☕️ What’s the latest on Syria?

Here is today’s riddle: A man is your mother’s brother’s only brother-in-law. Who is he?

Answer is in the tidbit!

“An ACCC sweep of Black Friday sales advertisements has uncovered a range of concerning practices, from ‘site wide’ discounts that are not in fact site wide, potentially misleading ‘was/now’ pricing, as well as dubious claims about the value of discounts on offer.”
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe in a statement about the body’s latest investigation.

7.3
The magnitude of the earthquake that struck Vanuatu yesterday. At least 14 people are dead and hundreds more are injured.

1966
An adaptation of Dr. Seuss's classic children's book, ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas!’ aired as a television special for the first time and became a holiday staple.

A teacher and a student have been killed and several others are injured after a school shooting in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.

The suspected shooter, identified by police as a 15-year-old female student of the school, was also found dead at the scene.

At least six others were injured, including two students who are being treated for what police called “life-threatening injuries”.

Here’s the latest.

Police were called to the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, after reports of an active shooter on campus, around 11 am Monday (local time).

The Madison Police Department confirmed the suspect was a teen student at the school who died at the scene.

“We know that this was the middle of a school day, and so there will be other injuries that we’ll have to face for a very, very long time,” Madison Chief of Police Shon Barnes said.

Barnes said investigators were working to determine a motive for the shooting.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has called for flags to be flown at half-mast around the state until Sunday night.

He said there were “no words” to describe the “heartbreak we feel today after the school shooting at Abundant Life Christian School”.

Mayor of Madison Satya Rhodes-Conway said she “hoped this day would never come in Madison,” and called for gun reform.

“We need to do better in our country and our community to prevent gun violence.“

Reporting by Achol Arok.

Earlier this month, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by a group of rebels who took control of the country.

In the weeks since Assad’s government was toppled, there have been no public statements from the former Syrian leader.

Now, a new statement attributed to Assad has been released on social media. It claims that Assad didn’t intentionally flee Syria but was evacuated by the Russian military.

Here’s what you need to know.

Bashar al-Assad became President in 2000, succeeding his father Hafez al-Assad, who had ruled for 29 years. His government received military support from Iran and Russia.

Following peaceful protests against Assad’s government in 2011, the regime killed protesters and other civilians, leading to a civil war.

Earlier this month, a group of rebel forces overthrew the government. The group of rebels were led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

Soon after the rebels overthrew Assad’s regime, Russian state media reported Assad and his family had been granted asylum by Russia — a long-time ally.

A statement attributed to Assad, published on the Syrian Presidency’s Telegram account, says he did not plan to go to Russia.

“As terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus [the capital], I moved to [western Syria] in coordination with our Russian allies... it became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from all battle lines... Moscow requested [an] immediate evacuation.”

The statement says Assad had no intention of stepping down from the presidency, but now believes his position has become “meaningless” because “the state [fell] into the hands of terrorism”.

“This does not, in any way, diminish my profound sense of belonging to Syria and her people... It is a belonging filled with hope that Syria will once again be free and independent.”

HTS is now the most powerful force in Syria. It was originally set up in 2011 as Jabhat al-Nusra, and was directly connected to al-Qaeda.

The former leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was also involved in the creation of HTS.

In 2016, under the leadership of an individual called Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, the group cut ties with al-Qaeda and changed its name.

It is listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia.

HTS leader Al-Jawlani has now reverted to his birth name, Ahmed al-Sharaa. He has appointed several interim ministers who will serve until “constitutional issues are decided” in March.

This ‘caretaker government’ says it’s begun work to set up a new army and police force, and re-opened schools.

Al-Sharaa has met with the UN Special Envoy to Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, to discuss “the need for a credible and inclusive... political transition”.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres also issued a statement welcoming “the Caretaker Government’s commitment to protect civilians.”

Al-Sharaa has said he wants other countries and the UN to stop listing HTS as a terrorist organisation.

When a country officially declares a group to be a terrorist organisation, its government will generally avoid engaging with that group. Typically, it also becomes a criminal offence for citizens to support or join the group.

Removing HTS from countries’ lists of terrorist organisations would mean international governments could hold more open discussions, and possibly provide funding to Syria.

The interim government has held recent talks with international representatives, including from the U.S. and the European Union. The contents of these discussions have not been published.

U.S. Government spokesperson Matthew Miller said America would judge HTS “by actions, not by statements” as it considers removing HTS from its list of terrorist organisations.

Al-Sharaa and Pedersen have also asked the U.S. and other governments to remove financial restrictions on Syria imposed under the Assad regime. Pedersen agreed, saying the UN hopes “to see a quick end to sanctions”.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

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🍊 Kyrgios will team up with one of the greats in Brisbane.
🍊 The NBA record for most 3-pointers in a game was broken.
🍊 The AFLW held its inaugural national draft. More details here.
🗞️ Also in the Sport Newsletter: a random fact, soccer and more…

Draftees were selected from a national pool of the best and brightest up and comers in women’s footy. Victorian Ash Centra will stay in her home state after being selected by the Collingwood Magpies as the first pick.

Havana Harris, known for her ability to play multiple positions, was taken by the Gold Coast Suns as the second pick. South Fremantle’s Molly O'Hehir was chosen by Melbourne as the third pick.

Centra responded to her selection, "Nothing's set in stone, so to be read out as number one, I'm super grateful. It hasn't really sunk in."

Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!

Reporting by Achol Arok.

In case you missed it, the new lawyer of Luigi Mangione, who allegedly killed health insurance CEO Brian Thompson this month, is married to the lawyer of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.

Mangione has hired Karen Friedman Agnifilio to represent him. And her husband, Marc Agnifilio, is on the team representing Combs, who is facing several charges including sex-trafficking.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

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Riddle answer: Your father.

2024 was a tough year for both the Australian and global economies, with headlines about inflation, cost of living, housing affordability and global conflicts dominating headlines.

Now, as we look down barrel of a new year, the tune has changed - Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the worst is behind us, Donald Trump has promised to make America rich again, and the RBA has signalled it may be warming to the idea of a drop of interest rates.

On today’s pod, we’re going to chat to Matt Grudnoff, a senior economist at the Australia Institute, about the year that was in economics, what he thinks will happen in 2025, and what’s giving him hope.