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
Rubio Says US Should Give Ammunition to Syrian Rebels Sen. Marco Rubio, a possible candidate for president in 2016, urged more U.S. support for Syrian rebels and cast doubt on the likelihood of success of negotiations with Iran. Palestine
Iran Celebrates Limited Victory After Latest P5+1 Talks Some Iranian conservatives seem to view the latest round of talks with the P5+1 as a win, writes Meir Javedanfar, who predicts that the supreme leader and his supporters will claim that the world has acknowledged Iran's strength. Iran
Allawi’s Bloc Considers Strategy for Iraqi Elections Ayad Allawi’s bloc, al-Iraqiya, issued a terse statement criticizing the Iraqi government and calling for a review of its own relationships with other Iraqi political parties, writes Ali Abel Sadah. Iraq
Iraqi Telecoms Infuse Stock Market Newly offered mobile phone stocks in Iraq promise to draw in investment and investors from Iraq, the Middle East and around the world, reports Omar al-Shaher. Iraq
No End in Sight for Iraq Oil Dispute Roxana Saberi reports from Erbil that Nechirvan Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, is calling for a solution to the Iraqi oil dispute, which is likely to prevent Iraq from reaching its goals. Iraq
Iraqi Kurds Pressure Baghdad to Join ICC To expedite reconciliation for the Hussein-era Anfal Campaign, Kurds in Iraq are pushing Baghdad to join the International Criminal Court to prosecute the culprits of genocide against the Kurds, writes Abdel Hamid Zebari. Iraq
Baghdad, Erbil Trade Accusations on Oil Payments Baghdad has accused the Kurdistan Regional Government of failing to pay Western companies for oil-extraction costs, further raising tensions between the two sides, writes Omar Shaher. Iraq
Mauritania Struggles to Fight Terror Because of an increased terrorism threat, Mauritania is intensifying its security measures and recently held a conference in Nouakchott for that purpose, reports Kaci Racelma. Mauritania
Lebanon Prepares for Gulf Tourists Amid Unstable Security Despite the unstable security situation prevailing in Lebanon, many Kuwaiti tourists plan to spend an official holiday in the country, writes Jean Aziz. Lebanon
Abu Mazen Plays Neutral On West Bank Protests The Palestinian Authority has publicly supported the West Bank protests, but is keen to avoid spoiling US President Barack Obama's visit in March, writes Daoud Kuttab. Palestine
Anger Reaches Tipping Point In West Bank Jillian Kestler-D'Amours reports from the West Bank that clashes have continued daily between Palestinian youths and Israeli soldiers in Hebron following the death of a Palestinian prisoner in Israeli custody and hunger strikes by others. Palestine
A Third Intifada Can Be Avoided Nadav Eyal writes that if a third intiada breaks out, it will have been the result of a lack of foresight and diplomacy. Palestine
