World roundup: August 5 2022

Stories from Israel-Palestine, Chad, Ukraine, and more

INTERNATIONAL

In today’s global news:

• Worldometer is tracking COVID-19 cases and fatalities.

• The New York Times is tracking global vaccine distribution.

MIDDLE EAST

SYRIA

A Turkish drone strike on the northern Syrian town of Tell Rifaat wounded at least seven people on Thursday, five of them children. Tell Rifaat is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, which the Turkish government regards as not much more than a cutout for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), though that fact in itself doesn’t justify attacking a crowd of civilians. On a related note, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met in Sochi with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. While I’m sure they discussed Ukraine in some fashion, I expect the main item on Erdoğan’s agenda was getting Putin’s approval for a new Turkish invasion of northern Syria. They issued a joint statement after the meeting pledging to work together to counter “terror organizations,” as Reuters put it, which is vague enough to mean anything or nothing at all. I don’t think it was the full green light Erdoğan wanted.