Assassinated former Afghan president Rabbani began his career as a firebrand professor before becoming venerated elder.


Tanya Goudsouzian is a media professional with extensive experience in post-conflict countries.
Assassinated former Afghan president Rabbani began his career as a firebrand professor before becoming venerated elder.

Hero fought in the resistance against Iraq’s Baathist regime – 50 years later, a new generation follows her example.
![Hero Ibrahim Ahmad, archives, circa 1980s, Zagros Mountains [Al Jazeera]](https://aljazeeranews.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/c3ae06bfda5c46f497377a41ef7b5782_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
For the Kurdish intelligentsia, there is far more at stake than the loss of land.
![The entrance of the newly restored Farah Hotel in the heart of the Sulaimania Bazaar, Iraq [Lara Fatah]](https://aljazeeranews.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/511157e9e5f94b45962840ac38c30226_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
A popsicle and a smile might not be a substitute for a psychologist, but it makes the conditions more bearable for IDP children.

Apathy and cynicism pervasive in Iraq’s Kurdish region as an unending series of crises and scandals unfolds.
![Two Kurdish men talking at the Sulaimania Bazaar in Sulaimania, northern Iraq [photo/Tanya Goudsouzian]](https://aljazeeranews.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1930f3b702b540c3b66179f9bc7c5c3f_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
After a decade of building, Kurds are now in a state of suspended animation.
![A view of Sulaimania city, northern Iraq [Tanya Goudsouzian / Al Jazeera]](https://aljazeeranews.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/750064b13db5456dad3c961aac6fbd9b_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Efforts are under way to salvage what remains of old Sulaimania, once a bastion of diversity and cosmopolitanism.
![An old building in Sulaimania [photo/Lara Fatah]](https://aljazeeranews.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/7977a7d9cf7b4aa48b1e257d188eb9e6_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
In country torn apart by war, political settlements alone will not fix antagonism among ethnic and religious groups.

A former Peshmerga fighter has swapped his rifle for a paintbrush as he relives battlefield memories.

As the battle for Mosul rages, in Sulaimania, there is a growing sense of despondency and apathy.
