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
Saudi Arabia Shifts to More Activist Foreign Policy Doctrine The kingdom should give priority to a regional initiative in Syria and a collective security framework for maintaining order in the Arab world. Saudi Arabia
Turkey’s Islamic Liberals The liberal voices among Turkey's conservatives, many of them women, will be the bellwethers of social change. Turkey
KRG Responds to Article On Terrorist Bombing in Erbil In a letter to the editor, a director in the office of the Kurdistan Regional Government's Representation to the US, Karwan Zebari, responds to Denise Natali's Al-Monitor article "Prison Break, Suicide, Bombing, Rock Iraqi Kurdistan." Iraq
Iraqi Youth Initiative Combats Sectarianism Citizenship Ambassadors aims to bring together youths from Iraq's various religious and ethnic communities and regional affiliations to combat the escalating sectarian conflict in the country. Iraq
Gaza Salafists Killed in Syria Salafist sources in Gaza say dozens of young Palestinian men have gone to Syria to fight with al-Qaeda affiliates against President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Palestine
Is Turkey Digging a Hole With Its Syria policy? Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also the enemy of Salafists fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Syria
The EU's Mixed Report on Turkey The chill between the EU and Turkey continues as the annual progress report by the EU Commission attempts to keep a delicate balance between criticism and encouragement. Turkey
Erdogan Provides Eid Allowance To Journalist A reporter asks, and receives, an eid allowance from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey
How Long Will Israel Stay Off the Nuclear Hook? The agreement on Syria's chemical weapons, and prospects for a deal on Iran's nuclear program, will bring even more attention to Israel's not signing either the Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Chemical Weapons Convention. Israel
Could Turkey’s Christians Wear Police Uniforms? A police department statement encouraging Turkey’s non-Muslims to become police officers is positive, but Turkey should still revoke the ancestry registry. Turkey
Israeli TV a Success in US Market US television series based on Israeli scripts, such as ''Homeland'' and ''In Treatment,'' have captured the attention of American audiences and opened the way for more Israeli-based TV productions. Israel
