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
Can an American activist sue Egypt’s ex-PM? Torture suit a test of diplomatic immunity Mohamed Soltan’s lawsuit against the former interim prime minister of Egypt has thrust the longstanding practice of diplomatic immunity into the spotlight. Egypt
UAE agreement stabilizes Israel's unity government For the Blue and White Party, the normalization agreement with the UAE is yet another justification for continuing its complicated partnership with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel
Private gun ownership soars in West Bank Crime rates are rising in the West Bank, where illegal weapons are turning family feuds deadly. Palestine
Would Egypt support Sudan-Israel normalization deal? Egypt, which welcomed the recent normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and has its own longstanding peace treaty with Israel, does not seem to be as enthusiastic about Sudan doing the same. Egypt
Why Jordan’s Islamists are boycotting elections Some are calling for a boycott of the upcoming Jordanian parliamentary elections in protest against anticipated manipulation. Jordan
Israel-UAE deal could have happened four years ago A regional peace conference that would have included the United Arab Emirates nearly came about four years ago, when former opposition head Isaac Herzog was negotiating to join Benjamin Netanyahu's government. Israel
How this law can help Egypt in clinical trials amid COVID-19 crisis The Egyptian parliament approved a bill regulating clinical medical research, in the hope that it would contribute to revitalizing the pharmaceutical industry and bring Egypt into the race of developing a coronavirus vaccine. Egypt
Israel, UAE discuss establishment of embassies Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry Alon Ushpiz said that in talks with UAE officials the two countries are discussing the establishment of embassies. United Arab Emirates
Iranian tourism drops to 'near-zero levels' due to coronavirus The coronavirus pandemic is choking Iran’s tourism industry as the number of foreign tourists drops to an all-time low, prompting record layoffs and reducing income to near-zero levels. Iran
Israel suspected of striking southern Syria The Syrian government last reported that Israel struck the country in late July and this led to clashes between Israel and Hezbollah on the Israel-Lebanon border. Syria
Intel: New Iraqi committee hopes to weed out corruption, 'exceptional crimes' The committee, reporting directly to Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, follows a string of assassinations in Basra against anti-corruption activists. Iraq
Hamas announces deal to end Gaza flare-up with Israel Under the Qatari-brokered agreement, the militants will cease their attacks in return for Israel lifting restrictions at the border. Palestine
