Battling Islamic State street by street in Mosul

With the crumbling stone walls of Mosul's Church of the Immaculate Conception behind him, Pope Francis prays for "victims of war" and makes a plea for Christians in Iraq and the Middle East to stay in their homelands.

Jihadis have seized a town and also allegedly attacked a convoy of fleeing civilians, including foreign workers, as fighting continued in the gas-rich region.

The Islamic State group claims responsibility for seizing the northern town of Palma in Mozambique. It's the latest attack in an escalating Islamist insurgency sweeping the region. Also, tensions erupt between students and the government in South Africa over free higher education. Our correspondents went to find out whether cancelling student debt is a viable option. And we catch up with DR Congo music star Fabregas Le Métis Noir in the lead-up to the release of his first French-language album.

The Islamic State group claims responsibility for seizing the northern town of Palma in Mozambique. It's the latest attack in an escalating Islamist insurgency sweeping the region. Also, tensions erupt between students and the government in South Africa over free higher education. Our correspondents went to find out whether cancelling student debt is a viable option. And we catch up with DR Congo music star Fabregas Le Métis Noir in the lead-up to the release of his first French-language album.

Hundreds of Pakistani women who accompanied their ex-insurgent husbands to India-administered Kashmir have found themselves trapped in limbo.

An Afghan national, codenamed Basim and who allegedly led the terrorist group's military structure, has been detained in Istanbul.

Ten captives taken by extremists in Nigeria are freed. The group had been held by ISWAP militants, who have killed hostages in the past. Also, we look at the tourism industry in Ethiopia ahead of June 21 regional elections. The sector has been hit hard by the conflict in the Tigray region and the Covid-19 pandemic. And we see how a Chinese-funded harbour in Sierra Leone is stirring environmental fears. NIGERIA

A group of fighters from the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram have pledged allegiance to rival group the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) weeks after the former group's leader died, a video obtained by Reuters showed.

The head of Germany's foreign intelligence agency has warned that the Islamic State is just as strong as it ever was — even without its caliphate. Terrorism experts agree that it has morphed into a powerful network.

After the so-called "Islamic State" saw its influence wane in the Middle East, the group and its affiliates targeted poorly governed areas in Africa. But just how big is the threat across the continent?

Residents and students attend a vigil at the gates of the Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi to pay homage to Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photographer Danish Siddiqui. The Reuters news agency photographer was killed covering fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban near a border crossing with Pakistan. The Reuters news agency photographer was killed Friday covering fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban near a border crossing with Pakistan. "Danish was a people's journalist... He used to narrate the sorrow and pain of our times through his camera," said one resident. His photos of protests in the neighbourhood against a controversial citizenship law last year were well-known among the residents here.

More than 10 people are reported to have died and at least 50 injured. State media blamed the attack on the 'Islamic State' (IS) militant group, which has revived its campaign of violence in Iraq.