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
Man stabs guard at French Consulate in Saudi Arabia The nonfatal attack came the same day as the murder of three people in Nice, France, as tensions soar between France and much of the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia
Iranian diabetic patients dig for vital medicines amid corruption The plight of Iranian diabetic patients has entered the public sphere as a shortage of vital insulin pens threatens their lives, a crisis authorities blame on US sanctions. The patients, however, link it to domestic corruption. Originals
Jerusalem-born Americans can now list 'Israel' on passports Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that US citizens born in Jerusalem can now elect to list "Israel" as their birthplace on consular documents. Israel
Iran tries to mediate cease-fire between Azerbaijan, Armenia The fighting on Iran’s northwestern border has begun to alarm officials who are attempting to mediate a cease-fire between the two sides. Iran
Erdogan’s boycott call against France more grandstanding than economic threat The pressing economic grievances of the Turkish public and deep-rooted business links with France are likely to far outweigh any Turkish enthusiasm to boycott French goods. Turkey
Iraq's western Anbar province getting back on its feet, eyeing autonomy Iraq’s Sunni-majority Anbar province has in recent months completed a number of infrastructure works in the hope of attracting more investment as the US troops' presence winds down, amid debate over the possibility of carving out an autonomous region. Iraq
Are attacks on Syrian opposition signal from Moscow to Ankara? As Turkey conducts simultaneous campaigns in different theaters — including assistance to Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict — Moscow must be tempted to exploit the turbulence to extract concessions from Ankara. Syria
Erdogan’s economic policies show growing disconnect from working class Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan aims for social justice by distributing the loot to his favorite powerful elites at the expense of hardworking blue- and white-collar professionals. Turkey
In Jordan, female engineers lead way in sustainable agriculture A Norwegian NGO has launched a joint training program to train female engineering graduates in the field of sustainable agriculture, with the aim of both encouraging Jordanian women to join the workforce and fight desertification. Jordan
Egypt prepares for solar alignment in Abu Simbel temple amid coronavirus The major solar phenomenon of the sun passing over the statue of Ramses II at the Temple of Abu Simbel in Egypt’s Aswan is overshadowed this year by the coronavirus pandemic. Egypt
How Turkey’s withdrawal from Morek post affects opposition factions in northeast Syria Turkish forces withdrew from their observation post in the city of Morek, raising many questions about the fate of Turkish-backed rebels in the surrounding area. Syria
Israel’s education system fails Zoom test With an enormous number of poor Israeli students lacking computers and a state that seems unable to supply them, distance learning has no chance of success. Israel
