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
Three things the Tehran summit exposed about Russia, Turkey, Iran 'alliance' The summit in Tehran exposed important underlying dynamics within the Astana trio and made it clear the three actors see the US presence as a problem, albeit each for their own reason. Syria
Pentagon revamps Egypt war games in trust-building exercise US-Egypt war games kick off Saturday, a sign that the Pentagon is serious about reviving the flagging relationship. Egypt
Expediency and betrayal: Iran’s relationship with al-Qaeda Contrary to Trump administration assertions of Iranian support for al-Qaeda, relations between the two have historically been poor, a new report argues. Saudi Arabia
New museum dedicated to legendary Istanbul photographer Celebrated Turkish photographer Ara Guler, known as the "eye of Istanbul," has gotten a museum of his own in the city he captured over decades of change. Turkey
Turkey's Erdogan gets no love from Russia on Idlib Disagreements between the presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey were evident at a televised meeting today as they struggled to negotiate a solution on Syria. Syria
Saudi Arabia's ambitious Vision 2030 plan in trouble The future of Saudi Arabia's plan to reduce its dependency on oil income is in question after the king scrapped the kingdom's plans to take the national oil company public. Saudi Arabia
Political differences ignite conflict between PMU factions As the escalation rises between Shiite parties over the formation of the new government, the pro-Iranian factions in Popular Mobilization Units show strong objection against Abadi second term. Iraq
Behind Paraguay's decision to return its embassy to Tel Aviv Analysts say that Palestinian and Paraguayan officials have worked behind closed doors to reverse the decision of the former administration to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Palestine
Mortars hit Iraq's Green Zone as violent protests continue As Iraq's political parties have failed to form a new government, unrest continues in Basra, where hundreds of people are being hospitalized each day due to a lack of basic services, especially clean water. Iraq
Iran's Central Bank signals possible interest rate hike While a reversal on current interest rate caps could help the Central Bank of Iran tackle rampant liquidity, the long-term effects of such a policy could unleash far broader crises. Iran
Syria’s al-Bab opens first Turkish-backed DMV Turkey has backed the establishment of a department of motor vehicles in al-Bab in the Euphrates Shield area, where all vehicles will be registered and inspected to ensure road safety. Syria
Looking back on Oslo, 25 years later Yossi Beilin, one of the authors of the Oslo Accords, offers seven insights into their achievements and their failures. Palestine
