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
Tehran cracks down on hoarding as coronavirus panics Iranians As Iran continues to fight the coronavirus outbreak, officials vow strong action against the hoarding of medical supplies. Iran
Polls report high numbers as Israel votes yet again Despite predictions of voter fatigue in Israel's third round of elections in less than a year and growing fears of the coronavirus outbreak, voter turnout early in today's elections has been high. Israel
Iraq faces more chaos as PM-designate fails to form government Iraq's prime minister-designate failed to form a government, meaning the country will most certainly witness more chaos. Iraq
Egypt believes Ethiopia is dodging dam agreement Ethiopian representatives did not attend the recent round of US-mediated talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam -- talks that were supposed to wrap up with a signed final agreement among Cairo, Addis Ababa and Khartoum. Egypt
Idlib escalation shelves talk of coup in Turkey The survival of the Erdogan government requires periodic activation of coup rhetoric. Turkey
Egypt to attract investments through lenient business laws In order to attract investments, Egypt's parliament has recently abolished prison sentences that were previously imposed on financial wrongdoers. Egypt
Iraq's political scene fragmented as time runs out for prime minister designate An Al-Monitor interview of members of parliament helps explain why Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi's nomination to become prime minister of Iraq hit the shoals. Iraq
How can Yemen's fragile health system combat coronavirus? Yemen survived four years of a cholera epidemic, but its fragile health system could collapse under a coronavirus outbreak. Yemen
Egypt boosts local weapons production Egypt has announced a plan to boost local manufacturing of weapons to boost the capacities of its army and with the ultimate aim to export them to Africa. Egypt
Turkey launches Operation Spring Shield against Syrian forces Turkey has downed two Syrian jets in launching Operation Spring Shield while also sending refugees to the Greek border. Syria
Meet the Lebanese artist who has created the heart of revolution A sculpture by artist Hayat Nazer delivers a message of compassion, peace and reconciliation amid the going protests in Beirut. Lebanon
Syrian Kurds ponder Afrin’s recapture in shadow of Idlib crisis The Syrian Kurds' partial collaboration with Syrian government forces in northwestern Aleppo has so far failed to expand amid whirlwind developments in Idlib. Syria
