Alice Fordham

People in many countries rejected the ban on refugees and restrictions on citizens of 7 Muslim-majority countries. The measures added to growing frustration and concern with the new U.S. president.

The temporary suspension of immigrants from Syria has left some refugees stuck in Lebanon, wondering what is next.

A day after criticism and chaos for some caused by his executive order temporarily banning Muslims from seven countries, the president took to Twitter Sunday morning to defend himself.

President Trump has revived discussion about implementing military "safe zones" in Syria, an idea from the early days of the civil war. But fencing off areas in Syria might not make sense given the current reality of the conflict, and it would be a challenge for the U.S. and its allies to put them into place.

Iraqi forces with U.S. help have pressed deep into the ISIS-held city of Mosul but progress is still slow and dangerous. The scene may soon shift to an area where ISIS has more support.

Driven to save his culture, an ethnic Assyrian living in Britain is recording ancient tales of adventure sung by modern-day bards. The songs echo stories from ancient Greece to the Bible.

Homs was one of the places where the Syrian uprising began. The government has driven out its opponents in 2014, but much of the city remains in ruins, waiting to be rebuilt.

A cease-fire is still technically in place but some fighting continues. The government is pressing an offensive on the valley of the Barada River and Damascus' water supply is badly affected.

Russia and Turkey have announced a new cease-fire for Syria. But like others that have come and gone, this probably represents little more than a pause.

Hopes that international diplomacy might achieve a ceasefire or peace deal have faded, as fighters loyal to Syria's president press into the last opposition areas of the city.

The city is known as "Mother of the Martyrs" due to its high number of pro-regime fighters who've died in the years of war. Most who live here are Alawite Muslims, as is President Bashar Assad.

ISIS forces had been pushed out of Palmyra last March. Reports differ as to whether the city has fallen once again to ISIS, but it's clear the radical group has re-entered the city.

The United Nations human rights agency says it has reports that hundreds of people attempting to leave rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria, have been prevented from doing so by rebel forces. It also says hundreds of men who left have gone missing after reaching regime-controlled areas and are believed to have been imprisoned or killed.

Pro-government forces are advancing deep into rebel held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo, endangering thousands of civilians. In Damascus, the battle is praised as a major victory.

After more than five years of fighting, President Bashar Assad's military is making significant advances against rebels in Aleppo and is subduing the restive suburbs of Damascus.

A boy from Mosul, now in an Iraqi camp, quit school after ISIS took it over. "The children were terrified," says his mother. "They should be playing, and instead it was blood, blood everywhere."

After years of virtual stalemate, the Syrian government has made its largest advance into rebel-held areas of the city of Aleppo. It changes the map in the Syrian civil war.

Iraqi forces recently drove the Islamic State from the ancient site of Nimrud. But during its stay, the extremists shattered friezes, leaving cuneiform texts strewn around the site.

An Iraqi special forces commander worries that the battle to force ISIS from the city of Mosul is too dependent on his elite troops.

Iraqi security forces, paramilitaries and international allies still face stiff resistance from ISIS in the city's outskirts. Inside the city, soldiers say civilians are being used as human shields.