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
Aleppo Christians Fear Iraq-Style Ethnic Cleansing Many Christians in Aleppo are fleeing, while others are taking up arms alongside the regime to defend their way of life. Syria
PLO Pushes for Greater Jordanian Role in Peace Talks The Palestinian leadership strengthens its cooperation with Jordan as it continues talks with Israel. Palestine
Can Egypt Win the WarFor Public Opinion? While Western media persist in calling the Egyptian crisis a military coup, there are ways that Egypt can restore its public image in the world's eyes. Egypt
Arab Spring Brings Renaissance In Turkish Art Some of the Middle Eastern artists who fled their countries have found themselves perplexed during and after the Gezi Park protests in Turkey. Turkey
Hezbollah-Hamas Relations 'Good' Despite Beirut Bombing Accusations Sources close to Hezbollah claim ties with Hamas remain on relatively good terms despite disagreements and accusations that Hamas was involved in bombing a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut. Palestine
Who's Behind Attempts to Spread Chaos in Lebanon? According to a senior former Lebanese security official, jihadists are carrying out a series of attacks in Lebanon to draw the country into a civil war. Palestine
Is Iran Genuinely Troubled By Sunni-Shiite Conflict? With the latest bombing in Lebanon, the sectarian overtones of the region's conflicts have crystallized. Lebanon
Are Tripoli Bombings Aimed At Sparking Sectarian War in Lebanon? Leading Lebanese figures claim that Friday's bombings, which targeted Sunni mosques in the northern city of Tripoli and resulted in more than 40 deaths, were aimed at polarizing the country and sparking a sectarian war. Lebanon
Erdogan Veers Away From 'Reformed Moderate Islam' Turkey's prime minister returns to his ideological roots with his emotional support of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Turkey
Erdogan Shows His Softer Side Some Turks question why Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cries over the death of an Egyptian protester but not a Turkish one. Egypt
Turkey's Foreign Policy: Slip-Up or Success? While Turkey boasts foreign policy successes in the Middle East, these measures could be more accurately described as blunders. Egypt
