realized that attacking Hamas targets in retaliation for rocket fire from rogue groups could damage the organization’s efforts to contain those elements. Palestine
Finance minister says Iran seeks 'resilient' economy Iran's Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayebnia tells Al-Monitor that Iran is boosting non-oil exports, unifying its exchange rate and increasing the independence of its Central Bank and that remaining US sanctions are the main impediment to Iranian-American investment. United States
Egypt seeks to crack down on killings by police New amendments to Egypt’s police law seek to make it tougher for police to abuse their authority. Egypt
UN Syria envoy: Jabhat al-Nusra holding Aleppo ‘hostage’ De Mistura calls on Jabhat al-Nusra, Russia and Syria to end fighting in Aleppo; why is Erdogan mostly mum on Aleppo? Syria
How Iraqi Kurdistan plans to reform education to fight extremism The Kurdistan Regional Government aims to reform the religious curriculum, but some claim that these efforts will fail because extremists still have influence on the reform process. Iraq
Focus shifts to second Trump-Clinton debate US voters — and Republican and Democratic party officials — will be closely watching the second presidential debate on Sunday, Oct. 9. United States
Hamas leader speaks out after controversy In an interview with Al-Monitor, Hamas official Ahmad Yousef discusses why the movement issued a statement preventing the press from dealing with him as its spokesperson. Palestine
Alevi faith protects rare goats in eastern Turkey The shy wild goats in the mountains of eastern Turkey enjoy a protected status both from the government and the still-strong traditions of the local Alevi population. Turkey
Assessing the aftermath of postponed Palestinian elections Resolving the problems that caused the suspension of the Palestinian local elections is crucial to solving internal Palestinian problems through ballot boxes. Palestine
