Good morning. We're covering the latest from Syria and a call for a confidence vote in Germany. Plus: The objectification of a murder suspect.
Syria's rebel leaders face huge challengesThe rebels who seized control of Syria must strike a balance between obtaining justice for the victims of atrocities committed under the ousted Assad regime and preventing the newly liberated country from descending into unchecked vengeance. Syria's new leaders have promised amnesty for conscripted soldiers who served under the former president, Bashar al-Assad, but Ahmed al-Shara, the leader of the rebel force that toppled him, has stressed that those who helped al-Assad brutalize or slaughter others would be held accountable. "We call on nations to hand over to us whoever of those criminals has escaped to them to subject them to justice," he said in a post on Telegram. In Aleppo, the many monuments of the Assad regime that once dotted the city have been toppled, torn or burned. Excitement and frenzy were on full display in some places — yet the city was still gripped by uncertainty and grim reminders of the 13-year civil war. For more:
The F.B.I. director said he intended to resignChristopher 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, which included a search of Trump's 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.
Scholz called for a confidence voteChancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany called for a confidence vote in Parliament yesterday, taking the first formal step toward disbanding the German government and leading to snap elections that are likely to oust him from office. He expects to lose the vote. The collapse of the government and the early election on Feb. 23 amount to an extraordinary political moment in a country long known for stable governments. Quotable: "In a democracy, it is the voters who determine the course of future politics. When they go to the polls, they decide how we will answer the big questions that lie ahead of us," Scholz said.
As Elon Musk has become a key player in President-elect Donald Trump's world, Tesla owners are using bumper stickers on their cars to signify where they stand — for or against. Lives lived: George Kresge, who as the entertainer the Amazing Kreskin used mentalist tricks to dazzle late-night television audiences, died this week at 89.
Objectifying the accusedFrom the moment the world saw the smiling, unmasked face of the young man who was the suspect in the killing of a health care C.E.O., memes began spreading about his looks. The pictures of Luigi Mangione that have followed — mug shots, pictures from outside the courthouse or from earlier times — have led to still more swooning and fan cams. (Here's the latest news on the case.) There is a long history of romanticization of the beautiful and the incarcerated, our chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman writes — a phenomenon exacerbated by social media. But "in all the hoo-ha over hotness," she writes, "what gets lost is the violence, as well as the victims." Read Vanessa's piece. Related: Mangione's Instagram was taken down, but his Goodreads was not. Here's how different social media companies decide whether to scrub a user's digital footprint. We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.
Cook: One reviewer describes this vegetarian dish as "one of the best pasta dishes we have ever had." Craft: These Danish handmade paper decorations bring holiday cheer. 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. Read: Experts shared their recommendations for books on adult A.D.H.D. Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today's Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here. That's it for today's briefing. See you tomorrow. — Natasha Reach Natasha and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.
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