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
Soleimani: No more selfies Commander of Iran's Quds Force Qasem Soleimani has written an open letter asking that a film about him not be produced and for officials to stop the "exaggeration" about him on social media. Iran
Erdogan rethinks sectarian politics Ankara is showing signs of moving away from sectarian leanings and perhaps back to its historic neutral stance in the region. Turkey
How will Turkey explain $4.3 billion in unidentified foreign currency? Is it a coincidence that an unexpected gush of foreign funds from unidentified sources occurs in election periods? Turkey
AKP's stance on Armenians worries Christians The AKP's initial attempts to normalize with Armenia had melted some of the frost with the region's Christians. But Arab uprisings where Christians were targeted by radical groups supported by Turkey shattered that positive atmosphere. Turkey
Seeking Internet access, Syrians turn to Turkey's wireless network Wireless networks from Turkey are spreading in opposition-controlled neighborhoods in Aleppo, with cheap prices compared with local Internet services that are regularly disrupted. Syria
Turkish army clashes with PKK The Turkish government is accused of deploying troops in a plan to break the cease-fire with the Kurdistan Workers Party. Turkey
Aleppo's Christians face rising violence The recent happenings in Syria are far from promising as conflicts intensify and fighting increases. Syria
Russian missile deal sets off alarm bells in Israel Israel fears that the nuclear agreement, combined with Russian missiles, will strengthen Iran on all fronts, changing the balance of power of both Iran and Hezbollah vis-a-vis Israel. Israel
Belgian delegation expresses support for Assad A Belgian parliamentary delegation, which met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on March 24, said that Assad is "protecting Christian cities and Christians from fundamentalist attacks." Syria
Syrian border closure deals blow to Jordan economy The Free Syrian Army has taken over the strategic border crossing of Nasib, a main trade route between Jordan and Syria, pushing the Jordanian government to seek alternative transport options and export markets. Jordan
Hamas warily eyes proposals for long-term truce with Israel Negotiations are ongoing between Hamas and international envoys on a potential 15-year truce with Israel, a plan some Hamas and Fatah figures see as a way to split the Gaza Strip from the West Bank. Palestine
Will nuclear deal improve human rights in Iran? While many Iranian human rights activists support a nuclear deal, others do not believe that it will result in an improvement in the human rights situation. Iran
