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
How Syrians in Kurdish areas get rid of extremism Following the arrest of an Islamic State cell in Hasakah in northeastern Syria, citizens were concerned about the ongoing presence of extremism in their areas despite the group’s defeat. Syria
Syrian city bans face coverings to fight crime, terror The local council in Azaz has prohibited civilians and armed forces from wearing masks and other face coverings in an attempt to make it harder to evade identification when committing a crime. Syria
Can Iran combat corruption in petroleum sector? Iran is showing a greater transparency about corruption, perhaps in part because of the problems caused by sanctions, but has a long way to defeat this scourge. Iran
Pentagon repeats warning to Israel on Chinese port deal The Donald Trump administration is repeating warnings to Israel to cancel a potentially lucrative port deal with China. Israel
What Israel-Hamas deal looks like In the framework of the Egypt-mediated deal between Israel and Hamas, the latter has promised to keep the demonstrations away from the border fence and under control. Palestine
Turkey bans independent news sites in latest move to silence opposition Following a new law restricting the online news media, a court order blocking 136 websites and social media accounts has highlighted the shrinking space for oppositional voices in Turkey. Turkey
Attack outside Cairo hospital raises questions about Egypt's anti-terror policies Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has vowed to "defeat brutal terrorism," but some are voicing concern that his anti-terror policies are the cause of an explosion in a central Cairo neighborhood. Egypt
Russia, Lebanon seek synergy in projects to rebuild Syria Moscow and Beirut each see potential benefits in working together to secure lucrative reconstruction contracts in Syria. Lebanon
Rouhani takes fire from hard-liners for defending nuclear deal President Hassan Rouhani's latest speech in defense of the Iran nuclear deal prompted a barrage of attacks from hard-liners, who have long demanded he apologize for the "humiliating" accord. Iran
Expect Turkish business world to embrace former economy czar's new party Turkey’s business leaders appear to be quietly welcoming a new political initiative to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rule as frustration grows over his inability to address economic woes. Turkey
Syrian regime pays heavy price for two strategic towns in Hama The Syrian opposition says the regime forces resorted to scorched-earth tactics to take back two towns in northern Hama in preparation for the Astana talks. Syria
More victims of Saddam's purge found, Kurds seek justice The recent discovery of additional mass graves of Iraqi Kurds is prompting renewed calls for collaborators with the former Iraqi regime to be prosecuted. Iraq
