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
Assi Dayan, heir to Moshe Dayan Assi Dayan's image of a fragile artist radiated the exact opposite of his late father, war hero and politician Moshe Dayan. Israel
Former Israeli minister warns of violence by 'godless' settlers In an interview with Al-Monitor, Labor Knesset member Binyamin Ben-Eliezer calls for labeling some violent settler groups as terrorists. Palestine
Ankara at crossroads on Syria policy Developments in Syria have confounded the Turkish government’s efforts to depose President Bashar al-Assad and forced a rethink of its policies. Syria
Lebanon union strike not helping economy The Union Coordinating Body is missing an opportunity to fix the large amount of government waste. Lebanon
Palestinians seek to heal wounds from Hamas-Fatah clashes Initiatives have been launched in conjunction with the political reconciliation to heal the pain suffered by families who lost loved ones during the violence between Hamas and Fatah. Palestine
Iraqi Shiite religious leaders divided on Maliki The Iraqi parliamentary elections are showing a deep division among the Shiite community, with rising tension between the Shiite religious authorities and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Iraq
Honor killings haunt Turkey's gay community Two court cases of "gay honor killings" in Turkey reveal a similar pattern of deep-rooted prejudice and social codes that override even the closest family bonds. Turkey
Egyptian satellite will monitor water security, Renaissance Dam Egypt launched the EgyptSat 2 satellite on April 14 to help with borders, resources and the Renaissance Dam. Egypt
Saudis fear Syria blowback after discovering ISIS cell Fears of jihadist blowback from the Syrian war are starting to be realized after Saudi's discovery of a terrorist cell planning attacks on its soil. Saudi Arabia
Iraqi voters shift from religious to 'political sectarianism' Iraqi voters appear to be gradually changing their loyalties from religious authorities to political groups. Iraq
Netanyahu stalls on reconciliation with Turkey Israel's premier still does not trust Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Israel
