Dear readers,
The fall of Bashar al-Assad last Sunday following a lightning offensive by rebel groups sparked scenes of joy throughout Syria as a protracted civil war and more than half a century of iron-clad dictatorship came to an end. The country now looks to the future with a transitional government in place that aims to draft a new Constitution within six months. However, the path to democracy remains fraught with obstacles. Not only will the fundamentalist militia Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which led the offensive against the regime, need to accommodated, Israel has already taken advantage of the power vacuum to stage a military operation on Syrian soil for the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, with the aim of preventing the incoming authorities from using military capabilities against the Jewish State, and the rearming of Hezbollah.
We interviewed Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko, who discussed the evolution of relations with Washington when the Donald Trump administration takes the reins and the current situation on the battlefield, as well as Ukraine's accession to NATO. "We already have the Budapest Memorandum and it did not serve any purpose in terms of Ukraine’s security. That’s why there should be very clear security guarantees for Ukraine. And right now I can’t imagine these guarantees without NATO," he told EL PAÍS.
Elsewhere, we looked at how the nomination of Elon Musk devotee Jared Isaacman as NASA administrator could affect the U.S. space agency and the possibility of future missions to Mars, examined how Chevy Chase became one of America's most beloved comedy icons despite an abrasive personality that led one observer to note "not everyone hates Chevy Chase. Just the people who have worked with him," and took a trip to the “World Capital of the UFO Phenomenon,” La Rumorosa in Mexico, to see if the truth is out there.
We hope you enjoy this selection of stories from EL PAÍS USA Edition.
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