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
Palestinian author honored for children's ode to Jerusalem Palestinian author Mahmoud Shukair's latest work has been named one of the top 100 children’s novels around the world, another victory in a banner year for Palestinian literature. Palestine
Israel presses Palestinian olive farmers with new restrictions Israel has imposed new conditions that make it even harder, and in many cases impossible, for Palestinian farmers to harvest their olives. Palestine
Netanyahu wants peace with Arabs, not Palestinians Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks big about improving ties with Arab countries but his speeches are meaningless without first resolving the conflict with the Palestinians. Saudi Arabia
Three years in Syria, Russia sums up achievements and challenges On the third anniversary of the Russian campaign in Syria, Foreign Minister Lavrov summed up Moscow's achievements but conceded challenges persist. Syria
Iran FM: Trump ‘repeating the same mistakes’ Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the Donald Trump administration is repeating the same mistakes that led to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq and growing chaos and instability in the Middle East. Iraq
Pence pressure prompts USAID to appoint liaison for Iraqi Christians USAID has appointed a special representative for the beleaguered minority group following intense pressure from the vice president. Iraq
Iran launches missile, drone attacks on militants in Syria Using missiles and armed drones, Iran said it sought to send a message to terrorist groups and their sponsors. Syria
Erdogan greets Turkish lawmakers with fire, fury as parliament convenes The Turkish president opened the parliamentary session with renewed antagonism toward the United States and the Kurdish militants it's aligned with in Syria and Iraq, dashing hopes that Turkey's economic difficulties had tempered his aggression. Syria
How the Rouhani administration can contain excess liquidity In the absence of genuine reforms that will allow the adoption of more prudent fiscal, monetary and foreign currency policies, the Iranian economy will remain structurally crisis-ridden. Iran
Raki bottles tell story of Turkey's changes The story of raki under the Justice and Development Party is the story of Turkey’s Islamic conservative transformation in a nutshell. Turkey
Egypt's aspiring actors tout talent online Many of Egypt's wannabe stars are showcasing their work on social media, hoping to break into big-time show business. Egypt
