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
Syrian Artists Remain Creative On Margins of War Syrian artists in the mainly Kurdish northeast are indulging in their newfound freedom to explore their art without regime restrictions. Syria
Fashion Labels Popular In Gaza Despite Hardship Siege and war have not prevented Palestinians in Gaza from keeping up to speed with the latest fashion trends. Palestine
The Return of Mohammed Dahlan The UAE and Egypt are pushing for a reconciliation between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan, who would return to Fatah. United Arab Emirates
Will Tehran’s Iraq Policy Change Under Rouhani? Considering Tehran’s increasing openness with the West, will Iranian policy toward Iraq change under its new president? Iraq
Egypt’s real challenge: reviving the economy Even after a revolution that called for social justice, Egyptians must balance between legitimate demands to rectify the accumulated effect of years of social injustice, and the treasury’s ability to honor these demands. Legacy: Gulf
Syrian Refugees Now Equal One-Third Of Lebanon’s Population US leads with assistance to Syrian refugees in Lebanon but budget battles and a lack of sufficient support from wealthy Arab states threaten to exacerbate Lebanon’s “existential” crisis. Syria
Iranian Official Discusses Regional Policies Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hussein Amir Abdollahian discusses Iran’s policies toward Syria, Saudi Arabia, Hamas and Egypt in an interview with Al-Monitor. Regional
Maliki to Appeal for US Help In Fighting Terrorism Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will make the case that terrorism in Iraq is directly related to the war in Syria. Iraq
Exiled Iranian Singer Moein Revives Memories of Another Iran Exiled Iranian singer Moein conquered Washington this week, and with thousands of fans he sang and dreamed of his beloved homeland. Israel
Israeli Drones Haunt Gaza Israeli drones are a constant reality in Gaza, proving a major obstacle to armed factions while destroying Palestinian civilians' sense of security. Palestine
Erdogan Rebuilds Ties to Iraq Regional events are catalysts for a rapprochement between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Iraq
Proposed personal status law will not help Iraqi Jaafaris A proposed law to protect the personal status of Shiite Jaafaris is redundant and may in fact cause them harm. Iraq
