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
Is Quartet making comeback? The public declaration by US envoy to the UN Samantha Powers of an upcoming Quartet meeting might suggest a shift by the United States to reinvigorate the dormant international group. Palestine
Erdogan's solo act President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s chairing of Cabinet meetings, coupled with signs of disagreements between him and the prime minister, are stoking concerns. Turkey
The kiss that sent Saudi’s Iran ambassador home Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs has discussed in two recent interviews the major points of contention remaining between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia
Hope for Libya after first round of talks After months of painful lobbying, the UN’s special envoy to Libya, Bernardino Leon, managed to get opposing sides to the negotiating table, with Libya’s main warring factions declaring a cease-fire to give the talks a chance. Libya
Palestinians push to end Greek 'occupation' of patriarchate Arab Orthodox youths in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem are accusing ruling Greek monks of selling church land to Israel and discriminating against the Arab Christian flock. Palestine
Charlie Hebdo finds support in Gaza The victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack found sympathy in Gaza, until Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participated in the Paris unity march and the magazine published a cover with a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad. Palestine
Turkey missed its key economic targets in 2014 Turkey failed to attain most of its key economic targets last year, but was likely to receive a boost from falling oil prices in 2015. Turkey
New visa regulations confuse Syrians Syrians in Lebanon who have legal residency permits are worried that new regulations will not protect them from being deported. Lebanon
Will Davutoglu say anything new at Davos? All ears will be on Ahmet Davutoglu at the World Economic Forum, as he will be the first Turkish prime minister to address it in six years. Turkey
Moscow prepares for meeting of Syrian leaders Russia is set to proctor a meeting of Syrian opposition figures, who will then meet with representatives of the Syrian regime in an inclusive and open dialogue with no preconditions, as a step toward resuming the Geneva deliberations. Syria
Iranian civil society speaking up for Afghans' rights Iranians are pressuring the government to help Afghan nationals with the problems they face, including discrimination and lack of access to schools. Iran
Will Russia's economic decline affect its Middle East influence? Russia’s economic influence in the Middle East is bound to suffer as its economy continues to decline; but whatever happens, Moscow will retain one of its most important sources of influence — its veto power in the UN Security Council. Russia
