5 things to know for Dec. 9: Syria civil war, CEO shooter manhunt, Trump transition, TikTok ban, Notre Dame reopens

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Merriam-Webster’s word of the year is “polarization” — a word that has been used incessantly to describe the fraught state of American politics. Earlier this month, the Oxford Dictionary announced that “brain rot” was its word of the year, while the Cambridge Dictionary declared “manifest” its lead word of 2024. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. The long rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is over after rebels swept into the capital of Damascus on Sunday. Assad and his family are known for a brutal dictatorship, which since 2011 has been devastated by a civil war that turned it into a breeding ground for the extremist group ISIS while sparking a refugee crisis that saw millions displaced from their homes. Assad’s removal was celebrated by Syrians as the ousted leader fled to Russia. President Joe Biden vowed to support the region amid a moment of instability. The US military said it struck more than 75 ISIS targets in the country on Sunday to prevent the terrorist group from taking advantage of the situation there. The NYPD is working with law enforcement agencies in several states to locate a still-unidentified suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. While authorities say they believe the gunman has long left New York City after the shooting on Wednesday, they feel confident he will be captured. Meanwhile, photos of the suspect have been circulated to airports and border patrol stations along the Mexican and Canadian borders in the hope he won’t slip out of the country. The FBI is offering up to $50,000 of reward money for information leading to his arrest and conviction. The NYPD has added another $10,000. President-elect Donald Trump previewed a sweeping agenda for his second term in an interview with NBC News that aired Sunday. Trump vowed to pursue pardons for January 6 defendants and raised the possibility that some of his political opponents could face jail time. He outlined how his administration will prioritize mass deportations but said he’s open to working with Democrats to preserve the legal status of “Dreamers” — an often-used term for immigrants who were brought to the US as children. Trump also doubled down on his campaign promise to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, and suggested he may attempt to overturn the right through executive action. “We have to end it. We’re the only country that has it,” he falsely said. As CNN has reported, about three dozen countries provide automatic citizenship to people born on their soil. TikTok recently lost its bid to strike down a law that could result in the platform being banned in the US starting on January 19, 2025. A US appeals court on Friday upheld the law that requires TikTok to be sold off from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a ban, dealing a major blow to the social media platform that’s used by more than 170 million Americans. Under the law, app stores could face major fines if they continue to host TikTok following the deadline if it’s not sold. TikTok indicated that it plans to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. The ban could be delayed or avoided with support from President-elect Donald Trump after he takes office. President Joe Biden could also technically grant a one-time, 90-day extension of the deadline, although he has not indicated that he will do so.