For today, links to five reports: from Middle East Eye, National Public Radio, the Cradle, and Reuters; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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In shattered Yarmouk, the Palestinians of Syria mourn their ‘paradise’ lost to war, by Daniel Hilton and Omar al-Aswad | Middle East Eye  DAMASCUS — Yarmouk, a neighborhood in Syria’s capital city that had transformed from an informal tented community of Palestinian refugees to a district in the Syrian capital’s south that attracted people from all walks of life, is today unrecognisable. READ MORE . . .

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Makeshift camp in Syria home to thousands who fled regime, ISIS attacks. Jane Arraf of NPR and a crew make an unprecedented visit to the desert camp full of Syrians who fled the regime and ISIS attacks nearly a decade ago. They were trapped against the border until the fall of the Syrian regime. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Putin: ‘Russia achieved its goals in Syria.’ From The Cradle. Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that the recent events in Syria do not constitute a defeat for Moscow; that he plans to meet soon with deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, now in asylum in Russia; and that the future of Moscow’s military bases in Syria depends on . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM DEC. 18  Syria’s ousted dictator relied on a brutal army, and powerful allies. What changed? Reported by Leila Fadel | NPR  Stories from men conscripted into the Syrian military help explain why it collapsed. Click HERE to listen and read.

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FROM DEC. 18  France to host Syria meeting, cautious on aid, sanctions lifting, by John Irish | Reuters  PARIS — France said on Wednesday it would host an international meeting on Syria in January and that the lifting of sanctions and reconstruction aid would be conditional on clear political and security commitments by the transitional authority. READ MORE . . .