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
US shrugs off Zarif resignation reversal Before Iran’s foreign minister had returned to the job, the Donald Trump administration dismissed Mohammad Javad Zarif’s resignation as essentially irrelevant, as the prospect of getting to the negotiating table looks increasingly remote. United States
Iraqi envoy calls on US to reopen Basra consulate At an exclusive Al-Monitor event, Iraq’s ambassador to the United States urged the Donald Trump administration to reopen its consulate in Basra, which the State Department closed last year amid rocket attacks from Iran-backed militias. Iraq
Israeli elections pit Republicans against AIPAC Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s electoral alliance with the far-right Jewish Power party has created yet another partisan cleavage over Israel. Israel
Intel: How Turkey is turning to Russia amid row with the US over Syria The timing of the Turkish foreign minister’s unexpected phone call today with his Russian counterpart in the middle of US-Turkey talks on Syria is the latest sign that Washington and Ankara remain hopelessly at odds over how to move forward in the region. Syria
Erdogan blasts former friends as traitors while word of new rival spreads As Turkey's municipal elections approach, rumors are flying that former allies of the president will form a rival party. Turkey
Iran’s top banks launch blockchain platform to boost ailing banking system Banking giants in Iran have established a digital tokenization platform to liquidize bad assets. If it can overcome the many challenges on the way, it could generate vital cash — and public trust. Iran
Rouhani media launches rare attack on hard-line critic in parliament In a rare move, the news agency that operates under Hassan Rouhani has responded with an attack on a staunch critic in parliament for spreading “lies.” Iran
Human rights the elephant in the room at Arab-EU summit The first summit of European Union and Arab League leaders exposed existing rifts between the Middle East and Europe, in particular on the human rights front. Legacy: Gulf
IS militants continue to sneak into Turkey despite measures Turkish officials claim they are waging an exemplary struggle against the Islamic State (IS), but their struggle appears ridden with black holes as IS militants are able to sneak into Turkey aided by smugglers, and IS suspects often receive a more lenient treatment than other prisoners. Iraq
Saudi money casts shadow over Egypt from sport to stage Saudi Arabia's controversial sports minister, Turki al-Sheikh, has signed a series of deals with Egyptian entertainment companies to produce content for the kingdom, but many in the sector are far from happy about this development. Saudi Arabia
Peshmerga’s return to Kirkuk raises Arab and Turkmen fears The good relationship between Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Massoud Barzani, has led to an agreement between Baghdad and Erbil that will see the return of peshmerga forces to Kirkuk. Iraq
