HAYAT TAHRIR AL-SHAM SWEEPS DAMASCUS
Russian state media has reported that ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has arrived in Moscow having fled as rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept into the capital Damascus this weekend.
The BBC says Russian media reports, citing sources in the Kremlin, have claimed Assad and his family have been granted asylum by Russia.
Russia’s foreign ministry said earlier on Sunday Assad had resigned as president and left Syria, The New York Times reports, adding that his departure “after rebels opposed to his rule swept through the country in a lightning offensive was an earthshaking moment in the history of Syria … it marked a dramatic breakthrough for rebel factions in Syria that have been trying to unseat him for more than a decade, much of which was marked by a devastating civil war”.
The secretary general of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, is quoted congratulating the Syrian people, saying: “After 14 years of brutal war and the fall of the dictatorial regime, today the people of Syria can seize an historic opportunity to build a stable and peaceful future.” The paper adds, however, that there is uncertainty over who will lead Syria next with fears of a power vacuum.
The BBC reports rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani addressed crowds at Umayyad Mosque on Sunday and accused Assad’s regime of imprisoning “thousands of its own citizens unjustly and without any crime”.
“Today, we are rewarded with this victory. This victory is for all Syrians,” he is quoted as saying.
The Associated Press recalls how Assad’s fall has brought to a dramatic close his struggle to hold onto control “as his country fragmented in a brutal civil war that became a proxy battlefield for regional and international powers”.
The newswire flags the war, during which Assad received support from allies such as Iran and Russia, has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.
The BBC’s Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab reported earlier on Sunday that the presidential palace in Damascus had been almost completely emptied by people storming the building. Her eyewitness account is worth flagging: “Members of rebel group the HTS have arrived to control the situation — they have said this is not acceptable.
“I’ve lived in Syria for 10 years and have never been into this street. I can see people rushing into this place in revenge and also with lots of happiness that they’ve managed to break in.
“The scenes are very chaotic inside. There has been looting in other government buildings but this is a different situation. People are going in, posing for pictures while taking what they can. They are taking revenge for years of oppression and poverty because of Assad and his father.”
She also said it was the first time she had crossed into the country “without fear of detention, without fear of arrest”. Her video report is here.
MELBOURNE SYNAGOGUE FIRE
In domestic news, federal and state counterterrorism units are set to meet later today to discuss the investigation into the arson attack at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea, Melbourne on Friday.
The AAP reports Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Victorian and federal police would also discuss whether or not it could be classified as a terrorism incident.
Speaking to reporters in Perth on Sunday, Albanese said: “If you want my personal view, quite clearly, terrorism is something that is aimed at creating fear in the community. And the atrocities that occurred at the synagogue in Melbourne clearly were designed to create fear in the community, and therefore, from my personal perspective, certainly fulfil that definition of terrorism.”
The newswire said police confirmed they are also investigating reports of a bullet found on a footpath near the synagogue on Saturday.
The ABC flags Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said yesterday the chief commissioner told her there had been “progress” in the investigation. Police are yet to make any arrests. The broadcaster also said more than 1,000 members of the Jewish community gathered at a vigil near the Adass Israel synagogue on Sunday.
Synagogue board member Benjamin Klein is quoted by AAP as saying: “We’ll come back bigger and better. The building will be a beautiful jewel in the crown once again. There’ll be a huge rebuilding campaign, which we’re running at the moment.”
The newswire also flags cabinet Minister Murray Watt accusing Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of politicising the incident. The workplace relations minister rejected the Coalition leader’s claims the prime minister had not done enough to address antisemitism and that the government had made Australia less safe for Jewish people, AAP said.
Guardian Australia flags Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has linked the attack on Friday to Australia’s support for a UN resolution calling for an end to Israel’s occupation of Gaza.
Dutton has been making headlines for numerous reasons over the weekend with the Nine papers and many others flagging the CSIRO has declared nuclear power is around 50% more expensive than renewables. With Dutton apparently set to finally reveal his nuclear costings this week, The Sydney Morning Herald says “the report found the lowest cost projections for nuclear power would only match the highest projections for renewable energy, a major challenge to Dutton’s claim that nuclear is needed to cut electricity bills.”
That conclusion came “even after the science organisation changed its modelling to accommodate criticism from the Peter Dutton-led Coalition that it had unfairly favoured wind and solar energy sources”, the paper said.
Elsewhere, the ABC flags Dutton has said the Coalition will not set a target for net migration before the next election.
The opposition leader refused to recommit to the target he previously set of 160,000 a year, telling Sky News on Sunday: “We’ll have a look at the economic settings when we come to government.”
The Saturday Paper reports the New Zealand-founded advertising agency Topham Guerin, best known for its involvement with Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson’s election victories in 2019, has been hired to work on Dutton’s campaign.
Finally, the latest Newspoll for The Australian continues the trend it has shown over the last few weeks and months, namely that voters aren’t that impressed with Albanese and Dutton’s popularity is growing.
