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
UK to resume issuing Saudi Arabia arms export licenses Licensing had been suspended last year after a British court ruled that the government violated British law by selling arms without examining whether the weapons may be used to harm noncombatants. Originals
Russian FM says Hifter's forces ready for cease-fire in Libya Sergey Lavrov said the Tripoli government wants to keep fighting as the war rages on with heavy foreign involvement from Russia, Turkey, Egypt and others. Libya
Iran’s Rouhani stands by foreign minister after parliament slurs The fragility of the Iran nuclear deal and its bleak prospects have given Iran’s hard-liners the upper hand in their domestic battle against moderate forces. Iran
Turkish diplomat criticizes West Bank annexation in Jordan Turkey's ambassador to Jordan is the latest Middle Eastern and international politician to criticize Israel's plans to annex parts of the Palestinian territory. Palestine
Yemeni economy in free fall amid collapsing currency, COVID-19 The majority of Yemeni society bears the consequences and stands alone, unable to confront the ravages of war, division and the ongoing economic deterioration. Yemen
Egypt offers partnership with Ethiopia on electricity projects to break stalemate in Nile dam talks Egypt is about to start studies on an electricity linkage project with Ethiopia, against the background of faltering negotiations over Addis Ababa’s construction of a dam on the Nile River. Originals
Tensions escalate between Egypt, Ethiopia with no end in sight of Nile dam dispute Ethiopia has recently accused Egypt of unilaterally using Nile River waters via a project approved in 1995; Cairo says upstream countries are not affected and that it has all the rights to use the Nile waters. Egypt
Lebanese campaign encourages art against racism amid economic crisis A recent campaign launched by artists in Lebanon called on people from all ages and groups to share their drawings of issues they believe deserve awareness. Lebanon
UAE seeks turnaround in relations with Somalia for help in Yemen war The United Arab Emirates has offered Somalia to reopen a hospital in the capital, in exchange for backing the UAE’s involvement in the Yemeni war, but Somalia rejected this amid deteriorating relations between the two countries. United Arab Emirates
Will formation of new government in Yemen lay groundwork for peace? Despite agreeing to a cease-fire in south Yemen, it seems the chances of ending the conflict between the Saudi-backed government forces and the UAE-backed southern separatists and forming a new government are dim. Saudi Arabia
As Iran applauds BLM, Afghan minority short on rights While the Iranian government points to the "Black Lives Matter" movement as proof of American hypocrisy, Iran's Afghan minority has a different take. Iran
Russia, China veto UN vote to extend aid to Syria’s opposition-held northwest Russia previously made clear its intent to veto the proposal, despite last-minute hopes the Kremlin might abstain. Syria
