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
Iran reaches 20% uranium enrichment The increase in enrichment levels complicates the Biden administration's efforts to get Iran to return to compliance before reentering the Iran nuclear deal. United States
What Navalny case says about Russia’s approach in Syria The case of Russia opposition figure Alexey Navalny — and the Kremlin's reaction to his investigations — tells a lot about Moscow's approach to the conflict in Syria. Syria
Canada votes to offer citizenship to jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, whose wife and children live in Canada, is serving a 10-year jail sentence in Saudi Arabia for "insulting Islam." Saudi Arabia
Pope Francis, Shiite leader al-Sistani to meet in historic Iraq trip Francis and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani are scheduled to meet in the Iraqi city of Najaf during the first papal visit to the country. Iraq
Iran’s FM tweets 'reality check' to US on nuclear deal Iran's foreign minister responded over Twitter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's comments regarding US reentry to the deal. United States
Deciphering Erdogan's seeming pro-West shift in foreign policy Ankara’s abrupt desire to mend fences with the West appears driven by domestic calculations, but even if its intentions are genuine, it lacks the institutional capacity to pull off such a U-turn. Turkey
Ultra-Orthodox lockdown disobedience could cost Netanyahu Angry over the ultra-Orthodox and their riots against the nationwide lockdown, Israeli voters are turning against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel
Palestinians welcome end of US pressure but doubt Biden will press Israel Palestinian officials welcomed recent moves by the Joe Biden administration in which he reversed some of the previous administration’s policies that were seen as strongly biased toward Israel. Palestine
Egypt calls on Russia to build desalination plants as Nile dam talks stall Egypt has recently agreed with the Russian Rusnano Group to develop its local components and build more desalination plants to face the water scarcity that could result from the Ethiopian dam being built on the Blue Nile. Egypt
Syrian elite army unit on offense against opposition in Daraa region The Syrian regime forces’ 4th Division is trying to storm the city of Tafas in the western countryside of Daraa, in search of wanted persons whom the regime forces call jihadists. Originals
Angry Lebanese protest ongoing lockdown amid looming poverty Many Lebanese are growing more concerned about how to make ends meet as the country edges more toward economic collapse, made worse by the coronavirus pandemic and a complete lockdown. Lebanon
Hamas leaders in West Bank warn of Israeli intimidation ahead of elections Israeli intelligence warned a prominent Hamas leader in the West Bank against running in the Palestinian elections. Palestine
