Crucial Battle For World's Most Dangerous Dam

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <header class="story__header" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><div class="story__standfirst" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-bottom: 40px; max-width: 64%;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Allowing Iraq's strategically important Mosul Dam to burst, killing as many as 500,000 people, is a risk neither side can take.</span></div> <div class="last-updated" style="bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 40px; max-width: 40%; position: absolute; right: 0px; text-align: right;"> <div class="last-updated__text" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"> <span class="last-updated__time" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">17:35, UK,</span></span><span class="last-updated__day" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: border-box;"></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span class="last-updated__day" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Monday 18</span> <span class="last-updated__month-year" style="box-sizing: border-box;">August 2014</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.625rem;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.625rem;">Affairs Editor</span></div> </div> </header><section class="story__content" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px auto 80px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 18.75rem; orphans: auto; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; widows: auto;"><div class="story__intro" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div class="story__intro" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div class="video__placeholder-wrapper js-video" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 0px; padding-bottom: 371px; position: relative; width: 660px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 371px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item video__teaser-image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330218/default/v1/cegrab-20140818-153719-407-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330218/default/v1/cegrab-20140818-153719-407-1-942x530.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 371px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 660px;" /></div> </div> <button aria-labelledby="video__caption-1320787" class="video__play--icon" style="background-image: url(http://news.sky.com/images/ffa94923.play-icon.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: contain; border: none; bottom: 8px; cursor: pointer; height: 46px; left: 7px; margin: 0px; position: absolute; width: 46px;"><span class="video__play-a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; text-align: left; width: 1px;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Play video</span></span><span class="video__type" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: right;">Video:</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: right;"> </span><span class="video__teaser" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: right;">Fighting For Iraq's Mosu</span></span></button></div> <div class="story__intro" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> <span style="font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.625rem;">Recapturing the Mosul Dam from Islamic State (IS) militants isn't just a military and political necessity - it's an engineering imperative.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> It's got feet of clay. More accurately, gypsum and limestone.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> It holds 12 billion cubic metres (425 billion cubic feet) of water.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> If it broke it would unleash a liquid bulldozer 10 metres (65 feet) high that would engulf Mosul downstream on the Tigris before racing south and flooding Baghdad.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Some experts have said around 500,000 people could be killed if the dam were to fail.</div> <div class="image image--inline" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="91x68 300x225 480x360" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330220/default/v2/cegrab-20140818-154235-295-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330220/default/v2/cegrab-20140818-154235-295-1-480x360.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> <div class="image__caption" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px;"> Smoke rises from an area close to Iraq's Mosul Dam</div> </div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Because it's been built on gypsum and limestone, which are water soluble, the dam's base gets regular injections of "grout" - a messy mix of concrete and earth.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Some 200 tonnes of the emergency engineering porridge has to be poured into the base every year but sinkholes are appearing.</div> <div class="module module--inline video" data-format-high="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/700/2014/08/180814IraqMosulDamWeb1408372973984700.mp4" data-format-low="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/374/2014/08/180814IraqMosulDamWeb1408372973984374.mp4" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 540px; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div class="video__placeholder-wrapper js-video" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 0px; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item video__teaser-image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330221/default/v2/cegrab-20140818-154229-295-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330221/default/v2/cegrab-20140818-154229-295-1-942x530.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 303px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <button aria-labelledby="video__caption-1320789" class="video__play--icon" style="-webkit-appearance: button; background-image: url(http://news.sky.com/images/ffa94923.play-icon.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: none; bottom: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; height: 46px; left: 7px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: absolute; text-transform: none; width: 46px;"><span class="video__play-a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; width: 1px;">Play video</span></button></div> <span class="video__caption" id="video__caption-1320789" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 540px;"><span class="video__type" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1rem;">Video:</span> <span class="video__teaser" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 1rem;">Smoke Rises Near Vital Iraqi Dam</span></span></div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Iraq's government had earmarked billions to repair the dam, which is also the source of electricity for about a million people and clean water for much of northern Iraq.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> And while IS has pretentions to establishing a "caliphate" over much of Syria and Iraq, it is unlikely the ranks of its militants include advanced construction engineers capable of keeping the dam from collapsing.