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
Is Erdogan waging a war of choice against the PKK? Erdogan and the AKP win by emphasizing the threat from Kurdish terrorism; Palestinian martyrs on the rise with intifada violence; Al-Monitor backs UNICEF education program for Syrian children. Palestine
Russian involvement in Syria brings about another siege for Aleppo The second siege of Aleppo was more than the sad tale of a once-proud Syrian city. Syria
Nidaa Tunis tensions come at crucial period for Tunisia Nidaa Tunis appears to be inching toward a possible split after internal tensions erupted into a brawl. North Africa
White House says Israel-Palestine peace 'not in the cards' for Obama The White House says it sees little prospect for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before Obama leaves office, and is looking to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to bring ideas on how to prevent a one state reality when he comes to the White House Nov. 9. Congress
Kirkuk governor: US must work with Iran to stabilize Iraq Kurdish leader Najmaldin Karim lays out his vision for post-IS peace. Iraq
Negotiate Jerusalem first, not last In the Oslo process, the issue of Jerusalem was purposefully delayed to be the last negotiated one; but in the next peace process it could be wise to begin negotiations by tackling Jerusalem's status first. Palestine
Hamas' Meshaal calls for unity to support intifada Hamas official Khaled Meshaal stresses the importance of establishing a unified Palestinian command to ensure the intifada achieves Palestinians' goals. Palestine
Israeli tourism minister: Supreme Court imposes its 'radical worldview' Tourism Minister Yariv Levin claims that the Supreme Court imposes on the government and Israeli public a radical left-wing worldview. Israel
Turkey’s Armenian community gets back children’s camp Turkish Armenians finally obtained the deed to Camp Armen, an orphanage and children’s camp in Istanbul. Turkey
Fears of government seizure spill over to Turkey's universities Private universities in Turkey appear to be next in line in government crosshairs after a number of companies, newspapers and TV channels were taken over by pro-government trustees. Turkey
Palestinians divided over future of jailed Fatah leader Family and friends say imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti is in good spirits as talk swirls about the possibility of his leading Fatah, yet some question how effective he could be from behind bars. Palestine
Syria's 'moderate jihadis' elated by Turkish election results The Syrian opposition wants to know what kind of support it can expect from the AKP government after the AKP won solid support in the recent election. Syria
