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
Islamic State children still waiting for Tunisia to bring them home Dozens of Tunisian children of IS militants are still stuck in Syria, Libya and Iraq as the government continues to wrestle with the logistics of bringing them home. Iraq
Yemen conflict leaves impact on judiciary A Houthi-run court in Sanaa sentenced to death 35 parliamentarians on charges of treason, which risks further dividing society in Yemen. Saudi Arabia
Members of popular Turkish folk collective approach death on hunger strike Turkey's iconic Grup Yorum has not been able to perform since 2016 and a number of its members have been jailed on dubious terror charges. Turkey
Turkey’s public broadcaster registers as foreign agent TRT's registration comes as the Donald Trump administration has been pressing state broadcasters to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. United Arab Emirates
Russia, Turkey conduct first joint patrol in Idlib The first joint Russian-Turkish patrol along Syria's M4 highway didn’t go perfectly smoothly, but bigger challenges are already looming on the horizon. Syria
Turkey bringing home citizens stranded in Europe amid coronavirus lockdowns Turkey will quarantine its citizens who return home after travel abroad. Turkey
Erdogan meets virtually with EU leaders under coronavirus cloud Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a mini Syria summit with France, the United Kingdom and Germany's leaders today. Syria
Intel: Senate plans imminent vote on Lebanon sanctions bill The Senate is getting ready to vote on legislation that would sanction Lebanese officials responsible for wrongfully detaining American citizens, Al-Monitor has learned. Lebanon
From cannabis to cologne, Turks flaunt their ‘cures’ to coronavirus As the number of coronavirus cases quadruples in Turkey, columnists and health gurus return to tradition: soup and cologne. Turkey
Netanyahu’s coronavirus strategy erodes Israel’s democracy Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exploits the coronavirus panic to erode Israel’s democracy, limit the Knesset, introduce emergency-mode regulations, and prevent Blue and White from implementing the majority garnered by the opposition bloc. Israel
Iraq's latest prime minister-designate faces opposition from Iran-backed militias Iraqi President Barham Salih designates a former Najaf governor, Adnan Zurfi, as prime minister amid strong objection from Iran-backed militias. Iraq
UAE sends medical aid to Iran as coronavirus outbreak intensifies The coronavirus outbreak is hitting Iran, which is already suffering under economic sanctions, hard, but the United Arab Emirates is offering substantial assistance. United Arab Emirates
