The Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria is planning to hold landmark local elections in the majority Kurdish and Arab areas under its control. Syrian-Kurdish leader Salih Muslim says "radical democracy" will be in play as people elect their leaders at every level of local governance, with a man and a woman selected for each post.

Turkey has threatened to prevent the elections on the grounds they pose a threat to its national security. The Biden administration has advised against the polls, saying the conditions for conducting them are not ripe.