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
Turkey Calls for Help Receiving Syrian Refugees Turkey's foreign minister is concerned that another chemical weapons attack could increase the number of refugees from neighboring countries. Syria
Welcome to Post-Gezi Turkey Developments in the aftermath of mass anti-government protests in Turkey stoke misgivings over the future of Turkish democracy. Turkey
Understanding Egyptian Nationalism The newest version of Egyptian nationalism is the strongest challenge to Islamism in recent history. Egypt
Putin: US on Dangerous Course In Syria Russia may no longer consider the US a reliable partner. Syria
Yemen’s Modern Coffee Shops Progressive, Yet Exclusive Modern, Western-style coffee shops are popping up in the affluent neighborhoods of Yemen’s capital, but the venues known for attracting intellectuals exclude the poor and conservative majority. Yemen
Turkey’s Kurdish Strategy Muddled By Talk of US Syria Strike A slowdown in the peace process with the PKK and anticipation of a US military strike has pushed the Rojava, or Western Kurdistan, opening to the back burner. Syria
US Should Keep Focus on Syria, Not Iran Iran's nuclear threat should not be part of the US congressional debate over whether to authorize airstrikes in Syria. Syria
Dictatorship Is Not The Solution in Iraq The Iraqi government has been playing off people’s fears of a security vacuum to take increasingly dictatorial measures aimed at consolidating power in the hands of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Iraq
Iraq's Baha'is Continue to Face Persecution, Social Exclusion Despite recent efforts by religious authorities to promote interfaith dialogue and understanding, Iraq’s Baha’is are still subject to persecution and exclusion. Iraq
Domestic Violence Against Palestinian Women on Rise in Gaza Half of Gaza's married women are subjected to some form of domestic violence, but authorities do not want to hear about it. Palestine
Iraq’s Premiership Needs Reform Iraq's judiciary ruled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki eligible to run for a third term, but Iraqi lawmakers need to address more important reforms involving the position and government. Iraq
Iran Plays Supporting Role In House Panel Debate on Syria Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee focus on potential adverse fallout from a US strike on Syria, including emboldening extremist opposition to Bashar al-Assad. Syria
