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
Russia looks to Egypt for Mideast foothold Russia wants to increase its regional presence in the Arab world, and having Egypt share the Russian narrative of regional dynamics is a way out of its isolation. Egypt
Hamas makes release of detainees condition for negotiations Hamas is making the release of the detainees of the 2011 prisoner exchange deal a condition for any future negotiations, saying that Israel did not abide by the agreements. Palestine
Iranian writers welcome decline of censorship After eight difficult years of strict censorship under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian writers say that literary freedom is increasing under the new administration. Iran
Bibi-Obama duel continues US and Israeli experts say that an agreement with Iran is not imminent, yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on going ahead with his planned Congress speech, while damaging Israel's strategic relations with the United States. Israel
Anti-Arab racism becomes tool in Israeli elections With elections around the corner, conservative Israeli politicians are feeding racism against Israeli Arabs, hoping to increase support at the ballot box. Israel
Hezbollah fears being squeezed from Syrian-Israeli borders With Jabhat al-Nusra controlling the southern border area of Syria and reports on cooperation between the group and Israel, the Syrian-Israeli border has become an area of concern for Hezbollah and Iran. Israel
Former Knesset speaker declares Zionism over Former Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg has said that Zionism "expired" with the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948, and that society should move toward citizenship rather than nationalism. Israel
Learning from history with Iran As the extended deadline set for nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 approaches, the P5+1 needs to embrace Iran as a reliable partner, leaving behind the mentality of pressure and coercion. Iran
Dust pollution shuts down major cities in Iran Poor air quality has reached dangerous levels in Iran's Khouzestan province, where some parliament members say the people are left “breathing dust.” Iran
Shiite militias mixed blessing in Iraq, Syria US experts warn about the “Hezbollization” of Iraq and Syria but there is little alternative now to Iranian-backed Shiite militias to push back the group that calls itself the Islamic State. Iraq
Erdogan's 'facts' muddle Turkey's economic reality For his supporters, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an unquestionable leader who, not being limited by reality, is able to create his own facts. Turkey
Why did Turkey seize Bank Asya? A Turkish government agency made the unprecedented move of taking control of the management of the financially sound Bank Asya. Turkey
