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 advances plans for 800 new settlement homes in West Bank The news comes ahead of Israel's March 23 election as well as the inauguration of US President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20. Israel
Lebanon declares 24-hour curfew, state of emergency The round-the-clock curfew will take effect at 5 am on Thursday and last until Jan. 25. Lebanon
First doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to hit Iraq by February Iraq has pushed hard to be among the world’s first countries to receive and distribute the vaccine after committing $170 million to COVAX, a global body to promote the vaccine. Iraq
Cairo talks on Mideast peace show key players preparing for post-Trump era The latest meeting appears to be a signal to the new US administration that the Middle East Quartet and the Palestinians are serious about talks based on a multilateral approach. Palestine
Bahrain opens airspace with Qatar Bahrain's decision followed Saudi Arabia and Qatar opening their borders with Qatar, indicating improving relations in the Gulf. Originals
New WhatsApp terms spark antitrust investigation, exodus from app in Turkey Turkey launched an antitrust investigation into Facebook and its popular messaging service WhatsApp Monday after the application’s new privacy terms raised concerns, prompting some users to seek alternatives. Turkey
Biden taps veteran diplomat William Burns for CIA director Burns, a former ambassador to Jordan and Russia, would bring with him decades of experience in the foreign service. United States
Ankara gives police access to military, intelligence assets to crush protests A presidential decree has paved the way for Turkish police to use military and intelligence resources to crack down on public protests. Turkey
Iran officials defend ban on US, UK COVID vaccines Iranian officials have said they will begin vaccinating their population in the spring and do not have confidence in Western vaccines. Iran
The battle against the bottles: Israel extends law on plastic containers The Knesset Economics Committee has now approved extending the Bottle Deposit Law, so it will also include family-size plastic bottles. Israel
Pompeo to label Yemen's Houthis a foreign terror group Relief organizations in Yemen warn the designation will hamstring their life-saving work in a country already considered to have the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Yemen
Nile dam talks hit yet another snarl The latest round of talks between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the controversial Nile River dam again collapsed amid Sudanese objections and calls for African Union experts to take on a greater role in resolving the dispute. Egypt
