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
Sadr urges technocrats as armed factions look beyond border Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr continues to oppose "political" appointments, as his Saraya al-Salam guards Sunni areas relatively near the capital and other Popular Mobilization Units eye possible official cross-border operations. Iraq
Syrian artists find new platform, inspiration in Beirut The Syrian conflict has seen many artists move to Beirut, using the capital to strengthen the artistic link between the two countries, a phenomenon explored by "Moussem Cities: Damascus starts in Beirut." Lebanon
Who controls Egypt’s sports scene? The rising monopoly of the Egyptian state-owned advertising and sports marketing agency Presentation Sports over soccer broadcasting rights is raising controversy. Egypt
Sex scandal shakes Israelis' trust of judicial system The sex scandal involving head of the Israeli Bar Association Effi Naveh is shaking all of Israeli society, generating mistrust against judges and their integrity. Israel
Why Israel’s culture minister defended Haifa’s Christians Christians in Haifa demanded that the McJesus sculpture be removed from the Haifa Museum of Art, but they certainly did not ask for provocative Culture Minister Miri Regev to intervene. Israel
Trump administration finds its Iran policy not working The Trump administration conducted an internal assessment of its Iran “maximum pressure” policy this month and determined that it so far has been ineffective, according to a new report. United States
Pro-Palestinian lawmaker shakes up Israel status quo with seat on foreign affairs panel A lawmaker supportive of boycotting Israel has joined the House Foreign Affairs Committee, complicating congressional efforts to pass anti-boycott legislation. Palestine
Intel: How Trump used his missile defense rollout to take shots at Iran President Trump chastised Iran for attempting to launch a satellite earlier this week and pledged the United States would take a harder line on Iran. Legacy: Gulf
Turkey expels Dutch journalist, accuses her of terror links Reporter Ans Boerma, who covered the Turkish economy, was suddenly deported after Ankara said it was alerted by Dutch intelligence she was suspected of links with a Syrian militant group in a case that highlights the hazards of reporting far from home. Turkey
Can Iranian sovereign crypto-rial loosen sanctions straitjacket? The United States is gearing up to sanction Iran’s sovereign cryptocurrency in anticipation of its introduction. Russia
IRGC head vows to protect military advisers in Syria The head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has responded to comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about successful Israeli strikes in Syria. Israel
