Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, is locked under the rule of extremists from the Islamic State group trying to purge it of everything they see as contradicting their stark vision of Islam. A trove of photographs now housed at the Library of Congress offers a glimpse of a different Mosul – before wars, insurgency, sectarian strife and now radicals' rule. The scenes were taken in the autumn of 1932 by staff from the American Colony Photo Department during a visit to Iraq at the end of the British mandate. (Photo by AP Photo)

An Afghani man sells bread on a roadside in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 23 April 2024. A recent World Bank report reveals a 26% decrease in Afghanistan's gross output over the past year, primarily attributed to a 1.3 billion USD income reduction for farmers due to the ban on drug cultivation. Although tax revenue saw a modest increase of 13% in 2023, exports experienced a 15% decline specifically to Pakistan. Afghan officials highlighted efforts to spur domestic production, improve trade, stabilize the national currency, and initiate key economic projects. (Photo by Qudratullah Razwan/EPA/EFE)

Two of 20 skulls to be taken possession of by a delegation from Namibia stand on display at a ceremony at Charite hospital on September 30, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. The skulls are from Herero and Nama tribespeople taken by German colonial forces between 1904 and 1908, when the Germans violently suppressed an uprising in what was then German Southwest Africa, which is today's Namibia, and in the process killed tens of thousand of Herero and Nama. German scientists at the time took the skulls back to Berlin to demonstrate the racial superiority of Europeans over black Africans. Many Namibians demand a formal apology from the German government. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A man takes photo of his colleague with a mobile phone on the burning oil tanker at the ship-breaking yard in Gaddani, Pakistan, November 2, 2016. Reports state that at least eighteen workers were killed and more than 100 were wounded in a blast at Gaddani ship breaking yard near Karachi on 01 November. Initial reports suggest the blast occurred when a gas cylinder exploded inside an oil tanker being broken up for scrap. (Photo by Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)

Students wearing mask hold hands to surround the St. Stephen's Girls' College in Hong Kong, Monday, September 9, 2019. Thousands of demonstrators in Hong Kong urged President Donald Trump to “liberate” the semiautonomous Chinese territory during a peaceful march to the U.S. Consulate on Sunday, but violence broke out later in the business and retail district as police fired tear gas after protesters vandalized subway stations, set fires and blocked traffic. (Photo by Kin Cheung/AP Photo)

Protesters hold on to each other as they are sprayed with water from police water cannons in Martyr square, downtown Beirut, Lebanon October 8, 2015. Lebanese security forces fired tear gas and water cannons to break up an anti-government protest in Beirut on Thursday, and the country's fractious leaders postponed talks aimed at resolving a political crisis that is feeding public discontent. (Photo by Aziz Taher/Reuters)

An injured supporter of Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga receives assistance in Nairobi, Kenya on November 17, 2017. Kenyan police have used tear gas and water cannons to disperse supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga who are trying to gather near the country's main airport and Uhuru park to welcome him back from an overseas trip. (Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters)

Buddy Mae Walker (R), 4, looks at herself in the mirror while trying on a child respirator provided by the non-profit TeamRaccoonPDX on October 6, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. We told them their grandparents sent them space suits to keep them safe, Jessica Walker said of the respirators, which the family sought out after police used tear gas near their residential street. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)