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
Intel: How US just contradicted its own justification for arming the Saudis in Yemen A key State Department official portrayed the Houthi rebels as independent from Tehran in a briefing with reporters on Thursday, a significant shift that flies in the face of years of US justification for its role in the war in Yemen. Originals
As chaos and violence consume Iraq, US keeps focus on deterring Iran The Trump administration’s realism is well suited to the crisis in Iraq, with a clear red line on keeping out Iranian missiles. Iraq
Algeria's presidential election no one wants After hounding longtime dictator Abdelaziz Bouteflika from office, protesters are now campaigning to stop the flawed process to replace him. Algeria
Erdogan in NATO: Russia’s ‘Trojan horse’? President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned from London to Ankara as a “loser” who failed to achieve anything at the NATO summit. Turkey
Turkey’s taxpayers in dark over bill of big investment projects Multibillion-dollar investment projects, built as public-private partnerships, have begun to put major burdens on Turkey’s budget, but taxpayers, the parliament and even auditing authorities remain in the dark on financial risks that might haunt the country for years. Turkey
Protests expose archaic Lebanese legal system, give lawyers hope for change As protests continue in Lebanon, a group of lawyers is working to help detainees and push for the enforcement of laws protecting freedom of expression, association and assembly. Lebanon
Palestinian election fever begins, minus the elections Some Palestinians are gearing up for elections, yet the chance of them taking place in the near future is slim. Palestine
Lebanon’s revolutionaries launch their own newspaper Lebanese activists and journalists printed the first issue of a newspaper dedicated to covering all aspects of the country's protests. Lebanon
Egypt puts forth new details in Ethiopia dam negotiations Egypt is proposing new technical conditions to Ethiopia that would diminish the major damages the Renaissance Dam operation could cause. Egypt
A first: Hamas partakes in presidential elections Hamas has announced that it is seeking a consensus candidate for the presidential elections, raising questions about the possibility of agreeing with Fatah on a name. Qatar
Egypt tells media not to report yet on reshuffle, governors Egypt has forbidden the media from reporting on the appointment of new governors and the upcoming Cabinet overhaul until authorities issue official releases. Egypt
Israel's Foreign Ministry, Netanyahu's private candy store Instead of appointing experienced and professional diplomats to fight Israel’s diplomatic battles, many of them find themselves without any jobs. Israel
