Syrian rebel groups fighting to depose President Bashar al-Assad pushed farther south today toward the major city of Homs. The government’s chief patron, Iran, moved to evacuate military commanders and other personnel after more than a decade of staunch support.

Those evacuated by Iran included top commanders of the powerful Quds Forces, according to Iranian and regional officials. Separately, a force led by Kurds and backed by the U.S. deployed in an eastern city previously held by al-Assad’s government. Taken together, the battlefield gains present the most serious challenge in years to the Syrian president’s power. Here’s a map of the movements in the war.

The rebels are led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group previously linked to Al Qaeda. Its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, said in an interview with The Times that his goal was to “liberate Syria from this oppressive regime.”

Judges rejected TikTok’s effort to avoid a U.S. ban

TikTok, a video app used by more than 170 million Americans, moved one step closer today to disappearing from the U.S. market. A panel of federal judges unanimously upheld a new law that requires the app’s Chinese owner to either sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner by mid-January or face a nationwide ban in the U.S.