For today, links to three reports: from the Associated Press, National Public Radio and the Cradle, and to commentary from the Cradle; other articles are accessible by clicking on its name below. (GAZA, WEST BANK, LEBANON, UKRAINE and COVID ETC. entries for this date are HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. SYRIA 1-26-25 entry is HERE.) — MCM

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Russian government delegation makes first official visit to Syria since Assad’s fall. From AP. DAMASCUS — A delegation of Russian officials arrived in Damascus today for the first such visit to Syria since the fall of former President Bashar Assad, an ally of Moscow who took refuge . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JAN. 27  What Syria looks like a month after the fall of the regime. Reported by Jane Arraf | NPR  After the sudden fall of the Syrian regime in December, Syrians are still euphoric but grappling with a shattered economy and fragile security. Click HERE to listen and read.

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FROM JAN. 27  U.S.-backed Syrian authorities conduct dozens of sectarian executions. From the Cradle. Syria’s government forces executed five Alawites in the countryside of the central governorate of Hama on Monday and dozens of others in the past few days, according to the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. READ MORE . . .

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FROM JAN. 22  Syria, where Netanyahu and Erdogan converge, by Malek al-Khoury | The Cradle  Israel’s recently halted war on Gaza has laid bare the ambitions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to expand the occupation state’s territorial reach in Palestine and the wider region. This drive comes . . . Click HERE for article and maps.