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
EU Awaits Turkey’s Reform Plan EU officials privately have doubts about Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s reform plan and express concerns about freedom of the media. Turkey
Israeli-Palestinian Interim Deal Is the Only Feasible Solution In his UN speech, Palestinian President Abu Mazen rejected any possibility of an interim deal, but given the state of current negotiations, reaching a permanent agreement in the next months is impossible. Palestine
What is Turkey’s Role In Syria’s Islamic Opposition? Experts in Ankara question Turkey’s policies as al-Qaeda-affiliate Syrian rebel groups declare goal of establishing a Sharia-based state. Syria
Ahmadinejad’s Legacy Lingers In Iran’s Happiness Report Iran ranked low on the World Happiness Report, but that may be changing under President Hassan Rouhani. Iran
PUK Falls to Third Place In Iraqi Kurdistan Elections The preliminary electoral results in Iraqi Kurdistan show the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to be the biggest winner, with the new Movement for Change coming in second. Iraq
Kenya Terror Strike Al-Qaeda's Latest In Global Jihad Al-Qaeda continually reconstitutes itself as a global terrorist threat, headquartered in Pakistan, and with franchises throughout Africa, the Middle East and worldwide. Syria
Iraq's Failed 'Democracy' Disheartens Activists Amid violence and rampant corruption, many Iraqi youth are frustrated with the slow pace of democratic change in the country. Iraq
Can Turkey, Iran Cooperate on Syria? Working with Iran could help end Turkey’s growing isolation over the Syrian civil war. Syria
Defeating Al-Shabab Requires Kenya-Somalia Cooperation The terrorist attack at the Kenya shopping mall on Sept. 21 signals that al-Shabab has reconstituted itself in East Africa. Somalia
Netanyahu Swimming Upstream After Iran's Diplomatic Flurry US President Barack Obama, Palestinian President Abu Mazen and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's told the UN: Israel must compromise on Palestine, while Iran compromises on its nuclear program. Palestine
Iran Should Reconsider Foreign Exchange Policy Iran would benefit from a shift to a single exchange rate. Iran
Israeli 'New Politics' Unwilling To Deal With Corruption Labor Knesset member Moshe Mizrahi was surprised by the lack of support in the Knesset for the lobby he is heading against public corruption. Israel
