Good morning! Killer whales are partying like it’s 1987. Only instead of hairspray and Whitesnake, the orcas are big into, uh, wearing dead salmon as hats? Scientists aren’t sure why (and some are being fun suckers), but major props to Shamu for making a bold fashion statement. That takes guts.

In Elective News... we’re changing our schedule. Going forward, you’ll only get our newsletter twice per week. Like the 2024 presidential race, our Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule is no more. Beginning this week, we’ll hit your inbox on Mondays and Thursdays. The change will enable us to better focus on bringing you a high-quality product every time.

WORLD

🇸🇾 Syrian government falls as dictator flees

Aaah, Syria. No better way to start your week than with a deep dive on war in the Middle East. But somebody’s got to be the smartest person in the group chat and we think that person should be you. Here’s the gist: After 13 years of civil war, rebels have taken over the capital of Damascus and the president has dipped.

Who was in charge? Bashar al-Assad (that’s “uh-sod”) took power in 2000 after the death of his father, who’d been president since 1971. He ran the show until his government collapsed over the weekend. In the wake of his defeat, Assad was granted asylum by Russia and fled with his family to Moscow (nice weather this time of year).

• Fun fact: Before going into the family business of slaughtering civilians with chemical weapons, Assad was an ophthalmologist in London.

What caused the war? Assad's government was a corrupt, totalitarian force that suppressed dissent with violence. Amid the so-called “Arab Spring” revolts across the Middle East, several rebel factions arose in Syria and civil war broke out in 2011.

• The war was a stalemate for years until a rebel faction suddenly broke through two weeks ago. That momentum was enough to carry them all the way to the capital and into power.

Who are the rebels? This wasn’t a two-sided conflict. Dozens of factions have come and gone. Some have been more democratic, while others were literally Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists who made al Qaeda seem quaint. This victory was supported by a broad coalition of rebel factions, but the primary driver was Tahrir al-Sham. Originally a local branch of al Qaeda terrorists, it’s taken a more moderate stance as of late. Whether that will hold in the long term is TBD.

• The Syrian government (Assad’s regime) was long supported by Russia. But they’ve got their hands full in Ukraine right now.

What about the U.S.? The winners weren’t backed by the U.S., but President Biden called this a “historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria.” About 900 U.S. troops are stationed in Syria — far from most of the action — to ensure ISIS doesn’t break out again. To that end, the U.S. bombed the daylights out of them yesterday.

Sooo… who’s in charge? Meh. Pieces are still moving here and various factions still control big chunks of the country. We’ll find out in time how they all get along. Nearby countries like Turkey and Qatar are optimistic. Regardless, Syrians worldwide are rejoicing and many refugees are ready to go home.

GOVERNMENT

⚖️ A federal appeals court rejected TikTok’s legal challenge to its upcoming ban. The court backed the government's argument that banning the app, which is allegedly a national security concern, is not a violation of free speech. The company plans to appeal to the Supreme Court, but the Supremes aren’t guaranteed to take the case. TikTok has until January 19 to either sell its U.S. business or get the boot. The clock is ticking now. Barring a last-minute change, we're all about to rediscover our long-lost free time.

📱 Enabled by a new rule, Google Pay is now under supervision by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and should expect a big dose of extra monitoring. This doesn't mean Google's done anything wrong. But the CFPB says the service poses a "risk to consumers." Google immediately sued the CFPB, saying the regulator is chasing a product that, no longer exists (related: the Google Graveyard). Elsewhere, CEO Sundar Pichai said the search engine will "change profoundly" in 2025 as AI pushes search tech forward.

🆘 The Department of Defense just tossed another $988 million in aid to Ukraine. The “security assistance” will go toward buying fancy new HIMAR rockets, drones, and spare parts for artillery maintenance. The Biden administration is rushing to spend about $7 billion in remaining Ukraine aid already approved by Congress. Trump suggested yesterday that he won’t spend it all. House Speaker Mike Johnson last week rejected Biden’s ask for an extra $24 billion and said that’s a problem for the next president to solve.

POLITICS

🔀 Adams denies party switch plans

President-elect Donald Trump received a presidential welcome in Paris on Saturday complete with an actual red carpet. French President Emanual Macron called the visit “a great honor for the French people.” Trump was in town for the reopening of Notre Dame. But First Lady Jill Biden was the official U.S. representative.

• Alongside Macron, Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a three-way chat about the war.

• He later stopped by the British ambassador’s residence in Paris. There he met with Prince William, who is apparently doing a “fantastic job” at, you know, prince-ing.

Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for Defense secretary, is facing tough confirmation odds in the Senate. But Trump doubled down on his man, calling him a “WINNER” with “strong and deep” support.

January 6 will see the official congressional counting of electoral votes to seal the deal on Trump’s reelection. Democrats have contested the count in all of the previous three Republican victories — 2000, 2004, and 2016. But after the Republican protest went, shall we say awry, after the 2020 election, House Democrats say they won’t put up a fight this time around.

The Senate will get a new member today. Sen. George Helmy (D-NJ) resigned his seat yesterday in preparation for today's swearing-in of newly elected Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ). Helmy was appointed in August to temporarily fill the seat left vacant after the previous guy went down in scandal.

• Voters elected Kim last month as the permanent replacement... and as the guy to fill the final month of the old term. He’ll take office today and be sworn in all over again for a full term in January.

New York’s Republican mayor? Rumors are swirling that New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) will switch parties and run for reelection next year as a Republican. Adams, who has tacked right on immigration and crime, denies the idea. Many Democrats, however, don’t buy it. They say Adams, who’s facing federal corruption charges, is just sucking up to Donald Trump and hoping for a pardon.

TRIVIA

Saturday marked the 83rd anniversary of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Though the surprise attack yanked the U.S. into World War 2, Hawaii wasn’t actually a state at the time. In what year did Hawaii become a state?

Hint: It’s the same year as Alaska.

BRIEFS

● The Department of Agriculture ordered testing of the U.S. milk supply amid rising cases of bird flu. More than 700 dairy herds across 15 states have been infected. Health officials say pasteurized milk, which is everything you can find in stores, is safe to drink.

● The U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs in December according to Friday’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). But the unemployment rate rose slightly from 4.1% to 4.2%.

● South Korea’s president is “very sorry” for declaring martial law last week and would like to “sincerely apologize” for his stupidity. He narrowly survived an impeachment vote with his party’s support, but his legal issues have likely just begun.

● Two days before round two, Romania’s high court annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election after alleged Russian interference. The targeted candidate said the move “trampled” on democracy.

QUOTE

ANSWER

Hawaii became America's 50th state on August 21, 1959, during Dwight Eisenhower’s presidency. That's about seven months after Alaska received statehood on January 3, 1959. As is tradition, the two were admitted together for political balance. Conventional wisdom said Alaska would vote Democratic while Hawaii would go Republican. They got that backward, but it all somehow worked out in the end.