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 'focused on future conduct’ amid calls to sanction MBS State Department spokesperson Ned Price responded to criticism that the administration has failed to hold Saudi Arabia's crown prince accountable for Jamal Khashoggi's murder. Saudi Arabia
Pentagon: ‘No changes’ so far to US-Saudi military relations after Khashoggi report US military officials have taken point on maintaining ties with Middle Eastern leaders as the Biden administration talks tough on human rights. Originals
Israel's top court recognizes non-Orthodox converts for immigration The issue of conversion in Reform and Conservative communities has divided Israel for decades. Rabbinical authorities in Israel slammed the decision. Israel
Trump Jr. slams Biden for Syria bombing The former president's son also criticized Congresswoman Liz Cheney in a reference to the Iraq War. The recent US airstrike against Iran-backed militias in Syria has divided both parties. Originals
Elusive figure of Syrian war dies with secrets in Turkey Heysem Topalca, a fugitive whose name was implicated in some of the most controversial chapters of Ankara’s Syria policy due to his alleged role in the Turkish intelligence operations in Syria, has died, taking all his secrets to the grave. Turkey
Turkey silent as US Khashoggi report emerges Ankara's silence following the declassification of a US intelligence report implicating the Saudi crown prince in journalist Jamal Khashoggi's killing speaks to its own contradictions on the issue. Saudi Arabia
Will Iran’s Reformists ‘hire’ a candidate for presidency? In its struggle against all of the odds, Iran’s Reform movement says it is learning lessons from the past to avoid losing its last trench of power in the June presidential election. Iran
Rouhani says US has no choice but to lift sanctions Iran wants the United States to remove all sanctions before it accepts an invitation to talks. Iran
Prominent Islamic State leaders killed in Iraq Iraqi security forces announced the killings of Islamic State leaders who had long evaded capture. Iraq
Iran rejects EU invitation to talks with US on nuclear deal Tehran's rejection may be posturing, but the clock is ticking on chances to limit its nuclear capabilities. United States
Syria reports new Israeli airstrikes following explosion on Israeli ship in the Gulf Israel's public broadcaster Kan reported that the missile strikes near Damascus were in response to the explosion aboard an Israeli ship in the Gulf of Oman last week. Syria
Turkey emerges with ‘Pyrrhic growth’ from pandemic-hit 2020 Turkey’s economy grew 1.8% last year despite the pandemic, but not without major risks and downsides, including a smaller GDP in terms of dollars. Turkey
