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
Kerry’s words not enough to recast US-Egypt ties In the post-Mubarak era, the United States must deal with “crowd democracy” in Egypt. Egypt
Liberman slams South Africa as 'anti-Israel' The harsh remarks emanating from Turkey and South Africa indicate that it's OK to criticize Israel while strengthening ties with Iran. Israel
Does Washington have a policy toward Syria’s Kurds? The view from Washington about US policy toward Syria may be more confusing than it looks from Turkey. Iraq
Does AKP’s 'silent revolution' silence women? The Turkish Justice and Development Party's “silent revolution” guarantees women’s rights as long as they do not clash with Islamic ideals. Turkey
Prominent Likud member warns of massive layoffs The chairman of the Knesset's Labor, Welfare and Health Committee, Haim Katz, warns of a massive layoff wave in the Israeli job market, accusing Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennet for not fighting it. Israel
First Egypt-Ethiopia Nile talks end on sour note Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan held tripartite talks on the Renaissance Dam in Khartoum, failing to make progress on their dispute over the Nile. Egypt
Palestinian refugees accuse Jordan police of abuse Palestinian refugees at the Jerash refugee camp have accused Jordan's security forces of abusing some refugees during detention following clashes with nearby villagers. Jordan
Syria's temporary solution As preparations for the Geneva II Syria conference stall, some suggest that a temporary solution could be in the works, aimed at keeping President Bashar al-Assad in office, but without elections. Saudi Arabia
Small victory for Iraqi civil society on pension law While civil activists successfully brought an end to unfair parliamentary salaries and pensions last month, many gaps in Iraqi law persist. Iraq
Lebanese Shiite leader launches interfaith dialogue The prominent Lebanese Shiite scholar Ali Fadlallah has launched a new initiative aimed at promoting interfaith dialogue and cooling sectarian tensions in the region. Lebanon
Hamas' new spokeswoman to break misperceptions Hamas has appointed its first female English-language spokesperson partly to end the stereotype of the organization as an oppressor of women. Palestine
