The Headlines - A Search for Syria’s Disappeared, and New Details in C.E.O. Killing Investigation

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

Plus, another World Cup raises human rights fears.   Tune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. On Today’s Episode:A Search in Syria for the Disappeared, by Daniel Berehulak and Christina GoldbaumIsrael, Seeing an Opportunity, Demolishes Syria’s Military Assets, by Jack NicasSuspect in C.E.O. Killing Withdrew From a Life of Privilege and Promise, by Corey Kilgannon, Mike Baker, Luke Broadwater and Shawn HublerFederal Judge Blocks $25 Billion Kroger-Albertsons Grocery Merger, by Danielle KayePanic at Pepperdine University in Malibu as Wildfires Threaten City, by Corina Knoll and Isabelle TaftFIFA Bends Own Rules to Give Saudi Arabia Coveted 2034 World Cup, by Tariq Panja

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Wednesday, December 11th. Here's what we're covering. In Syria, the end of Bashar al-Assad's regime has kicked off a desperate search. Families are hoping to find out what happened to their loved ones who disappeared while Assad was in power. For years, Assad used mass arrests, imprisonment, and torture to crush dissent.

People disappeared off the streets or were pulled out of college classes and thrown into prison. The whereabouts of more than 130,000 Syrians who were arrested is still unknown, according to a human rights group there. After Assad fled Syria on Sunday, people rushed to one of the country's most notorious prisons, a mountaintop complex called Sednaya, to look for their relatives. Rumors spread that there might be hidden underground cells, and they used shovels and excavators to tear up the floors and the walls in a frantic search.

They didn't end up finding any secret rooms, but dozens of bodies were recovered. Yesterday, Times reporters were at a morgue in Damascus where they were taken. Medical workers had started a social media channel where they were posting photos of the dead so they could be ID'd, and hundreds of people flooded into the building tearing off tarps that covered the bodies to see who was underneath. Some of the bodies seemed to have signs of torture. Many of the faces were so gaunt that family members wondered aloud if they'd even be able to recognize them. Meanwhile, the rebel alliance that's taken control of Syria has vowed to hunt down and punish senior members of the Assad regime who they say were responsible for torture and other abuses.

They're working to consolidate power even as other groups and neighboring countries are fighting for territory and control amid the chaos and uncertainty. The Israeli military says it's launched at least 350 airstrikes on Syria, taking out the country's entire navy and destroying fighter jets and air defense systems, saying they want to keep those weapons out of the hands of Islamist extremists. And in the north of Syria yesterday, there was intense fighting between another faction of rebels, supported by Turkey, and Kurdish forces backed by the U.S. The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO appeared in court in Pennsylvania yesterday

for an extradition hearing. Prosecutors in New York have charged Luigi Mangione with murder and want him brought to the state, but Mangione is fighting that. That could keep him in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested, for weeks of legal back and forth. Listen, I haven't seen any evidence that says that he's the shooter. So that's... Mangione's lawyer spoke to reporters yesterday outside the courthouse in Central Pennsylvania. How do you end up in Altoona? I'm not going to talk about that. Has he been able to contact his family since... Yeah, I'm not going to get into that either. Has he been able to contact his family since? Yeah, I'm not going to get into that either.

On the investigation front, the Times has obtained a copy of an internal NYPD report that details parts of the manifesto Mangione was found with when he was arrested. Police say Mangione described the health insurance industry as parasitic, and said Mangione, quote, likely views himself as a hero of sorts who has finally decided to act upon such injustices. On social media, some people have echoed that idea, even celebrating Mangione as a vigilante, someone they think was fighting back against the for-profit health care system. Mangione's lawyer told CNN people have been reaching out to support him.

I have recently seen some emails. I have not seen them personally, but my understanding from my staff is people are doing that. The people are reaching out to you and offering to help pay for his legal bills. That's correct. The biggest potential grocery store merger in U.S. history just took a double hit. Kroger has been trying to acquire its rival chain Albertsons for $25 billion, but both

a federal judge and a Washington state judge moved to block the deal yesterday, one after the other. It's a win for federal regulators, who've argued that the merger could cut down on competition, hurting customers who might have fewer options. They also argued it would hurt grocery store workers, who could see their wages fall. The companies, for their part, have argued they need to merge in order to compete against the likes of Walmart and Amazon. Combining forces would give them some 5,000 stores across 48 states.

And that still might happen. Yesterday's rulings have only paused the merger. The Federal Trade Commission will ultimately decide if it can go through. The current head of the FTC, Lena Kahn, has aggressively challenged high-profile mergers. But the supermarket giants could get more friendly treatment soon. President-elect Trump just named his pick to lead the FTC, Andrew Ferguson, who's promised to ease up on policing these kinds of deals. This is Mark Abramson, photographer of the New York Times. I'm currently on top of the hill overlooking the Pacific coast and seeing a fire that is

burning. In Southern California, the Times is tracking the Franklin fire, which has scorched more than 2,700 acres near Malibu since it started on Monday night. I have my N95 mask just to protect a little bit from all the smoke. You can hear helicopters overhead. That's LA County fire about to drop water signaling to crews nearby. Hundreds of firefighters have been working to put out the flames and some residents who ignored evacuation orders used garden hoses to

try and save their homes. The fire started in the dry scrub-filled canyons above Malibu and has been fueled by intense winds. As of early this morning, it was 0% contained, and a long stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway has been shut down. Officials are hoping that as the wind lets up today, they'll be able to get control of the blaze. And finally, today, FIFA is set to announce the hosts for the 2030 and 2034 World Cup. 2030 is expected to go to a group of countries spread across three continents. That's a first for the competition. It's Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

But the pick for 2034 is already stirring up controversy. It's expected to go to Saudi Arabia. One of the biggest concerns is over the people who build the Saudi Arabia World Cup in 2034. The majority of stadiums are unbuilt airports, roads, in fact, an entire new city is expected to be built. Much of that work will be done by thousands if not millions of migrant workers from some of the poorest countries on the planet. My colleague Tarek Panja is covering the host city selection process.

There were similar concerns around the 2022 World Cup, which was held in neighboring Qatar. Rights groups have said as many as thousands of workers were killed in the build-up to that World Cup, where a dozen new stadiums were built, roads and other infrastructure, similar to projects that are required in Saudi Arabia. The Qataris say the number is much lower than that. They did say one death is too much. There are also broader human rights concerns about Saudi Arabia under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He's been praised in some parts of the world for reforms, liberalizations to Saudi society. But rights groups say that there are major concerns about the treatment of women, the

fate of the LGBTQ community in Saudi Arabia, as well as anyone who opposes the regime. Saudi Arabia's response to these concerns has been to call much of the dialogue shallow and instead said the country is on the path towards change and events like the World Cup will only move those changes forward. But obviously once Saudi Arabia is awarded the World Cup, the biggest sporting event on the planet, with that will bring more scrutiny than it has likely faced before,

both from the media and activist groups. That will be scrutiny that will last at least a decade now for Saudi Arabia. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, the Times' chief architecture critic tells the story of the remarkable reconstruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral. That's next in the New York Times audio app, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford.

We'll be back tomorrow.