For today, a link to a report from the Associated Press; others are accessible by clicking on its initials below. (Scroll down for MEDIA 12-8-25 and for GAZA and WEST BANK.) — MCM

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Takeover bid of parent company means limbo for CNN and some fellow cable networks, by David Bauder | AP  Paramount Skydance’s hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery places CNN and its sister cable networks squarely back into what is likely to be an extended period of management limbo. READ MORE . . .

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For today, links to seven reports: from Common Dreams, Anadolu Ajansi, Agence France-Presse, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, Middle East Monitor, and the Cradle, and to commentary from Antiwar.com; other published material is accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for GAZA 12-8-25 and up or down for MEDIA and WEST BANK.) — MCM

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Military budget bill would ramp up Israel aid to fill In ‘gaps’ when other countries impose embargoes over genocide, by Stephen Prager | Common Dreams  A provision of the latest National Defense Authorization Act would direct the U.S. to create a plan to fill the “gaps” for Israel whenever other nations cut off arms shipments in response to its acts of genocide in Gaza, as Prem Thakker reported Monday for Zeteo. READ MORE . . .

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Israeli army continues to shell northern, southern Gaza Strip despite ceasefire, by Ramzi Mahmud and Betul Yilmaz | Anadolu  GAZA CITY, Palestine / ISTANBUL — The Israeli army has carried out a new wave of airstrikes and artillery shelling of army-controlled areas in the northern and southern Gaza Strip, violating . . . READ MORE . . .

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Hamas says no Gaza truce second phase while Israel ‘continues violations.’ From AFP. GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — Hamas said on Tuesday that the Gaza ceasefire plan cannot proceed to its second phase as long as Israeli “violations” persist and called on mediators to pressure Israel to respect the agreement. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AFP report in French, and HERE for headlines of others.

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FROM DEC. 8  Hamas leader tells NPR group could lay down weapons in Gaza, with conditions. Reported by Aya Batrawy | NPR  Hamas is changing its long-held position that its weapons are a red line, now saying it would be willing to lay down arms but with certain conditions. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan faces pitfalls in a complicated second phase, by Josef Federman | AP  DOHA — With the remains of one hostage still in Gaza, the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas is nearly complete, after a two-month process plagued by delays and finger-pointing. READ MORE . . .

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FROM DEC. 8  Egypt insists Palestinians alone will govern Gaza after the war. From Middle East Monitor. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reaffirmed on Monday in Doha that Palestinians alone will administer the Gaza Strip once the Israeli genocide ends, stressing Cairo’s categorical rejection of any foreign authority or . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM DEC. 8  Qatar, Turkiye unveil plan for two-year ‘disarmament period’ in Gaza: report. From the Cradle. Qatar and Turkiye have unveiled a new initiative that would give Hamas a two-year period to carry out a disarmament process, Hebrew media reported on Monday. READ MORE . . .

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If Trump is serious about peace, Marco Rubio has to go, by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies | Antiwar.com  Donald Trump campaigned on ending endless wars and now boasts he has resolved eight wars. In reality, this claim is delusional, and his foreign policy is a disaster. The United States remains mired . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

For today, a link to a report from the Floutist that includes video from West Bank Alerts; other published material is accessible by clicking on their names below. (Scroll down for WEST BANK 12-8-25, and up for MEDIA and GAZA.) — MCM

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FROM NOV. 7  ‘Stick, stones, matches, gasoline,’ by Cara Marianna | The Floutist  On Saturday morning, Nov. 1, I received a text from my friend and contact Adnan al–Abayat, who lives in the village of Kisan, 15 kilometers southeast of Bethlehem. He sent two videos that were then circulating in Palestinian social media. What you see in them . . . Click HERE for author’s text and video from West Bank Alerts. 

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One link: to commentary from Middle East Eye; other articles are accessible by clicking on its name below. (Scroll down for GAZA 12-7-25 — and for UKRAINE, SYRIA, WEST BANK and MEDIA.) — MCM

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FROM DEC. 4  For any hope of peace, all Palestinians must be released from Israel’s torture chambers, by David Hearst | Middle East Eye  Contemporary reports about the industrialised abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and detention centers could fill a small library. A November report from the United Nations committee on torture says Israel has a “de facto state policy of organized and widespread . . . READ MORE . . .

