The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Islamic Revolutionary who led war with Iraq but pushed for reconciliation with the west is buried in Tehran The funeral of Iran’s former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani turned into a rare display of public dissent on Tuesday as at least 2 million people packed the streets of Tehran to pay tribute to a man whose death has shaken the country’s political balance. [Read more].

• Saeed Kamali Dehghan, Rare opportunity to voice dissent in Iran as thousands mourn Rafsanjani, The Guardian, January 10, 2017

Faezeh Hashemi Bahramani, daughter of the former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, flashes a victory sign to the crowd from a bus during the funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran. Photo: Vahid Salemi/AP.

A mourner in the crowd holds up a picture of Rafsanjani. Photo: 新华通讯社 (Xīnhuá News Agency)/Rex/Shutterstock.

Porthole

Mosul, Iraq: A girl is photographed in a damaged building at the Hassam Sham refugee camp which is full of refugees who have had to escape the battles between the Iraqi army and Islamic State. Photo: Magnus Wennman/IBL/Rex/Shutterstock.

Royal Carriage

Shaqouli, Iraq: A displaced woman holds her cat while waiting for transport in a checkpoint village east of Mosul. Photo: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images.

Sugar Land

Erbil, Iraq: A man prepares sweet pastries in a shop. As the offensive by Iraqi and Kurdish forces to drive Isis out of Mosul continues and despite a recent Isis attack on nearby Kirkuk, life in Erbil, the de facto capital of Iraq’s northern Kurdish region, has carried on peacefully. Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images.