Turkey violates Syria cease-fire agreement

SYRIA: On-the-ground sources report on Thursday that Turkey has breached a cease-fire agreement, as Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army units attacked Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces near Tel Tamer. Powerful explosions are reported in Qamishli and Raqqa.

IRAN: Thirty-six years ago this week, the U.S. peacekeeping headquarters in Lebanon was destroyed in an act of unconventional warfare commissioned by Iran and supported by Syria. Yet the United States “put the bulk of the onus on a shadowy collection of Lebanese criminals instead of where it belonged: on Iran and Syria.” Today, Iran “seems to be drawing the same conclusion from a U.S. policy of loud talk and no stick in a region where Tehran is recklessly active.”

Nine Iranian Christians were sentenced this week to five years in prison for “acting against national security.”

ISRAEL: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rival, Benny Gantz, will try to form a government after the embattled Netanyahu failed to, but Israelis likely are headed for a third election in a year.

HAITI: Roadblocks and protests over government corruption are creating critical shortages of food and fuel, with some mission workers reporting they are leaving Haiti due to ongoing unrest. The U.S. Embassy issued a travel alert for Americans in the country this week, and Chris Bessey, Catholic Relief Services’ representative for Haiti, said, “There is an overwhelming sense of panic that’s growing by the day.”

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Aspiring baseball players at the Washington Nationals’ Dominican Academy went crazy watching 20-year-old Dominican outfielder Juan Soto hit a two-run double for the Nats in Game 1 of the World Series against the Houston Astros.

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