Explosions rocked local oil refineries near the towns of al-Bab and Jarablus sparking large fires.
Middle East
![The Great Ziggurat temple in the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq's Dhi Qar province [File: Asaad Niazi/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/000_92D9KX.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Pope Francis expected to visit the ancient southern Iraqi city of Ur on Saturday.
![The rally in Turkish assets made the lira the best-performing currency since a shake-up at the central bank and finance ministry in November [File: Miguel Angel Sanchez/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/369165278.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Renaissance Capital’s chief economist predicts a ‘boom-and-bust cycle’ ending in a crash around the 2023 election.
![Iran's nuclear policy is decided by the country's top authority, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and not the president or the government [File: Dalati Nohra/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2021-02-21T090325Z_1023036465_RC2XWL9S461Z_RTRMADP_3_IRAN-NUCLEAR-USA.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Announcement comes after European diplomatic sources said Iran recently gave encouraging signs.
![Algerian demonstrators march during an anti-government protest in the capital Algiers on Friday [Ryad Kramdi/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/000_94C84J.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Demonstrators call for the political establishment to depart and the army to quit politics.
![Pope Francis gives a speech at the Presidential Palace in Baghdad [Vatican Media via Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021-03-05T142203Z_1762487712_RC225M9B63N2_RTRMADP_3_POPE-IRAQ-SPEECH.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Pope says he felt duty-bound to visit Iraq because the country had suffered so much for so long.
![An Iran Aseman Airlines Fokker 100 takes off as an Iran Air aircraft is seen in the foreground at Tehran's international airport on August 6, 2007 [File: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2007-08-06T120000Z_1585119514_GM1DVWESTKAA_RTRMADP_3_IRAN.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The elite force says Iran Air flight heading from the city of Ahvaz to Mashhad was the target of attempted hijacking.
![The remarks by Benny Gantz come as US President Joe Biden’s administration considers rejoining the 2015 Iran nuclear deal [File: Jalaa Marey/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/000_93M2MU.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Defence minister says Israel has identified Iranian targets to attack if Tehran continues ‘nuclear escalation’.
![Dbeibah, a billionaire from the western city of Misrata, had already sent to parliament his 'structure and a working vision of a national unity government' but had not provided names [File: Hazem Ahmed/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AP_21056731427734.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Dbeibah submits proposal to the parliament for approval in another step towards unifying the country.
![The call, the first between the two since Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden took office in January, came a day after the ICC prosecutor said she would launch the probe, prompting swift rejections by Washington and the Israeli government [File: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021-03-03T021743Z_631006391_RC2E3M9XFEKH_RTRMADP_3_USA-BIDEN.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
US vice president, Israeli PM say The Hague court has no jurisdiction over the issue as prosecutor pledges impartial probe.
![Female riot police officers surround Zaynab, daughter of human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, during an anti-government rally demanding his release in Manama, in 2012 [File: Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021-02-16T133156Z_1503941514_RC2PTL9129E6_RTRMADP_3_BAHRAIN-UPRISING-ANNIVERSARY.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Donald Trump’s policies encourage authoritarianism in Manama, rights groups say; want Biden to reset relations.
The Hague-based tribunal opens an investigation into alleged war crimes in the Israeli occupied territories.
![Rescue workers, soldiers and civilians walk around the wreckage of a military helicopter that crashed near the Turkish eastern city of Bitlis [AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/000_94A7A9.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
A lieutenant general among the dead in army helicopter crash in southeast Turkey that left two others wounded.
![The visit of the pope has a highly symbolic value given the importance of Iraqi Christians in the history of the faith and their cultural and linguistic legacy dating back to the time of ancient Babylon, nearly 4,000 years ago [Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Pope.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The pontiff lands in Baghdad in highly symbolic visit for dwindling Iraqi Christian communities affected by conflict.
