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
Israel's First Bedouin Startup Ibrahim Sana is determined to change the lives of Bedouin high-tech graduates and has set up a new venture: the “Software Tester Enterprise,” reports Tali Heruti-Sover. Israel
Muqtada al-Sadr Lashes Out Against US, Maliki Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has recently adopted methods used by his Lebanese counterpart Hassan Nasrallah, as Sadr mobilizes his supporters to protest against foreign powers and tyrannical regimes, writes Ali Abel Sadah. Iraq
Maliki Re-Elected as Head Of Dawa Party Under an almost full media blackout, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was re-elected as head of the Dawa Party for the third time, in what may mark the beginning of his battle to win a third prime ministerial term, Mushreq Abbas reports. Iraq
What Carter Can Teach Obama About Mideast Peace-Making If President Barack Obama has no set objectives in his forthcoming trip to the region, he should learn from Jimmy Carter and get serious about Middle East diplomacy, writes Geoffrey Aronson. Israel
Aid to Palestinian NGOs Caught in Politics Palestinian NGOs face political pressure and scrutiny, writes Asmaa al-Ghoul. Palestine
Hezbollah Death Stirs Sectarian Tensions in Lebanon Tensions between Sunnis and Shiites in Lebanon are rising as a result of the conflict in Syria, reports an Al-Monitor correspondent in Lebanon. Lebanon
Syria Warns Lebanon On Border Infiltrations Syria's Foreign Ministry has warned Lebanon not to allow armed groups to cross from Lebanon into Syria to conduct operations against regime forces, with Syria threatening military action if it continues, writes Jean Aziz. Lebanon
What Russia Learned From the Iraq War Moscow believes that "strategic insanity" has taken hold in Washington since the Iraq war, based upon the erosion of the pillars of regional stability and its flirtation with Islamists, writes Fyodor Lukyanov. Iraq
Lebanon Pays a Price For Syrian Economic Collapse The worrying economic situation in conflict-ridden Syria has sent tremors through Lebanon, a country that maintains strong economic ties with its eastern neighbor, writes Elie Hajj. Lebanon
Uncertainty Lingers Over Turkey'sNegotiations with Ocalan Tulin Daloglu writes that PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is expected to call for the end of armed struggle in Turkey, and asks what the state is promising in return and why the government is seeking Ocalan’s blessing. Turkey
Algeria Proposes 'Imam Syndicate' To Confront Salafists To confront the rising Salafism in the country and better control subversive preaching in remote mosques, Algeria may form an “imam syndicate,” writes Kaci Racelma. Originals
Turkey, PKK Learn From Past Mistakes Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are striving to avoid repeating past missteps and keep the peace process on track, writes Ilnur Cevik. Turkey
