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 fight paused as Turkey invades northern Syria As Kurdish fighters in Syria leave the fight against the Islamic State to defend against Turkey, the United States pauses the battle against the militant group. Syria
Lawyers decry lack of justice for jailed activist Kavala in Turkey A Turkish court refuses to free Osman Kavala, who stands accused, along with 15 others, of organizing mass 2013 demonstrations. Turkey
Iran faces challenges in privatization plans For privatization to succeed in Iran, the government must empower the real private sector as opposed to semi-state entities. Iran
Turkey launches attack on Syrian Kurdish forces as US steps aside Turkey has begun its assault in northern Syria, testing the defenses of the Syrian Kurdish forces and the limits of US tolerance for an operation that the Pentagon has fiercely opposed. Syria
Iran urges Turkey to show restraint as Ankara launches Syria operation Closely monitoring the tense Turkey-Syria border situation as Ankara launches an incursion, Iran has called on Turkey to resort to dialogue and abort its military offensive there. Syria
What did Lavrov discuss in Baghdad and Erbil? Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Iraq to discuss a broad range of issues, with economy and security dominating the agenda. Iraq
Syrians brace as Turkey begins operation against Kurds After the United States withdrew troops from the Syrian-Turkish border this week, Turkey pulled the trigger on its offensive against Kurdish forces in northern Syria. Syria
Turkey launches Syria invasion hours after informing US of plans Turkey told the United States on Tuesday that it plans to launch an attack into northern Syria within 24 hours, Al-Monitor has learned, as some in the Donald Trump administration tried to push back against reports that the president had given a green light for the impending incursion. Syria
Why Syrians in Jordan refuse to return home Not many Syrians have returned from Jordan since the Nassib-Jaber border crossing was opened last year, for fear of military conscription and arrest by government forces. Jordan
Is Sisi shutting down internet freedom in Egypt? During the demonstrations that broke out across several governorates in Egypt, many news websites were blocked, not to mention the censorship of many social networking sites. Egypt
‘The only game in town’: Progress seen in French initiative for US-Iran talks A French initiative to de-escalate US-Iran tensions has developed a framework for broader talks to resolve regional tensions. United States
Trump invites Erdogan to White House as northeast Syria shudders US President Donald Trump announced that he will host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in November as his move to pull US troops out of Syria continues to sow chaos along the Syrian-Turkish border. Syria
