Ahmad

Israel launched air strikes Thursday on southern Gaza's Rafah after threatening to send troops into the city, where around 1.4 million Palestinians have sought shelter from around the territory.

Global powers trying to navigate a way to end the Israel-Hamas war have so far come up short, but a U.S. envoy was expected in Israel on Thursday to try to secure a truce deal.

While workers labored on a large construction site in the Gaza Strip, a security guard noticed a strange piece of stone sticking out of the earth.

"I thought it was a tunnel," said Ahmad, the young guard, referring to secret passages dug by the Islamist group Hamas to help it battle Israel.

"But we finally got here and now I feel happy and optimistic about our short stay here, until we get to the United States," he added.

Wearing jeans and a white shirt, Ahmad says he spent his whole life with the conflict in Afghanistan, but did not think about leaving and was happy with his job.

A collection of portraits of migrants and refugees who lost their lives on the so-called Balkan Route to Western Europe has opened in the Living Atelier DK gallery in Croatia's capital Zagreb.

Greece moved another 400 people from its biggest migrant camp on Tuesday as the International Rescue Committee (IRC) charity warned of a mental health emergency there with 30 percent of people having attempted suicide.

Many firefighters were feared trapped under the rubble after Iran's oldest high-rise, the 15-storey Plasco building in downtown Tehran, collapsed live on TV on Jan. 19, following a fire.

RITSONA - Ahmad, Farah and Mohamad drew their first breaths in their Syrian parents' promised land of Europe - or at least on the edge of it. Greece lies at the wrong end of the continent from where the families wanted to land, separated from the prosperous heartland by an array of high fences, razor wire and border checks.

The Croatian sun has given way to rain and the temperature has dropped, but refugees and migrants continue to stream into the country, forcing officials and charities to scramble to prepare for wintry conditions.