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
Qatar Airways to introduce touchless entertainment technology Qatar's flagship airline will allow passengers to access in-flight entertainment without touching the screen in March as a way to limit the spread of COVID-19. Originals
Kuwait begins mandatory quarantine for all people entering the country The Gulf state is experiencing relatively high daily cases of COVID-19 as it continues its vaccination campaign. Originals
Libyan interior minister says he survived assassination attempt The security force involved in Fathi Bashagha's motorcade collision dispute the claim, saying the interior minister's men fired on them. Libya
Oil spill reaches shores of Israel, Lebanon An oil spill earlier this month is threatening the eastern Mediterranean, but many details on the incident are unknown. Israel
Rockets fall in Baghdad’s Green Zone, no injuries Iraq's security media cell said the rockets were launched from al-Salaam neighborhood. Iraq
Khamenei says Iran may enrich uranium to 60% Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments follow Iran's announcement last month that it was enriching uranium to 20%. Iran
Lira slides as Erdogan defends former minister’s economic policies In response to criticism from the opposition, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended the record of his son-in-law and former finance minister, sparking a 1% slide in the Turkish lira Monday after weeks of steady gains. Turkey
Erik Prince violated Libya arms embargo, UN report alleges The Blackwater founder and associates sought to buy helicopter gunships from Jordan to aid Libyan warlord Khalifa Hifter's assault on Tripoli, investigators believe. Jordan
How Islamic State returned to haunt civilians in northeast Syria Remnants and cells of the Islamic State have recently increased their attacks against the Syrian Democratic Forces and civilians in the areas under the SDF control in northeast Syria. Originals
Israeli ambassador demands Saturday Night Live apologize over vaccine joke Israel's ambassador to the United States and United Nations is upset with the comedy show for joking that Israel is only vaccinating Jews. Israel
Iran’s hard-liners decry new deal with IAEA The IAEA and Iran have agreed to lower the temperature on the nuclear crisis, but only for three months, sparking backlash from hard-liners in parliament. Originals
Sullivan says US communicating with Iran on detained Americans According to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the administration has "begun to communicate" with Iran over the handful of Americans held in the country. United States
