Like other Iranian Kurds who fled into exile during last year's women-led mass protests, 17-year-old Sarina tries to keep a low profile in her new home in northern Iraq.

She avoids drawing attention in her waitress job and hides her face behind a Covid mask when she walks the streets of Arbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The teenager -- who asked not to be fully identified citing security fears -- was among the thousands who joined the wave of street protests sparked by the September death of Mahsa Amini.

Demonstrators marched in the Iraqi and Iranian capitals Friday to denounce Sweden's permission for protests that desecrate the Koran, as Stockholm withdrew staff from its Baghdad embassy.

Hundreds of people gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City after Friday prayers, chanting "Yes, yes to Islam, yes, yes to the Koran", an AFP correspondent said.

In Tehran, protesters waving Iranian flags and carrying copies of Islam's holy book chanted "Down with the United States, Britain, Israel and Sweden" as some burned the Swedish flag.

Middle East powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Iran have summoned Swedish diplomats to denounce Stockholm's permission for protests that desecrate the Koran on free speech grounds.

The separate moves by both majority-Muslim countries, announced in statements late Thursday, came amid heightened tensions between Sweden and Iraq over a Sweden-based Iraqi refugee who last month burnt pages of the Muslim religious text outside Stockholm's main mosque.

In a Dutch museum the sound of hip-hop blares out next to sarcophagi and statues, in what curators say is an attempt to show the influence of ancient Egypt on black musicians.

A photo of superstar Beyonce dressed as Queen Nefertiti sits next to ancient busts, while a video of Rihanna channels Egyptian styles.

What appears to be a pharaoh's golden mask turns out to be a modern sculpture based on the cover of an album by the rapper Nas.

Tall, chimney-like towers rise from centuries-old adobe houses in Iran's desert city of Yazd, drawing in a pleasant breeze for residents of one of the hottest cities on earth.

The wind catchers, called badgirs in Persian, are just one of the engineering marvels inhabitants have developed in this ancient city in central Iran -- where temperatures reach well over 40 degrees celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in the summer.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he is still "open for negotiations" on a key clause of his hard-right government's controversial judicial reforms, as protests intensified ahead of final votes on the bill.

Israel has been rocked by a months-long wave of protests after the government unveiled in January plans to overhaul the judicial system that opponents say threaten the country's democracy.

Firefighters in Tunisia are battling a major blaze that has raged for two days in a pine forest near the border with Algeria, a civil defence official said on Thursday.

Regional civil defence director Abdel Laabidi told AFP that around 470 hectares (1,100 acres) of forest had already burned, and that firefighters and an army helicopter were still fighting the flames.

He said a border crossing with Algeria had to close temporarily because of the outbreak.

Saudi Arabia on Thursday said it will give Tunisia financial assistance valued at $500 million, including a $100 million grant, as the North African country grapples with crippling inflation and debt.

The announcement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency followed a visit by Tunisia's Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar as part of a Gulf tour this week aimed at drumming up financial support.

Ammar also made stops in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

New carbon-cutting plans by this year's UN climate talks host the United Arab Emirates were branded "insufficient" by an analysis on Thursday that slammed the oil-rich nation for undermining its own targets with plans to increase fossil fuel production.

The UAE, which will host the COP28 United Nations talks in November and December, released its updated climate plans last week, laying out a tougher target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 19 percent by 2030 compared to 2019 levels.

Greenpeace Thursday praised a "risky" UN-led operation to transfer oil from a rusting Yemen tanker, but warned the threat of environmental catastrophe cannot be ruled out until the operation ends.

On Sunday, the UN-owned Nautica arrived off war-torn Yemen to take on 1.14 million barrels of crude oil from the decaying FSO Safer, a rusting 47-year-old vessel that has not been serviced in more than eight years.