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
Shas Party is losing its electoral base The battle between current Shas leader Aryeh Deri and former Chairman Eli Yishai will surely affect voters, who might prefer other parties over Shas. Israel
Salafist danger spawns pan-Shiite solidarity Rising incitement against Shiites by Salafist forces has prompted solidarity among the various sects of Shiite Islam. Iraq
Gaza landlords refuse to rent to 'targeted families' Landlords and residents in the Gaza Strip are reluctant to live next to families who were targeted by Israel in the recent war, fearing they may also become targets in any future confrontation. Palestine
Netanyahu needs to do some soul-searching In his UN speech, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's diplomatic horizon consisted of Israel and the Arab world starting a normalization process before resolving the conflict with the Palestinians, a concept that no Arab leader would ever consider. Palestine
Lebanese women conquer abroad, suffer at home Successful Lebanese women abroad are making international headlines, but Lebanese women at home continue to face legal and social discrimination, impeding them from similar success. Lebanon
High Holidays attract secular Jews to Jerusalem Israeli secular Jews take Selichot tours in Jerusalem to reconnect with their Jewish roots through the poems and prayers recited in the period leading up to the Hebrew New Year and Yom Kippur. Israel
Hama maintains its calm amid Syrian storm Hama, a hotbed of opposition against the Syrian regime, has learned from its experience in the 1980s and stayed out of the armed rebellion, so far sparing the city the destruction witnessed elsewhere. Syria
Iran dervishes protest prisoner treatment, media blackout Iranian Gonabadi dervishes have taken to the streets to protest the treatment of prisoners, claiming a the media blackout on their plight. Iran
Iranian UN delegate slams Netanyahu speech Iran's UN delegation took the floor to criticize the address by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly. Palestine
Algeria pushes for national dialogue in Libya Algeria says it will endeavor to host a Libyan national dialogue in October month, hoping to end the violence and rejecting calls for foreign military intervention. Algeria
Bibi's UN speech misses again At the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accomplished what he is best at: delivering speeches and identifying threats, without identifying opportunities or making any historic decisions — again. Palestine
Competition heats up for Gaza reconstruction contracts A lack of transparency in the bidding stage is clouding Gaza reconstruction ahead of the donor conference in Cairo. Palestine
