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
Congressional Democrats visiting Israel get earful about 'bad' Iran deal Instead of adopting the assessment of several top security chiefs that the Iran deal is better than none, Zionist Camp leaders Tzipi Livni and Isaac Herzog have chosen to imitate the prime minister and deride the agreement in talks with Congressional Democrats visiting Israel. Palestine
Iran's troubled bond market Even if sanctions are lifted, Iran's debt market faces several obstacles to realizing its full potential. Iran
Kharazi sparks controversy within Reformist camp Seyed Mohammad Sadegh Kharazi, who has founded a new political Reformist group, has stirred controversy with comments that he someday might expose names of Reformists who in the past had contacts with Americans. Iran
Former US ambassador: There won't be peace in Syria without prosecution of Assad In Stephen Rapp's first interview since leaving office, the recently resigned US ambassador-at-large and chief of the State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice says progress is being made on amassing documentation of the "hell" in Syria. Syria
Kuwait's Sunnis question fellow Shiites' loyalties Kuwait is experiencing heightened Sunni-Shiite tensions, but the country's position in the region may make it difficult to address them should the situation worsen. Legacy: Gulf
Controversy over plan to reform Israeli public broadcasting Minister Ofir Akunis, who is responsible for reforming public broadcasting, tells Al-Monitor that contrary to accusations by the left, his reform plan is designed to rebuild an independent entity, reflecting more "balanced" views. Israel
Egypt's prosecutors take aim at pop stars In Egypt, where popular music videos are offending public morals, charges of indecency are being filed against a number of dancers. Egypt
Turkish men not so worried about worry beads The traditional use of worry beads, or tesbih, thrives in modern times as a tool for personal therapy, a status symbol and a faithful companion. Turkey
Possible EU sanctions alarm Israeli banks Following the recommendation of a prominent think tank, Israeli investors fear that the European Union will decide to "mark" Israeli banks that operate in the West Bank, devastating the entire Israeli banking system. Palestine
Turkey treads carefully on new gas pipeline with Russia Ankara doesn’t want to put all of its energy eggs into the Russian basket. Turkey
Is Turkey's 'emergency rule' back? With increasing tensions in the region, declaring 37 areas "provisional security zones" off-limits to civilians is seen by some as a resurrection of Turkey's emergency rule. Turkey
Hamas concludes first-ever military training camp for girls Hamas’ women's movement is now organizing female-only training camps to strengthen young women's affiliation with Hamas' values and goals. Palestine
