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Syrian government toppled by former al-Qaida affiliate

After decades of conflict, the Syrian government has fallen. Early Sunday, after a swift rebel attack that swept across government-held territory and seized the capital all in 10 days, the Syrian government collapsed.

The 50-year rule of the Assad regime came to an abrupt end as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad resigned and left the nation, seeking asylum in Russia.

What led to the overtake?

The declaration was made just over a week after rebels overran and took control of Aleppo, the nation's commercial hub, over the course of several days. Then, on Sunday, they took over the capital, Damascus, after seizing the cities of Hama and Homs.

• Just two weeks ago, the Assad regime, supported by Russia and Iran, occupied around 70% of the nation.

• The dramatic offensive put an end to 13 years of civil war, during which roughly 500,000 Syrians have died.

  • It also ended a four-year-long ceasefire, which was mostly conflict-free.

This was the first time opposition forces had made it to Damascus since 2018 when the Syrian army retook parts of the capital's surrounding areas after a yearslong offensive.

Who are the rebels?

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was founded in 2012 as an al-Qaida affiliate by Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the Islamist insurgent group’s leader. Four years later, the group separated from al-Qaida, changed its name and aimed to collaborate closely with other rebel organizations.

• The United States and the United Nations continue to classify it as a terrorist organization.

Golani gave a speech on Sunday from Damascus's famed Umayyad Mosque, proclaiming victory, and stating that the incumbent prime minister will remain in office until the full transfer of power is finished.

Looking ahead: President Biden pledged to work with the HTS, despite the US continuing to label them as a terrorist organization, in supporting the nation’s transfer of power. Biden has since ordered a series of “massive airstrikes” in Syria to help prevent the resurgence of ISIS.

This woman has to pay $9 billion or face execution

Note to self: do not commit fraud in Vietnam. Real estate billionaire Truong My Lan's death sentence was upheld by a Vietnamese court last week. In order to avoid it, she must pay back around $9 billion.

Life or Death

Earlier this spring, Lan was convicted of embezzling $12.5 billion (around 3% of the country's GDP) from the Saigon Commercial Bank, which she illegally controlled. As a result, she was sentenced to death.

• Over the course of a decade, the court found that Lan took out loans and cash through a series of shell companies equal to $44 billion.

• Her petition to have the sentence changed to life in prison was denied last Tuesday.

In theory, Lan could file a new appeal or request a presidential pardon, but the court recommended that she repay 75% percent of the stolen money to avoid being executed.

Her lawyers have said that she has enough assets to cover the fatal fee, but it will take a good amount of time to sell them. Not to mention, it would be much easier to do so if she wasn’t currently being sentenced to death.

Cracking down on crime: In the last ten years, Vietnam has executed over 400 convicts and issued over 2,000 death sentences. Lan joined 86 other defendants in a case at the heart of the government's broad anti-corruption campaign.

Social Media

A TikTok ban may come as soon as January

It’s time we have the talk about switching to Instagram Reels. A federal appeals court unanimously upheld a law over the weekend that would ban TikTok across the US unless the platform’s parent company, ByteDance, sells it by January 19th.

Laying down the law

Earlier this spring, President Biden signed a bill forcing ByteDance to either find a US company to buy TikTok within six months or lose access to its American users completely.

TikTok’s appeal of the sell-or-ban ultimatum was subsequently denied, and the ban is expected to go into effect on January 19th, 2025, just one day before Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Why force a ban? Lawmakers have continually expressed concerns about TikTok’s influence and its ties to the Chinese Communist Party. They’ve claimed the platform poses a risk to Americans’ data and that they are “united in our concern about the national security threat posed by TikTok”.

• Over 170 million Americans use the uber-popular social media platform.

ByteDance has maintained that it will not hand over data to the Chinese government and has gone to great lengths to protect US user data and provide third-party oversight of the platform.

What will TikTok do?

ByteDance’s lawyers argued that the ban was a violation of Americans' First Amendment rights—the freedom of speech—but the federal appeals court rejected this notion.

In an attempt to have the Supreme Court decide the case, TikTok has pledged to appeal the most recent ruling, saying in a recent press conference that “The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech.”

• Ironically, TikTok is banned in China, though a similar but heavily censored app is allowed.

