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
US charges New York father, teenage son who joined Islamic State Emraan Ali allegedly told prosecutors he snuck his family into Syria after in-laws told him they had a good life under IS. Originals
Twitter says it closed Iranian government accounts focused on US election The social media company said it received the information on Tehran's purported activity during the first US presidential debate from the FBI. United States
Trump administration again slashes refugee admissions to new low The announcement followed Trump's attack on refugees during a campaign rally in Minnesota. United States
Iraqi protests hit one year mark On the anniversary of the start of Iraq's massive protests, Iraqis are preparing for a new wave of demonstrations in Baghdad and other cities. Iraq
Israel, Lebanon agree to maritime border talks Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz confirmed today that Israel and Lebanon will open direct talks on demarking their maritime border with US mediation. Israel
How much damage can Arab states do to Turkish economy? As Turkey’s Arab adversaries step up efforts to counter Ankara’s actions in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has reportedly started a covert boycott of Turkish goods. Turkey
Iran to issue fines for those not wearing masks Struggling to slow a third wave of the coronavirus, Iran is hoping issuing fines will help. Iran
Why Hamas can’t control arms proliferation in Gaza Amid the uncontrollable proliferation of weapons in the Gaza Strip, human rights centers and institutions sounded the alarm, while Hamas seems unable to prevent citizens from obtaining arms. Palestine
Egypt renews demands to retrieve Nefertiti bust from Germany Egypt has repeatedly tried to retrieve Nefertiti’s bust from Germany, which Cairo claims was illegally smuggled out of the country when it was discovered more than 100 years ago. Egypt
Egypt turns to Russia to save decaying railway authority Russia is cooperating with Egypt on developing the Egyptian Railway Authority, which has suffered heavy financial losses. Egypt
Grand Egyptian Museum to display thousands of artifacts Egypt gears up for the big opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2021, where 50,000 artifacts will be displayed. Egypt
Terror charges follow Islamic State woman repatriated to Italy An Italian woman and her four children have been repatriated to Italy, where she was arrested on terror-related charges for having gone to Syria with her husband to join the Islamic State. Syria
