connecting greater control of the border between iraq and syria, to gains west of iraq, isis power base is growing and so are international concerns. translator: we must build a new syria which can be rid naturally of the regime of bashar al assad. but also above all, of the terrorists, because they are in a country and they re making progress. so we must do all we can so a political solution can be worked on. reporter: the bottom line right now, what syria, iraq and their allies not least the united states, are doing to crush isis is not enough. nic robertson, cnn, london. isis continues to advance at an alarming rate. let s now bring in our cnn correspondent ian lee, live in cairo with more on this story. ian, good day to you. what more can you tell us about these images that have been
comcast business. built for business. to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i m george howell, this is cnn newsroom. the headlines this hour. isis has made significant gains in iraq and syria, over the past week. capturing the city of ramadi and another town close by, as well as the ancient syrian city of palmyra. the militants released these propaganda photos a short time ago, showing the isis flag over palmyra s historic castle. at least 42 gunmen and a mexican national police officer are dead after clashes in central mexico pop officials say violence erupted during an operation of the mexican and federal agencies in the area.
world. we begin in the middle east, where isis is making substantial gains. more than half of syria is now said to be in the militant s control. a look at this map shows the scope of what s happening. you can see areas controlled by isis on january 15th. and take a look at the same map now. as of friday, you can see the isis-controlled areas in red have grown. meanwhile, there say looming humanitarian crisis, an estimated 36,000 refugees left their homes in ramadi and the syrian city of palmyra. our cnn international correspondent nic robertson has more. reporter: twice this week, isis forced two different arab armies to flee. in iraq, ramadi. in syria, palmyra. arguably, this is the terror s group s best week in a year. combined their battlefield successes are isis biggest