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
Tug of war continues in Nile dam dispute The crisis of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Ethiopia is building along the Blue Nile, has sparked the concern of Egypt and Sudan, as mediation efforts led by the African Union to reach an agreement are on the brink of faltering, just like previous efforts. Egypt
Egypt to resume poultry exports after 14-year struggle with bird flu Certain Egyptian poultry facilities have finally won accreditation as bird flu-free. Egypt
Intel: AOC incurs AIPAC’s wrath with anti-annexation letter Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) are facing off over a letter the progressive firebrand sent Tuesday warning against Israeli efforts to annex parts of the West Bank. Palestine
Pompeo’s push to extend Iran arms embargo faces uphill battle at UN The UN Security Council is not keen on extending the Iran arms embargo despite US threats to instate snapback sanctions. United States
Horrific patterns of torture catalogued in Yemen’s unofficial prisons More than 1,000 people have been arbitrarily detained and hundreds tortured by Yemen's warring parties, finds a new report. Yemen
US troops 'secure' northeast Syria oil, as contamination from it imperils lives Dilapidated pipelines and oil waste coat polluted rivers and streams in Kurdish-run northeast Syria. Syria
Egyptian company strikes gold in Eastern Desert Egypt has sought to attract gold mining investment recently. Egypt
Turkey cries 'LGBT propaganda' after official faces backlash for pedophilia tweet Activists saw the tweet from the head of Turkish Red Crescent as targeting the LGBTI community and say such rhetoric puts it at greater risk. Turkey
IMF official: Gulf economies to contract by 7.6% in 2020 The International Monetary Fund official's predictions are worse than earlier ones as the Gulf deals with oil price drops and the COVID-19 pandemic. Legacy: Gulf
Iran sentences dissident journalist to death Iran sees Rouhollah Zam as an enemy of the state in part as a result of his controversial coverage of anti-government protests in Iran; Iranian Supreme Court also upholds a five-year sentence for French-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah. Iran
Lost treasures brewed fresh at Turkey's first coffee museum An enchanting array of the classic Turkish and regional beverage is there for the tasting in a unique coffee museum that features antique implements and forgotten recipes of Anatolia. Turkey
Intel: US pledges nearly $700M in humanitarian assistance for Syrians The US State Department announced it would be providing an additional $696 million in humanitarian assistance to Syrians. Syria
