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
Voters mysteriously added, subtracted for Istanbul election rerun While Ankara lawyers express their disappointment that the government rescinded the results of the Istanbul mayoral election, voters are mysteriously added to and subtracted from the electoral roll for the June 23 do-over, even though the roll is supposed to remain the same as for the March 31 election. Turkey
Why global and regional powers aren't standing up against Hifter's Libya offensive If major international players could find a common interest in a stable Libya, they might see a simple way out of the seemingly endless wars of post-Gadhafi succession, yet they continue to back opposing factions in Libya. Saudi Arabia
Intel: Why Turkey, Russia are not about to fall out over Idlib Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is accusing the Syrian government of seeking to “sabotage” Turkey’s relations with Russia with its assault on rebel-held Idlib. Syria
Why Iranians doubt the seriousness of Trump's latest offer of talks US President Donald Trump's latest offer of talks with Iran has grabbed more attention than his previous overtures, but Iranian political elites agree that the offer is not sincere. United States
Students rally against hijab crackdown at Iran's largest university Iranian students at Tehran University held protests after what they claim was a new clampdown on dress codes. Iran
Iraq to handle foreign IS fighters' trials Iraq so far is holding roughly a dozen French nationals who fought for the Islamic State. France's response: Keep them. Iraq
Young Egyptian prisoners distance selves from Muslim Brotherhood A group of young members of the Muslim Brotherhood have appealed for dialogue in hopes of a pardon, but many Egyptians are wary of such efforts. Egypt
How will Israel protect its vehicles on Gaza border? Three days after Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades fired a guided missile at an Israeli vehicle, the Israeli army embarked on setting up a new concrete barrier to protect its vehicles in the border areas. Palestine
Egypt tightens control on broadcasts, foreign channels Through a series of legal restrictions, security campaigns and acquisitions, Egypt is increasing government power over foreign media broadcasting outlets. Egypt
PA rejects tax funds deducted by Israel The Palestinian Authority refused Israel’s transfer of deducted tax revenue funds in a bid to recover parts it had earmarked for Palestinian prisoners and families of victims in confrontation with Israel. Palestine
Congressional appropriators move to tie up F-35 deliveries to Turkey The new House foreign aid bill would prohibit spending federal dollars to transfer the jets unless Ankara abandons its plans to buy missile defenses from Moscow. Turkey
Frustrated European allies warn Pompeo against US-Iran escalation European foreign ministers did little to hide their distress that Secretary of State Pompeo abruptly decided to consult them on rising Iran tensions, which they had warned would be a consequence of quitting the nuclear deal. United States
