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

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

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Netanyahu says Israel and Hamas will enter ceasefire’s second phase soon, by Melanie Lidman and Kirsten Grieshaber | AP  TEL AVIV — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israel and Hamas are “very shortly expected to move into the second phase of the ceasefire,” after Hamas returns the remains of the last hostage . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others. Click HERE for report from Reuters, and HERE and HERE for report from AFP/AFP.

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For today, links to three reports: from Anadolu Ajansi and the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on their names below. (Scroll down for SYRIA 11-28-25, and for WEST BANK, GAZA, LEBANON, UKRAINE and MEDIA entries.) — MCM

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Syrian president warns Israel against tampering with 1974 ceasefire agreement, by Mohammad Sio | Anadolu  ISTANBUL — Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa warned today in Doha that any attempt by Israel to alter the 1974 Disengagement Agreement or pursue alternative arrangements, including a proposed buffer zone, would turn the region . . . READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for same Anadolu report in French, and HERE for others.

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Syrian president meets Lebanese prime minister, Qatar’s emir in Doha, by Mohammad Sıo | Anadolu  ISTANBUL — Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa met Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, which kicked off today. READ MORE . . .

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FROM DEC. 5  Israel moves to extend army service to 36 months. From the Cradle. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Friday a plan to extend mandatory military service to 36 months — which would . . . READ MORE . . .

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For today, links to two reports: from Middle East Monitor and the Cradle, and to an article of commentary from the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on their names below. (Scroll down for WEST BANK 12-5-25, and up or down for SYRIA, GAZA, LEBANON, UKRAINE and MEDIA entries.) — MCM

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FROM DEC. 5  Illegal Israeli settlers torch vehicles, cut water lines in Friday attacks. From Middle East Monitor. Illegal Israeli settlers carried out two separate attacks early Friday in the occupied West Bank, torching vehicles east of Ramallah and cutting water lines in the northern Jordan Valley, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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FROM DEC. 5  Israel moves to extend army service to 36 months. From the Cradle. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Friday a plan to extend mandatory military service to 36 months — which would . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM DEC. 5  Gaza’s smoke clouds the West Bank’s flames, by a correspondent | The Cradle  On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, while the world braced for the fallout of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, another front of war opened quietly. Not with airstrikes or artillery, but with bulldozers, laws, and settler militias. READ MORE . . .

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For today, links to two reports: from Middle East Eye and the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on its name below. (Scroll down for GAZA 12-4-25, and up or down for SYRIA, WEST BANK, LEBANON, UKRAINE and MEDIA entries.) — MCM

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Qatar and Egypt call for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. From Middle East Eye. Qatar and Egypt, the states serving as guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire, on today called on Israel to withdraw from Gaza and for an international stabilisation force be deployed, steps they say are essential to fully carry out the fragile agreement. READ MORE . . .

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FROM DEC. 5  Israel moves to extend army service to 36 months. From the Cradle. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Friday a plan to extend mandatory military service to 36 months — which would . . . READ MORE . . .

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For today, links to three reports: from Anadolu Ajansi, the Associated Press and the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for LEBANON 12-5-25, and up or down for SYRIA, WEST BANK, GAZA, UKRAINE and MEDIA entries.) — MCM

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Syrian president meets Lebanese prime minister, Qatar’s emir in Doha, by Mohammad Sıo | Anadolu  ISTANBUL — Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa met Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, which kicked off today. READ MORE . . .

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FROM DEC. 5  Lebanon tells a UN team the country will need a back-up force once peacekeepers’ term ends, by Bassem Mroue | AP  BEIRUT — The Lebanese prime minister told a visiting U.N. delegation on Friday that his country will need a follow-up force in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel to fill the vacuum once the U.N. peacekeepers’ term expires by the end of next year. Click HERE for report including locator map.

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FROM DEC. 5  Israel moves to extend army service to 36 months. From the Cradle. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Friday a plan to extend mandatory military service to 36 months — which would . . . READ MORE . . .

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