Assad flees Syria for Moscow after regime collapses

Today’s agenda: Tech groups’ ad dominance; EU’s new tech tsar; Rheinmetall tie-up on combat drones; Trump on Powell’s Fed tenure; and US companies lawyer up on trade

Good morning. We begin in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country after a stunning campaign by rebels who seized the capital and toppled the dynasty that had ruled for 50 years.

What happened: The regime’s collapse yesterday followed a 12-day lightning offensive by disparate rebel factions, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist group. Last week HTS seized Aleppo, Syria’s second city, within just 48 hours before quickly marching south towards Damascus.

After various 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 main backers, were unable or unwilling to stem the tide, with both caught up in their own conflicts.

Russia said the Syrian president had resigned, left the country and ordered a peaceful transition of power. Russian state newswire Tass later said he and his family had arrived in Moscow where they had been offered asylum.

Uncertain horizon: As residents awoke to the sudden fall of Assad, a mixture of fear, euphoria and confusion flooded the capital. Along with unbridled joy in public squares was chaos, as rebels and everyday Syrians over-ran symbols of the Assad regime. The real test will come when the country’s various rebel factions seek to divide the spoils of victory, writes our Middle East editor Andrew England.

Here’s more on how the historic day unfolded:

And here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:

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

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

• Companies: Vivendi shareholders vote on the proposed split of Canal+, Havas and Louis Hachette Group from the company. Oracle releases second-quarter results.

• FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year: The winner is announced at a ceremony in London. Here is the shortlist.

Join us on Wednesday as Financial Times editor Roula Khalaf and other FT experts discuss their predictions for the world in 2025. Register here.

Five more top stories

1. The global advertising industry will surpass $1tn in revenue for the first time this year despite tough economic conditions in larger, developed markets such as the US and UK. Tech companies, however, are expected to dominate, with Google, Meta, ByteDance, Amazon and Alibaba forecast to earn more than half the total.

2. Exclusive: The EU’s new tech tsar has struck a conciliatory tone towards Elon Musk as Brussels seeks to repair relations with the US billionaire and owner of X after a public spat filled with expletives. Last year the EU opened a probe into the social media platform over concerns of the spread of hateful messages after the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. Read the FT’s interview with Henna Virkkunen.

3. Germany’s largest defence company Rheinmetall is working with a US software specialist to develop common operating standards to control autonomous battlefield drones, in a move that promises to shake up the rapidly evolving industry. Here’s what’s driving the partnership.

4. Donald Trump has said he would not seek to remove Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell before his term expires in May 2026. But the US president-elect promised to push ahead with sweeping tariffs, mass deportations and tax cuts in his first days in the White House during a television interview where he outlined his incoming administration’s priorities.

5. Water regulator Ofwat employed several consultancies including PwC and Deloitte at the same time the firms were providing regulatory or management advice to water and sewerage companies, raising conflict of interest concerns.

Join this Thursday’s Tech Leadership Forum, hosted by the FT in partnership with Connect Europe, which will bring together industry CEOs, policymakers and civil society to discuss Europe’s digital economy. Register here.

The Big Read

South Korea is more globally renowned for its vibrant popular culture and manufacturing prowess than for its traumatic past. But the events of the past week, triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s surprise martial law declaration, demonstrated how the country is still shaped by the particularly brutal period of dictatorship and the subsequent troubled transition to democracy in the 1980s.

We’re also reading . . . 

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

• Sky CEO: Dana Strong, the broadcaster’s chief executive, talks to Matthew Garrahan about running the company after the Murdoch era.

• UK privatisation: Important lessons on its benefits and limits can be drawn on from the country’s varied experience, writes Martin Wolf.

Chart of the day

How do you pay workers in different locations? The traditional answer — based on what the local market demands — is facing new pressure from an increasingly global talent pool. In response, organisations are increasingly adopting a hybrid system for salaries. But complexities may still arise when workers move from one location to another as differences not just in pay but also benefits become apparent.

Take a break from the news

Artificial intelligence could instantly open up a huge range of books written in different languages. Publishers have already started experimenting with the technology. But employing AI in the translation process risks the loss of human touch, writes Nilanjana Roy.