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
Iraq’s Film Industry Hits Bottom Once a popular pastime among Iraqis, cinema attendance has all but disappeared since 2003, to the detriment of youth aspiring to study cinema at Iraqi universities. Iraq
Power Outages Send Gaza Children To Study on Streets Palestinian schoolchildren are using streetlights to do their homework as Gaza's electricity crisis continues. Palestine
Why Turks Are Fighting Over Trees The controversy over thousands of trees to be uprooted on a university campus in Ankara for a construction project is reminiscent of Gezi Park. Turkey
Aleppo's war economy Residents of Aleppo have moved beyond the initial shocks of war and are adjusting to make ends meet. Syria
Al-Qaeda Sinks Roots in Mosul Al-Qaeda continues to gain strength in Iraq, taxing the residents of Mosul, attacking minorities and "collaborators" and making the city a base of operations in Ninevah province. Iraq
Turkey's Road to China Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said NATO or any other country does not have the right to question Turkey’s decision to co-produce missiles with China. Turkey
US Forces Israel to Consider Strategic Reset Will Israel finally embrace the Arab Peace Initiative? Israel
Turkey on Defensive Over Hamas Claims that Turkey is obstructing Palestinian reconciliation are fueling the AKP's belief in an international campaign to isolate Ankara politically at an already low point in its foreign relations. Palestine
Apathetic Israeli Voters Shun Municipal Elections The low voting rate in local elections testifies that two years after the social justice protest movement, the Israeli public no longer believes in its power to influence and change their municipalities. Israel
Syria's Impasse Likely to Last Years Former UN official Salman Shaikh contends that neither the Bashar al-Assad regime nor the official opposition represent the true will of the Syrian people. Israel
Iraq's Civil Society Under Siege Increasing reports of hostility against Iraq’s burgeoning civil society organizations have shed light on the way politics motivates violence and divisions in the country today. Iraq
Palestinians in Gaza Express Love, Politics With Graffiti Graffiti continues to decorate the Gaza Strip as young Gazans use it to express everything from politics to love. Palestine
