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
Iran Parliament Steps In On Nuclear Talks Iran's parliament will seek to to assert influence in supporting the nuclear negotiations to ensure that red lines such as full rapprochement are not crossed. Iran
Iraq's Moral Deficit Iraqis have the moral and historical responsibility to find an agreed-upon national project, if they want to save their country from collapse. Iraq
Saudi-Backed Salafists Returning To Iran’s Border? The sectarian war in Syria comes to the Iran-Pakistan border. Saudi Arabia
Political Forces Opposing Better US-Iran Ties Get Busy As the next round of Geneva talks between Iran and the P5+1 nears, currents that oppose better US-Iran relations have become active but some signs of hope have also appeared. Iran
Release of Palestinian Prisoners Not a License for Creeping Annexation Did US Secretary of State John Kerry know that Israel would approve new settlements after releasing Palestinian prisoners? Palestine
Where Do Babylonian Jewry's Archives Belong? The archives of Iraq's Jewish community should be returned to Baghdad and serve as the cornerstone for a historic reconciliation between Babylonian Jewry and their homeland. Iraq
Iran Nuclear Talks Overlook Terror Progress in the nuclear talks may have taken terrorism off the agenda. Israel
Maliki Seeks to Leverage US-Iran Opening Security is at the top of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s visit to Washington, but he may also consider a US-Iran rapprochement as a means to strengthen his chances for a third term. Iraq
Ultra-Orthodox Win Elections In Beit Shemesh Amid Fraud Claims The secular residents of Beit Shemesh are demanding another round of voting in the recent municipal elections, having lost to the ultra-Orthodox by a narrow margin. Israel
Reformist Newspaper in Iran Shut Down Over Imam Ali Article While the first newspaper under President Rouhani's tenure has been shut down for covering a sensitive religious topic, there are signs that the days of mass newspaper closures have not returned. Iran
PUK divided after losses in Kurdistan region parliament The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has fractured following the substantial losses it sustained in September's Iraqi Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections. Iraq
Turkey’s Minorities Still Orphans On 90-Year Anniversary Turkey marked its 90th anniversary with the inauguration of an undersea railway linking the two continents, but Greek, Kurdish and Armenian communities feel disconnected. Turkey
