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: US Has Time, Rouhani Doesn’t If the Iranian president makes the United States a decent offer in the Geneva negotiations, it should take it — and build on it to deal with regional issues and Iran’s support for terrorist groups. Iran
Will Bishops Be Included in Deal To Release Lebanese Detainees? New information suggests that a deal is near to secure the release of nine Lebanese citizens detained in Syria in March, but questions remain about two kidnapped bishops' fate. Lebanon
Egyptian-Israeli Peace Dilemma For United States Egypt's peace agreement with Israel has stood in the way of a lasting solution for Palestinians. Palestine
Meshaal to Tehran: Return of the Prodigal Son? News outlets report that Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas' political bureau, will soon visit Iran to rebuild ties strained over Syria. Palestine
Kidnapping of Prime Minister A Sign Libya Needs Help The kidnapping of Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan should give urgency to US, EU support for a regional plan to rebuild Libya’s security forces. Originals
UN Body Led by Ahmet Uzumcu Wins Nobel Peace Prize Turkish President Abdullah Gul expressed deep pride for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, led by a Turk, Ahmet Uzumcu. Syria
Israel's Rabbis Keep Lock On Jewish Marriage Growing numbers of Israelis demand the institutionalization of civil marriage in Israel, but even with a secular coalition in power this change is not in the offing. Israel
Sistani Issues Fatwa Against Sectarian Violence in Iraq Amid rising sectarian rhetoric and violence in Iraq, Iraqi Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has issued a fatwa condemning anti-Sunni violence. Iraq
Lapid Draws Own Red Line on Iran Israel’s finance minister has said Iran should have no centrifuges and no plutonium at all. Palestine
'Décolletage' Reveals Secular-Islamist Divide in Turkey The cleavage debate in Turkey has overwhelmed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s democratization reform package. Turkey
Lebanon Stability Depends On Iran-Saudi Entente The warming trends in US-Russia and US-Iran ties may or may not benefit Lebanon, unless Iran and Saudi Arabia end their sectarian regional policies. Saudi Arabia
Talabani's Party Stung by Loss In Iraqi Kurdistan Elections The upcoming meeting of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in January 2014 may be an opportunity to elect new leadership. Iraq
