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
Residential complex to house 1,500 families in Euphrates Shield area With the support of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, the local council of al-Bab in the northeastern Aleppo countryside is building 1,500 residential units to accommodate families that have been displaced from eastern Ghouta. Syria
Trump, Democrats face off over Yemen war President Donald Trump is spurning Congress’ bipartisan bid to exert more control over the war in Yemen despite signing key oversight provisions into law. Saudi Arabia
British Museum returns Iraq's looted antiquities In a rare move, the British Museum returned eight antiquities, which had been looted from Iraq in 2003, to the country. The objects will be placed at the Iraq Museum. Iraq
Nationality Law leads some Druze to re-evaluate identity While Druze soldiers and generals in the Israel Defense Forces have taken the lead in protesting against the discriminatory aspects of the law defining Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, many Israeli Druze are saying the controversial legislation came as no surprise. Israel
Turkey kills PKK leader in Sinjar A Turkish airstrike has killed a senior leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party in Sinjar, to the dismay of the Iraqi Yazidis the group rescued. Iraq
Four years after genocide, thousands of Yazidis languish in Turkey Displaced Yazidis who fled from IS' brutality to Turkey have been languishing in camps and tenements for years, hoping to reach the West. Their departure threatens the survival of one of the Middle East’s oldest religions. Iraq
Iran-US conflict leaves Abadi in a dilemma By rectifying his statement on supporting US sanctions against Iran, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is balancing between the United States and Iran in Iraq to keep both sides as his supportive allies. Iraq
Iran prosecutor warns ministers: no one is immune in anti-corruption probe Iran’s judiciary and the Rouhani administration appear to be heading for a clash over prosecutors' approach to an effort to tackle corruption. Iran
Book boom reflects Turkish interest in military history The growing popularity of military history publications over the past two years offers clues to a transformation in Turkish society. Turkey
Sanctions, profiteering put Iranian newspapers in a bind A paper crisis exacerbated by US sanctions is weighing down Iranian daily newspapers, which are resorting to everything from closures to online paywalls. Iran
Nablus volunteers clean up city's Roman hippodrome As Palestinian Ministry of Tourism prepares its file on Nablus for the UNESCO World Heritage List, volunteers take revamping of a Roman site into their own hands. Palestine
Will Egyptians change their minds about organ donation? A debate has been triggered about the legitimacy of postmortem organ donation after claims that corneas were removed from a dead patient for transplant without the family’s consent. Egypt
