The storied library of Iraq's Mosul University boasted a million titles before Islamic State group jihadists rampaged through it, toppling book shelves and burning ancient texts.
Now, almost five years after their defeat, the war-battered northern metropolis is trying to rebuild the pride of the city long known as a literature hub boasting countless booksellers and archives guarding rare manuscripts.
The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in August brought an end to 20 years of fighting -- and relief for many women -- but harsh restrictions imposed by the new government are also causing despair.
Here is a look at how the lives of three ordinary women have changed with the return to power of the Taliban.
- The mother -
In a hilltop village outside Kabul, children rush between the low-slung entrances of mud-brick houses as Friba settles into what she calls a more peaceful life now foreign forces have left.
Israel launched strikes against targets in Syria early Wednesday, hitting anti-aircraft batteries in response to a missile fired from Syria, the military said.
Sirens were sounded in the northern Israeli Arab city of Umm Al-Fahm after the Syrian missile launch but it exploded in mid-air, the Israel Defense Forces tweeted.
"In response to the anti-aircraft missile launched from Syria earlier tonight, we just struck surface-to-air missile targets in Syria, including radar & anti-aircraft batteries," the military said.
(AFP) — Israel's ground-breaking surveillance technology was once feted as a prized export bolstering diplomatic ties abroad, but reports the secret spyware was also turned on citizens at home has trigged domestic outrage.
Recent bombshell allegations in Israeli media centre on the controversial Pegasus malware made by the Israeli firm NSO, which can turn a phone into a pocket spying device.
Last year, a sweeping investigation by an international consortium of journalists revealed the extent of Pegasus's use worldwide.
Israeli forces killed three Palestinians Tuesday during a daytime raid against what Israel described as a "terrorist cell", leaving a vehicle in the West Bank city of Nablus riddled with bullet holes.
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz praised the raid and said he had ordered an increase in "counterterrorism activities" due to recent shootings in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel's army since the 1967 Six Day War.
The Palestinian health ministry and Israel's security forces both confirmed the three deaths.
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq's parliament announced Tuesday the reopening of registration for presidential candidates, a day after it called off a session to vote in a new head of state.
One of the two frontrunners, former longtime foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari, was "temporarily" suspended by a court, citing years-old corruption accusations after a complaint was filed against him.
His eligibility for the post is being reviewed, with his party announcing it is sticking with his candidacy and that a verdict is expected within days.
Dozens of Yemeni pro-government fighters have been killed in a new offensive to take a rebel-held city, loyalist sources said on Tuesday, following a surge in violence including missile attacks on the United Arab Emirates.
Thirty-two soldiers have died and at least 100 have been wounded in three days of fighting to drive the Iran-backed rebels from Haradh, north of the capital Sanaa and near the Saudi border, the sources said.
Zakaria al-Adl was presumed to have attempted a sea escape to Europe after he had gone missing over the summer, but then the young Lebanese man turned up dead in Iraq.
A native of the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, the 22-year-old is one of at least eight men who have been reported killed in Iraq since December 2021, as a suspected jihadist militant.
They all hail from impoverished Tripoli districts, and were allegedly lured into joining the Islamic State group by the promise of a decent salary, according to a security official.
Two Iranian ex-prisoners have opened a successful "jail restaurant" to help raise funds to free convicts languishing behind bars for unpaid debts.
A storefront picture of their "Cell 16" diner in eastern Tehran shows a frustrated prisoner holding a chicken leg in one hand and trying with the other to bend the bars of his cell to escape.
The idea of the restaurant was hatched in prison.
"I met my partner while we were in police custody," Benyamin Nakhat, 31, told AFP. "I was working at the iron market in Tehran but I went bankrupt. I found myself penniless."
The United States said Monday a deal was possible with Iran on its nuclear program but that an agreement had to be completed urgently as Tehran advances its capabilities, on the eve of renewed talks.
The negotiations -- attended by China, France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, Iran and the United States -- will resume in Vienna after being halted at the end of last month.
They come after parties in recent weeks cited progress in seeking to revive the 2015 accord that was supposed to prevent Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb, a goal it has always denied pursuing.
