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
Israeli politicians easy targets on April Fools' Day Facebook has become the platform for April Fools' Day hoaxes in Israel, where politicians are mocked on the background of social and security tensions. Israel
Why Erdogan keeps winning Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has managed to fuse Turkey’s center-right and Islamist-right into one major bloc accepting his explanation of recent political scandals to be conspiracies against his rule. Turkey
Both Pollard, Barghouti should be released Jonathan Pollard should be released on humanitarian grounds, but the release of prominent Fatah member Marwan Barghouti could resuscitate negotiations with the Palestinians. Palestine
Hamas to launch new satellite TV channel Hamas is preparing to launch a new television channel to promote its perspective despite its current financial crisis. Palestine
Iraq civil activists fight to preserve constitutional rights Despite the civil rights safeguarded by the Iraqi constitution, conservative political parties have been increasing restricting citizens’ freedoms in recent years. Iraq
The illusion of Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert's conviction is a blow to Israel's center-left and an illustration of the moral relativism of Israeli politics Israel
The forgotten Palestinian prisoners The Palestinian prisoner cause is suffering from a lack of public interest, poor local media coverage and no political support. Palestine
The Saudi-Turkey cold war for Sunni hegemony Saudi Arabia views Turkey's mix of democracy and Islam as a threat to its own regional role. Saudi Arabia
Syria key to Lebanon presidency The politics of who will be Lebanon’s next president cannot be separated from the war in Syria. Lebanon
The tragedy of Ehud Olmert The chance for a peace agreement with the Palestinians disappeared with the former Israeli prime minister, who has been sentenced to prison for bribery. Palestine
Erdogan plays Egypt card in 'ballot box' victory The municipal elections may have been a victory for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP), but not necessarily a victory for Turkish democracy. Turkey
Remember Iran's Green Movement? President Hassan Rouhani will not open a new battlefront against hard-liners in pushing for the release of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hussein Mousavi while the nuclear negotiations are taking place. Iran
