(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Mireille Rebeiz , Dickinson College (THE CONVERSATION) The fall of President Bashar Assad will not only affect the 24 million Syrians who lived – and largely suffered – under his brutal rule. Over the border in Lebanon, the impact will be felt, too. The collapse of Assad’s government provides another blow to its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, which was already reeling from an Israel conflict that weakened its capabilities and decimated its leadership. But many others in Lebanon will be rejoicing , not least the 1.5 million refugees who fled Syria to escape Assad and a 13-year civil war. As an expert on Lebanese history and culture , I believe the ripple effects from Syria are to be expected. The two countries’ modern histories are intertwined, and throughout its 54-year rule, the Assad family has intervened in Lebanon many times – mostly to the detriment of its people, its economy and its stability. Hezbollah and Assad: A reciprocal relationship Since its formation in the early 1980s, Hezbollah has benefited from strong support from the Syrian regime. There were moments of tension between the two, for sure – notably in the midst of the Lebanese civil war. But overall, Hezbollah has been able to rely on Syria for arms , training and easy land access to Iran . And this arrangement was reciprocal. When Assad’s rule was challenged in 2011 and the country descended into civil war, Hezbollah fighters crossed into Syria to bolster government troops. But having grown to become the most powerful paramilitary entity in Lebanon, Hezbollah has seen its fortunes suffer of late. The recent war with Israel severely weakened the group and forced it into accepting a ceasefire deal that includes a pathway toward disarmament. Furthermore, Lebanese support for Hezbollah has shifted dramatically, with open calls for the group to cease its paramilitary activities. The group’s war with Israel cost the lives of about 3,700 people in Lebanon , and about 1.2 million Lebanese – about one-fifth of the population – were internally displaced from their homes. Meanwhile, the economic loss for Lebanon is estimated in the billions of dollars. The Iran, Assad and Hezbollah triangle It is no coincidence that the recent rebel advance that led to Assad’s ouster began the same day the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire was signed . Hezbollah forces were depleted, and many of their fighters were pulled out of Syria to reinforce Lebanon’s southern border . Syrian rebels chose this moment to strike, knowing that Iran was also stretched too thin with the Israel-Hezbollah war to come to Assad’s aid. The domino effect has resulted in the unraveling of Iran’s “ axis of resistance .” Certainly, Tehran has lost its firm grip over Syria and Lebanon. The fact that the fall of Assad coincides with the potential end of both Syria’s civil war and the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah alliance is fitting; it was the start of the civil war that helped anchor that three-way relationship in the first place. In 2011, the Arab Spring – a series of pro-democracy and human rights protests that started in Tunisia – reached Syria. Anti-Assad protests broke out in Daraa and soon spread to major cities such as Homs, Hama and the capital, Damascus. The Syrian government responded with brutality , ordering soldiers to fire at the protesters, while detaining and torturing thousands of men and boys. International outcry followed . But the Syrian government remained in power with the support of Iran and Hezbollah. In fact, in addition to Hezbollah’s fighters, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps was also advising Assad and fighting alongside his military against the Syrian people. For Tehran and its proxy Hezbollah, this helped further the “Iranization” of the region – that is, the spread of the ideology of the Iranian revolution and the conversion of Syria and Lebanon into Shia states. Syria is predominantly Sunni Muslim. Under the Assad family, it was ruled by an Alawite minority – a group that practices a branch of Shia Islam. Hezbollah, as a Shia terrorist group, swore allegiance to Iran’s supreme leader in its 1985 manifesto . The Palestinian cause was another unifying factor between the three. The post-1979 revolutionary Iran credo of “death to Israel” is a sentiment shared by the Assad regime and Hezbollah fighters. However, Assad may have been less vocal about it – especially as he attempted to negotiate with Israel over the occupied Golan Heights . Assad’s Syria, Iran and Hezbollah were not just unified by radicalism and their desire to govern the region. They also shared economic interests and have benefited from trafficking illegal drugs, notably Captagon , an amphetamine-type stimulant that is mass-produced in Syria under the patronage of Assad and Iran. The drug provided an alternative and substantial source of revenue at a time when international sanctions were biting. With the help of Hezbollah and its control of Lebanon’s airport and seaports, the drug has become widely available in the Gulf states. Its highly addictive nature posed a real threat in the Arab world, and Assad used it to pressure Saudi Arabia into advocating for the reinstating of Syria’s membership in the Arab League in 2023. In return, the Syrian regime agreed to redirect its drug trafficking elsewhere. Assad’s legacy With Hezbollah’s defeat in Lebanon and the fall of the Syrian regime, the “Iranization” of the region is, at the very least, stalled. Nevertheless, 54 years of Assad family rule in Syria has left a long trail of destruction in neighboring Lebanon. In June 1976, Syria sent more than 25,000 soldiers over the border to put an end to the Lebanese civil war. Its presence was supposed