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Links to eight reports: from Kyiv Post, the Kyiv Inependent, the Associated Press, National Public Radio, the Moscow Times, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for UKRAINE 12-7-25 — and up or down for GAZA, SYRIA, WEST BANK and MEDIA.) — MCM

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No agreement on Donbas in U.S. talks yet, Zelensky says, by Korbinian Leo Kramer | Kyiv Post  Kyiv and Washington have yet to reach an agreement on the future of eastern Ukrainian territories amid ongoing U.S.-led peace talks, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published today in Bloomberg News. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from the Kyiv Independent.

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Zelenskyy in London for talks with European allies on peace plan and security, by Jill Lawless and Illia Novikov | AP  LONDON — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was meeting the French, German and British leaders in London today as Kyiv’s European allies try to strengthen Ukraine’s hand in thorny talks on a U.S.-backed plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others. Click HERE and HERE for reports from NPR and Kyiv Post.

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Expert weighs in on how U.S. relations with Europe are changing. Reported by Leila Fadel of NPR  How is the U.S. reshaping relations with longtime allies in Europe? Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, gives her perspective. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Court in occupied Donetsk jails Russian soldiers in killing of American fighter. From the Moscow Times. A judge in the occupied Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine today sentenced four Russian soldiers to prison for the torture and killing of Richard Bentley, an American man who had fought alongside pro-Moscow forces. READ MORE . . .

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France does not want to expropriate Russian assets held in its private banks — FT. From Tass. LONDON — France, which supported the provision of a reparations loan to Ukraine, refused to include in it funds frozen in the republic’s private banks, the Financial Times newspaper wrote, citing sources. READ MORE . . .

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Links to three reports: from National Public Radio and Middle East Eye; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for SYRIA 12-7-25 — and up or down for GAZA, UKRAINE, WEST BANK and MEDIA.) — MCM

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Syria marks one year since the fall of the Assad regime. Reported by Jane Arraf and Leila Fadel | NPR  It’s been one year since Syria toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. How the nation is marking the anniversary today. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Syria’s tumultuous year without Assad, by Danny Makki | Middle East Eye  DAMASCUS — Gone are the men in leather jackets and blank stares stationed on street corners; Bashar al-Assad’s gaze no longer looms from school façades and motorway overpasses. READ MORE . . .

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How Turkey help engineer Ahmed al-Sharaa’s rise to power, by Rajip Soylu and Levent Kamal | Middle East Eye  It was the spring of 2019, and Syrian government forces were beginning to push towards Idlib with the help of the Russian air force. READ MORE . . .

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Links to two reports: from Middle East Eye and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for WEST BANK 12-6-25 — and up or down for GAZA, UKRAINE, SYRIA and MEDIA.) — MCM

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Israel earmarks more than $830mn to expand illegal West Bank settlements. From Middle East Eye. Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has set aside the amount to fund the creation of 17 new settlements in the occupied West Bank over the next five years, according to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot. READ MORE . . .

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Christmas tree lighting held in Bethlehem for the first time since Gaza war began. Reported by Hadeel Al-Shalchi | NPR  People gathered in Bethlehem in the Israeli occupied West Bank on Saturday to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree — for the first time since the war in Gaza began two years ago. Click HERE later to listen and, still later, read.

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Links to eight reports: from Pew Research Center, the Associated Press, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for MEDIA 12-7-25 — and scroll up for UKRAINE, SYRIA and WEST BANK) — MCM

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FROM DEC. 4  Americans are following the news less closely than they used to, by Naomi Foreman-Katz | Pew Research Center  The share of Americans who say they follow the news all or most of the time has decreased since 2016, according to nearly a decade’s worth of Pew Research Center surveys. This shift comes amid . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM DEC. 1  and Aug. 31  A lost generation of news consumers? Survey shows how teenagers dislike the news media, by David Bauder | AP  NEW YORK — A study this fall by the News Literacy Project documented negative attitudes toward the news media among 13- to 18-year-old Americans. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for earlier report from AP.

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FROM DEC. 5  Vanity Fair parts ways with Olivia Nuzzi amid Robert F. Kennedy Jr. controversy, by David Bauder and Hillel Italie | AP  NEW YORK — Vanity Fair is parting ways with West Coast editor Olivia Nuzzi amid ongoing controversy over her relationship with profile subject Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while she was . . . READ MORE . . .

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Netflix is buying Warner Bros. What it could mean for the entertainment industry. Leila Fadel of NPR speaks with Matt Belloni of Puck News about Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros. and the potential challenges ahead. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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FROM DEC. 5  A look at Australia’s upcoming social media ban for children under age 16. Eyder Peralta of NPR speaks with Susan Sawyer of the University of Melbourne about Australia’s new ban on social media for children under 16. It goes into effect next week. Click HERE to listen and read.

