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
Me Too movement rattles Turkey’s literary world Turkish literary scene becomes a new battlefront in the women’s movement as female writers, editors and translators pour out their stories of abuse and one author commits suicide. Turkey
Israeli Arabs break glass ceiling to become flight attendants After many years where Arab citizens were barred from courses for flight attendants, the Arkia airline decided to change its policy. Israel
How Egypt became hub for Russian COVID-19 vaccine Egypt may become the hub of coronavirus vaccines in Africa after it agreed to produce the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine against the coronavirus. Originals
Egypt sounds alarm over toxic puffer fish Egypt warns its citizens of the spread of a toxic fish on the market that causes poisoning, paralysis or coma, and can even lead to death within six to eight hours. Egypt
Arab-Israeli town to build green paradise over dump The municipality of Taibeh is working to rehabilitate a waste site and turn it into a park. Israel
White House's Kushner to visit Israel, Morocco following normalization agreement Senior Trump administration adviser Jared Kushner will lead a US and Israeli delegation to Morocco next week. Israel
Israel-Tunisia normalization ‘not on the agenda,’ Tunisian PM says Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said that he respects Morocco's choice to recognize the Jewish state but that Tunisia is not considering doing the same. Israel
Iran not forthcoming on investigation into downed airliner, Canada’s government says Iranian officials have accused Canada of exploiting the incident for political purposes. Iran
Iran using disguised ship to load Venezuelan oil The tanker reportedly hid its real name. The United States sanctions the oil industries of both Iran and Venezuela. Iran
Iran’s Rouhani dismisses outcry over journalist’s execution Iran hanged journalist and blogger Ruhollah Zam on Saturday after a court found him guilty of "corruption on earth." Iran
Israel open to teaming up with Gulf states on missile defense, official says Shift in tone comes as Israel hails "successful" missile defense exercise in cooperation with Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency Israel
US designates Bahraini terror group linked to Iran The outgoing US administration is continuing to pressure Iran and its allies in its final weeks in office. Bahrain
