Alice Fordham

As the Syrian war nears its fifth year and a bitter storm hits, refugees say this is the worst winter yet. To make matters worse, cash constraints mean they're getting less help from aid groups.

The family of the Jordanian air force pilot recently captured in Syria has deep misgivings about the kingdom's decision to join the U.S. in the fight against the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

Some of the loveliest cities hug great rivers: Cairo on the Nile, Paris on the Seine. Baghdad's lifeblood is the Tigris. After years of war, commuter boats and even a rowing club ply its waters again.

By the summer of 2014, a third of Iraq was under the control of the self-proclaimed Islamic State or ISIS, and people worried the capital might be next. Six months on, that's changed.

Three years after the U.S. military officially withdrew from Iraq, 2,000 U.S. troops are back restoring the old buildings they'd left behind and renewing former contacts with Iraqi officers.

Jordan says one of its pilots was captured by the self-titled Islamic State in Syria. The plane crashed while the pilot was conducting airstrikes against the militants. The U.S. milit...

Syria's civil war is still raging with no end in sight. But Bashar Assad remains entrenched in Damascus and many argue his position improved over the year as the U.S. began bombing the Islamic State.

Jordanians who had been convicted of murder were executed Sunday. There had been a moratorium on the death penalty there since 2006. Lawmakers called for it to be reinstated to curb a rise in crime.

The fragile country now hosts some 1 million Syrian refugees. Some towns have set up civilian volunteers to enforce curfews on the refugees, leading to rising tensions and some cases of abuse.

Over the weekend, a champion was crowned in the Middle East's version of American Idol. Syrians cheered as 21-year-old Hazem Sherif from the war-scarred city of Aleppo was announced the winner.

Barefoot in a yoga studio in Lebanon's capital Beirut, a couple dozen actresses raise voices and stretch bodies that had grown used to being quiet and still.

"Go on," they cry as a clapping exercise speeds up, and they fill the room with whoops and uninhibited yells.

But these women ...

The Syrian city of Raqqa is the hub for militants from the Islamic State, and has sustained ongoing air strikes from the U.S. and the Syrian regime. Activists draw attention to the toll on civilians.

The holy Iraqi city of Najaf has a brand-new and appropriately holy shopping center: the Najaf City Mall.

Under banners with Muslim prayers, children rampage through an adventure playground, while conservative women in long black robes browse for cute outfits to wear when they're home with family.

Think of Iraq ...

Nearly a decade ago, Iraq's war drove millions from their homes and divided the country along sectarian lines. It's happening again in response to the latest brutality by the Islamic State.

The Albu Nimr tribe recently had some 600 members slaughtered by ISIS in western Iraq. The Sunni tribesmen say they're regrouping but need help, which the U.S. has now pledged.

President Obama has confirmed the death of U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig, an ex-Army Ranger. He was captured by militants of the so-called Islamic State while delivering medical supplies in Syria.

The so-called Islamic State has released a video showing the beheading of another American hostage, aid worker Peter Kassig.

Hipsters in Beirut have a problem. Their long, lustrous beards are getting them mistaken for Islamist extremists and drawing unwanted scrutiny from the security forces.

A Sunni Muslim tribe in central Iraq braves nightly shelling and threats from the Islamic State, refusing the group's orders to join its movement. But they say they need help.

Kurdish groups have often quarreled among themselves, or at least kept their distance. But Kurds from Iraq and Turkey have been fighting side by side in northern Iraq against the Islamic State.