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
Why Al-Azhar sides with Sisi against protests Al-Azhar has condemned the recent anti-government protests in Egypt, raising questions on whether it was under pressure to issue a statement in support of the state. Egypt
Egypt inaugurates hundreds of mosques amid smear campaign The Egyptian government is opening hundreds of new mosques across the nation, brushing off Muslim Brotherhood accusations that the state is demolishing places of worship. Egypt
Israel’s Lapid fighting to leverage Netanyahu’s coronavirus failure Yesh Atid leader and opposition chair Yair Lapid fails to leverage his energy and gain momentum, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is highly criticized over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Israel
Economic uncertainty looms after Kuwaiti emir's death Kuwait faces a wave of bankruptcies as the COVID-19 crisis wreaks havoc on the emirate’s economy, which is in desperate need of reform. Kuwait
Algeria cracks down on press as protest movement persists Algeria's massive protest movement, temporarily stifled by the pandemic, is also seeing many activists and journalists jailed as the government. Algeria
UAE Mars probe's trajectory now viewable online The public can now track the Emirate probe Hope as it heads toward Mars, in the United Arab Emirates' first space mission. United Arab Emirates
Intel: Pentagon eyes partnership with Algeria amid competition with Russia, China The United States is looking to bolster military ties with North Africa. Algeria
Armenia recalls Israel ambassador over arms sales to Azerbaijan The diplomatic rebuke came after an Azerbaijani official said Israeli-made drones were being put to use in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Israel
Syria resumes commercial flights out of Damascus The first international flight in six months departed today for Cairo. Syria
Two Iranian fuel tankers reach Venezuelan territory The Associated Press reported that two Iran-flagged ships reached Venezuela and a third is on its way without US interference. Together they are carrying 815,000 barrels of fuel. United States
Intel: Turkey rejects US, Russia, France call for cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh dispute The United States, Russia and France called for an immediate cease-fire as the ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the mainly Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh entered its fifth day. Turkey
Turkish Health Ministry admits to posting partial COVID-19 data Turkey’s health minister acknowledged Wednesday that state records do not reflect the full number of COVID-19 cases in the country, drawing fire from medical groups that have long claimed infection rates were underreported. Turkey
