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 Erdogan's favorite general lost his job Popular Turkish commander Gen. Metin Temel was suddenly removed from his post along with another general when he expressed doubt over a planned operation in Syria. Turkey
Will Abbas go through with legislative elections without Hamas? Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to hold legislative elections within six months, the first since the last Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, to the dismay of Hamas. Palestine
Why Egypt chose this moment to release Hamas detainees Egypt recently released Hamas and Gazan detainees in a gesture of goodwill as ties between the two parties keep improving. Egypt
Merger of parliamentary committees further sidelines Iraqi women Feminists in Iraq are speaking out against the merger of the parliamentary committees on human rights with that on women, family and childhood, saying the latter was already overextended and insufficient to effect female advancement. Iraq
Egypt hopes US PR firm can brighten its dismal image To attract investments, Egypt is counting on a US public relations firm to improve its international reputation. Egypt
More than half of Egypt’s political parties join one alliance The newly established Alliance of Egyptian parties includes about 60 parties seeking to play a bigger political role in the next phase, namely in the upcoming elections. Egypt
How Israeli senior officials deal with an unpredictable Trump The decisions by President Donald Trump to pull out of the Iranian nuke agreement, and recently to exit Syria, worry Israeli senior officials. Israel
Unclear future for Livni's daring diplomatic agenda After the dismantling of the Zionist Camp, Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua Party is almost the only party for which the diplomatic process remains at the top of its platform, and which doesn’t lean to the right or speak in vague terms. Israel
Intel: How Republicans are starting new Congress with rebuke of Trump’s Syria withdrawal The Republican-held Senate reconvened yesterday. Its first order of business? Rebuking President Donald Trump over his Syria policy. Syria
Ankara nurses hatred for McGurk Even now, after Brett McGurk resigned from his post as US envoy to the coalition against the Islamic State, Turkish officials are still seething with complaints about the man. Iraq
Hebron's only Orthodox church quiet on Christmas Hebron's once vibrant Russian Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Trinity and Holy Forefathers Church will host few visitors this Orthodox Christmas Eve on Jan. 6. Palestine
