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
Egypt caught between Russia, Saudi Arabia Egypt is struggling to find a way to leverage its ties with both Russia and Saudi Arabia to its own advantage. Saudi Arabia
Olmert's political comeback crumbles The grand political plans of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert suffered a mortal blow with the testimony of his former confidante Shula Zaken, leaving the center-left without a leader for the next elections. Palestine
Ultra-Orthodox alliance put to test in municipal election New municipal elections in Beit Shemesh will test the power of a new alliance of ultra-Orthodox factions. Israel
Still banned from Turkey For the second time since 2007, Turkey denied an Al-Monitor contributor entry because of his work as a journalist on Kurdish issues. Iraq
Yemen hit with plague of commissions Yemeni politicians are fond of forming commissions as a means to dealing with problems, but those commissions rarely produce any results. Yemen
Bitter Maliki-Nujaifi exchanges strain political system With Iraqi parliamentary elections set to take place in less than two months, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's relationships with both Council of Representatives Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi and Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani are going from bad to worse. Iraq
Hamas debates technocrat government in Gaza The loss of financial support from Iran has reportedly contributed to Gaza's current crisis, according to Hamas sources. Palestine
Iranian weapons shipment no 'tiebreaker' The rollout of Israel's seizure of a ship carrying Iranian arms may have disappointed Israeli leaders looking for a public relations windfall. Palestine
9/11 plotter released in Syria prisoner exchange Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham has secured the release of 9/11 plotter and alleged al-Qaeda core member Mohammed Haydar Zammar, adding to concerns about the composition of the Islamic Front. Syria
Iranian activists say celebrating Women's Day is 'not enough' Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has appointed women to his cabinet, but his administration must do a lot more to address discrimination against women in Iran. Iran
Watch Trendlines “Blowback?: Ukraine and the Middle East" The next PBS NewsHour-Al-Monitor web special will focus on the implications of the crisis in Ukraine for US policy in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia
What next for Qatar and the GCC? Following the decision by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to withdraw their ambassadors from Qatar, will Doha reassess its foreign policy to ensure it can continue playing the vital role of mediator in thorny regional issues? Saudi Arabia
