In an annex of Iraq's national museum, a conservator pores over a 17th-century manuscript, carrying out delicate restoration work as part of efforts to preserve and digitise 47,000 precious texts.
"Some manuscripts date back almost 1,000 years," said Ahmed al-Alyawi, who heads the House of Manuscripts body.
"There are writings in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Hebrew and Kurdish," he added, noting the texts' "immense cultural diversity".
A Saudi town best known for a fierce battle between the Prophet Mohammed and Jewish tribes is remodelling itself as an upscale tourist draw in line with the kingdom's rebranding efforts.
Situated in an oasis amid a volcanic field north of Medina, the settlement of Khaybar was once home to thousands of Jews, who were defeated in a decisive seventh-century battle with the Prophet's army as Islam expanded across the Arabian Peninsula.
Lionel Messi and his teammates set off for Argentina with the most coveted prize in football as millions of compatriots waited to welcome them home on Monday and catch a glimpse of the World Cup trophy.
In the capital Buenos Aires and throughout the country, millions took to the streets to celebrate Sunday's remarkable penalty shoot-out victory over France in the World Cup final in Qatar.
Iran arrested a prominent actor Saturday after she voiced support for the three-month-old protest movement triggered by the death of a woman in custody, the judiciary said Saturday.
Taraneh Alidoosti, 38, was arrested "by order of the judicial authority" as she "did not provide documentation for some of her claims" about the protests, reported the judiciary's Mizan Online news website.
Germany on Saturday inaugurated its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, built in record time, as the country scrambles to adapt to life without Russian energy.
The rig in the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven was opened by Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a ceremony on board a specialist vessel known as an FSRU, named the Hoegh Esperanza.
"It's a good day for our country and a sign to the whole world that the German economy will be able to remain strong," Scholz said from the boat.
Jordan has arrested dozens of people accused of involvement in protests against rising fuel prices in which a senior police officer was gunned down, the country's security agency said Saturday.
Colonel Abdul Razzaq Dalabeh, the deputy police chief of Maan province, died of a gunshot to the head in the town of Al-Husseiniya on Thursday while confronting what the authorities called "riots".
Tunisians on Saturday overwhelmingly boycotted an election for a new parliament which will have virtually no authority following a power grab by President Kais Saied in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
Electoral board president Farouk Bouasker said that by close of polls at 6:00 pm (1700 GMT), just 8.8 percent of the nine-million-strong electorate had cast votes.
That would be the lowest participation in any poll since the revolution.
A group of Iranians reached the final day of a hunger strike on Friday while camped out in tents outside the Islamic republic's consulate in Frankfurt in support of the protest movement back home.
Iran has been rocked by huge demonstrations since the September death in custody of Mahsa Amini, arrested for allegedly violating the country's dress code for women.
Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands arrested in the unrest, described by authorities as "riots", prompting further protests in solidarity around the globe, including in Germany.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon urged Beirut on Friday to ensure a "speedy" investigation into the fatal shooting of an Irish soldier this week.
The convoy of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) came under fire near the village of Al-Aqbiya late Wednesday, also wounding three other peacekeepers, the Irish military said.
UNIFIL acts as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel, neighbours which remain technically at war. The force operates in the south near the border, a stronghold of Iran-backed group Hezbollah.
Hundreds took to the streets Friday in Iran's restive southeast, footage shared by human rights groups showed, beginning a fourth month of protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death.
The Islamic republic has seen waves of demonstrations since the September 16 death in custody of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women.
