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
Libyans agree on plan to hold elections in 18 months, UN says Acting UN envoy Stephanie Williams called the agreement a "breakthrough." Libya
Israeli settlers disappointed over Trump’s defeat, worry over Biden Disappointed over the defeat of their friend, US President Donald Trump, West Bank settlers worry over the Biden administration. Israel
Cairo to turn 15th century sultan's caravansary into heritage hotel to boost tourism The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced Oct. 24 that it will convert the 15th century Wakala al-Sultan Qaytbay into a heritage hotel after its restoration. Egypt
Voter apathy, pandemic result in low turnout, riots in Jordanian election With a historic low turnout by voters at Jordan’s parliamentary elections, it is doubtful that the government will pick up the message that a growing majority of Jordanians are becoming indifferent to the role of parliament. Jordan
Al-Azhar to sue France over prophet cartoons During a visit to Cairo by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb rejected any form of insults to the Prophet Muhammad and vowed to sue France over the publication of controversial cartoons. Egypt
Egypt to build world’s largest water desalination plant amid deadlock in Nile dam talks Egypt announced the building of the world’s largest water desalination plant, in a bid to meet the country’s growing water needs. Egypt
End of kafala no panacea for Egyptian workers in Saudi Arabia Although Egypt officially welcomes the end of the kafala system in Saudi Arabia, some observers worry the changes will be largely cosmetic as abusive work contracts remain in place. Saudi Arabia
Can Hamas control individual rocket firing? In a bid to advance the truce with Israel, Gaza’s resistance factions, including Hamas, seem to have agreed to avoid and stop indiscriminate rocket launches toward Israel and to hand over culprits to the competent official authorities for accountability. Palestine
Turkey bans public smoking in virus mitigation effort Turkey has been recording more than 2,000 cases of COVID-19 a day for weeks, and there are concerns the government is underreporting virus deaths. Turkey
Greece, Egypt expect Biden will be 'decisive' in Mediterranean dispute, Greek PM says Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' comments came as Turkey announced it was extending exploratory work in the contested waters. Egypt
Israeli settlers visit Dubai to discuss business ties Palestinian officials are angry the Gulf state welcomed Israeli settlers from the West Bank. Originals
France signs financing agreement with UN to support Iraqi elections The UN-France deal supports Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission ahead of early elections slated for next summer. Iraq