to be temporary, but it was extended for over four decades. By the time the Lebanese civil war ended in 1991, Syria was exercising total control over Lebanon’s territory as well as its domestic and international affairs . Serious human rights violations were reported, including disappearances, illegal detentions, torture and the assassinations of political figures and journalists . In February 2005, Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri – who publicly opposed the Syrian hegemony in Lebanon – was assassinated in an attack in which Assad and senior Syrian officals have been heavily implicated. The killing sparked the Cedar Revolution , when hundreds of thousands of Lebanese citizens took to the streets demanding the immediate departure of the Syrian forces. Although Syrian forces left Lebanon, the Syrian regime continued to interfere in the country’s politics through Hezbollah, which evolved into a political-military organization and entered the government in 2008. From that point onward, Hezbollah would block any decision that did not serve Syria’s and Iran’s interests. For instance, Hezbollah and its allies vetoed any presidential candidate who was not supportive of the Syrian regime – a policy that plunged Lebanon into a prolonged presidential vacuum . An uncertain future While Hezbollah may continue to operate within Lebanon and under Iran’s umbrella, Assad’s fall means it is deprived of its supply route. Without Syria, Hezbollah has no quick access to Iran’s fighters and weapons – and the newly signed ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel reaffirms Lebanon’s commitment to a U.N. resolution calling for Hezbollah’s disarmament. And while it is unclear what the new Syria will look like, for this moment at least, Lebanon’s and Syria’s populations – both of whom have suffered under decades of brutal rule and Hezbollah’s abuse – are able to rejoice at the departure of the man responsible for inflicting so much of the pain. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/assads-fall-in-syria-will-further-weaken-hezbollah-and-curtails-tehrans-iranization-of-region-245606 . Licenced as Creative Commons - attribution, no derivatives.
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TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Tulsa fired football coach Kevin Wilson on Sunday and will elevate wide receivers coach Ryan Switzer on an interim basis for the remainder of the season. The Golden Hurricane lost to South Florida 63-30 on Saturday, dropping their record to 3-8. The school's decision concludes Wilson's two-year tenure with a 7-16 record, including 3-12 in American Athletic Conference play.The blame game has begun as Labor struggles to clear a logjam of legislation before the federal election. With 30 or so bills still before parliament and just one sitting week left in 2024, the Albanese government has taken aim at the Greens for stalling legislation. The minor party’s objection to the Help to Buy shared equity scheme and incentives for build-to-rent have ignited Labor’s ire as the government prepares to bring the bills for a final vote in the Senate in the upcoming days. “The Greens are going to the next election either as an effective party of protest, that has blocked and delayed action on things they say are important to them, or as a party that lets the government get on with addressing the housing needs of Australia,” Housing Minister Clare O’Neil told ABC Radio on Monday. The two housing bills have struggled to attract the support of the opposition or the Greens, with Labor knocking back fresh demands from the minor party. Central to the Greens’ updated position is funding for 25,000 “shovel-ready” homes not given the go-ahead under the first round of the Housing Australia Future Fund. Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said his party had designed “a compromise offer that is popular, achievable and easy to accept, it requires no new legislation and sits broadly within government policy”. Labor insists the demand is unlawful and would result in the construction of million-dollar homes that are not value for money and could try push through the bill without support from the Greens. “The time for this negotiation and conversation was six months ago,” Ms O’Neil said. The federal government’s attack on the Greens follows the Queensland state election. The minor party lost a seat in the October contest, bolstering hopes for a Labor resurgence in the state at the upcoming federal election. Meanwhile, the federal government will try court the opposition’s support for its migration bill, which could result in the deportation of more than 80,000 people. A friendless crackdown on misinformation and disinformation has been shelved and gambling reforms have been pushed into 2025. Other proposals to establish an environment protection agency and cap the number of foreign student arrivals have reached a stalemate and cabinet minister have continued to point fingers. “You have populist, vote-grabbing parties like the Greens and the coalition,” Resources Minister Madeleine King told ABC Radio. “We’re trying to do the right thing for the Australian community, whereas they want to block this to be able to put out another TikTok. “It’s absolutely disgraceful.” To Labor’s relief, the government is expecting wins on its aged care reforms and its social media age limit, with the former expected to attract opposition support. Under world-first legislation, Australians younger than 16 will be banned from social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and X. Labor will also be spruiking its Future Made in Australia plan, with its hydrogen and critical minerals production tax incentives to be introduced to parliament on Monday. The federal election is due to be held by May 17.
