President Bashar al-Assad’s long and brutal reign in Syria has ended....
President Bashar al-Assad’s long and brutal reign in Syria has ended. After 13 years of civil war, Syria’s rebel fighters have stormed the capital, Damascus, and claimed victory.
The government’s forces fled without significant resistance as rebel fighters poured into the city. Assad resigned and left Syria, Russia said, but his location could not be confirmed. The rebels appear to have taken over the state television, and they announced Syria to be “free of the tyrant.”
The country’s prime minister, who remains in Damascus, said he would work on a transition government. The rebels called on their forces to stay away from public institutions until they could be formally handed over.
The rebels said they are now continuing their advance into the east.
UPDATE: President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has arrived in Russia after fleeing his country, according to Russian state media and two Iranian officials, a stunning fall for the longtime dictator who lost his hold on power to a lightning-fast offensive by rebels who took control of Damascus on Sunday.
An attempt to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol failed on Saturday, prolonging the political upheaval and uncertainty that have roiled the country since his short imposition of martial law this week.
The opposition’s impeachment effort was foiled by the president’s People Power Party, which said shortly before the assembly session that they had agreed to oppose the bill. The assembly needed a two-thirds vote from the 300-member assembly to impeach, requiring at least eight defections from Yoon’s party.
US drillers add oil and gas rigs for first time in 8 weeks
U.S. energy firms added seven...
U.S. energy firms added seven oil and gas rigs this week, bringing the total to 589 as of December 6, the highest since mid-September, according to Baker Hughes. Despite the increase, the rig count remains 37 rigs, or 6%, below last year’s levels.
Oil rigsrose by five to 482, the highest since mid-October, while gas rigs increased by two to 102, the highest since early November. The overall rig count dropped about 20% in 2023 amid declining prices, inflation-driven costs, and a shift toward financial discipline over production growth.
U.S. oil futures are down 6% in 2024, following an 11% drop in 2023. However, gas futures have rebounded, up 23% this year after plunging 44% in 2023.
The EIA forecasts U.S. crude production will grow from 12.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 to 13.2 million bpd in 2024 and 13.5 million bpd in 2025. On the gas side, output is projected to decline for the first time since 2020, falling to 103.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2024, down from a record 103.8 bcfd in 2023, as reduced drilling activity impacts supply.
Independent E&P companies plan to keep 2024 spending flat compared to 2023, following significant spending increases in prior years.
The economic reports simmer down a bit next week, though there are a...
The economic reports simmer down a bit next week, though there are a few to watch. It’s the Small Business Optimism Index on Tuesday, followed by two big inflation reports: CPI on Wednesday and PPI on Thursday. While those two are always important to watch, they’re the last look at the state of inflation before the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting begins on December 17, when the central bankers will decide whether or not to make one final cut before the end of the year.
As for earnings, things quiet down over the next two weeks as we head into the holidays, but some recognizable names are announcing their quarterly numbers.
Fallout from the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting. As...
Fallout from the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting. As police continue to search for the suspect, executives across the US are reportedly on edge, while companies are upping security for their leaders. Allied Universal, which provides security for 80% of Fortune 500 companies, said its phones are “ringing off the hook,” the New York Times reported. Meanwhile, several healthcare companies, including CVS, have removed executives’ images and bios from their websites. On UnitedHealth Group’s official Facebook post about CEO Brian Thompson’s murder, the majority of users reacted with the laughter emoji.
Syrian rebels continue to advance through Syria, marking the most significant challenge to President Bashar al-Assad’s authoritarian government in years.
The US Naval Academy can consider race and ethnicity in its admissions process, a federal judge ruled, in a rare blow to anti-affirmative action advocates.
Paul Krugman, the renowned economist who won a Nobel Prize in 2008, is retiring as a columnist at the New York Times after nearly 25 years.
Chipotle is raising prices by 2% in response to inflation.
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is today. On this day in 1941, an estimated 2,403 Americans were killed in the attack, which drew the US into World War II.
