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
Is the Middle East Rejecting Radicalism? The world should not miss the opportunity for stablility and progress offered by the Middle East's rejection of radicalism. Qatar
No Surprises in US Court Decision On Jerusalem's Status It should surprise no one that a US court has decided to refrain from forcing the president to recognize Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. Palestine
Murder Suspect in Gay Club Killing Tracked to Tel Aviv Slum Five minutes from Tel Aviv, the poor and neglected Pardes Katz neighborhood, home of the alleged killer in the Bar No’ar murder case, has become a cradle of Israeli delinquency. Israel
Iraqi Ambassador Says Iraq Willing To Help Bridge US-Iran Divide Lukman Faily, Iraq’s Ambassador to Washington, says his country is ready to help, if asked, to mend US-Iran ties. Iraq
Al-Qaeda Militants Raid Iraq's Abu Ghraib, Taji Prisons Tenuous official accounts of what really transpired during the Abu Ghraib and Taji prison breaks leave many questions about the incident unanswered. Iraq
Egypt Bans Gaza Fishermen From Its Waters Already suffering from an Israeli siege, Gaza's fishermen have now been banned from fishing in neighboring Egyptian waters. Palestine
The Downfall of Minister Lapid Finance Minister Yair Lapid turns strategically, and obsessively, to his main campaign slogan against the ultra-Orthodox, to blur the fact that he has not owned up to his own promises. Israel
Ahmadinejad Tepidly Received On Final Iraq Visit The final visit to Iraq by outgoing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad highlighted the mixed relations between the two countries during his term in office. Iraq
Iraqi Kurdistan Fails to Address Violence Against Women Violence, self-immolation and suicide continue to plague the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s women, with a shortage of civic institutions to deal with these issues. Iraq
Dempsey on Syria: Think Before You Shoot In a Washington overrun by interventionists, Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey presses the consequences of heightened US involvement in Syria. Syria
Erdogan’s Assad Problem Could Syrian President Bashar al-Assad outlast Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in office? Syria
Shooting the Arbiter in Turkey: How Sabah Fired Its Ombudsman The former ombudsman of Sabah tells his story of the firing that has shaken Turkish journalism and generated international criticism of Turkey’s approach to the media. Turkey
