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
Iraqi Kurdish party pushes PKK aside The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has placed restrictions on the activities of the Kurdistan Workers Party in the areas it controls. Iraqi-Kurdistan
Senate puzzles out how to punish Saudi Arabia ahead of unprecedented vote An overwhelming majority of senators want to punish Riyadh for murdering Jamal Khashoggi and because of the Yemen war. The question is how. Saudi Arabia
US ices Iran out of Yemen talks Iranian efforts to send a high-level official to Sweden talks with the Houthis have been rebuffed. Saudi Arabia
Iran says special channel for trade with Europe almost set up Iranian officials have said that the European Union is in the final stages of implementing a special channel of trade with Iran. United States
US sanctions accelerate Iran’s blockchain drive Iran is accelerating work on its blockchain-enabled projects, which could potentially include a multilateral replacement for SWIFT, in light of the reimposed US sanctions. Iran
US Syria envoy heads to Turkey after criticizing peace initiative Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu dismissed a call by President Donald Trump’s representative to “pull the plug” on negotiations with Russia and Iran, arguing it’s Syria’s best shot at a political resolution. Syria
Israel rejects international immigration pact In rejecting the United Nations new convention on migration, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made common cause with right-wing governments in the West but appears to remain at a loss about how to handle illegal immigrants in Israel. Israel
Voters elect first woman to local council in Aleppo, Syria Local elections were held recently in the Free Syrian Army-held town of Ain Jara, where more women voted than men and a female candidate was elected to the local council. Syria
Price changes for cooking gas puts heat on Gaza distributors The Ministry of Finance in the Gaza Strip unilaterally decided to float the price of cooking gas, setting a new economic precedent. Palestine
UAE, Yemen’s Islah Party try to tolerate each other The Islah Party in Yemen and the United Arab Emirates recognize they have a common enemy, but that doesn't make them friends. Saudi Arabia
Israelis raging over violence against women For the first time ever, tens of thousands of Israelis protested against violence against women, forcing the government to react. Israel
Netanyahu raises doubts with operation against Hezbollah tunnels The timing of Operation Northern Shield, to destroy Hezbollah tunnels leading from Lebanon into Israel, suggests that considerations other than security were behind the decision to launch it. Palestine
