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
Iraq struggles to stop antiquities smuggling Iraq has managed to recover some smuggled antiquities, but illegal excavations and the theft of ancient artifacts continue. Iraq
Netanyahu-Obama meeting a show for home audiences Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will use his meeting with US President Barack Obama to drum up support at home, and Obama will have to watch his every move as the Republicans look to use any mistake against his candidate, Hillary Clinton. Israel
What’s really behind police raids on Israeli-Arab party? The Israeli Police are investigating Balad, an Israeli Arab party, for allegedly receiving illegal donations from Arab states. Israel
Why Iraq's Yazidis are upset over new film depicting IS massacres Women who suffered at the hand of the Islamic State are now being subjected to further humiliation, in the opinion of the Yazidi community, which is protesting a film on the topic that they say is inaccurate and misleading. Iraq
How will Israel respond to Assad’s warning? The missiles fired at Israeli fighter jets this week indicate that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad refuses to be held accountable for Syrian rebels’ stray mortar fire at Israel. Israel
Lebanon positions itself as hub for Syrian reconstruction Experts say that Lebanon has to prepare for Syria’s reconstruction once the war there ends or else it will be a missed opportunity to improve the Lebanese economy. Lebanon
Palestinians, Israelis harden positions ahead of UN summit Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to shift from his traditional pragmatism and present hard-line positions in his speech at the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting. Palestine
What's on Rouhani's New York agenda? Under pressure over the underwhelming economic windfall in the wake of the nuclear deal, President Hassan Rouhani is expected to focus on ensuring that sanctions relief is better implemented during a trip to New York. Iran
'Settlement schmettlement': Turkish purges target Kurds Government crackdown targets include Kurds, military officers, educators and intellectuals, as well as supporters of Fethullah Gulen. Turkey
Why did Iraq's Shiite National Alliance choose new leader? After longtime disagreements, the Shiite National Alliance elects Ammar al-Hakim, the head of the Islamic Supreme Council, as president of the alliance, to revive and reorganize it. Iraq
Problems plague Egypt’s roads, rails Egypt's railroad safety is under discussion following recent train accidents. Egypt
Race tightens between Clinton, Trump With seven weeks left until the US presidential election, the race is essentially a statistical tie. United States
