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
Deteriorating US-Turkey ties weaken Ankara's hand in other problems Intensive diplomatic traffic between Athens and Washington that emphasizes military cooperation raises the question of whether the United States is seeking an alternative strategic ally to Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey
Turkey claims progress on Syria safe zone Despite claims from Ankara that Turkey and the United States are making headway on a safe zone in northern Syria, sources familiar with the talks say no tangible progress had been achieved and that Ankara's positive spin is likely inspired by empty US promises. Syria
Losses of Turkey’s construction sector foisted on taxpayers Turkey has created a special fund to salvage debt-ridden construction companies, many of them government cronies, while relieving banks from bad loans, but the rescue operation is bound to put further burden on public finances and thus taxpayers. Turkey
How Iran's hard-liners aim to sideline traditionalist clerics Iranian hard-liners are establishing parallel entities to train clerics in order to marginalize traditionalist clerics at the Qom seminary. Iran
Abbas needs to dismantle the PA Instead of playing into Benjamin Netanyahu's policy of treating the Oslo Accords like a final agreement, the Palestinian leadership should dismantle the Palestinian Authority and hand the keys back to Israel. Palestine
Iraq takes action to reduce suicide rate in the country Iraq's Interior Ministry wants to build fences around bridges to prevent suicide attempts. Iraq
Yemen's cholera survivors get oral vaccines in Sanaa The World Health Organization and Yemeni health officials are offering an oral cholera vaccine in Yemen, but some Yemenis are suspicious of the vaccine. Yemen
Palestinian rift endangers opposition to US peace plan Backers of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas say the ongoing Palestinian division will only weaken efforts to defy the US peace plan, which is expected to be announced soon. Palestine
How long can PA keep borrowing money from Palestinian banks? The Palestinian government announced its decision to pay 60% of the salaries of public employees, which could be achieved under a plan to borrow money from local banks to confront the financial crisis caused by Israel's deduction from clearing funds for the PA. Palestine
Israel fears Islamic Jihad will ruin Eurovision Israel fears that escalation in the Gaza Strip and rockets by Islamic Jihad will chase away the thousands of tourists expected to come to Tel Aviv for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. Palestine
Hamas to form body to foil 'deal of the century' Hamas has recently announced its intention to form a supreme body with the aim of thwarting the US deal of the century in what some officials say trespasses the prerogatives of the PLO. Palestine
Democrats move to defund Yemen war after veto defeat After failing to override a presidential veto on ending US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Congress is looking for new ways to tie the Trump administration’s hands. Saudi Arabia
