Growing up with afro hair can be a harrowing experience, especially if forced to chemically straighten it.

"Once you are eight, all hairdressers say, oh you have to relax your hair... we can't manage your hair, you have to relax it, it will be beautiful," says Mariam Diaby, a hairdresser and founder of Nappys de Babi, an online community focused on promoting natural hair.

Her group, based in Ivory Coast's capital Abidjan, encourages and supports African women to wear their hair curly, instead of using popular chemical straighteners known as relaxers.

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Walking through a quiet Ankara park on a cold February afternoon, it was hard to miss the giggles and playful screams of 7-year-old Bana al-Abed and her two brothers. 

As they bounced on a trampoline, the bloody war in their Syrian homeland seemed like a very distant memory.

But Bana, along with her family, only fled the besieged eastern portion of Aleppo in December. Her story had begun to resonate globally when, with the help of her mother Fatemah, she started tweeting about the plight of  people living in the war-torn city.

When she tweeted that she liked reading, author J.K. Rowling sent her eBooks of the entire Harry Potter series.

The family eventually was safely evacuated -- and now are experiencing a very different reality. "I am very happy, so much safe and peace and play, there is no bombings," said Bana, as she rocked back and forth on a purple dinosaur ride.

Her 3-year-old brother Nour ran from one slide to the next and shouted for his father to spin him faster.

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President Donald Trump harshly criticized arguments against his temporary travel ban on Wednesday, discounting a legal challenge to the order as anti-security and lambasting the federal judicial system that's weighing it as overtly political.

Seeking to lend his own legal argument for the order banning travel from certain Muslim-majority countries, Trump insisted that US president's have wide authority to determine who may enter the United States.

As he read from US immigration law, the President declared that even a "bad high school student" could understand the language and find in his favor.

"I think it's sad, I think it's a sad day," Trump told a group of major city police officers and sheriffs in Washington.

On Tuesday evening, a federal appeals court heard arguments in the legal battle over the travel ban. The California-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will decide soon whether to reinstate the executive order. Until then, his order that temporarily bars all refugees from entering the country, and all immigration from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, is halted.

As he read from US immigration law, the President declared that even a "bad high school student" could understand the language and find in his favor. "I think it's sad, I think it's a sad day," Trump told a group of major city police officers and sheriffs in Washington. On Tuesday evening, a federal appeals court heard arguments in the legal battle over the travel ban. The California-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will decide soon whether to reinstate the executive order. Until then, his order that temporarily bars all refugees from entering the country, and all immigration from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, is halted.

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efore returning to Washington, the former president dove into an aquatic and athletic challenge with his friend, Virgin Group founder and billionaire Richard Branson, while vacationing on the British Virgin Islands with former first lady Michelle Obama.

Now that Obama is free from many Secret Service-imposed restrictions that did not allow him to partake in activities like surfing, Branson offered Obama the chance to learn how to kitesurf.

But to make things more interesting, Branson took on a challenge of his own.

"We decided to set up a friendly challenge: Could Barack learn to kitesurf before I learned to foilboard? We agreed to have a final day battle to see who could stay up the longest," Branson wrote in a post on Virgin.com.

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President Donald Trump's selection for education secretary, billionaire mega-donor Betsy DeVos, appears to be his most embattled Cabinet pick, but Senate Republicans have largely held tight in their support.

Senate GOP leaders are confident they can squeak DeVos through the Senate with the support of 50 Republican senators Tuesday afternoon, plus a historic tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence.

"The point is we're at a 50-50 moment where we only need one more senator to break and vote against Betsy DeVos and she won't be confirmed, and so we want to make our argument up until the last minute to see if we can get that 51st vote," Sen. Chris Murphy told CNN's Alisyn Camerota Tuesday on "New Day."

The surprise defection of two Republican senators last week -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine -- coupled with an intense lobbying effort by liberal and Democratic groups has made DeVos the first of Trump's Cabinet picks to face serious jeopardy.

DeVos' poor performance in her confirmation hearing -- punctuated by her suggestion that a school in Wyoming might want to have guns on premises to protect from grizzly bears -- contributed to roaring anger among public school supporters and teachers unions. Even before her hearing, critics pointed to DeVos lack of experience with public schools and bankrolling efforts to support opposing ideas like school vouchers.

Murphy also said that DeVos seemed to have no knowledge of the federal law that protects students with disabilities.

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Journalists are calling out a White House claim that news outlets are failing to adequately report terror attacks.

On Monday, the White House issued a list of 78 terror attacks to underscore President Donald Trump's assertion that the media is failing to adequately 

report them.

Trump told enlisted service-members at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida that attacks were happening "all over Europe" and that "it's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported."

"And in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it. They have their reasons, and you understand that," Trump added.

Later, the White House distributed a list of the attacks Trump was citing, saying "most did not receive adequate attention."

"Below is a list of 78 major terrorist attacks targeting the West that were executed or inspired by ISIS since September 2014, soon after the terror group declared its caliphate. Most of these attacks did not receive adequate attention from Western media sources," a White House official said on background, when distributing the list.

But reporters in print, on air and on social media have robustly covered many of those attacks and terror in general.

"As a journalist I'm really troubled by that," Washington Post columnist David Ignatius said on CNN's "The Lead" on Monday, responding to Trump's initial statement.

"We have brave colleagues who everyday are taking big risks to cover these stories. Look at The New York Times, which the President demonizes often. The New York Times this weekend had an outstanding piece of reporting about how ISIS has been reaching out, is more involved in some attacks in Europe and abroad," he said.

Ignatius said he has about 100 examples of strong reporting he'd like to show the President.

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Zakaria Bulhan, 19, pleaded guilty at London's Central Criminal Court to manslaughter due to diminished responsibility. Darlene Horton, 64, of Tallahassee, Florida, was killed in the August 2016 attack.

At Monday's hearing, Bulhan also admitted five counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. "Without warning or provocation, the man stabbed six people in quick succession, saying nothing to any of them, moving on after each stabbing towards his next victim," prosecutor Mark Heywood said.

Bulhan had been due to stand trial on one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

"We have considered expert evidence from both prosecution and defense psychiatrists who have concluded that Bulhan was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and experiencing a psychotic episode at the time. For that reason, we have agreed to accept Bulhan's guilty plea to manslaughter based on his diminished responsibility," the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.

Police said Bulhan is a Norwegian national of Somali origin. Norway's National Criminal Investigation Service said he had emigrated from Norway in 2002.

The attack sparked a major police operation and initially there were fears that it might be linked to terrorism. That was found not to be the case, but Bulhan still poses a significant threat to the public, police said.

"He clearly poses an enormous risk to the general public and I hope he can now get the help he needs," police Detective Inspector Tony Lynes said in a statement.

Darlene Horton, 64, was killed in the London knife attack in August 2016                       

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