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
Meet the man who brought Picasso to Palestine A young curator's determination to bring a work of Picasso to Ramallah marked the decade in Middle Eastern art. Palestine
Are Saudis readying Yemen's Tareq Saleh for Sanaa battle? The situation in Yemen’s south is volatile and the north is still in the Houthis’ firm grip, so people's curiosity has been raised about the motives behind Brig. Gen. Tareq Saleh's recent trip to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia
Popularity of Turkey's ancient temple worries archaeologists Gobekli Tepe, the oldest known place of worship in the world, has been a site of controversy as the Turkish government monetizes the mysterious archaeological treasure. Turkey
Why Lebanon's priests think marriage is better than celibacy In Lebanon, Maronites, Greek Catholics, Armenian Catholics and Syrian Catholics widely accept — and even prefer — married priests. Lebanon
Cairo's museum highlights dark history of nation's police force Egypt's National Police Museum in Cairo's Citadel examines the checkered history of an institution once revered for standing up for Egyptians, but in the years since independence has come to be feared and loathed for repression and torture. Egypt
Qaim residents fearful following conflict between US, Iran-backed militias Recent US attacks on positions along the Syrian border held by Iran-linked armed groups — some of whom are on the Iraqi government payroll — have led to insecurity among local residents, who had been seeing improvements in their lives. Iraq
Members of Tunisia's Ennahda resign, say movement no longer represents them Tunisia’s Ennahda party is witnessing unprecedented internal differences between its young members and its senior members, which some pundits describe as the beginning of the movement’s end. Tunisia
Libya is only small part of Turkey’s ambitious Africa overture Although Turkey’s moves in Libya capture a lot of headlines these days, Ankara has been busy on other fronts in Africa. Egypt
Syrian crisis dictates peace between Damascus and Ankara The Russian side is said to be developing two strategies to thwart Turkey’s possible objections to cultural autonomy for Syrian Kurds. Syria
Has Israel struck right tone with Putin? Vladimir Putin's visit to Israel stressed a number of important points upon the Russian leader, but whether it will affect his thinking on the Middle East remains to be seen. Israel
Pentagon: 34 US troops injured in Iranian strike Dozens of US troops have left Ain al-Asad air base for medical evaluation following Iran's missile strikes earlier this month, despite the US administration claiming earlier that no service members had been injured. Iraq
Trump administration adjusts policies to new realities in Syria and Iraq Syrian Kurdish leader Mazlum Kobane has suggested in an interview new confidence-building measures with Turkey. Meanwhile, Donald Trump and Barham Salih have managed expectations in their meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Iraq
