👋 Salibonani!*
Welcome to Monday, where Hamas says it released a list of 34 hostages to be exchanged in a possible ceasefire deal, Ukraine launches a new assault in Russian territory and a Brazilian nun is now the world’s oldest person. Meanwhile, Florian Illies in German daily Die Zeit wonders what it is that makes 1920s “New Objectivity” art so relevant today.
[*Ndebele, Zimbabwe]
💡 SPOTLIGHT
Al-Sharaa, Syria’s indispensable leader or sly Islamist strongman?
The growing influence of newly installed Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa — formerly known as Abu Muhammad al-Jolani — can no longer be ignored. His weight is not only being felt inside Syria, but across the region.
Yet it is no longer enough to simply decide whether the achievements of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader in overthrowing the Bashar al-Assad regime can excuse his transgressions in the past as an Islamist radical. Sharaa has become a complex model that embodies the transformation of Syria since the beginning of the revolution in 2011.
Sharaa was associated with al-Qaeda in Iraq as part of the resistance against U.S. invasion. He was detained for five years in American and Iraqi prisons. He then established Jabhat al-Nusra as a branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, before rebranding it HTS to gain local support and international legitimacy.
He has always been one of the most controversial figures of the Syrian revolution, if not the most controversial of all. During the revolution, his main focus was on fighting the Assad regime and the pro-Iranian militias. Sharaa adopted a sectarian discourse under the banner of “Defending the Sunnis.” He then shifted to a more nationalist discourse following the downfall of Assad, which can be summarized as “the unity of the Syrian people stands above all considerations.”
However, there are unanswered questions about his true intentions, and whether this shift is the result of a genuine conviction or the pragmatism of someone seeking power.
Sharaa surprised all those who feared he and his allies would commit war crimes after the downfall of Assad, as the Nusra Front and other extremist groups did between 2012 and 2016. The shift of HTS from armed combat to the political process under Sharaa's leadership helped limit acts of revenge on the one hand, and preventing the outbreak of sectarian strife on the other hand.
It must be stated that there have indeed been some “crimes of vengeance” and abuse and theft in certain areas, sometimes at the hands of members of HTS, especially in Homs, coastal areas and Kurdish areas. Still, such reports have been surprisingly limited.
After the fall of the Assad regime, Sharaa declared that “we must think with the mentality of building the state and its institutions,” and that “the mentality of revenge and retaliation should not be present because it is destructive.”
He also stressed that those involved in torturing and killing detainees in the prisons of the Assad regime will not be pardoned, and will be prosecuted. He vowed to achieve justice so that all Syrians can enjoy security and stability.
But despite all these changes, the question arises: Has Sharaa truly reconciled with himself the acts of violations of Nusra Front and HTS, especially in Aleppo and Idlib? These violations include the forced imposition of Islamic Sharia law, kidnapping and torturing civilians, including some anti-Assad activists, in HTC-run prisons. [...]
— Read the full article by Hani Adada for Daraj, translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch.
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
“Indestructible!” French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo revealed a special edition marking 10 years since the terrorist attack that killed 12 staff members in their Paris office on Jan. 7, 2015. Inside, four pages are dedicated to a caricature contest mocking God and religious leaders. “Laughing, irony, and caricatures are manifestations of optimism,” wrote the paper's editor and publisher Laurent “Riss” Sourisseau, who was injured in the attack.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Kyiv launches new offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, Moscow reports gains in Ukraine. The Russian defense ministry said on Monday its forces had captured the town of Kurakhove and the settlement of Dachenske in eastern Ukraine while they try to fend off a new Ukrainian offensive inside the Kursk region of western Russia which started on Sunday. Both sides are fighting to improve their battlefield positions before Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, as the U.S. president-elect has pledged to bring a quick end to the nearly three-year-old war. For more on this topic, check this analysis translated from French by Worldcrunch: Trump's Return: Predictions And Paradoxes For 2025.
