Iraqi Kurds celebrate Newroz by carrying torches and fireworks

Thousands of people celebrated the Kurdish Newroz spring festival on Wednesday, Mar. 20 in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq. Men and women in the northern Kurdish town of Akre, known also as the capital of Newroz, welcomed their new year by holding torches and climbing up a mountain under colorful explosions of fireworks. (AP video: Rashid Yahya)