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 lockdown extended amid fears of ‘second wave’ of virus To keep the coronavirus from spreading, a curfew and other restrictions on movement in Lebanon will continue through at least May 24. Lebanon
Facebook says it closed accounts, pages with links to Iranian government Facebook said that it shut down hundreds of accounts and pages promoting Iranian propaganda in its monthly report. Russia
Intel: Egypt releases US political prisoner Egypt has released American political prisoner Reem Mohamed Desouky. Originals
Trump defender Dershowitz, other star lawyers begin work for Azeri-Turkish billionaire An international team of lawyers will represent Azeri-Turkish billionaire Mubariz Mansimov Gurbanoglu, a shipping magnate who has been held on terrorism charges in Istanbul since March 17. Turkey
Islamic State prison riot underscores fragile security in northeast Syria The issue of what to do with Islamic State prisoners in northeast Syria continues to be a nagging problem. Syria
Report: Private sectors in UAE, Egyptian, Saudi economies suffer dramatic losses IHS Markit, a global information provider, shows how the private sector has suffered major blows in the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia
Intel: White House refuses to detail secretive Saudi nuclear talks to government watchdog The Donald Trump administration refused to disclose details of its talks with Saudi Arabia about possible cooperation on a civil nuclear program, according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Monday. Saudi Arabia
How COVID-19 threatens Istanbul's cultural heritage The novel coronavirus pandemic presents multiple threats to Istanbul's cultural heritage, both decimating tourism and distracting from destructive development projects. Turkey
Coronavirus resurgence hits Iran Iranian officials warn that a resurgence of the novel coronavirus is gripping nearly half of the country as the number of infections climb once again. Iran
Israel’s controversial cyber surveillance gets three-week extension A parliamentary subcommittee approved Israel's use of the phone-tracing technology through May 26. Israel
Alleged Israeli strikes target northern, eastern Syria Iranian militia targets were bombed near Aleppo and in the Deir ez-Zor countryside. Israel
Terrorists in Sinai increase attacks during Ramadan The Egyptian army and security forces have been under attack this Ramadan, as in previous years. Egypt
