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
Turkey nabs bombing suspect amid Idlib effort – is it a coincidence? Turkey’s capture of the alleged mastermind of the 2013 Reyhanli bombing — the biggest Syria-related injury it has suffered — had intriguing timing, coinciding with Ankara’s efforts to prevent a regime offensive on Idlib. Syria
Surging prices may push Iran's housing sector back into recession While property prices in Iran have jumped following turmoil across the economy, the sector is headed for another recession as the number of actual deals is dropping. Iran
Egyptian filmmaker seeks to reclaim Israel's 'Angel' An Egyptian director is eager to redeem Ashraf Marwan as Egypt's "agent" and not a legendary spy for Israel as the Israeli version of his story hits Netflix. Egypt
Trump's punishment of Palestinians boomerangs at Israel Instead of distancing himself from decisions that will cause a backlash at Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed US President Donald Trump’s decisions to cut UNRWA funds and close the PLO office in Washington. Palestine
To Beirut, with love: Young poet to represent Mideast in world competition Rabab Chamseddine, a 21-year-old Lebanese poet, is headed for Paris for the World Poetry Slam next year after winning the Beirut Poetry Slam with works that tackled notions of self and country. Lebanon
Economic ties going strong between Israel, Palestine Palestinian-Israeli economic relations seem unaffected by the political stalemate hindering peace talks between the two sides. Palestine
Egypt's horse exports growing now that most bans are lifted Now that many countries no longer ban imports of Egyptian horses, the government expects the country to become a hub for investment in purebred Arabian horses. Egypt
Lawmakers to study how Egypt's civil servants are paid The majority coalition in Egypt’s parliament wants to amend the civil service law to increase what government employees are paid, while some experts and economic observers believe the state ought to instead create a work environment that discourages incompetent civil servants. Egypt
Who will save Gaza? Despite celebrating the Trump administration cutting off assistance to UNRWA, Israel knows that without US funding the organization will be paralyzed, making a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip a matter of time. Palestine
Would Netanyahu be better off without Trump? The overly pro-Israeli policies of President Donald Trump, especially his decision to cut funding for the Palestinians, poses a threat to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to continue using the Oslo Accords as a permanent status solution and for the international community to pay for Israel's occupation of the West Bank and the building of settlements. Palestine
Small Lebanese craft brewers introduce big new tastes in beer Micro and craft breweries are paving the way for locally made Lebanese beer by working around the lack of traditional ingredients and doing what they can to avoid contributing to the Lebanon's persistent environmental problems. Lebanon
Al-Qaeda, foreign fighters have nowhere to go from Idlib Erdogan appeals for support to "moderate rebels," but what may ultimately matter is US-Russia common ground; Al-Monitor's award-winning lobbying series and archive now available. Syria
