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’s New Protest Law Sparks Controversy The law is worse than anticipated and probably unconstitutional. Egypt
Tunnel May Signal Shift In Hamas-Israel Conflict The tunnel recently discovered between Gaza and Israel may have been designed for kidnapping Israeli soldiers or for military operations in Israel. Palestine
Iraq's Rare Animals Threatened by Violence A general lack of awareness has led to increasing cases of local Iraqi populations randomly killing rare animals they encounter. Iraq
Iraqi Shiites join Syria war Many Iraqi Shiites are joining the fight in Syria, by first receiving weapons training in Iran and then traveling to Lebanon, from where they are taken to Damascus by Hezbollah. Iraq
Saudi Decision on Security Council Is About Syria Saudi Arabia’s decision to decline a Security Council seat expresses anger in some Sunni Muslim quarters about the Syria war. Saudi Arabia
Iraqi Government Cannot Stop Terrorists Amid mounting questions on the efficiency of Iraq’s security apparatus, the Interior Ministry proves unable to provide even rough statistics on the daily bombings that afflict the country. Iraq
Turkey Rescues Its Pilots in Swap Deal Turkey’s silent diplomacy yielded results on Oct.19, when it rescued the two Turkish Airlines pilots kidnapped in Beirut on Aug. 9. Lebanon
Can Saudi Withdrawal From Security Council Spark Dialogue? While unfortunate, the withdrawal of Saudi Arabia from the UN Security Council may focus attention on the lack of an Arab voice at the UN. Saudi Arabia
Netanyahu May Push for Early Primaries According to senior party officials, Netanyahu is considering moving the Likud leadership primaries to early 2014, preparing the political ground for concessions to the Palestinians. Israel
Haniyeh Discusses Hamas Ties With Egypt, Iran in Speech Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s speech over the weekend in Gaza omits reference to an imminent confrontation with Israel. Palestine
Saudi Women on the Road Again Saudi women are, as Willie Nelson sings, “on the road again.” Saudi Arabia
Israeli Women Battle for Jerusalem Municipality Elections Israeli women, Orthodox and secular, are engaging in campaigns for the upcoming municipal elections in Jerusalem, against the backdrop of judicial battles of women's exclusion from the public sphere. Palestine
