Lama Al-Arian

Axel Hirschfeld looks at the remains of dead birds while holding a Levant sparrowhawk. The bird was found locked in a small enclosure without food or water in a field used by poachers in the town of Ras Baalbek, Lebanon, in September.

For Migratory Birds, Lebanon Is A 'Black Hole' Where They Are Hunted, Trapped, Killed

Ruth Sherlock

Every year, some 2.6 million birds are shot or die after being trapped in illegal nets in Lebanon. "This country is a black hole in terms of protection," says a conservationist.

Displaced Syrians gather inside a tent in the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria on Dec. 8. People fled towns where the U.S.-led coalition is fighting the last remnants of ISIS.

'We Were Eating Grass': Syrians Flee As Fight Pushes On Against Last ISIS Remnants

Lama Al-Arian

The last U.S.-led offensive against ISIS in Syria is taking place in a remote desert region. The al-Hol refugee camp is overwhelmed with new arrivals.

A Syrian refugee shovels mud in front of a makeshift shelter in an unofficial camp for Syrian refugees in Iaat in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley on Tuesday.

Heavy Winter Storm Wrecks Syrian Refugee Camps In Lebanon

Lama Al-Arian

Thousands of Syrians seeking refuge in neighboring Lebanon are scrambling for shelter and an 8-year-old girl was reported dead.

A church near the school was destroyed during the fight to oust ISIS from Raqqa, Syria.

Determined To Seek An Education, Teenagers In Raqqa, Syria, Create Their Own School

Ruth Sherlock

With their city in ruins and little international help, a group of teenagers decided to take matters into their own hands. They recruited teachers, found a building and set up classes for themselves.

Syrian demonstrators wave the national flag during a demonstration in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Sunday, asking for the Syrian army's protection as Turkey threatens to carry out a fresh offensive following the U.S. decision to withdraw troops.

'We Will Curse Them As Traitors': Syrian Kurds React To U.S. Troop Withdrawal Plan

Ruth Sherlock

After President Trump's decision to pull out U.S. troops, residents of northeastern Syria tell NPR they feel betrayed. Syrians, led by Kurdish fighters, have lost thousands in the fight against ISIS.

People walk through Ain Issa, one of the camps that holds displaced Syrians as well as foreign wives of ISIS fighters and their children. Thousands of foreign women and children languish in shelters in northeastern Syria, unwanted by their home governments and with no clear future.

Foreign Wives And Children Of ISIS Are Held In Syria With Uncertain Future

Ruth Sherlock

Kurdish officials in northeastern Syria say they are holding 550 foreign women whom they captured after defeating ISIS, as well as about 1,200 foreign children.

Raqqa's first responders use a digger to push through the rubble of a building likely destroyed in an airstrike carried out by the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS.

'Entire Families Wiped Out': U.S. Airstrikes Killed Many Civilians In Syria

Ruth Sherlock

Rescuers working to dig out and identify corpses from last year's anti-ISIS offensive in Raqqa estimate there were "thousands" of civilian casualties. The U.S.-led coalition acknowledges 104.

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by U.S. special forces, talks on the radio near Raqqa's stadium as they clear the last positions on the front line on Oct. 16, 2017. The city was an important Islamic State group stronghold.

'This Is Not Liberation': Life In The Rubble Of Raqqa, Syria

Ruth Sherlock

The city's slow recovery after ISIS rule is causing anger among residents who say they're left with little help from the countries that destroyed Raqqa.

Moroccan King Mohammed VI and Li Biao, chairman of the Chinese Haite Group, are at the center of the launch of a Chinese investment project in Morocco, in March 2017.

Will Morocco's Chinese-Funded 'Tech City' Ever Break Ground?

Ruth Sherlock

The Mohammed VI Tangier Tech City would stand in monument to China's expansion into a North African nation on Europe's doorstep. But experts say the project has stalled.

This photo released on Sept. 10 by the Syrian Civil Defense group, known as the White Helmets, shows smoke rising from an airstrike, in Hobeit village, near Idlib, Syria.

Russia And Turkey Agree On A Demilitarized Zone In Syria's Last Rebel Stronghold

Ruth Sherlock

The leaders of Russia and Turkey say they want to set up a buffer area in Idlib province by mid-October to avert a catastrophic military offensive.