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
Intel: Why Trump is putting OPEC on notice In a speech at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, US President Donald Trump assailed OPEC for "ripping off the rest of the world" — seeking lower oil prices before the crucial 2018 mid-term elections. Saudi Arabia
Powerful Shiite trio agrees on Iraqi prime minister candidate A Beirut meetup of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah and Iran's Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani appears to have produced a compromise candidate for Iraq's next prime minister. Iraq
Russia raises stakes with Israel over downed plane Moscow doubled down on its harsh rhetoric vis-a-vis Israel over the downed plane by promising to deploy the S-300 and other advanced weapons in Syria. Israel
Dozens of Basra activists arrested Shiite militias in Basra arrested dozens of civil rights activists for participating in demonstrations and accused the US Consulate of instigating the demonstrations. Iraq
Turkey, Germany try to turn new page in name of mutual interests The atmosphere is positive going into the Turkish president's visit to Berlin, though the path to fully normalized Turkish-German ties remains strewn with pitfalls. Turkey
Turkey tackles extensive synthetic drug troubles Bonsai, a synthetic cannabis, has become one of the most popular — and dangerous — drugs in Turkey. Turkey
2018 'year of archaeological discoveries' for Egypt The Egyptian government has delivered on its promise that the year 2018 would be filled with notable archaeological discoveries in Egypt. Now the government has to find a way to boost tourism based on these archaeological treasures. Egypt
Why Turkey’s new economic program failed to impress The Turkish government’s hallmark rejection of self-criticism affects consistency and realism in its diagnoses of economic woes and the remedies it plans. Turkey
Palestinians expand Gaza protests The commission of the Great March of Return announced a sixth gathering point for daily protests at the border with Israel after talks between Israel and Hamas failed. Palestine
Netanyahu's one-man show leaves no room for foreign minister Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who does not trust anyone to market his government’s policies, will address the UN General Assembly this week himself as Israel's top diplomat. Israel
Lebanese FM: US attacks on Palestinians destabilizing entire region Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, in a wide-ranging interview in New York, says aid cuts for Palestinian refugees are damaging countries such as his own. Palestine
