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
Visibly shaken Netanyahu blows live TV address Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's overhyped TV address failed to impress a million viewers and betrayed his fear of being indicted before the April elections. Israel
Can Qatar help Hamas without embarrassing Netanyahu? The Qatari emissary asked the Hamas leadership to give him and Israel time to come up with creative ways to transfer the Gaza aid money without causing public opinion in Israel to explode. Qatar
Israel anti-boycott bill becomes partisan casualty in first vote of new Senate Senate Republicans’ first bill in the new Congress draws AIPAC into a partisan political squabble while forcing a Democratic reckoning over the Israel boycott movement. Palestine
Turkish-US tension builds as Syria talks founder US national security adviser John Bolton left Ankara without a deal in hand that would protect Washington's allies from harm after the United States withdraws most of its troops from Syria. Syria
Iran union leader's story of torture prompts investigation Iranian authorities have promised to probe torture claims by a union leader who was detained following worker protests at a crisis-hit factory. Iran
Why Iran has opened up about engagement with Taliban Iran's engagement with the Taliban amid the ongoing US peace negotiations with the group is part of Tehran’s strategy of defensive engagement in its efforts to adapt to the changing geopolitics of Afghanistan. Iran
Turkey abandons Uighurs in favor of Chinese investment Turkey was once the Uighurs’ prime defender, offering easy citizenship to emigrants and speaking out against their mistreatment, but the recent economic rapprochement between Turkey and China has led Ankara to abandon its ethnic brothers. Turkey
Iran ups rhetoric with talk of training Palestinian fighters Iran has been supporting and instructing Palestinian resistance factions for years on the down low, but now it's bragging about it. Palestine
Analysis: Israel’s dirty election campaign kicks off Shortly after announcing early elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is targeting his rivals with rumors, accusations and even fake news, especially former IDF chief Benny Gantz. Israel
Activist’s murder in Tunisia attests to racism’s grip Tunisia’s new law against racism needs substantial backup in the form of cultural change. Tunisia
