Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with Pope Francis in Vatican and presented him with fragments salvaged from an ancient bible which was burned by the ISIS in Iraq. The Kurdish premier arrived in Rome on Tuesday where, apart from Pope Francis, he also held meetings with his Italian counterpart and Vatican’s Secretary of State. During his meeting with Pope, PM Barzani shed light on the current situation for religious freedom in Iraq.

Eight people are dead following two shootings at shisha bars in the western German city of Hanau. An unknown number of gunmen killed three people at the first shisha bar, few hours ago Midnight, before driving to the Arena Bar & Cafe and shooting dead another five victims. Police added that they are searching for the suspects, who fled the scene and are currently at large.

Neanderthal ‘skeleton’ is first found in a decade. The new specimen was uncovered at Shanidar Cave in Iraq and consists of the upper torso and crushed skull of a middle-aged to older adult. Excavations at Shanidar in the 1950s and 60s unearthed partial remains of 10 Neanderthal men, women and children. During these earlier excavations, archaeologists found that some of the burials were clustered together, with clumps of pollen surrounding one of the skeletons.