A new wave of AI development is about to take shape — and Wall Street is starting to divert its attention from the market's largest companies to a different group of stocks, according to Bank of America. In a recent note, the bank's strategists said they foresaw a coming "Agentic AI wave," referring to the second phase of development. Possible beneficiaries include companies that are beginning to deploy AI through apps, or industrial and commercial robots. There are some signs AI innovation is already headed in that direction, the bank added, pointing to new features added to AI software, like Google's , and robotic security dogs being deployed at Trump's Florida Mar-a-Lago. Meanwhile, Bank of America clients are already beginning to shift their focus from the market's top AI names, like , to what the bank believes to be the "second phase of AI beneficiaries," the note said. "We urge investors not to diminish AI's near-term disruption potential in this early stage. Upside is unlikely to be fully priced in across the AI investment stack and, specifically, across our software coverage, in our view," strategists wrote. "We expect AI monetization across our coverage to begin in 2025 as software's AI moment arrives and monetization to become meaningful in 2026 as enterprise adoption accelerates," they continued. The bank reiterated its focus on six large-cap stocks, which it said were among its top picks as the Agentic AI theme plays out. 1. Microsoft ( ) In an early November note, the bank pointed to Microsoft's plans to supplement with more AI agents, which could help automate tasks related to sales, services, finances, and managing supply chains. Strategists issued a price target of $510 a share, implying 23% upside from current levels. 2. Salesforce ( ) Salesforce plans on integrating AI agents into its range of products, which can help automate tasks in areas like customer service and marketing, the bank said. The firm also finalized a partnership with Nvidia to create avatars that can automate tasks in customer service, crisis management, and other areas. Strategists issued a price target of $390 a share, implying 14% upside from current levels. 3. Adobe ( ) Adobe is planning to work AI tools into its product suite, including its Creative Cloud and Experience Cloud platforms. That can help automate tasks related to data analysis and creating new content, strategists said. Bank of America issued a price target of $640 a share, implying 20% upside from current levels. 4. ServiceNow ( ) The company is planning to deploy AI agents on its Now Platform, which can help in areas like IT management and customer service. Strategists issued a price target of $1,075 a share, implying 1% upside from current levels. 5. Intuit ( ) Intuit is also planning to integrate its AI agent across its range of products, which includes TurboTax, Credit Karma, and QuickBooks. That can automate tasks for users and businesses, like creating new bills or processing invoices. Strategists issued a price target of $780 a share, implying 21% upside from current levels. 6. HubSpot ( ) The firm is planning to deploy an AI agent into its Marketing and Content Hub, which will help automate tasks in areas like marketing and sales. Strategists issued a price target of $780 a share, implying 6% upside from current levels. Read the original article onBy HILLEL ITALIE NEW YORK (AP) — Even through a year of nonstop news about elections, climate change, protests and the price of eggs, there was still time to read books. U.S. sales held steady according to Circana, which tracks around 85% of the print market, with many choosing the relief of romance, fantasy and romantasy. Some picked up Taylor Swift’s tie-in book to her blockbuster tour, while others sought out literary fiction, celebrity memoirs, political exposes and a close and painful look at a generation hooked on smartphones. Here are 10 notable books published in 2024, in no particular order. “House of Flame and Shadow,” by Sarah J. Maas Asking about the year’s hottest reads would basically yield a list of the biggest hits in romantasy, the blend of fantasy and romance that has proved so irresistible fans were snapping up expensive “special editions” with decorative covers and sprayed edges. Of the 25 top sellers of 2024, as compiled by Circana, six were by romantasy favorite Sarah J. Maas, including “House of Flame and Shadow,” the third of her “Crescent City” series. Millions read her latest installment about Bryce Quinlan and Hunter Athalar and traced the ever-growing ties of “Maasverse,” the overlapping worlds of “Crescent City” and her other series, “Throne of Glass” and “A Court of Thorns and Roses.” “The Anxious Generation,” by Jonathan Haidt If romantasy is for escape, other