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
Netanyahu dangles Trump card in rotation talks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still pushing for a rotation agreement and insisting that his relationship with US President Donald Trump offers Israel important security opportunities. Israel
Erdogan to hold up NATO plan unless allies recognize terror threats against Turkey Seeking a terror designation for Kurdish forces in Syria, the Turkish president has reaffirmed his threat to block a NATO defense plan for the Baltic nations and Poland as the London summit commences. Syria
Iran VP admits US pressure hitting economy hard A top Iranian official has admitted that US pressure is dramatically slowing down his country's economy at a time when even "allies" refuse to purchase Iranian crude. United States
Intel: How Russia is changing course in Syria Putin’s Special Envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentyev and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin traveled to Damascus Dec. 2 to meet with President Bashar al-Assad. Syria
Lavish religious ceremonies in Turkey draw angry criticism Conservatives' extravagant religious rituals have drawn harsh criticism from every quarter. Turkey
Israeli singers form bridge to Arab countries Israeli Middle Eastern music is popular in various parts of the Arab world, where it forms a bridge through a common musical heritage. Kuwait
Sisi favors security appointees for Egypt's governorships Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's decision to appoint security personnel as new governors is quietly controversial. Egypt
Syrian front lines heat up, especially in Idlib province Syrian government forces have intensified their attacks in Idlib, the country’s last opposition stronghold. Syria
Turkey sees greater partnership with Qatar than is apparent Turkey's commercial gains from its partnership with Qatar have been modest and the media fanfare over fresh bilateral accords is hard to comprehend. Saudi Arabia
Gantz’ silence on incitement could cost him premiership As long as the center-left does not start integrating Arabs on their party lists for the Knesset, the political balance will not change and Israel would still be trapped by political deadlock. Israel
Iraqi protesters' deaths could lead to international court Fed up with Iraqi authorities' lack of response so far, some activists are considering an international case against former Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and others for their alleged roles in killing Iraqi demonstrators. Iraq
Iranian consulates torched in Najaf and Karbala Protesters attacked the Iranian consulates in the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala over the past month, yet officials deny that protesters are anti-Iran. Iraq
