Jane Arraf

With elections next week almost certain to give Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi another term, the government has imposed tight restrictions on free speech. Reporters aren't supposed to ask people how they vote.

In Iraq, it's not easy trying to navigate life as a young woman — particularly when your culture doesn't give girls many choices. Add war and poverty on top of that and it's even harder.

Secretary of State Tillerson is at the meetings on rebuilding Iraq after the fight against ISIS. People say raising the money is necessary to keep radical militants from taking hold there again.

A candidate has finally emerged to challenge Egyptian President's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi re-election campaign. Even with another candidate, the expected outcome of the election probably won't change.

Filing to run for president of Egypt begins this weekend, but potential candidates say they're afraid of the consequences of taking on hardline President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who looks to run again.

An orphanage in the Iraqi city of Mosul is caring for confused and unidentified children left in the wake of ISIS.

A morgue in Mosul, Iraq, documented more than 5,000 civilians killed during the battle to free the city from ISIS — likely more than the number of ISIS fighters that died.

Iraq is celebrating the defeat of ISIS as Prime Minister Haider al Abadi declared Dec. 10 the country's newest national holiday. The prime minister has also won a face-off with Kurds, but still faces pressures from inside and outside his country.

Mosul, Iraq is now free from ISIS control, after years of a brutal and violent occupation. Two sisters who attend Mosul University talk about their goals for the future, and the obstacles that remain.

Power has shifted again in one of Iraq's most ancient and pivotal cities — Kirkuk. Kurds have recently been on top there but now Arab leaders are in charge and residents are tense as they look ahead.

Many foreign ISIS families are in the process of being moved to Baghdad as Iraq works to persuade countries like Russia and Turkey, to take back foreign wives and children of ISIS fighters.

Dozens of people have been killed after an attack on a mosque in Egypt's north Sinai.

Rescue workers in Iran are trying to dig out survivors from the rubble after a major earthquake struck along its border with Iraq yesterday. Hundreds are dead, and thousands are injured and in need of shelter.

Iranian state media reports that hundreds of people are dead and nearly more than 1,000 injured in that country alone. The quake struck at night and officials say the death toll was likely to rise.

In an interview with NPR, longtime Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani says his people are re-evaluating their close alliance with the U.S. after the U.S. didn't back the failed independence push that led to his resignation.

In Iraq, the president of the Kurdistan region has announced he is stepping down. His resignation follows the devastating fallout of a referendum on independence.

After 12 years in power, Kurdish President Massoud Barzani has submitted his resignation and announced that he will not seek another term in office following Kurdistan's referendum on independence last month.

The battle to force ISIS out of Mosul ended a few months ago, but the impact that ISIS — and the battle — had on that city's children will most likely last their lifetimes. Many children who lost one or both of their parents and are still dealing with displacement.

Most residents had kept their kids home for three years as schools were run by the militants. Then some kids started catching up on classes as ISIS was forced from neighborhoods in the spring.

Jalal Talabani — a historic Middle East figure and a leader of the Kurdish independence movement in Iraq — has died after years of illness.