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Media Summary

Syrian government and opposition meet to draft new constitution

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BBC News, the Guardian and Reuters report that one-hundred-and-fifty delegates representing the Syrian government, opposition and civil society are meeting in Geneva to draft a new constitution. The UN says the talks will be “Syrian-owned and Syrian-led”, and could pave the way for reforms, elections and peace negotiations.

BBC News, the Guardian, Times, ITV News, Daily Mail, Sky News and Reuters report that the US military has published the first footage of the raid in northern Syria that resulted in the death of the leader of the IS group. Grainy video showed troops firing at fighters as they flew towards the compound where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was hiding before they moved in on the ground.

Reuters reports that the UAE has stated that its troops have withdrawn from Aden, handing over control to Saudi Arabia which is leading an Arab military coalition engaged in Yemen.

Reuters reports that Turkey has information that the Kurdish YPG militia has not completed its withdrawal to 30km from the Turkish border in north-east Syria, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, despite Russian assurances.

In the FT, Constanze Stelzenmüller contends that a “European security force in Syria is a courageous idea”: “Western passivity is not just morally reprehensible, it harms our security interests”.

Reuters reports that the US Treasury has announced that the US and six Gulf members of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) have agreed to jointly impose sanctions on 25 corporations, banks and individuals linked to Iranian support for militant networks including Hezbollah.

Reuters reports that the US will allow Russian, Chinese and European companies to continue work at Iranian nuclear facilities to make it more difficult for Iran to develop nuclear technology. The Trump administration will issue waivers to sanctions that bar non-US firms from dealing with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).

The Independent reports that an Israeli soldier who killed a Palestinian minor on the Gaza border has been sentenced to a month of military community service and demoted to the rank of private. It marks the first time an Israeli soldier has been sentenced following the launch of criminal investigations by the IDF over its handling of protests.

BBC News, the FT and Reuters report that Lebanon’s president has asked his cabinet to continue in a caretaker capacity after PM Saad Hariri resigned in response to mass protests. Hariri’s resignation has deepened financial uncertainty in a country plagued by paralysis. The risk of devaluation has risen as Lebanon grapples with its most severe economic pressures since the 1975-1990 war. The Independent inspects pictures showing the “fire and the fury of Lebanon’s nationwide protests”.

The Times reports that Russia will test a new intercontinental ballistic missile that President Vladimir Putin has boasted is capable of beating any defences. Flight tests on the delayed Sarmat missile will begin in January.

The Times reports that the future of Iraqi PM Adel Abdel Mahdi is uncertain after two key political allies demanded his removal amid escalating protests. Moqtada al-Sadr and Hadi al-Ameri, have vowed to “work together to achieve the people’s demands” by forcing a vote of confidence in Mahdi.

Reuters reports that operations were at a standstill at Iraq’s Umm Qasr commodities port near Basra after protesters blocked its entrance in the previous day.

The Telegraph, Times and Reuters report that Turkey has summoned the US ambassador on Wednesday in protest at votes in Congress to recognise the Turkish genocide against Armenians and to sanction Ankara for its military offensive in northeast Syria.

The Guardian and Reuters report that Facebook has taken down accounts linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin – the businessman allegedly behind Russia’s notorious troll factory – actively seeking to influence the domestic politics of a range of African countries.

The FT argues that Saudi Arabia’s reform effort is “shallow and vulnerable”: “The kingdom should not be let off the hook for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder”.

Israeli Air Force chief warns of cruise missile threat: All the Israeli media reported that Israeli Air Force commander Amikam Norkin has warned of the growing threat to Israel from Iranian attack drones and cruise missiles. The remarks came at a graduation ceremony for air defence officers, where Norkin highlighted the “increasingly complex” challenge of defending Israeli skies, with the “missile and rocket threat now being joined by attack drones and cruise missiles.” Norkin added that “as we speak, the Arrow, David’s Sling and Iron Dome [air defense] batteries are on alert.”

Extradition of Russian hacker approved: Israeli Justice Minister Amir Ohana yesterday signed extradition papers for a Russian hacker detained in Israel, paving the way for his move to the US to face cybercrime charges, all Israeli media reported. The hacker, Aleksey Burkov, was arrested in Israel in 2015 after a US warrant was issued for online financial crimes. Moscow is known to have demanded Burkov’s release back to Russia, with his legal fate recently tied to that of Israeli backpacker Naama Issachar, 25, arrested earlier this year at  Moscow airport for drug possession. Issachar was recently sentenced to 7.5 years in Russian prison. Her family yesterday publicly condemned Burkov’s extradition approval, calling it “immoral.” Ohana, for his part, rejected tying the cases together, saying: “I wouldn’t make this connection between [Issachar] and Burkov, because if we make this connection, it would put every Israeli in the world at risk.”

Prominent lecturer floats Rabin assassination conspiracy theory: Israeli media have reported that a prominent Middle Eastern history professor from Bar Ilan University has been condemned for comments he made at a pro-Netanyahu rally earlier this week, where he raised the theory that former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was not assassinated by Yigal Amir. The lecturer, Mordechai Kedar, said: “The wrong man was convicted” for the murder, adding that “twenty-four years ago…Rabin was murdered and the attempt to hide what happened continues to this day, the guilt of the Right continues to this day.” Kedar went on to float the initials of the person he claimed was responsible, adding: “The person behind this is probably a leading politician, who wanted to eliminate Rabin because he [Rabin] wanted to get out of the Oslo Accords.” Kedar yesterday was called for a disciplinary hearing at Bar Ilan University – where Yigal Amir was a law student at the time of the murder – and was suspended from officially representing the university at overseas conferences. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement condemning “the nonsensical remarks in relation to Yigal Amir, the murderer of Yitzhak Rabin.”