books demand we confront. In the bestselling “The Anxious Generation,” social psychologist Jonathan Haidt looks into studies finding that the mental health of young people began to deteriorate in the 2010s, after decades of progress. According to Haidt, the main culprit is right before us: digital screens that have drawn kids away from “play-based” to “phone-based” childhoods. Although some critics challenged his findings, “The Anxious Generation” became a talking point and a catchphrase. Admirers ranged from Oprah Winfrey to Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee, who in a letter to state legislators advocated such “commonsense recommendations” from the book as banning phones in schools and keeping kids off social media until age 16. “War,” by Bob Woodward Bob Woodward books have been an election tradition for decades. “War,” the latest of his highly sourced Washington insider accounts, made news with its allegations that Donald Trump had been in frequent contact with Russian leader Vladimir Putin even while out of office and, while president, had sent Putin sophisticated COVID-19 test machines. Among Woodward’s other scoops: Putin seriously considered using nuclear weapons against Ukraine, and President Joe Biden blamed former President Barack Obama, under whom he served as vice president, for some of the problems with Russia. “Barack never took Putin seriously,” Woodward quoted Biden as saying. “Melania,” by Melania Trump Former (and future) first lady Melania Trump, who gives few interviews and rarely discusses her private life, unexpectedly announced she was publishing a memoir: “Melania.” The publisher was unlikely for a former first lady — not one of the major New York houses, but Skyhorse, where authors include such controversial public figures as Woody Allen and Trump cabinet nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And its success was at least a minor surprise. Melania Trump did little publicity for the book, and offered few revelations beyond posting a video expressing support for abortion rights — a break from one of the cornerstones of GOP policy. But “Melania” still sold hundreds of thousands of copies, many in the days following her husband’s election. “The Eras Tour Book,” by Taylor Swift Taylor Swift was more than a music story in 2024. Like “Melania,” the news about Taylor Swift’s self-published tie-in to her global tour isn’t so much the book itself, but that it exists. And how well it sold. As she did with the “Eras” concert film, Swift bypassed the established industry and worked directly with a distributor: Target offered “The Eras Tour Book” exclusively. According to Circana, the “Eras” book sold more than 800,000 copies just in its opening week, an astonishing number for a publication unavailable through Amazon.com and other traditional retailers. No new book in 2024 had a better debut. “Intermezzo,” by Sally Rooney Midnight book parties are supposed to be for “Harry Potter” and other fantasy series, but this fall, more than 100 stores stayed open late to welcome one of the year’s literary events: Sally Rooney’s “Intermezzo.” The Irish author’s fourth novel centers on two brothers, their grief over the death of their father, their very different career paths and their very unsettled love lives. “Intermezzo” was also a book about chess: “You have to read a lot of opening theory — that’s the beginning of a game, the first moves,” one of the brothers explains. “And you’re learning all this for what? Just to get an okay position in the middle game and try to play some decent chess. Which most of the time I can’t do anyway.” “From Here to the Great Unknown,” by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough Lisa Marie Presley had been working on a memoir at the time of her death , in 2023, and daughter Riley Keough had agreed to help her complete it. “From Here to the Great Unknown” is Lisa Marie’s account of her father, Elvis Presley, and the sagas of of her adult life, notably her marriage to Michael Jackson and the death of son Benjamin Keough. To the end, she was haunted by the loss of Elvis, just 42 when he collapsed and died at his Graceland home while young Lisa Marie was asleep. “She would listen to his music alone, if she was drunk, and cry,” Keough, during an interview with Winfrey, said of her mother. “Cher: The Memoir, Part One,” by Cher Meanwhile, Cher released the first of two planned memoirs titled “Cher” — no further introduction required. Covering her life from birth to the end of the 1970s, she focuses on her ill-fated marriage to Sonny Bono, remembering him as a gifted entertainer and businessman who helped her believe in herself while turning out to be unfaithful, erratic, controlling and so greedy that he kept all the