Assad flees Syria for Moscow after regime collapses

As we speak’s agenda: Tech teams’ advert dominance; EU’s new tech tsar; Rheinmetall tie-up on fight drones; Trump on Powell’s Fed tenure; and US corporations lawyer up on commerce

Good morning. We start in Syria, the place President Bashar al-Assad has fled the nation after a surprising marketing campaign by rebels who seized the capital and toppled the dynasty that had dominated for 50 years.

What occurred: The regime’s collapse yesterday adopted a 12-day lightning offensive by disparate insurgent factions, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist group. Final week HTS seized Aleppo, Syria’s second metropolis, inside simply 48 hours earlier than rapidly marching south in the direction of Damascus.

After numerous factions encircled the capital, the rebels proclaimed it “free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad” and that “Assad has fled”. Russia and Iran, Assad’s primary backers, have been unable or unwilling to stem the tide, with each caught up in their very own conflicts.

Russia stated the Syrian president had resigned, left the nation and ordered a peaceable transition of energy. Russian state newswire Tass later stated he and his household had arrived in Moscow the place that they had been provided asylum.

Unsure horizon: As residents awoke to the sudden fall of Assad, a mixture of fear, euphoria and confusion flooded the capital. Together with unbridled pleasure in public squares was chaos, as rebels and on a regular basis Syrians over-ran symbols of the Assad regime. The actual take a look at will come when the nation’s numerous insurgent factions seek to divide the spoils of victory, writes our Center East editor Andrew England.

Right here’s extra on how the historic day unfolded:

And right here’s what else we’re preserving tabs on at the moment:

• UK-EU relations: Eurozone finance ministers are set to debate commerce ties with UK chancellor Rachel Reeves.

• Channel migration talks: UK house secretary Yvette Cooper meets French inside minister Bruno Retailleau in Calais.

• Firms: Vivendi shareholders vote on the proposed break up of Canal+, Havas and Louis Hachette Group from the corporate. Oracle releases second-quarter outcomes.

• FT and Schroders Enterprise E-book of the Yr: The winner is introduced at a ceremony in London. Here is the shortlist.

Be part of us on Wednesday as Monetary Occasions editor Roula Khalaf and different FT consultants focus on their predictions for the world in 2025. Register here.

5 extra high tales

1. The worldwide promoting trade will surpass $1tn in income for the primary time this yr regardless of powerful financial situations in bigger, developed markets such because the US and UK. Tech corporations, nonetheless, are anticipated to dominate, with Google, Meta, ByteDance, Amazon and Alibaba forecast to earn more than half the total.

2. Unique: The EU’s new tech tsar has struck a conciliatory tone in the direction of Elon Musk as Brussels seeks to restore relations with the US billionaire and proprietor of X after a public spat crammed with expletives. Final yr the EU opened a probe into the social media platform over considerations of the unfold of hateful messages after the October 7 assault on Israel by Hamas. Read the FT’s interview with Henna Virkkunen.

3. Germany’s largest defence firm Rheinmetall is working with a US software program specialist to develop frequent working requirements to regulate autonomous battlefield drones, in a transfer that guarantees to shake up the quickly evolving trade. Here’s what’s driving the partnership.

4. Donald Trump has stated he wouldn’t search to take away Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell earlier than his time period expires in Might 2026. However the US president-elect promised to push forward with sweeping tariffs, mass deportations and tax cuts in his first days within the White Home throughout a tv interview the place he outlined his incoming administration’s priorities.

5. Water regulator Ofwat employed a number of consultancies together with PwC and Deloitte on the identical time the corporations have been offering regulatory or administration recommendation to water and sewerage corporations, elevating conflict of interest concerns.

Be part of this Thursday’s Tech Management Discussion board, hosted by the FT in partnership with Join Europe, which can carry collectively trade CEOs, policymakers and civil society to debate Europe’s digital economic system. Register here.

The Huge Learn

South Korea is extra globally famend for its vibrant well-liked tradition and manufacturing prowess than for its traumatic previous. However the occasions of the previous week, triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s shock martial legislation declaration, demonstrated how the nation is still shaped by the particularly brutal period of dictatorship and the following troubled transition to democracy within the Eighties.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Geopolitics: Between China’s rise and Donald Trump’s America, Europeans have to study some lessons about power — and quick, writes Rana Foroohar.

• Sky CEO: Dana Robust, the broadcaster’s chief govt, talks to Matthew Garrahan about running the company after the Murdoch period.

• UK privatisation: Necessary classes on its benefits and limits may be drawn on from the nation’s diverse expertise, writes Martin Wolf.

Chart of the day

How do you pay staff in several areas? The normal reply — based mostly on what the native market calls for — is going through new strain from an more and more world expertise pool. In response, organisations are more and more adopting a hybrid system for salaries. However complexities should come up when staff transfer from one location to a different as variations not simply in pay but additionally advantages become apparent.

Take a break from the information

Synthetic intelligence may immediately open up an enormous vary of books written in several languages. Publishers have already began experimenting with the know-how. However using AI within the translation course of dangers the loss of human touch, writes Nilanjana Roy.