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
Conditioning American withdrawal from Syria Now that President Donald Trump has announced US forces will be soon leaving Syria, the administration must rethink its previously stated conditions for withdrawal. Israel
What's really driving currency depreciation in Iran? Rather than an indicator of a poor economy, the devaluation of the Iranian currency is the result of investment behavior, and what we are witnessing now looks more like a bubble. Iran
Turkey’s economic woes open cracks in government ranks Amid failing efforts to halt the slump of the Turkish lira, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and senior Cabinet members appear increasingly at loggerheads over how to keep the economy afloat. Turkey
Russia sees benefit of nudging Turkey on to Manbij in Syria Despite their divergent strategic goals, the leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey have agreed to work together in Syria while further excluding the United States from the decision-making process. Syria
Turkey’s top business body pushes for more gender equality in TV series The top business body in Turkey finds gender bias in TV series that reproduces traditional stereotypes — and aims to help correct it. Turkey
Baghdad clamps down on cross-border arms smuggling While security along the Iraqi-Syrian border has improved with the near defeat of the Islamic State, Iraqi security forces still have their hands full trying to prevent arms smuggling and attacks by what is left of the terror group. Iraq
Turkish TV paints Kurds as villains Turkish audiences watch TV series more regularly than they watch the news — and the habit seems to be making Turkey's divide worse. Turkey
Ankara summit focuses on Syria's fate once war ends The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey reassured each other that they are the "big three" of the Syrian peace talks and discussed their mission to resolve the civil war. Syria
US ramps up counter-WMD spending amid Mideast proliferation threats The Pentagon is putting $6 million into countering weapons of mass destruction in five Middle Eastern countries, as US special operations forces take control of the fight. Syria
Beirut renames seaside avenue after Saudi benefactor Will King Salman Avenue bring Lebanon more Saudi tourists, or does it just represent the failures of the Lebanese political system? Saudi Arabia
Rumors of Turkish deputy PM's departure spook markets The Turkish lira took a tumble amid reports that Mehmet Simsek, the deputy prime minister in charge of Turkey's economy, had resigned. Turkey
Iranian conservatives ask supreme leader for reforms Conservative officials and activists aligned with former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote an open letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the need for reforms. Iran