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FROM DEC. 7  Why do Jane Austen’s works still hold so much appeal, 250 years after her birth? Reported by Melissa Gray | NPR   We ask members of the Jane Austen Society of North America as well as writers Sandra Cisneros and Brandon Taylor. Click HERE to listen and read.

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FROM DEC. 7  Do Oscar wins make directors more daring? Reported by Miles Parks and Marc Rivers | NPR  Rivers asks film critic Kyle Wilson what happens when a director tries to follow up an Oscar win. Click HERE to listen and read.

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NOTES. Work on today’s three entries began and concluded later than usual. And an inaccuracy in the item below from the Cradle was corrected.

For this date, links to five reports: from the Associated Press, Middle East Eye, Middle East Monitor, the Cradle, and Foreign Affairs; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for SYRIA 12-6-25 and for UKRAINE and GAZA.) — MCM

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Syria’s leader says Israel is fighting ‘ghosts’ after the Gaza war, by Josef Federman and Samy Magdy | AP  DOHA — Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, today accused Israel of fighting “ghosts” and searching for enemies following the war in Gaza. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.  Click HERE for report from Middle East Eye.

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Damascus conditions full Israeli withdrawal from Syrian soil for signing security agreement. From Middle East Monitor. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said today Damascus will not pursue a security agreement with Israel unless it fully withdraws from the lands it occupied after Dec. 8, 2024, Anadolu reports. “It’s not possible,” he said, “to have . . . READ MORE . . .

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Only 14 percent of Syrians support normalization with Israel: poll. From the Cradle. The prominent U.S. political journal Foreign Affairs published an in-depth survey of Syrians’ opinions on Saturday, providing a window into the condition of the country one year after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, seized power with help from the U.S., Israel, UK, Turkiye, and Russia. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for article from Foreign Affairs.

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NOTE: Work on today’s three entries began and concluded later than usual.

For this date, links to nine reports: from the Associated Press, the Kyiv Independent, Kyiv Post, Ukrinform, Anadolu Ajansi, Tass, and Agence France-Presse; others or at least headlines are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for UKRAINE 12-6-25, and up or down for SYRIA and GAZA.) — MCM

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Russian strikes kill 4 as U.S. and Ukraine officials wrap up third day of diplomatic talks, by Susie Blann | AP  KYIV — Russian missile, drone and shelling attacks overnight and today killed at least four people in Ukraine, after U.S. and Ukrainian officials wrapped up a third day of talks aimed at ending the war. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.  Click HERE for report from the Kyiv Independent.

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Russia strikes key Pechenihy dam, forcing sudden closure in Kharkiv region. From Kyiv Post. Russian forces struck the Pechenihy Reservoir dam in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region today, prompting authorities to halt all traffic across the structure as emergency teams assess the damage, local officials said. READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine conducts assault operations in Pokrovsk as defenses hold in Myrnohrad. From Ukrinform. The Defense Forces are conducting search-and-assault operations and eliminating enemy forces in the urban areas of Pokrovsk, according to . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian drones score ‘successful hit’ on Russia’s Ryazan oil refinery, General Staff says. From the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian forces scored another “successful hit” on Russia’s Ryazan Oil Refinery overnight on Friday and Saturday, the General Staff confirmed, calling it the ninth such strike on the refinery this year. READ MORE . . .

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Kremlin says U.S. national security strategy document ‘largely consistent’ with Russia’s vision, by Burç Eruygur | Anadolu  ISTANBUL — The Kremlin says the U.S. administration’s new national security strategy document is “largely consistent” with Russia’s vision. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for  same Anadolu report in French, and HERE for others.  Click HERE for report from Tass.

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Ukrainian militants ordered to shoot retreating troops near Kupyansk — radio interception. From Tass. DONETSK — The Ukrainian command ordered National Guard fighters to shoot retreating troops from Ukrainian positions near Kupyansk, according to radio intercepts available to Tass. READ MORE . . .

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FROM DEC. 6  Russian ambassador slams EU frozen assets plan for Ukraine. From AFP. A European Union plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s fight against Russia would have “far-reaching consequences” for the EU, Moscow’s ambassador to Germany warned on Friday. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AFP report in French, and HERE for headlines of others.

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