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
Does ‘Syrian trio’ of Russia, Iran and Turkey have a future? There are signs that the Astana talks on the Syrian war — which began in 2017 and are sponsored by Moscow, Ankara and Tehran — have little prospect of making progress going forward. Syria
Sisi pledges Egypt's support for interim government in Libya Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with newly elected Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh in Cairo on Thursday. Libya
Killings on the rise in Syria's al-Hol camp There were far more deaths than usual in the camp for Islamic State families in January amid calls from the United Nations and Kurdish forces for countries to take back their citizens. Syria
NATO to expand its training mission in Iraq to 4,000 troops The Pentagon welcomed NATO's increased contribution to training Iraq's security forces. Iraq
Erdogan’s talk of new democratic constitution aims to cement his rule Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggests the possibility of a newly rewritten Turkish Consitution, sparking debate over his real intentions. Turkey
UN calls for Yemen aid, warns Houthis’ Marib offensive ‘must stop’ With millions of Yemenis "just one step away from famine," the UN called on countries to pledge generously at next month's donor conference. Yemen
Israel and Syria close to completing prisoner exchange The deal was held up on Wednesday when two Golan Heights residents refused to be sent to Syria. Israel released two shepherds on Thursday in a bid to finalize the transfer. Israel
Four weeks into presidency, Biden places first call to Netanyahu US President Joe Biden called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday for what surely felt like a long overdue conversation. Israel
Rouhani calls on US to compensate for Trump's 'economic war' President Hassan Rouhani called on the current US administration to undo the harm caused by the previous one, which he said was run by a "crazy person." United States
US, EU diplomats meet to salvage Iranian nuclear pact Secretary of State Antony Blinken met virtually with his European counterparts as the United States seeks to revive diplomacy with Iran. United States
Egypt's stateless keep receiving empty promises of citizenship Egypt has recently granted citizenship to three brothers from the Sinai Peninsula, renewing calls by other stateless individuals, mainly tribesmen, to receive the citizenship as they are deprived of their most basic rights. Egypt
Egypt exhibiting its 2015 airstrikes in Libya with new film Egypt produced a film about the airstrikes in Libya's Derna in 2015, to focus on its own war on terrorism at home and abroad. Egypt
