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
Will Israel, Hamas miss out on chance for deal? Israel and Hamas are about to miss an opportunity to halt the cycle of violence and make a deal for lifting the siege and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip. Palestine
Iraq's Sadr sends positive sign to both the US and Iran In an attempt to prevent the United States and Iran from objecting to his move toward forming the new Iraqi government, Sadr sends positive messages to both, stating that he will not stand against them. Iraq
Egypt, Ethiopia fail to reach breakthrough in dam negotiations While the recent round of negotiations on Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam ended with a new document aimed at entrenching cooperation between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, it did not resolve the differences over the water filling and dam operation process. Yemen
How US sanctions will impact Iranian startups While established Iranian startups are likely to withstand the impact of US sanctions, the return of increasing tension between Tehran and Washington will nonetheless choke investment and business confidence. Iran
Turkey’s agricultural decline rings alarm bells The Turkish government is under fire for mismanaging the agricultural sector, whose decline has sent food prices soaring and forced the importation of basic items such as wheat, beans, meat and even straw. Turkey
Turkish defense industry at critical juncture After significant progress on the domestic level, the Turkish defense industry has reached a challenging phase in which it needs to enhance its export capacity to ensure sustainable growth. Turkey
Egypt eyes World Cup as golden opportunity for economy After a 28-year absence, Egypt hopes to take advantage of its participation in the 2018 World Cup, hosted by Russia, to achieve some economic gains. Egypt
The little-known minister who is keeping Netanyahu’s coalition together Until Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri is sure that his Shas Party will pass the voter threshold, he will do everything he can to prevent early elections. Israel
PA staff in Gaza shortchanged all over again Palestinian Authority employees in the Gaza Strip still haven't seen their salaries from April and received only half of their May paychecks, affecting not only their bank accounts but also the Gaza economy. Palestine
How Israel is using Hamas to crack down on Palestinian demonstrators Hamas has been trying to present itself as the leader of the Great Return March protests to the dismay of many Palestinians, who believe that this gives Israel more credibility and grounds to use violence against peaceful demonstrators dubbed as terrorists. Palestine
Can Hamas spin itself out of crisis? Recent remarks by Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar about Iran assisting the movement to grow stronger are intended to sideline criticism within the Gaza Strip against it, and to pressure Israel into accepting a long-term cease-fire. Palestine
Egypt’s education system set for major overhaul Egyptians hope the new education reforms announced by the Ministry of Education will bring about major changes to address longstanding problems in public schools. Egypt
![An Egyptian woman walks with children in front of the Aziz Al Masri primary school on March 25, 2018 in central Cairo, ahead of the March 26-28 presidential election.
Egypt's military said on March 24 on Twitter that it was making "intensive preparations for the armed forces to secure the presidential election" on March 26-28, after a bombing killed two policemen in Alexandria. / AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAID / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by FETHI BELAID has been modified in](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/05/GettyImages-937684852.jpg/GettyImages-937684852.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=30uJDdhd)
