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
How sanctions helped Iranian tech industry The sanctions both hurt and helped Iran’s high-tech industry. Iran
Why are Reformists criticizing Rafsanjani? Rafsanjani's criticism of the Guardian Council has brought about the criticism of two Reformist political figures in Iran. Iran
Poll: Even hopeful Israelis expect little from peace talks According to an Israel Democracy Institute survey, an overwhelming majority of Israelis support a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but paradoxically don’t believe it would lead anywhere. Israel
The rise of the individual intifada The prevailing IDF assessment by which the current wave of violence will die out has been proven wrong, with Palestinian attackers now using guns instead of knives. Palestine
Who's going to pay for Palestinian budget gap? The new Palestinian state budget is being criticized both for its approval process and its expenditures, which some critics say favor administrative items at the expense of other sectors. Palestine
Will splitting Jerusalem perpetuate occupation? The separation plans designed to separate Jerusalem from surrounding Palestinian villages will only perpetuate the annexation of Jerusalem to Israel. Palestine
Saudi ambassador's comments on Popular Mobilization Units stir ire of Iraqis The statements made by the Saudi ambassador to Baghdad about the Popular Mobilization Units in Iraq have stirred mixed reactions in the political sphere and on the Iraqi street. Saudi Arabia
Will Turkey, Russia fan flames into an inferno? Moscow, Ankara ramp up their "he said, she said" exchanges with ever-stronger accusations. Syria
Erdogan’s new Kurdish allies President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is gearing up to resume the Kurdish settlement process — but with new dialogue partners with Islamist inclinations. Turkey
Egypt fills its prisons, but don't worry, it'll make more Egypt's human rights violations are flooding its prisons with more people than they can handle. Egypt
Selfies in Syria: How one Iranian religious singer is showing his support for fighters A famous Iranian religious singer who has a close relationship with Iran's hard-liners, says he did not intend for his controversial pictures in Syria to be published. Saudi Arabia
