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
Khamenei to Abe: Iran will not negotiate 'under pressure' Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the United States violated the original 2015 nuclear deal and cannot be trusted for talks on another accord. United States
Intel: How Russia is trying to calm Turkey-Syria tensions Russia announced today that it had helped negotiate a cease-fire in rebel-controlled Idlib province this week as rising tensions between Turkey and Syria threaten to escalate into open conflict. Syria
Russia, Turkey broker shaky cease-fire in Syria’s Idlib Within hours of the announcement of a truce, Syrian forces are accused of firing on both rebel targets and a Turkish army outpost, but even a tentative respite is welcome as renewed clashes have displaced hundreds of thousands of people since April. Syria
Beirut lights candle for HIV awareness A memorial event in solidarity with people living with HIV/AIDS and to raise public awareness was held for the seventh year in Lebanon, where the rate of HIV infection continues to rise. Lebanon
Erdogan’s election machine is rusty and worn out The campaign that Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) are waging for the rerun of the Istanbul mayoral race is far from promising a victory, showing how the AKP — once a formidable election machine — has aged into an exhausted body with waning skills. Turkey
Plenty of fish in Gaza sea, but not for Palestinians Israel has imposed a full naval closure on the Gaza Strip after repeatedly expanding and reducing the fishing zone for the past two months, claiming the measure is in response to incendiary balloons launched from the besieged enclave. Palestine
Egyptian ministers’ statements on public budget raise controversy The ministers of education and health have criticized the Egyptian Ministry of Finance for failing to provide the required budget, which prompted the government to ban public statements by some ministers. Egypt
Is Abadi looking to return to prime minister's post? Former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi has resigned from the Islamic Dawa Party, raising questions about his possible return to the premiership. Iraq
Israel campaigns against Abbas ahead of Bahrain conference Even before the Bahrain conference started, Israel is busy explaining why Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is no partner for a peace process. Bahrain
AKP vote share has fallen more than election results show The ruling Justice and Development Party is not as popular as it would like observers and voters to believe going into the rerun of elections in Istanbul. Turkey
Congress opens several new fronts in bid to block Gulf arms sales The House joined Senate efforts to stop the Donald Trump administration from selling arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia
Congress directs Pentagon to press Saudi Arabia on Yemen refueling bill The Senate version of the annual defense bill calls on the Pentagon to hold the Saudi-led coalition accountable for paying back the United States for aerial refueling in the Yemen war. Originals