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> In 2007, the US Army Corps of Engineers surveyed the structure and concluded the dam was "the most dangerous in the world".</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Kurdish peshmerga fighters, with the support of airstrikes by US warplanes, <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1320514/cameron-we-are-not-going-to-war-in-iraq" style="background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(203, 203, 203); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3157a1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_self"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-weight: 700;">are battling for control of the dam</strong></a>.</div> <div class="module gallery gallery--4x3" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; -webkit-transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 540px; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div aria-hidden="true" class="gallery__position" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-top: 10px; padding: 405px 10px 0px 0px; position: absolute; text-align: right; top: 0px; width: 540px; z-index: 99;"> <span class="js-gallery-current" style="box-sizing: border-box;">1</span>/<span class="js-gallery-total" style="box-sizing: border-box;">23</span></div> <div class="gallery__container" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 54000px;"> <ol aria-labelledby="gallery__teaser--1320729" class="gallery__list" style="-webkit-transform: translateX(-1%); box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 54000px;"> <li aria-hidden="true" class="gallery__item gallery__item--last" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330185/default/v3/453728922-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330185/default/v3/453728922-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item gallery__item--first" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/19/330283/default/v5/pesh-blanket-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/19/330283/default/v5/pesh-blanket-1-1600x1200.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> <div class="gallery__teaser" id="gallery__teaser--1320729" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 1rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"> <span class="gallery__module-type" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1rem;">Gallery:</span> IS militants lose control of Mosul Dam</div> <div class="gallery__caption" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 100ms; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; margin: 0px; min-height: 1.125rem; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 100ms; width: 472px;"> A peshmerga fighter guards a front line position in fighting with Islamic State militants near Mosul</div> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/19/330285/default/v4/pesh-smoke-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/19/330285/default/v4/pesh-smoke-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/19/330286/default/v4/pesh-rest-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/19/330286/default/v4/pesh-rest-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/19/330287/default/v4/pesh-car-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/19/330287/default/v4/pesh-car-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/19/330288/default/v4/pesh-ramadi-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/19/330288/default/v4/pesh-ramadi-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330187/default/v3/453741620-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330187/default/v3/453741620-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330188/default/v2/453742336-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330188/default/v2/453742336-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330198/default/v2/453741742-2-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330198/default/v2/453741742-2-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330200/default/v2/453741814-2-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330200/default/v2/453741814-2-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330201/default/v2/453741622-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330201/default/v2/453741622-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330199/default/v2/rtr42sdj-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330199/default/v2/rtr42sdj-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330197/default/v2/453746072-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330197/default/v2/453746072-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330193/default/v2/453744782-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330193/default/v2/453744782-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330190/default/v2/453744422-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330190/default/v2/453744422-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330189/default/v2/453744310-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330189/default/v2/453744310-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330196/default/v2/453746134-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330196/default/v2/453746134-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330192/default/v2/453745950-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330192/default/v2/453745950-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330195/default/v2/453745968-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330195/default/v2/453745968-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330182/default/v3/453728926-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330182/default/v3/453728926-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330191/default/v2/453744760-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330191/default/v2/453744760-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330194/default/v2/453744770-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330194/default/v2/453744770-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330202/default/v2/rtr42t0v-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330202/default/v2/rtr42t0v-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item gallery__item--last" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330185/default/v3/453728922-10-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330185/default/v3/453728922-10-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li aria-hidden="true" class="gallery__item gallery__item--first" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/19/330283/default/v5/pesh-blanket-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/19/330283/default/v5/pesh-blanket-1-1600x1200.