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
Why Egypt's anti-terror efforts have failed to curb attacks Following the suicide attack on Botroseya Church at St. Mark’s Coptic Cathedral complex in Cairo on Dec. 11, some argue the state's policies for confronting terrorism need to be completely reworked. Egypt
Audio book project brings joy of reading to Egypt's visually impaired The volunteer-run project Al-Kutub produces audio books for visually impaired readers, an extremely underserved demographic in Egypt. Egypt
Who killed a Hamas engineer in Tunisia? Israel is keeping silent over the killing of Hamas' drone designer, Mohammed Alzoari, whose sophisticated assassins left no clues to their identities. Palestine
Federal budget widens political conflict among Kurdish forces The federal budget widens the gap between the Kurdish political parties, as some of them supported it strongly and others rejected it, calling for amendments. Iraq
Hezbollah, Israel both mum on recent escalation Despite an escalation in Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in Syria, an all-out confrontation between them seems unlikely for the near future. Israel
Why Aleppo will serve to embolden Iran While having paid a steep price for standing by its regional allies, Iran increasingly appears to be achieving its objectives in Syria. Syria
Gazan girl turns walls into canvas for giant paintings Teenager Ansam Raed Saleh al-Wadiya has filled the walls of her house in the Shajaiya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, which was badly destroyed in the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza, with paintings that reflect the Palestinian struggle. Palestine
Thousands remain trapped in eastern Aleppo Thousands of traumatized civilians in eastern Aleppo are waiting in the freezing cold and continuing peril as the excruciatingly slow evacuation process drags on. Syria
How Amona settlement set Israeli precedent The Israeli government's response in the Amona settlement dispute shows that the settlers have won, setting a clear path for future settlement battles. Palestine
On banking in Israel, Jews and Muslims can agree A new government plan opens saving accounts for every Israeli child that comport with Jewish and Muslim laws against usury. Israel
Turkey blames usual suspects for murder of Russian ambassador Few people in Turkey are entertaining the possibility that the killing of Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov by an off-duty police officer was a "lone wolf" attack. Turkey
Can Rouhani’s Citizens’ Rights Charter be enforced? After three years, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has unveiled one of his most important campaign promises — but his Citizens' Rights Charter has not escaped criticism. Iran
