Jane Arraf

The Middle Eastern kingdom has forced most people to stay indoors, banned driving and even temporarily shut down grocery stores and pharmacies.

"It is a very, very sad thing when my son says to me, 'Mum, I don't want to die,'" says Etab Hadithi, a 41-year-old mother of two. "We are all suffering ... from a dangerous life."

Twenty miles from the Turkish border, families in the Syrian city of Ariha face an agonizing choice of whether to stay, hoping a ceasefire holds, or leave.

The struggles of one woman, who's a professional and a mother in Idlib, reflect the hardships faced by millions of Syrians as their city came under a new round of attacks.

A rare view from inside Idlib, Syria, where a fragile cease-fire is holding so far. One million displaced people have to decide whether they trust it enough to return to what is left of their homes.

On Friday, Russia, the Syrian regime's main military backer, and Turkey announced a cease-fire in northwest Syria.

A cease-fire in Syria's Idlib province, helped along by a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appears to be holding.

The powerful protests, which led a prime minister to resign, are reeling since influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr turned on the movement.

Anti-government protests in Iraq have been nearly halted as security forces clamp down. Protesters confronting security forces are being killed or wounded almost every day.

The fallout from the U.S. drone strike on prominent Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani continues in Iraq, as a group of Iraqis marked 40 days of mourning with anti-U.S. protests.

Christians have been worrying since Turkish troops entered the area in November to attack Kurdish forces, after U.S. forces moved troops out of the way. Some Christians vow to stay no matter what.

Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi's appointment comes at a tense time as the country has been riven by anti-government protests and a deadly crackdown by security forces.

The attack threatens to increase the already high tension between the U.S. and Iraq over Iranian-backed militias in the country. Iraq's prime minister condemned the attack.

Iraqi security forces swept out anti-government protesters occupying public squares in Baghdad and set fire to encampments after a powerful Shiite cleric removed his support for the protesters.

The security forces fired live bullets and tear gas and set ablaze tents where demonstrators have been living. At least one protester was killed and dozens wounded.

Tactics such as blocking highways and forcing closure of government offices have now set the protest movement, which began in early October, on a more dangerous collision course with security forces.

Protesters in Baghdad are demanding the president appoint a a prime minister they find acceptable. Security forces are using tear gas and live bullets to try to push them back.

The Iraqi government has called for U.S. troops to leave, but many young Iraqis would like them to stay. They want good relations with both the U.S. and their big neighbor, Iran.

For the first time in eight years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers in Tehran. He threatened the U.S. and indicated there may be more retaliation from Iran's proxies for the killing of a general.

U.S. troops on the base in Iraq that was targeted by Iranian missiles last week talk about the new threats they face. The U.S. intends to keep them there despite Iraqi calls for them to leave.