FirstFT: Assad flees Syria for Moscow after regime collapses

Right this moment’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 firms 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 shortly marching south in 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 foremost backers, had 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 supplied asylum.

Unsure horizon: As residents awoke to the sudden fall of Assad, a combination of worry, 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 true check will come when the nation’s numerous insurgent factions search 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 retaining tabs on right this moment:

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

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

• Corporations: 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 Business E book of the 12 months: The winner is introduced at a ceremony in London. Right here is the shortlist.

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

5 extra prime tales

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

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

3. Germany’s largest defence firm Rheinmetall is working with a US software program specialist to develop widespread working requirements to regulate autonomous battlefield drones, in a transfer that guarantees to shake up the quickly evolving trade. Right 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 similar time the companies had been offering regulatory or administration recommendation to water and sewerage firms, elevating battle of curiosity issues.

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

The Massive Learn

South Korea is extra globally famend for its vibrant fashionable 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 regulation declaration, demonstrated how the nation is nonetheless formed by the significantly brutal interval of dictatorship and the following troubled transition to democracy within the Nineteen Eighties.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Geopolitics: Between China’s rise and Donald Trump’s America, Europeans must be taught some classes about energy — and quick, writes Rana Foroohar.

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

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

Chart of the day

How do you pay staff in numerous places? The normal reply — primarily based on what the native market calls for — is dealing with 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 still come up when staff transfer from one location to a different as variations not simply in pay but additionally advantages grow to be obvious.

Take a break from the information

Synthetic intelligence might immediately open up an enormous vary of books written in numerous languages. Publishers have already began experimenting with the expertise. However using AI within the translation course of dangers the lack of human contact, writes Nilanjana Roy.