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
Iran hopes to unveil homemade coronavirus vaccine in March As Iran reports considerable relief from the coronavirus pandemic, hopes are growing that the country’s indigenous vaccine could become available sooner than expected. Iran
Turkish lira remains stable after US sanctions Turkey’s currency remained relatively stable Tuesday after the United States imposed limited sanctions on Ankara for acquiring Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems. Turkey
Armed groups target liquor shops in Iraq Shops selling alcoholic beverages in Baghdad are constantly targeted. Some Iraqis see this as part of the war on their personal freedoms. Iraq
Syrian Kurds squeezed between Turkish threat, Russian pressure in Ain Issa Amid growing fears of a fresh Turkish offensive, the Syrian Kurds are under Russian pressure to cede full or partial control of the strategic town of Ain Issa to the Syrian government. Syria
Paradox: Netanyahu now protected by Israeli Arab legislator Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has denigrated Israeli Arab legislators for years, depends now on Knesset member Mansour Abbas for his political survival. Israel
Netanyahu also influencer-in-chief as master of YouTube, Instagram No other politician in Israel, not even the young ones, masters YouTube, Instagram and other social networks as skillfully as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Originals
Egypt, Italy strike major military deal despite Regeni case Italy and Egypt are set to cut a major military deal, apparently disregarding tensions caused by the murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Cairo back in 2016. Egypt
Egypt seeks diplomatic foothold in Somalia Egypt is seeking to repair its relations with Somalia amid the ongoing crisis over the Ethiopia dam in the Nile River and Turkey’s growing influence in the African country. Egypt
Israel-Hamas contacts advance on prisoner exchange Contradicting reports have emerged about talks for an Israel-Hamas prisoner-exchange deal after an Egyptian delegation visited Gaza last week. Palestine
Iran's Rouhani attacks domestic critics over sanctions relief Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggested today that he would not allow domestic critics of the nuclear deal to delay Iran’s reentry to the deal. Iran
Turkey arrests 11 over abduction of Iranian dissident Turkish intelligence believe Habib Chaab was lured to Istanbul and abducted by a group working on behalf of Iran. Turkey
Fuel tanker in Saudi Arabia hit by explosion The incident follows other recent attacks on the country's oil industry from the Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen. Originals
