Overcoming IS terror with books

Available for over a year

Dr Alaa Hamdon is a geologist from the Iraqi city of Mosul who always loved books. One of the most magical places for him in the city was the university library, with over a million books - it was the biggest of its kind in the Middle East. That was until the Islamic State group took over the city in 2014 and burned down the library. Dr Hamdon was devastated, but he made up his mind to rebuild the library and called on all of his friends and colleagues to help him. He's now working with the charity Book Aid International to restore the library. His campaign is called Mosul Book Bridge. https://bookaid.org/ When Colin Butcher was working as a detective sergeant in the 1990s he had the kernel of an idea - to work with a specially trained dog to find missing pets across the UK and reunite them with their owners. And so the pet detective agency was born. Emily Webb went to Surrey in the south of England to meet Colin and his detective companion - and beloved pet - Molly the cocker spaniel. Colin has written a book about their adventures called 'Molly and Me'. Image: Dr Alaa Hamdon Credit: Book Aid International