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
Syria’s Kurds feel brunt of Turkish-US crisis Turkey is sending military reinforcements to its border with Syria after two missiles were recently launched from Syria toward a border city, portending an imminent Turkish offensive in the area. Syria
Why northern Sinai graduates receive land, housing The governor of northern Sinai has allocated 2,500 acres of land to university graduates, which would provide them with employment opportunities at a time when the province is witnessing a boom in various development projects. Egypt
Why attempts to reform budget structure might hit a dead end in Iran While Iran's Planning and Budget Organization has ambitious plans for resolving the country's budgetary problems, upcoming elections, a lack of relevant data and other issues are blocking the path to these goals. Iran
Religious moderates left orphaned by Israeli politics Israel's progressive Zionist voters who are both religious and tolerant have no real political home these days. Israel
Intel: Democrats double down on probe into Trump’s Saudi nuclear dealings House Democrats on Tuesday shed more light on a years-long lobbying campaign in which Saudi Arabia and the US nuclear industry worked with some of President Donald Trump’s key allies to secure a favorable civil nuclear agreement. Saudi Arabia
Israel, US, Iran prepare for out-of-the-atmosphere battle Israel and the United States are together developing super-technologies that enable missiles to hit other missiles out of the atmosphere. Israel
Iran, UK both rule out oil tanker swap deal Tehran says it will not release a British-flagged oil tanker it captured earlier this month in a possible barter with the UK, which is holding an Iranian vessel off the coast of Gibraltar. Iran
Free thought, boundless hospitality define Algerian arts festival The homegrown, independent Raconte-Arts has become Algeria’s most important community arts festival, but can it cope with the challenges posed by its own success? Algeria
Is PA halting all agreements with Israel another toothless decision? The Palestinian Authority will stop abiding by the 1995 Oslo II agreement with regard to the classification of areas in the West Bank at the administrative and security levels. But what does this mean for Palestinians? Palestine
Intel: How Russia is deepening military ties with Iran to counter the US Russia and Iran have agreed to tighten their military ties in a joint challenge to perceived US hegemony in the Middle East. Russia
Officials deny Syrian deportation reports as anti-refugee sentiments grow in Turkey As a rising number of Syrians claim they were illegitimately deported to war-torn Idlib province, Turkish officials say refugee policies remain unchanged. Syria
Iraq achieves self-sufficiency in strategic crops Despite the floods and fires, Iraq has achieved self sufficiency in producing crops this year. Iraq