• Hamas and Israel wrangle over hostage list for possible deal, strikes in Gaza intensify. The militant group said it had approved on Sunday a list of 34 Israeli hostages to be exchanged in a possible ceasefire deal, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office swiftly issued a statement denying it received such a list. Meanwhile, Palestinian officials said more than 100 people were killed in intensified Israeli bombardments on Gaza over the weekend. Read more in this personal essay from Daraj, translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch: In Gaza, Forgetting The Present To Preserve The Memory Of Life Before.
• Arrest deadline for South Korean president enters final day. South Korean investigators trying to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol have less than 24 hours before their arrest warrant over his short-lived martial law order expires. The embattled leader remains defiant with his security team barricading his residence over the weekend after a failed arrest attempt on Friday. This comes as North Korea carried out a missile test on Monday as outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Seoul.
• Canada’s prime minister may soon announce resignation. Reuters reports that though he has not made a final decision, Justin Trudeau is increasingly likely to announce he intends to step down in the coming days, after nine years in office. Calls for Trudeau to resign have grown since his finance minister quit over a policy clash in December, amid poor showings in opinion polls.
• Seven states declare state of emergency as winter storm hits central U.S. More than 60 million people across a dozen states from Kansas to New Jersey are in the grips of a huge winter storm that could bring the heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures in over a decade. Thousands of flights have been delayed or canceled as the storm is expected to move from Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic on Monday. This comes as the U.S. Congress is set to meet and formally certify Republican Donald Trump’s election as president in Washington DC, where federal offices will be closed.
• The Brutalist, Emilia Perez win top film honors at 82nd Golden Globes. Brady Corbet’s 215-minute postwar epic and Jacques Audiard’s surreal narco-musical were respectively crowned best film, drama and best film, comedy or musical, with Emilia Perez also winning best supporting actress for Zoe Saldaña, best song and best non-English language film. Demi Moore landed her first Globe at 62 for her performance in The Substance on Sunday, while the TV categories were dominated by oft-awarded series Shōgun, Hacks, The Bear and Baby Reindeer.
• And the world’s oldest living person is… a soccer-loving nun from Brazil, who has taken the title at nearly 117 years old, following the death of a woman from Japan over the weekend. Sister Inah Canabarro was born on June 8, 1908, but her nephew says she was actually born on May 27 as her birth was registered two weeks late.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
$1.3 million
Sushi restaurateurs from the Onodera Group paid $1.3 million for a 276kg (608lb) tuna — the second highest price ever paid at the annual new year auction Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo. The fish will be served in the group's Michelin-starred restaurants and Nadaman establishments in Japan. “The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune,” said Onodera official Shinji Nagao.
📹 ON THIS DAY VIDEO — 4 HISTORY-MAKING EVENTS, IN 57 SECONDS
➡️ Watch the video: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🌐 The previous world order, based on the domination of a few superpowers, has been turned upside down in 2024. Will this be the year of explosions, or the year of reactions?
— LES ECHOS
🎨 In the German city of Mannheim, the museum of modern and contemporary art is re-staging its iconic 1925 exhibition on the art movement. One hundred years on, it resonates strongly with our current era.
— DIE ZEIT
🍽️ Interest in gastrotourism is expected to continue to grow in the future. But while trips abroad for Japanese matcha or French coq au vin remain alluring, here’s why foodies should consider Poland as one of their next destinations.
— GAZETA WYBORCZA
📸 PHOTO DU JOUR
More than a thousand actors, dancers and magicians in costume participate in the “cavalcade of magi” in Barcelona, Spain. The traditional parade, complete with floats carrying the Three Wise Men, takes place across Spain on Epiphany's eve, and involves (as pictured here) collecting letters from children asking for presents. — Photo: Matthias Oesterle/ZUMA
📣 VERBATIM
“We and Trump come first, and Europe will support Ukraine’s position.”
— Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky expressed confidence in Donald Trump's ability to force Russia into peace talks and bring an end to the war in Ukraine. Ukraine's leader was invited for a three-hour discussion with U.S. podcaster Lex Fridman. “Trump and I will come to an agreement [...] together with Europe, and then we can talk to the Russians,” said Zelensky. Trump repeatedly declared during his presidential campaign that he would quickly bring peace to Ukraine, but many believe it would be on terms favorable to Russia.
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Chloé Touchard
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