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
East-Med undersea pipeline project now ratified by Israel Advancing the East-Med project one step further, Israel’s government ratified the agreement signed last January with the governments of Cyprus and Greece. Israel
Engel is out — will the new foreign affairs chairman upend his Mideast policies? Three House Democrats are vying to replace Eliot Engel as the party’s new foreign affairs leader — will they actually change his Middle East policies? United States
Turkey helps Moldovan family escape Islamic State camp in Syria The woman and her family had been living in al-Hol since 2019, but their exact connection to IS is unclear. Syria
Is diplomacy running out on Egypt-Ethiopia dispute over Nile dam? The African Union, the UN Security Council and the Trump administration may be last best bets to stave off an Egypt-Ethiopia war. Egypt
Turkey sends virus aid to Venezuela US sanctions on Venezuela allow for humanitarian exemptions. Turkey is active in delivering coronavirus-related aid around the world. Turkey
Erdogan condemns Egypt's actions in Libya as ‘illegal’ The Turkish president's remarks came a day after his Egyptian counterpart met with Libyan tribesmen in Cairo. Egypt
UAE Mars mission again delayed due to weather The Hope probe is now scheduled to launch Monday from Japan. United Arab Emirates
Turkey sentences Germany-based journalist to prison in absentia Deniz Yucel was convicted of "incitement to hatred" and spreading "terror propaganda." Turkey
Coronavirus likely to delay Pentagon war games in Mideast to 2021 Mideast war exercises planned for this year are likely to be delayed until 2021, and other war games scheduled for next year may be delayed until 2022. Egypt
Is Erdogan after a Caucasus adventure? Ankara’s harsh outbursts in favor of Baku in Azerbaijan’s rekindled conflict with Armenia might be aimed at domestic consumption as well as pressuring Russia into concessions in Libya and Syria. Turkey
Intel: Pro-Palestinian progressive insurgent ousts House Foreign Affairs chairman Pro-Palestinian progressive insurgent Jamaal Bowman ousted House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel in the New York Democratic primary, according to an Associated Press call of the today. While Engel has been trailing behind Bowman since the election was held last month, the counting of mail-in ballots has delayed the final results. United States
Closing borders due to COVID-19 revives Iraqi agriculture Iraq's agriculture sector has been revived in the past few months, after the government closed its borders and banned the import of agricultural produce as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak. Iraq
