(CNN) Grab a cup of coffee and settle in. Here's what you might have missed in a busy news week.

The battle against ISIS rages, and so does the terror and suffering for civilians in Mosul

From the front lines in Iraq, civilians held hostage by ISIS describe a hell of "endless, throat-grabbing, suffocating sorrow. " One little girl survived by hiding against her mother's corpse for two days. (By Arwa Damon, Ghazi Balkiz and Brice Laine)

Why the highly coveted visa that changed my life is now reviled in America

The H-1B visa was meant to bring the world's smartest people to America, but that's not how it always works . Under Donald Trump, the program faces fresh scrutiny. (By Moni Basu)