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
Palestinians, Libya, Qatar go on lobbying binge Some of last year’s biggest losers on Capitol Hill are spending big to avoid a repeat in 2015. Palestine
Egypt’s revolutions have not stopped corruption Corruption in Egypt is still increasing, despite the January 25 Revolution's call for a better society, mainly due to a lack of oversight by concerned parties and government organizations. Egypt
Bennett's list too conservative to land premier seat HaBayit HaYehudi head Naftali Bennett had hoped for a center-right list that could pave his way to the prime minister's office, but is now working with a distinctly right-wing party. Israel
Bennett, Herzog battle over dueling visions of Zionism The party primaries at the center-left Labor and the right-wing HaBayit HaYehudi reflect a battle between two visions of Zionism — the traditional, secular, open to the world Labor Zionism against a religious, messianic, settlement vision. Israel
Turkey aims to mend ties with Armenia Armenia’s entry in the Euroasian Economic Union has encouraged Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to implement his formal apology and open the border with Armenia before April 24, 2015, the 100th anniversary of the genocide. Turkey
War-ravaged Gaza families marrying in-laws for support It is common practice in Gaza for a widow or widower to marry an in-law to keep the family together, and often they are being promised financial assistance to do so. Palestine
Tensions increase between Egypt, Morocco Cordial relations between Egypt and Morocco have been hampered by a media brawl between both countries’ official TV channels, as Egypt moves closer to Algeria. Egypt
Iranian killed in Iraq subject of 2009 controversy An Iranian killed in Iraq was incorrectly labelled a Lebanese Hezbollah commander by activists during the 2009 election protests, and some news reports of his death still contain the error. Iraq
Iraqi hospitals under IS suffer lack of medicine, staff The state of hospitals in Iraqi areas under IS control face shortage of medicine and staff, and are sometimes forced to treat the wounded from among the organization’s ranks. Iraq
Turkish military says MIT shipped weapons to al-Qaeda New documents have been leaked online, prompting the government to immediately ban reporting on the scandal and order the content deleted. Syria
Former House Intel chair: Turkey can't have it both ways in NATO Mike Rogers, former chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, also sees economic pressure on Russia as presenting a “unique opportunity” for Moscow’s help in Syria. Iraq
Some Shiites link Saudi king's health to end-times Some Shiite scholars believe that the Saudi king's death will signal the resurrection of the Mahdi and the beginning of the end-times. Saudi Arabia
