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
Trump faces skepticism from allies amid troop deployment The Donald Trump administration will deploy a fresh detachment of US troops to Saudi Arabia after blaming Iran for an attack against a major oil production facility just days ago. Saudi Arabia
Egyptian FM: Ethiopian dam development shouldn’t 'come at expense of lives of Egyptians' In an exclusive, in-depth interview with Al-Monitor, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry says he sees no change in Qatari policies; great potential in regional integration; and says Egypt will play its "traditional role" to support "courageous decisions" to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Qatar
Two to watch at the UN General Assembly: Turkey’s Erdogan and Iraq’s Salih Turkish leader meets Trump ahead of safe-zone deadline; Iraqi president offers new direction for Iraq and region. Iraq
Trump’s new Iran sanctions tie Democrats' hands on nuclear deal reentry President Donald Trump’s new Iran sanctions are largely redundant, but they could tie a future president’s hand on reentering the nuclear deal and cut off humanitarian trade. United States
Videos alleging corruption open public debate on Egyptian military’s economic empire An Egyptian construction contractor's viral videos call for an uprising in Egypt, alleging corruption among the military and authorities. Egypt
Kurdish academic who met with jailed PKK leader speaks out Abdullah Ocalan remains uncontested leader of PKK, opposes US mediation and Kurds separating from Turkey, says Kurdish academic Turkey
Israel’s Liberman tries instigating a secular revolution The very fact that matters of religion and state became the main issues in the Sept. 17 election could help to resolve them. Israel
Iraq steps up search for advanced air defense system Regional conflicts and international tensions, along with money, are roadblocks to Iraq's pressing interest in upgrading its missile defense system. Iraq
Ethiopia again rejects Egypt’s vision for Renaissance Dam After more than a year of stalled negotiations between Egypt and Ethiopia on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Egypt’s diplomatic moves at the regional and international levels seem to have led nowhere. Egypt
Israel to start exporting natural gas to Egypt as last obstacle is removed An agreement was recently signed allowing the Egyptian Eastern Mediterranean Gas company to use the Eurasia-Israel pipeline, which would allow the resumption of natural gas exports to Egypt. Egypt
The initiative that increased Israeli-Arab voting rate The participatory democracy project for polling booths on local issues, managed to wake up the Arab street and get it to participate actively also in the national democratic process. Israel
Are Netanyahu and Gantz really so different? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz appear to hold similar views on certain issues, but are miles apart in tone and expression. Palestine
