Thursday morning news: December 12, 2024

SOUND: [Shops reopen in Damascus]

Syria latest » Life is slowly returning to normal in Syria with some shops and markets reopening in the capital city of Damascus Wednesday.

TRADER: [Speaking Arabic]

A local trader said with now-deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad gone Damascus and Syria are returning to what they used to be. 

He added that it’s clear people are smiling differently now. 

Meantime, world leaders are concerned about chemical weapons stockpiles left behind by Assad's regime. The leader of H-T-S… one of the rebel groups that overthrew Assad, says the group is actively working to locate these stockpiles. But not to use them.

And Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said that's encouraging.

SINGH: We welcome this type of rhetoric, but actions have to meet words as well. So we're going to continue to work with the groups that we have relationships with. Again, our focus is that these chemical weapons do not fall into the wrong hands. 

Singh said the U.S. is working with regional partners like Israel, Turkey, and Jordan...to make sure that doesn't happen.

New Jersey drones » She also fielded questions about mysterious drone flights over New Jersey and New York. 

Congressman Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey says he learned from reliable sources that the drones are from an "Iranian mothership" parked off the East Coast.

VAN DREW:  The sources I have are good, they can't reveal who they are because they are speaking to me in confidentiality. 

But Singh told reporters at the Pentagon …

SINGH:  Our initial assessment here is that these are not drones or activities coming from a foreign entity or adversary.

Van Drew said regardless of who’s flying the drones, they need to be shot down. 

The drones have been spotted near U.S. military facilities as well as Donald Trump’s Bedminster Golf resort. That’s of concern because of known Iranian plots to assassinate Trump. 

The Department of Homeland Security has reportedly described the devices as up to 6 feet in diameter and sometimes traveling with their lights off.

MCCAUL: [gavel] The Committee on Foreign Affairs will come to order. The purpose of today’s hearing is to hear directly from Sec. Blinken, and get his assessment of his State Department’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

Afghanistan withdrawal hearing » Secretary of State Tony Blinken in the hot seat Wednesday at a House hearing. 

Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul led with an opening statement on the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August of 2021. 

MCCAUL:   This catastrophic event was the beginning of a failed foreign policy that lit the world on fire.

For his part, Blinken told members of the committee that while the speed of the Taliban’s takeover caught the Biden administration by surprise …

BLINKEN:  The administration, the State Department in particular, engaged in extensive planning for a whole range of outcomes.

But GOP Congressman Rich McCormick ripped into what he said was a lack of adequate planning. 

MCCORMICK:  To not plan on what airfields to secure on how to keep those, uh, uh, police stations secure while we're withdrawing to make sure that we got our, our people out on time in a safe way … doesn't make any sense.

Thirteen U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghan civilians were killed during the U.S. withdrawal. 

Russia new missile » The Pentagon says Russia could launch its lethal new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine again soon. 

Authorities cited a U.S. intelligence assessment, saying an attack could happen “in the coming days.” 

U.S. military officials do not consider the Oreshnik missile to be a game changer on the battlefield. But Russia is thought to be using the weapon to intimidate Ukraine as both sides wrestle for any advantage that may give them leverage in any negotiations to end the war.

Wray to resign » FBI Director Christopher Wray says plans to step down next month when President Biden leaves office. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports

KRISTEN FLAVIN: President Trump named Wray to head the FBI in 20-17 after firing then-FBI Director, James Comey, amid accusations that he had politicized the bureau. 

But the president-elect believes corruption and politics still loom large within the FBI and made no secret that he wanted Wray to step aside. 

He plans to nominate Kash Patel to lead the bureau. 

Democrats say it is Trump who is politicizing the agency by moving to install a loyalist. 

Wray, speaking at a town hall meeting Tuesday with the bureau workforce, said he would be stepping down—his words “after weeks of careful thought.” 

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin. 

Nancy Mace attack » A person accused of accosting Congresswoman Nancy Mace in a Capitol Office building has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge. 

The exact nature of that alleged assault is unclear. 33-year-old James McIntyre of Chicago is accused of acting aggressively when Mace extended her hand for a handshake. 

The Congresswoman has drawn the ire of pro-trans activists for pushing for policy in the House chamber stating that biological men are not allowed in women’s restrooms. 

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Florida is the latest state to change its approach to addressing homelessness. Plus, how a boys choir not only makes beautiful music, but prepares young men for life.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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