• Plus, even if the Supreme Court heard the case, they would likely pass the decision to President-elect Donald Trump.

Though much more improbable, ByteDance could sell the platform. However, it has said on several occasions that even if it decided to do so, the Chinese government would not allow a sale, as it is China’s most profitable app internationally.

• Not to mention, TikTok would likely be priced anywhere from $100 to $200 billion (or more), and any companies with that much money to throw around may face antitrust litigation.

Pressing pause: After the court upheld the ban, TikTok quickly requested an emergency injunction from a court to keep it from being banned in the US next month.

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Grab Bag

Food and AI are now overlapping industries

It’s about time we had a side of tech with our microplastics. As food vendors across the country increasingly utilize AI to assist with operations, supermarkets, farms, and eateries are serving up meals with technology.

Food formulas

The food industry across the board is implementing new AI-assisted technology to help not only with food production, management, and growth, but with marketing, pricing, and drive-thrus.

A recent estimate by food industry groups states that by 2025, grocery stores intend to 4x their investment in AI, producing $113 billion in value.

Here are some of the sweeping changes:

• Supermarkets like Family Dollar and Albertsons have seen a surge in their AI usage for things like demand forecasting and stock management, according to GroceryDive.

• In the fast food sector, AI-managed shifts, AI drive-thru technology, and AI-based marketing are all being scaled by Yum Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC.

  • Chipotle recently made an investment in Lumachain, an AI platform.

• In the farms, 87% of agricultural enterprises had implemented some form of AI by the end of 2021, per BBC.

  • Drones, GPS improvements, and autonomous combines are among the most popular AI technologies being used in the field.

  • John Deere claims that precision sensors and driverless tractors are two more recent advancements that can cut herbicide applications by up to 66%.

All of these innovations serve a purpose: According to the American Farm Bureau Federation trade group, the global population will reach over 10 billion by 2050, and we’ll need 70% more food to keep everyone from going hungry.

How the Notre Dame Cathedral was remade

Some wood replacement and a good scrubbin’ and she’s as good as new. After the 2019 structural fire that nearly destroyed the historic landmark, Notre Dame Cathedral opened over the weekend after five years of laborious construction.

Stone conquered fire

Thanks to nearly $1 billion in contributions, mostly from French families that own the luxury giants LVMH and L’Oreal, along with a whole host of skilled trade workers (and enthusiasts), and some modern technology, the treasured chapel was able to make a full recovery.

• Over 2,000 architects, historians, and craftsmen worked on the restoration.

  • The project took $740 million in resources to complete.

Those behind the reconstruction utilized an advanced laser scan, which created a billion-point digital document, to essentially create a one-to-one replica of the cathedral.

• Cutting-edge graphing and imaging tech were also used to better map out changes.

• Over 2,500 oak trees were needed to rebuild the roof structure and central spire.

While nearly every aspect was returned to its original state (literally down to the millimeter), there were a few new, more contemporary additions:

• The organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympics contributed one of three new bells.

• The attic received a new misting system to help preserve structural integrity.

• There will also be a competition to design one of the cathedral's stained-glass panels (which has garnered mixed opinions).

Triumphant return: The cathedral's bells rang for the first time since 2019 on Saturday, which marked the famed building’s return to religious services in a ceremony that had French President Emmanuel Macron and President-elect Donald Trump in attendance.

See photos of the reconstruction here.

Fast Facts

Savory Smells: Fragrance industry experts are predicting savory perfume and cologne will be the next trend in 2025. Don't be surprised when your coworker comes in smelling like a turkey dinner.

Milk Mandate: Companies that process raw milk are being mandated by the Department of Agriculture to test for bird flu after more than 700 herds across 15 states have been affected by the H5N1 strain.

Weather Winner: Google's new weather tool, GenCast, is trained on 40 years of weather data and can see an additional five days ahead compared to leading forecasting tools, according to the company. It also sometimes provides more accurate predictions for wind and the path of extreme weather.

Slurpee Sales: 7-Eleven sold 153 million Slurpees in 2023, which led to over $80 billion in revenue.

AI Info: In a blog post, Nick Clegg, Meta’s policy chief, said that fewer than 1% of the false information that the company fact-checked during this year's election season was created by AI content.