Thursday Briefing: The struggle for order in Syria

December 12, 2024

	By Gaya Gupta

Good morning. We’re covering the rebels’ struggle to create order in Syria and the F.B.I. director plan to resign.

Plus, China’s surprising box office hit.

A portrait of a Bashar al-Assad, the deposed Syrian leader, looks like it has bullet holes and is ripped and defaced.

A defaced portrait of President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Tuesday. Nicole Tung for The New York Times

Revenge shadows efforts to restore order in Syria

The leader of the rebel force that overthrew Bashar al-Assad called on other countries to hand over any “criminals” who had fled Syria so they could be held accountable for the torture or killing of prisoners under al-Assad.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the comments were directed at Russia, which invited al-Assad and his family to seek exile there.

The remarks by Ahmed al-Shara, leader of the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, came as a war monitor said that armed groups had carried out retaliatory attacks on civilians in areas that were once considered loyal to Assad.

It may be a struggle for the onetime rebels to uphold the rule of law while managing the fierce desire for retribution against members of the Assad regime, which ruled the country with an iron fist for decades.

Truce in Manbij: Kurdish-led fighters backed by the U.S. said that they had agreed to a U.S.-brokered cease-fire in the city of Manbij in northern Syria, where they have been battling forces backed by Turkey.

Tour Assad’s former palace: Rebels allowed Ben Hubbard, a New York Times correspondent, and a photographer to explore the presidential palace.

U.S. diplomacy: President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel today. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Turkey and Jordan this week to discuss the developments in Syria.

A man sits behind a microphone in a blue suit.

Christopher Wray, the F.B.I. director, in September. Kenny Holston/The New York Times

The F.B.I. director said he intends to resign

Christopher Wray, the F.B.I. director, said he would step down in January. The decision comes after President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to replace Wray with a longtime loyalist, Kash Patel, before the director’s 10-year term expired.

Wray’s F.B.I. repeatedly investigated Trump, including by searching his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022 for classified documents. “I’m very unhappy with the things he’s done,” Trump said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

Hegseth controversy: Senator Susan Collins of Maine met with Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for defense secretary, and pressed him on a range of issues, including the sexual assault allegations against him and the role of women in the military. She has not made a decision on supporting him yet.

More on the transition: Trump selected Andrew Ferguson, a current Republican member of the Federal Trade Commission, to be its chair, and picked Mark Meador, a former Senate Republican antitrust counsel, to join the agency. The moves effectively squeezed out the current Democratic chair, Lina Khan.

Sudanese soldiers in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, in April. Ivor Prickett for The New York Times

The gold rush at the heart of Sudan’s civil war

War has shattered Sudan’s economy, collapsed its health system and reduced much of Khartoum, the once-proud capital, to rubble. The country is stalked by ethnic cleansing and one of the world’s worst famines. But the gold trade is booming.

There are rich deposits of the precious metal across Sudan and production and trade has surpassed prewar levels. Billions of dollars in gold are flowing out of Sudan at a time when world prices are hitting record highs. A windfall like that could help the legions of hungry and homeless people. Instead, warring factions are using the gold to bankroll their fight, employing what U.N. experts call “starvation tactics” against tens of millions of people. Read more.

MORE TOP NEWS

Several people in the foreground. In the background is a bridge.

Migrants in Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2023. Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The New York Times

Immigration: The immigration surge in the U.S. over the past few years has been the largest in the country’s history, a Times analysis found.
U.S.: A bipartisan group of lawmakers is seeking legislation that would break up health care conglomerates like UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health and Cigna.
Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a confidence vote, a formal step toward disbanding the government and leading to snap elections likely to oust him.
Abuse: Two star luxury real estate brokers and their brother were accused in a U.S. federal indictment with participating in a sex trafficking conspiracy.
Recovery: Opioids ravaged a small town in Kentucky. Then rehab became its main source of economic opportunity.

Tech: Google introduced an A.I. that can browse spreadsheets, shopping sites and other services by itself.
Olympics: The Australian breaker B-girl Raygun shut down a parody musical inspired by her unusual performance at the Paris Games.

Sports

Cycling: The two-time Olympic medalist Rohan Dennis has pleaded guilty to a charge related to the death of his wife and fellow Olympian, Melissa Hoskins.
Tennis: A plan to triple Wimbledon’s size could be set for judicial review after a resident group challenged the expansion.
Soccer: Saudi Arabia will host the men’s World Cup in 2034. FIFA bent its own rules in the decision, and critics have raised concerns about the safety of migrant workers needed to build the stadiums.

MORNING READ

Two women sit on the floor. One wears a sweater with a lyric from the Taylor Swift song “Bejeweled.”

The main characters of “Her Story.” Maxtimes Pictures

The Chinese film “Her Story,” which touches on gender inequality and calls out stigmas against female sexuality, is ruling the box office. Even the ruling Communist Party’s mouthpiece praised it.

The film’s success is unexpected in a time when the government has cracked down on feminist activism and urged women to embrace marriage and childbearing. But it reflects the unpredictable nature of censorship in the country, as well as a growing appetite for female-centered stories.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Two very large tigers lounge on a rock partially covered in snow in a wooded area in winter.

Amur tigers Boris and Svetlana, observed by a trail camera in 2018. ANO WCS

Ain’t no mountain high enough: The orphaned tiger cubs Boris and Svetlaya were raised together but released separately. Boris walked 120 miles so they would be reunited.
Outsourcing Cupid: Fed up with the drawbacks of dating apps, Eli Tan let an A.I. clone do his dating for him. This is what happened when he told people the truth.
Not just your grandpa’s shoes: A strange series of events has led Mephisto, a U.S. shoe brand normally favored by older people, to suddenly being cool.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times .

ARTS AND IDEAS

Luigi Mangione, in an orange jumpsuit, looks at the ground.

Luigi Mangione as he left a Pennsylvania courthouse this week. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Objectifying the accused

From the moment the world saw the smiling, unmasked face of the young man in the New York City hostel, memes began spreading about his looks. After Luigi Mangione was identified as the subject of the image and charged in the murder of the United Healthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, it has been impossible to escape his photos online and in the news.

Our fashion critic Vanessa Friedman writes that there is a long history of romanticization of the beautiful (with particular privilege given to white men) and the incarcerated, a phenomenon exacerbated by social media. As each new story is added to the tradition, it loses some of its real horror, and takes on more of the glow.

“In all the hoo-ha over hotness, what gets lost is the violence, as well as the victims,” Vanessa wrote. Read more.

RECOMMENDATIONS

A salmon filet on a bed of rice garnished with cucumbers, avocado, seaweed and radishes.

Johnny Miller for The New York Times

Cook: Miso salmon is simple enough, but you could elevate it with grapefruit and honey.

Watch: The documentary “The Bibi Files” tackles the corruption case against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

Plan: See New York City during the holidays like a local.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Gaya

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