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
How Egypt's protest law brought down the revolution An in-depth look at how Egypt's government is jailing the revolutionaries who helped bring the current regime to power. Egypt
Egypt faces power cuts, potential drought Egypt discharges extra water from the Nile to help its power shortages, yet this policy might lead to a drought if it's not properly executed. Egypt
Modern-day 'cultural Sinbad' spreads literature across Iraq Star Mohsen Ali is unique in his travels across Iraq's provinces to sell and promote books to a generation increasingly thirsty for literature. Iraq
Christians in Homs province fear jihadist advance Christians in the strategic Wadi al-Nasara area are pinning their defense on the Syrian army’s ability to hold the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra at bay. Syria
AQIM defectors raise fears of IS branch in North Africa A senior leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, leading some to speculate that an IS branch is in the making in North Africa. Algeria
New jihadist generation in Lebanon With the latest security clashes between Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra members and the Lebanese army, it seems that Salafism is shifting its priorities to Lebanon. Iraq
Ayatollah Khamenei’s media team live-blogs his surgery The decision to publicize the Iranian supreme leader's prostate surgery appears to prevented the spread of rumors regarding the supreme leader's health. Iran
Expropriation of land reveals Netanyahu's strategy The expropriation of West Bank land, contrary to his commitment at his 2009 Bar-Ilan speech, reveals the true strategy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dividing the Palestinians while stalling. Palestine
Qatar foreign minister believes abducted bishops still alive Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah said that he has obtained information that two bishops kidnapped in Syria last year are still alive. Qatar
Regime, rebels continue clashes in Zabadani Rebel fighters attacked several Syrian army checkpoints around the town of Zabadani, but it has so far failed to produce safe passageways for civilians and rebel fighters. Syria
Obama asks Erdogan to combat anti-Semitism Anti-Semitism has reached alarming levels in Turkey, where public figures are calling out Jewish Turks over Israel's actions in Gaza. Turkey
Is Turkey the weakest link in anti-IS coalition? Held back by political weaknesses and ideological constraints, Ankara is likely to be the weakest and most reluctant member of the planned coalition against the Islamic State. Iraq
