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
Erdogan’s Doublethink Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s approach to police and military actions is an Orwellian case of "doublethink." Turkey
Turkey Stalls on Reconciliation With Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the Turkish conditions for restoring relations between the two countries, but is Ankara willing to move forward? Israel
Evacuation of Settlers Haunts Israeli Right While diplomatic negotiations are again underway in Washington, the Israeli right vows never to repeat the mistake of withdrawing from the Gaza Strip. Israel
Some Israelis Dread Peace Talks The renewal of negotiations brings no guarantees, while the status quo of the last few years offered relative security to both Israelis and Palestinians. Palestine
Egypt: Competing for Corpses The Muslim Brotherhood seems to be willing to sacrifice any number of its supporters to regain the upper hand in Egypt’s standoff. Egypt
Pro-Sisi Egyptians Struck by Amnesia Millions are embracing Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and have seemingly forgotten the ills of military rule that plagued Egypt for decades. Egypt
Environmental Crisis Looms in Turkey The Turkish media is ignoring possible ecological disasters for fear of angering Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey
Erdogan’s Top Economic Adviser Takes Heat from Business A controversial tax probe at Turkey’s largest business conglomerate adds to the woes of economy chief Ali Babacan. Turkey
Gay Pride Parade in Holy Jerusalem As Jerusalem prepares for its annual gay pride parade, members of the city’s LGBT community speak of the importance of raising the rainbow flag to call for rights and show that religion and homosexuality can coexist. Israel
Iraq’s Security Services in Crisis Iraq's security services are finding themselves unable to prevent terrorism. Iraq
Gaza Youth Clubs Seek Better Life for Members Poverty and unemployment has not stopped some of Gaza's youth from forming clubs to work for a better future. Palestine
The Silence on Gaza The crisis in Gaza doesn’t interest anyone when they can’t blame Israel. Palestine
