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🇸🇾 Aleppo corridors open, then fighting erupts. Syrian government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) traded fire in Aleppo hours after authorities opened evacuation routes. Residents said about 800 people crossed out of SDF-held districts. Pro-government media reported 2 SDF fighters were killed in the clashes. The SDF said government fire killed 1 of its fighters and injured another. The exits were meant to drain civilians, but they also redrew the front line. In Aleppo, a corridor can become a trigger faster than a truce.

🇾🇪 Yemen council boots a separatist leader for treason. The Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) says it expelled Aidarous al-Zubaidi, head of the Southern Transitional Council (STC). The PLC accused al-Zubaidi of treason and ordered his arrest, escalating a long-simmering split. Al-Zubaidi had just returned from the United Arab Emirates after talks on a southern referendum and cabinet changes. PLC chairman Rashad al-Alimi urged unity as war with Houthi rebels drags on. The conflict has killed about 150K people, and foreign backers still shape the chessboard. Yemen’s fractures are not new, but the deadlines now feel sharper than the front lines.

🗄️ Job openings slide, and hiring stays sluggish. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) shows openings fell 125K to 7.4M in November. That is the second-lowest level since February 2021, down from 8.9M a year earlier. Hiring rose 119K to 5.4M, signaling caution more than collapse. Layoffs eased to 1.6M, while quits rose to 3.3M, a confidence tell. For the Federal Reserve (Fed), fewer openings can cool wage pressure without breaking demand. In 2026, the labor market is exhaling.

📉 Stocks drift as the year’s early heat fades. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index (S&P 500) fell 0.1% to 6,832.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 45,927.44. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.4% to 22,161.47 as traders trimmed risk. Much of the drag came from the “Magnificent Seven,” the mega-cap engines of last year’s rally. Investors kept one eye on oil and one on Federal Reserve (Fed) rate signals. January has barely started, and sentiment is already bargaining with itself.

🤖 Grok backlash grows over explicit AI images and safety gaps. The xAI chatbot’s “spicy mode” can generate graphic images, including sexualized depictions. AI Forensics analyzed 20K outputs and said 2% appeared under 18, and also flagged nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII) risks via near-nude deepfakes of real women. X says it bans illegal content, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), yet explicit images still surfaced this week, documented by journalists and users, leading to global outrage. The fight runs into Section 230 and bills like the TAKE IT DOWN Act and the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act (DEFIANCE Act). The disturbing news comes as xAI announced it raised $20B in a Series E funding round at a $230B valuation. When guardrails lag, screenshots do the reporting.

🏠 Vance home vandalism suspect jailed after arraignment in Ohio. Prosecutors say 26-year-old William DeFoor vandalized Vice President JD Vance’s Ohio home. Investigators say he was armed with a hammer and broke windows before police arrived; Vance’s family and staff were not home during the attack. DeFoor faces multiple felony counts, including vandalism and attempted burglary, court records show. The case lands amid a charged political climate where symbolism travels faster than due process. The windows will be repaired quickly, but the security debate will not.

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