The pope asked Assad "to ensure that international humanitarian law is fully respected with regard to the protection of the civilians and access to humanitarian aid."

The U.N. human rights office in Geneva said that multiple sources reported that tens of civilians were shot dead on Monday.

“I am very aware that my ethnicity is dying.”

The Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan said he was horrified to see widespread devastation and what he called “ghost towns” during a recent visit to northern Iraq. He said by email that there was little left in some of the communities that he toured on Nov. 27-29 and that

Deep inside Syria, a bishop worked around the blurred edges of international law to save the lives of more than 200 people.

On the campaign trail, the president-elect put Syrian refugees “on notice.”