couple’s earnings for himself. Unsure of whether to leave or stay, she consulted a very famous divorcee, Lucille Ball, who reportedly encouraged her: “F— him, you’re the one with the talent.” “James,” by Percival Everett A trend in recent years is to take famous novels from the past, and remove words or passages that might offend modern readers; an edition of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” cuts the racist language from Mark Twain’s original text. In the most celebrated literary work of 2024, Percival Everett found a different way to take on Twain’s classic — write it from the perspective of the enslaved Jim. “James,” winner of the National Book Award, is a recasting in many ways. Everett suggests to us that the real Jim was nothing like the deferential figure known to millions of readers, but a savvy and learned man who concealed his intelligence from the whites around him, and even from Twain himself. “Knife,” by Salman Rushdie Salman Rushdie’s first National Book Award nomination was for a memoir he wished he had no reason to write. In “Knife,” he recounts in full detail the horrifying attempt on his life in 2022, when an attendee rushed the stage during a literary event in western New York and stabbed him repeatedly, leaving with him a blinded eye and lasting nerve damage, but with a spirit surprisingly intact. “If you had told me that this was going to happen and how would I deal with it, I would not have been very optimistic about my chances,” he told The Associated Press last spring. “I’m still myself, you know, and I don’t feel other than myself. But there’s a little iron in the soul, I think.”
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Over 18,000 people in Mexico have registered online to run for Supreme Court seats and federal judgeships in the country's contentious new selection process , but a random drawing in the end will determine who gets on the ballot, officials said Monday. The ruling party pushed through a constitutional reform in September to make all federal judges stand for election, replacing the system where court employees and lawyers mainly move up through the ranks. Current court employees and their supporters have staged dozens of demonstrations against the reforms, calling them part of a ruling-party campaign to weaken checks and balances and eliminate independent regulatory and oversight bodies. Now, candidates for Supreme Court seats and federal judgeships need only a law degree, a grade point average of 3.2, “five years of professional experience” and five letters of recommendation from neighbors or friends. That, and some luck in the final drawing. Officials rejected criticism that has called the process rushed or amateurish for the often highly technical posts that can hear cases including intellectual property, organized crime and Constitutional law. “The results have been spectacular,” said Arturo Zaldivar, a top advisor to President Claudia Sheinbaum. According to the plan, evaluation committees will have just over a month to review thousands of resumes and whittle the field to about 10 candidates or less for each for the 881 judgeships and nine seats on the Supreme Court. Then 1,793 names chosen at random from those selected will appear on the ballot on June 1. Critics warn that many who land on the ballot will be unknowns who perhaps have never argued a case in the courts they seek to run. “You don’t elect a doctor or a surgeon for an operation based on their popularity, you elect them based on their technical expertise, their ability, their knowledge,” said Sergio Méndez Silva, the legal coordinator for the civic group Foundation for Justice. “That also applies for a judge.” With candidates now having to run election campaigns, critics warn there's a chance drug cartels or political parties could finance them to get friendly judges onto the bench. There are also concerns that the evaluation committees deciding who makes the cut for the selection to appear on ballots may not be impartial. Most committee members were appointed by the legislative or executive branches, controlled by the ruling Morena party. Some critics argue that the current justice system, which is riddled with nepotism, corruption and a lack of accountability, needs to be changed. “We need a justice system that gives results,” said Martínez Garza, an academic and former head of the human rights commission in the northern border state of Nuevo Leon who has registered to run for a Supreme Court seat. Trials in Mexico can last for years, and the ruling party has added to the growing list of crimes for which bail is not allowed, meaning that a large percentage of the prison population is people awaiting trial.
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