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
Lebanon’s central bank to inject dollars as currency crashes The Lebanese pound trades at roughly 6,000 to the US dollar on the black market; Lebanese officials take action to try to get the parallel market under 4,000 to the dollar. Lebanon
Ankara spouts fury as Twitter takes down pro-Erdogan trolls Twitter said the suspensions were part of a broader operation in which it had removed and suspended accounts linked to state-run propaganda and disinformation centers in China, Russia and Turkey. Turkey
Protests erupt across Lebanon as government scrambles to rein in crumbling currency Following the sectarian protests that took place a few days ago, Lebanon's crumbling currency united the Lebanese in a cross-sectarian protests in various Lebanese cities. Lebanon
Intel: Missiles that struck Saudi Arabia last year 'of Iranian origin,' UN says UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the drones and cruise missiles that struck Saudi Arabia’s oil refineries and an international airport last year came from Iran. Saudi Arabia
Intel: US to pull more troops from Iraq as dialogue with Baghdad continues The United States said it will further reduce its troop levels in Iraq as American diplomats and their Iraqi counterparts continue a round of dialogue initiated yesterday over the future of the countries’ relationship. Iraq
As Syria’s economy teeters, US prepares sweeping sanctions On Wednesday, the US State Department will announce the first round of targets under the so-called Caesar Act. Syria
Turkey’s economic turmoil imposing early polls on Erdogan Grappling with economic strains that might grow worse down the road, Turkey’s president faces an early election conundrum. Turkey
Saudi soccer to resume this summer Matches will resume with health measures in place, after they had stopped in March due to the coronavirus outbreak. Saudi Arabia
Yemen’s health care system collapses as virus spreads Doctors Without Borders says it has witnessed the highest death rate yet from the virus in the Houthi-held city of Sanaa. Yemen
Erdogan aims for 'new era' in US-Turkey ties, with Libya top of agenda Mideast economic forecast is "heavily tilted to the downside," said a World Bank report. Turkey
Jordan gets high marks for dealing with COVID-19, but economic crisis deepens Jordanians feel that while the government may have succeeded in thwarting the health crisis related to the coronavirus pandemic, it has failed so far in finding solutions to the deteriorating economy. Jordan
US, Iraq look to continue strategic dialogue in Washington next month Following an initial round of talks in Baghdad, Iraq and the United States have agreed to maintain and expand cooperation in various realms. Iraq
