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
Ahmadinejad Steals Show At Chavez Funeral The funeral of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was notable for the absence of Arab leaders, while Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad generated controversy by comforting Chavez’s mother, writes Ali Hashem. Iran
Rival Kurdish Parties Clash in Syria Fighting between rival Kurdish groups in Syria adds further uncertainty to the war in Syria, writes Wladimir van Wilgenburg. Syria
Sudanese Refugees Face Harassment, Deportation in Israel Sudanese and other African refugees fleeing persecution often do not find a welcome reception in Israel, writes Jillian Kestler-D’Amours from Tel Aviv. Israel
Morsi, Brotherhood, Opposition Taken Aback by Court Decision The decision by Egypt’s Administrative Court to postpone the parliamentary elections scheduled for April provides President Morsi, the Brotherhood and the opposition an opportunity to reconsider their strategies and take the country back from the brink, Bassem Sabry writes from Cairo. Egypt
Obama’s Visit to Israel Is All About Iran US President Barack Obama will have a broad regional agenda when he visits Israel, including the peace process, but the trip is really all about Iran, writes Alon Pinkas. Israel
Erdogan Angered After Opposition In Turkey Meets With Assad Syrian President Bashar Assad’s meeting in Damascus with members of the opposition Republican People’s Party has exposed the weakness of Turkey’s Syria policy, writes Kadri Gursel. Turkey
The Glass Ceiling Remains For Women in Israeli Politics Israeli women are bold, assertive, and talented, writes Ben Caspit, but they face an insurmountable obstacle on their way to the highest echelons of political power because they lack a glorious military background. Israel
Why Are Turks Intolerant? Mustafa Akyol offers his take on Semih Idiz's recent piece, “Just How Tolerant Are Turks?" Turkey
Mother of the Year Award Goes to Gaza Widow Aisha Abu Shannab lost her husband and son to war, but has managed to raise her remaining children and run a small NGO for widows in Gaza, Rami Almeghari writes. Palestine
Iraqi Factions Debate Transferring Ministerial Powers to Provinces Iraqi politicians have divided along factional lines in a debate over whether certain ministries should be shifted from federal to provinicial authority, reports Omar al-Shaher. Iraq
Jabhat al-Nusra and Hezbollah In First Confrontation For the first time in the 23-month-old Syrian civil war, Jabhat al-Nusra and Hezbollah have been involved in direct confrontations, writes Jean Aziz. Lebanon
Kurds Protest Iraqi Forces Sent To Disputed Region on Syrian Border Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki deploys forces to the Sinjar province, near the Syrian border, upsetting local Kurds and signaling an escalation of the Syrian conflict to Iraq, reports Abdel Hamid Zebari. Iraq
