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
Iran calls for compensation for Gibraltar tanker seizure Iranian officials have welcomed the release of the Iranian tanker seized by the UK. United States
Pentagon sees warning for China in Turkey's F-35 ouster The Pentagon says the US decision to boot Turkey from the F-35 program for buying a Russian missile system could have implications for nations that invest in Chinese technologies. Turkey
Turkish activists stand up against refugee deportations Human rights defenders in Turkey have raised their voices against the forced deportations of thousands of Syrians back to their war-torn country, urging Ankara to grant asylum rights to people fleeing oppression. Syria
Ennahda’s change of heart on presidential elections The Ennahda movement surprised many by putting forward a candidate, Abdel Fattah Mourou, for the presidential elections slated for September. Tunisia
What’s behind the Egypt, Cyprus rapprochement? Egypt, Greece and Cyprus have been taking steps to get closer to one another, culminating their rapprochement with the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum that would obstruct the Turkish drilling for gas in the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone, according to observes. Egypt
How this Palestinian committee works to end agreements with Israel A Palestinian committee is currently reviewing ways to end all agreements signed with Israel and break economic ties, but Palestinians are wary of such efforts as President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly failed to put his promises into action. Palestine
Why Palestinians invest in zaatar and honey The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture's incentives have boosted production of zaatar and honey, two traditional Palestinian products. Palestine
How Russia maneuvers between Saudi Arabia, UAE in Yemen Moscow exercises hedging strategy in Yemen to preserve good times with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia
Camera issue fails to capture suppression of Arab Israeli vote The cameras in Arab-majority voting stations are a ploy to excite the Likud's base while high voter rates in the settlements — where votes shouldn't even legally be cast — pose a much bigger electoral issue. Palestine
Putin’s Gulf security plan depends on Trump The Russian president plans to roll out his regional initiative to calm Gulf tensions next month — but are the United States and the EU ready to let Putin step up in the Gulf? Saudi Arabia
Is Iran’s national broadcaster being pushed to brink of irrelevance? Iran's national broadcasting monopoly IRIB continues to play a partisan role in the country. Iran
