Monday Briefing: Rebels advance in Syria
Good morning. We’re covering a rebellion in Syria and Trump’s pick to lead the F.B.I. Plus, the vast network of undersea internet cables.
Fighting rages in Syria as rebels advanceRebel forces advanced in Syria amid fierce fighting, capturing the airport and the military academy of Aleppo and attacking the outskirts of the western city of Hama, according to rebel officials and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Government troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad rushed in reinforcements and launched airstrikes on Aleppo, the Observatory, a war monitor in Britain, said. The rebels captured much of Aleppo a day earlier in a surprise offensive. They now control a broad patch across the provinces of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo, in the west and northwest of Syria, according to officials from the rebel-linked administration and the war monitor. The Observatory said that government troops were battling to defend Hama and that reinforcements had arrived to man defensive lines around the city and nearby cities. Syrian government warplanes bombed territory now held by the rebels, including targets across the city of Aleppo, causing dozens of civilian casualties, the monitor said. The rebel alliance is led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which was once linked with Al Qaeda but publicly broke with the terrorist group years ago. Turkish-backed rebel groups have also joined in. Also in the Middle East:
Republicans stood behind Trump’s pick to lead the F.B.I.After Trump announced his choice of Kash Patel to lead the F.B.I., several Republican lawmakers celebrated the candidate, who has vowed to use the position to exact revenge on Trump’s adversaries. Trump’s announcement on Saturday that he intended to replace the current F.B.I. director Christopher Wray — who still has three years left on his 10-year term — stunned many in the national security establishment. Patel has said he would launch a sweeping campaign of retribution against F.B.I. agents, journalists and others. Here are five things to know about Patel. Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, called Patel “a very strong nominee” to take on what he and other Trump allies claim has been partisanship inside the F.B.I. Patel is likely to face tough questions at his confirmation hearings about whether the agency would remain free from political interference.
80 years after massacre, Senegal wants the facts from FranceIn 1944, French colonial forces massacred West African soldiers who had returned from France after fighting in World War II. But the Thiaroye Massacre remains shrouded in secrecy. Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the killings, Senegal’s government has pressured France to fully explain the sinister episode — the latest signal from an African government that the relationship with its former colonizer is up for reconsideration. Read more here. |
