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
Israel recognizes Assad's staying power Israel shifts its strategic posture, recognizing that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is staying on and that a jihadist alternative would be even worse. Palestine
Syria-bound trucks put spotlight on Turkey Turkish opposition politicians and many in the public are questioning why trucks associated with Turkish intelligence may have been carrying arms to radical groups in Syria. Syria
Yemeni women marginalized even in death Yemeni officials have prevented the body of a woman killed during the Dec. 5 attack against a Defense Ministry hospital in Sanaa from being buried in the official martyrs’ cemetery. Yemen
Egypt confronts pro-Brotherhood fatwas in media To confront the proliferation of fatwas in the media, Dar al-Ifta has established an observational body for monitoring and responding to them. Egypt
Gaza expresses solidarity with Syria’s Yarmouk camp Palestinians in Gaza have organized rallies and donation campaigns for the Palestinians in Syria's Yarmouk refugee camp, which has suffered a months-long siege. Palestine
Iraqi women mostly absent from political scene Despite some gains made in recent decades, Iraqi women remain largely absent from the country’s political scene. Iraq
Could Nobel laureate Shechtman be Israel's next president? The Knesset is preparing to elect the 10th president of the State of Israel in May 2014, and unlike previous times, candidates include a growing list of names from outside the political sphere. Israel
Israel must limit targeted killings to avoid further violence The elimination by airstrike of Islamic Jihad operative Ahmad Saad on Jan. 19 raises again the discussion on the long-term effectiveness of Israel's targeted killings policy. Palestine
Source: Hamas resorts to tobacco taxes to pay state employees In light of a religious debate concerning the permissibility of cigarettes in Islam, the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip had restricted the use of money from tobacco taxes to infrastructure projects, but a source says it's now using those funds to pay salaries. Palestine
Bibi knows where Ya'alon stands on peace talks In view of Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's recent statements, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that his top minister might jeopardize the possibility of talks with the Palestinians as he did before. Palestine
Turkish intelligence service trucks reveal secrets Did trucks linked to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization facilitate the smuggling of weapons to rebel forces in Syria? Syria
Will Geneva II go the way of Vietnam peace talks? The Geneva negotiations have yet to resolve many differences in form or substance between the government and opposition delegations. Syria
![An Iraqi Marsh Arab stands as British soldiers patrol in Iraq's southern marshlands near Basra December 16, 2005, a day after [elections for the country's first full-term parliament since Saddam Hussein's overthrow. Millions of ballot papers were being counted and recounted on Friday as Iraqis celebrated a peaceful election that saw rebellious Sunni Arabs join in for the first time, pushing turnout close to 70 percent.] - RTXO2IL](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/01/RTXO2IL.jpg/RTXO2IL.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=W-tLyf-S)
