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
Maliki Calculates Early Elections Controversy plagues Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government as he tries to deepen his control of internal changes, writes Mushreq Abbas. Iraq
Rap Musicians Censored in Gaza As rap music grows in popularity, rap musicians face increasing censorship, writes Asmaa al-Ghoul. Palestine
Morsi and Egypt's Military Yezid Sayigh analyzes Egypt's civil military relations under President Mohammed Morsi. Egypt
Turkey-US Ties 'Closer Than Ever' Says Turkish Ambassador Tan Semih Idiz writes that Ankara is pleased with the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense and US-Turkish relations are stronger than ever, despite some friction over Turkish trade with Iran. Turkey
Lebanon Must Reform Electoral Law Nassif Hitti writes that the Lebanese elections will not matter unless there is fundamental reform, including of the electoral law. Lebanon
'Committees to Defend Revolution' Deny Using Violence in Tunisia Eileen Byrne reports from Tunis on allegations of the use of violence by grassroots organizations aligned with the government and Islamist parties. Tunisia
Russia Still Key to Syrian Transition Fyodor Lukyanov analyzes Russia's role in a political transition in Syria, including President Assad’s proposal for dialogue with moderate opposition leaders. Syria
Armed Syrian Opposition Enables Assad's Hold on Power Tulin Daloglu reports on how the armed opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has hindered efforts for a political solution in Syria. Syria
Morsi Manages Egypt’s Economic Decline Nervana Mahmoud writes that Egypt’s economy today recalls the worst days of the 1970s, and that President Morsi’s priority will be to appease the Islamists on the right and prevent a food riot. Egypt
Saudi Arabia Faces New Challenge From Its Restive Youth A new book by a veteran American journalist Caryle Murphy predicts that Saudi Arabia faces an “increasingly bumpy” two decades as its youth — who make up more than 60% of the population — demand jobs, economic justice and greater individual freedom. Saudi Arabia
Academic World of Ultra-Orthodox Students in Israel Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s eldest daughter, Adina Bar-Shalom, talks about her life project in an interview to Tali Heruti-Sover: A new kind of academia combining the highest level of teaching and still adapted to the needs of Ultra-Orthodox students. Israel
