Photo: Science Photo Library RF
1 Suspect Still At Large In UnitedHealthcare CEO Murder
The search continues for the individual wanted for questioning in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The New York Police Department released two new photos of the suspect, including one showing him through the partition of what appears to be a taxi and wearing a blue medical mask and a hoodie. A gray backpack found in Central Park was found to have a jacket and money from the board game “Monopoly” inside. The murder weapon hasn’t been found, and a NYPD dive team searched a lake in Central Park again yesterday trying to recover evidence. Major health insurer Centene announced on Friday that it would hold its planned in-person investor day in New York City, planned for this week, virtually instead due to Thompson’s killing.
2 President Biden Says Fall Of Syria Is "Historic Opportunity"
The government of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad collapsed over the weekend, leading al-Assad to flee the country for Moscow. Speaking at a defense conference on Saturday before the rebels moved into Damascus, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the rebels were able to move so quickly because the chief backers of the Assad regime had been “weakened and distracted,” referring to Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah. That opinion was repeated by President Joe Biden when he addressed the nation yesterday afternoon, saying “This regime brutalized, tortured, and killed literally hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians.” Biden also said that the US would “support Syria’s neighbors, including Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Israel, should any threat arise.” Posting on X, President-elect Donald Trump said that Syria is “not our friend,” then continued in all-caps to say “THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED.” The collapse of the Assad regime brings an end to a 24-year reign of power in the country for Assad, who succeeded his father in the country’s leadership role in 2000. The family has ruled Syria since 1971.
3 Federal Appeals Court Rejects TikTok's Attempt To Overturn Ban Law
TikTok is one step closer to being banned. A federal appeals court rejected TikTok’s attempt to overturn the law banning the platform unless it finds a new owner. The company challenged the law on First Amendment grounds, but a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that it found merit in security concerns about potential data collection or manipulation by the Chinese government. In a statement on Friday, TikTok urged the Supreme Court to overrule the decision. The law putting the ban into play passed the House by a vote of 352-65, and in the Senate 79 to 18 with three abstentions, meaning a repeal of the law is unlikely. If allowed to stay, the ban will take effect on January 19th, the day before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office for his second term.