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
Muslim Brotherhood struggles to find political allies among opposition parties The Muslim Brotherhood is seeking political allies in time for parliamentary elections slated for November 2020. Egypt
Peshmerga unity depends on healing political divisions Corruption and tribalism are two of the obstacles blocking the unification of Kurdish peshmerga forces. Iraq
Artist imagines Palestine through conquest imagery, female form An exhibition by the artist Vera Tamari approaches Palestine through military helmets, the female form and landscapes. Palestine
Israel restricts human rights work in its territories Israel expelled Human Rights Watch Director Omar Shakir from its territories, accusing him of supporting the boycott of Israel, which opened a debate about Israel’s restrictions against rights workers. Palestine
How Iran's hard-liners tried to ride wave of protests Iran's hard-liners say they had nothing to do with the fuel price hike that has prompted Iranian protests. Iran
Turkey flirts with buying even more Russian missile systems Turkey seems to be offering a compromise to the United States to avoid sanctions for Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 fighter jets — even as Turkey is in talks to buy more. Turkey
Egypt's Mada Masr determined to press on despite raid Lina Attalah, editor in chief of the news website Mada Masr, spoke to Al-Monitor about a harrowing police raid of the site's office and how she and the staff are determined to continue their work. Egypt
Meet the actor who won Turkey's first Emmy Award for best performance Haluk Bilginer, a veteran actor whose roles range from King Lear to drifters, received an Emmy Award for best acting performance. Turkey
Turkey bets on NATO as escape route in S-400 crisis In a move to buy time, Erdogan is taking the S-400 crisis to NATO grounds, as Ankara’s testing of the Russian-made system the week before a NATO summit shows Ankara still has maneuvering room. Syria
Acrimony erupts ahead of NATO summit as Turkey stalls defense plans Turkey is impeding a military plan to defend Poland and the Baltics to force the alliance to support its military operation in Syria. The spat underscores political divisions that are shaking NATO ahead of its anniversary summit this week. Turkey
As Iraq bloodshed spreads, Sistani calls for early elections In the wake of extensive violence against the Iraqi protesters and Shiite leader Ali Sistani's outrage, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has expressed willingness to resign. Originals
Egyptian women represent vast untapped workforce In addition to improved education and workers' rights, a shift in workplace culture will be required for Egypt to harness the full potential of women in its economy. Egypt
