Photo taken on Dec. 6, 2018 shows a shovel truck clearing debris at the historic al-Nuri mosque in the old city of Mosul, capital city of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh. A year has passed since Iraq announced full liberation from the Islamic State (IS) militant group, but Iraqis are still desperately struggling to restore their normal life amid lackluster reconstruction process. In Mosul, life restoration is running faster in the eastern side, which witnessed fewer battles than the western side. Defiant residents in Mosul have never lost hope in their efforts to rebuild their beloved home city. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)