The paper declares: “Voters consider Anthony Albanese the weakest prime minister in decades, with Peter Dutton widening his lead as the stronger and more decisive leader, despite a two-party contest that has the Coalition and Labor back to a neck-and-neck race to the election.” The Australian says Dutton currently has the highest score for an opposition leader since Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull more than 10 years ago.
The Sydney Morning Herald also has a survey which reports 56% of voters have rejected Albanese’s new slogan “We have your back”. The paper says 59% of voters believe they are worse off than when Labor came to power and only 13% feel better off.
“Voters have slashed their core support for federal Labor to a new low of 27% amid a deepening dispute over the cost of living, backing the Coalition to deliver more help to households over the next three years,” the paper declares.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
Someone spent US$28 million (A$44 million) on a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz on Saturday.
The BBC reports the slippers sold for significantly more than their expected sale price of US$3 million (A$4.7 million) and Heritage Auctions reckons they are now the most valuable movie memorabilia ever sold at auction.
The broadcaster says while Garland wore several pairs of the shoes during filming, only four pairs are known to have survived.
This particular pair was stolen in 2005 while being loaned to the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota.
Professional thief Terry Jon Martin pleaded guilty to stealing them in 2023, at which point he was in his 70s and was sentenced to time served.
Say What?
Good man, this one.
Donald Trump
The US president-elect had four words to sum up the British heir to the throne, Prince William. The pair caught up during the ceremonial reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris at the weekend.
CRIKEY RECAP
There’s the Power List, the Top 100 Innovators, the Rich List, 30 under 30. The list(s) go on. Each one is more sycophantic than the last.
For people unfamiliar with what it’s like to run a news outlet in 2024, we’ll let you in on a secret: these lists mostly exist to convince the elites who have shrinking reasons to deal with the mainstream media to please, please, please give us access through obsequious flattery.
In return, the Fourth Estate is reduced to doing PR for the people it is supposed to hold to account. It publishes fawning hagiographies that bear even less resemblance to reality than the glossy, edited images from the photoshoots that accompany them.
Us? Crikey does not respect money or status. There is only one thing — a value, an essence, a vibe — that we value here at Crikey HQ. The highest, most noble honour that we can bestow on anyone is considering them a shitstirrer.
Shitstirrer has a handful of slightly different definitions. Crikey’s version is someone who is a nuisance to powerful people. But it has a few other elements, too.
What a year! We’re as tired as you dear reader, but using our last gasp of energy to list some of the people who might be responsible for that beaten-down feeling 2024 has left us with. Direct your disappointment! Vote now in Crikey’s prestigious Arsehat of the Year award and remember you can add your own nomination if none of these options float your boat.
As 2024 drifts to a close and we reflect on its many disappointments and outrages, it’s equally important to remember figures who offered, sometimes imperfectly, a genuine alternative to the general sense of degradation in public life.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Ukrainian war dead reaches 43,000, Zelenskyy says in rare update (BBC)
Trump calls for immediate Ukraine ceasefire (Reuters)
Rough sleeping surges as homelessness crisis worsens (Australian Associated Press)
NYPD releases two new photos of suspect in Brian Thompson killing (The Guardian)
For Taylor Swift, it’s the end of the ‘Eras’ (The New York Times) ($)
THE COMMENTARIAT
The ABC has lost its curiosity. Joe Rogan can help Kim Williams recover it — Parnell Palme McGuinness (The Sydney Morning Herald): The worst sin of the ABC is, therefore, not that it is biased. It is that it has become so dull it is no longer worth tuning into. Chairman Kim Williams is focused on the need for objectivity, but emphasising journalistic dispassion is only part of the solution. With the exception of a small number of programs, most relegated to minor time slots and barely promoted, the ABC has become incurious.
Topics covered by the ABC’s flagship shows have been narrowing and perspectives on the remaining topics are predictable. Politicians deliver their talking points. A narrow range of experts delivers a narrow range of perspectives (somehow the ethnic and gender diversity emphasised by the ABC never seems to equate to a wider range of ideas). Advocates call for more government funding. The presenters sigh sympathetically. I sigh in frustration. The formula is tiresome. Australians, including this long-time loyal listener and viewer, switch off.
Bland and fake: Why the electorate has given up listening to politicians — Annika Smethurst (The Age): This is not a dig at Allan. It’s part of a broader problem, where politicians have become trained not to say anything controversial, qualifying every point and sticking to the safety of engineered answers to the point the electorate has given up listening.
This trend has coincided with a demonisation of political imagination. Where candidates and ministers are selected for being a “safe pair of hands” rather than inspiring or interesting.
For Labor, this has resulted in a generation of politicians who have never spent any substantive time in blue-collar jobs but rather worked in offices for the right law firms, trade unions or ministers.
The Liberals are no longer dominated by small-business owners and working professionals but by former political staffers who dutifully serve time working for MPs in between stints at a suitable think tank or lobby group.
None of this should disqualify a candidate from being elected — it can be a great training ground — but nor should it be the only measure.
