Huge pack of starlings in the sky of the Negev, Israel, on January 21, 2013. Birds are turned in evening twilight before settling to sleep. (Photo by Eliyahu Hershkovitz)

A burning tank is in Daraa, on March 9, 2013. (Photo by Ali Abu-Salah/Reuters/Shaam News Network via The Atlantic)

Visitors view ice sculptures at the 29th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival on January 5, 2013. (Photo by Associated Press)

A woman struggles with an umbrella in the wind and rain while walking in Derby city centre, on December 23, 2013. (Photo by Rui Vieira/PA Wire)

Gorillas at Royal Burgers’ Zoo, Arnhem, Netherlands, on November 28, 2013. (Photo by Vidi Photo/Startraks Photo New York)

A picturesque supercell formation in the northwest of Booker, Texas from June 2013. (Photo by Mike Olbinski/Barcroft Media)

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)