At least 33 people have been killed in two suspected suicide attacks in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar, police have said.

The second bomber reportedly detonated his explosives as people gathered to help victims of the first blast on Thursday.

More than 70 people were reportedly wounded.

Khaled Omar, a police colonel in the town, told the AFP news agency that the attack took place outside a house used as a court annexe to interrogate suspects in "terrorist attacks".

Elsewhere, at least seven civilians were killed and 20 injured by two bombs hidden in piles of rubbish in a market in Baghdad's Sadr city.

The bombing in Tal Afar followed a twin car bomb attack in the city of Mosul on Wednesday that killed at least 14 people and wounded 33 others. 

Iranian police have dispersed hundreds of protesters who staged a march to commemorate the anniversary of student unrest in 1999, witnesses have said.

Police fired tear gas on Thursday to scatter demonstrators who defied government warnings and moved towards Tehran University, the centre of the unrest 10 years ago.

Police in riot gear were out in force due to earlier street protests that had been held against last month's presidential election.

One student, who was at the protest but wanted to remain unnamed, told Al Jazeera: "They were starting to have a very calm demonstration, but the police started hitting the people, arresting the people.

"They didn't let anybody to go near the Revolution Square the main point of the student demonstration.

"Also the people riding their cars - you can hear them using the sound to protect the people who march in the street. If the police see any cars making the sound, they get the ID and didn't let them to go anywhere."

The Iranian authorities had said that any commemoration of the 1999 incident, in which at least one student was killed and dozens wounded when vigilantes stormed a university dormitory, would be dealt with forcefully.

Women in Afghanistan are facing increasing violence almost eight years after the fall of the Taliban, a UN report showed today.

The report, issued by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, focuses on the "growing trend" of violence and sexual threats made against women in public life.

It reveals examples of targeted killings of professional women as well as a list of threats, discrimination, intimidation and harassment aimed at working women and their families.

Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said: "The limited space that opened up for Afghan women following the demise of the Taliban regime in 2001 is under sustained attack, not just by the Taliban themselves, but by deeply ingrained cultural practices and customs.

"Despite a number of significant advances in terms of the creation of new legislation and institutions, there is a chronic failure at all levels of government to advance the protection of women's rights in Afghanistan," the she added.

The 4,000-year-old city south of Baghdad was once home to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

The Unesco report says troops and contractors dug long trenches through the ancient ruins, bulldozed hilltops and drove heavy vehicles over the fragile paving of pathways which were once held sacred.

I don´t know whether to be angry or sad or both.

Now where are we going and what's with the handbasket?