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 Should Seek to Re-Establish Good Relations With Turkey Present-day Turkey is completely different from the country Israel knew in the not-too-distant past, writes Arad Nir, and it is precisely because of this that Israel should restore its relations with Ankara. Israel
Sunni Iraqi Leaders Accused Of Supporting Terrorism As tribal leaders and other prominent Sunnis in Iraq defend themselves against accusations of supporting terrorism, sectarian tensions rise in Iraq, writes Ali Abel Sadah. Iraq
Gaza's Orthodox Church Celebrates 1,606 Years One of the oldest churches in the world, the St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox church in Gaza, recently celebrated its 1,606th year, writes Asmaa al-Ghoul. Palestine
'Irish Sam' Joins Fight in Syria Housam Najjair, also known as "Irish Sam," discusses his forthcoming book and his experiences waging war against former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, writes Ali Hashem. Syria
Maliki Puts Kurds on Spot Over Oil Payments After the Iraqi Council of Representatives passed its 2013 budget law despite a boycott by Kurdish parliamentarians, the Kurdistan Regional Government is struggling to determine how it will pay foreign oil contracts, writes Abdel Hamid Zebari. Iraq
Iraqi Journalists Divided Over Saddam-Era Union Law In their fight against a Saddam-era union law, Iraq’s journalists show their new divisions, which demonstrate political differences rather than sectarian loyalties, writes Mushreq Abbas. Iraq
Turks and Kurds Must Prepare for 'Truth' Orhan Kemal Cengiz calls for Truth Commissions to complement peace talks between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkey
Iranian Parliamentarian SaysAssad Could Win Elections In an exclusive interview with Mojtaba Mousavi for Al-Monitor, Iranian parliamentarian Ismaeil Kowsari downplayed hopes for a breakthrough in P5+1 nuclear talks with Iran and suggested that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could win elections in 2014. Syria
Israeli Center Keeps Focus On Human Rights Naela Khalil reports on B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights center that documents Israeli violations in the Palestinian territories. Palestine
Egyptian Leftist Bloc Leader Calls Morsi 'New Mubarak' Hamdeen Sabahi, Egypt’s former presidential candidate and head of powerful leftist bloc, has described President Mohammed Morsi as a “new Mubarak,” writes Mohannad Sabry from Cairo. Egypt
Obama Should Re-Launch Peace Process Some are expecting US President Barack Obama to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, but this should not mean negotiations just for the sake of negotiations that eventually go nowhere, writes Nassif Hitti. Palestine
Palestinians Mourn Chavez Following the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Palestinian groups of all affiliations have offered their condolences for a man who championed their cause, writes Hazem Balousha. Palestine