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> <div class="gallery__teaser" id="gallery__teaser--1320729" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 1rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"> <span class="gallery__module-type" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1rem;">Gallery:</span> IS militants lose control of Mosul Dam</div> <div class="gallery__caption" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 100ms; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; margin: 0px; min-height: 1.125rem; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 100ms; width: 472px;"> A peshmerga fighter guards a front line position in fighting with Islamic State militants near Mosul</div> </div> </li> </ol> </div> <div aria-hidden="true" class="gallery__control-container" style="-webkit-transform: translateZ(0px); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; padding-bottom: 405px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 540px; z-index: 100;"> <div class="gallery__area gallery__area--left" data-direction="left" style="-webkit-touch-callout: none; -webkit-user-select: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 405px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 270px;"> <button class="gallery__control gallery__control--left" data-direction="left" style="-webkit-appearance: button; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 35px; border-bottom-right-radius: 35px; border-top-left-radius: 35px; border-top-right-radius: 35px; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px 70px 70px 35px); color: #dddddd; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: skycons; font-size: 28px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; height: 70px; left: -35px; line-height: normal; margin: -35px 0px 0px; opacity: 1; padding: 0px; position: absolute; speak: none; text-align: left; text-decoration: inherit; text-indent: 42px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px; text-transform: none; top: 50%; transition: all 0.2s ease-in; vertical-align: middle; width: 70px;"></button></div> <div class="gallery__area gallery__area--right" data-direction="right" style="-webkit-touch-callout: none; -webkit-user-select: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 405px; position: absolute; right: 0px; top: 0px; width: 270px;"> <button class="gallery__control gallery__control--right" data-direction="right" style="-webkit-appearance: button; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 35px; border-bottom-right-radius: 35px; border-top-left-radius: 35px; border-top-right-radius: 35px; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px 35px 70px 0px); color: #dddddd; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: skycons; font-size: 28px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; height: 70px; line-height: normal; margin: -35px 0px 0px; opacity: 1; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: -35px; speak: none; text-align: left; text-decoration: inherit; text-indent: 10px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px; text-transform: none; top: 50%; transition: all 0.2s ease-in; vertical-align: middle; width: 70px;"></button></div> </div> </div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> It's a ginger process.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> The IS fighters are battle hardened. They are also demolitions experts and have unleashed a tide of bloody religious slaughter across a third of Iraq and Syria.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> They have sown the countryside around the dam with improvised explosive devices and mines.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> There are fears they might have also rigged the dam for destruction.</div> <div class="module module--inline video" data-format-high="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/700/2014/08/IRAQParmenter1408363655701700.mp4" data-format-low="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/374/2014/08/IRAQParmenter1408363655701374.mp4" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 540px; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div class="video__placeholder-wrapper js-video" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 0px; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item video__teaser-image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330054/default/v3/cegrab-20140818-035737-349-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/18/330054/default/v3/cegrab-20140818-035737-349-1-942x530.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 303px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <button aria-labelledby="video__caption-1320682" class="video__play--icon" style="-webkit-appearance: button; background-image: url(http://news.sky.com/images/ffa94923.play-icon.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: none; bottom: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; height: 46px; left: 7px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: absolute; text-transform: none; width: 46px;"><span class="video__play-a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; width: 1px;">Play video</span></button></div> <span class="video__caption" id="video__caption-1320682" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 540px;"><span class="video__type" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1rem;">Video:</span> <span class="video__teaser" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 1rem;">PM: 'We Are Not Going To War'</span></span></div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> This may be an exaggerated concern. The IS is violent and extreme but there are no signs it is idiotic.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Its recent tactical successes have been carefully orchestrated as part of a wider strategy to create a caliphate not even al Qaeda managed to establish.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Sending a wall of water crashing down the Tigris valley and drowning mostly fellow Sunni Muslims would rob the caliphate of potential supporters and guarantee the survivors would turn against its brutal interpretation of Islam.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> But this doesn't mean the dam may be damaged in fighting.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Nor that it would be able to survive intact if the IS manages to hang on, or in tit-for-tat-operations the dam's relentless need for reinforcement was fatally interrupted<br />.</div> </section></div>

Crucial Battle For World's Most Dangerous Dam

Allowing Iraq's strategically important Mosul Dam to burst, killing as many as 500,000 people, is a risk neither side can take. 17:...

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Could you survive as a Christian living in Gwoza, Chibok in Nigeria or Iraq, right now?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; border: none; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; width: 638px;"><tbody> <tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="638"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: small;">So much happened and is still happening in North East Nigeria but just a little is being reported. Interestingly, the only report we get is about how many have been killed by Boko Haram terrorists or the number of these terrorists that have been killed by Nigerian Soldiers. In nearly all the report, there seem to be a connivance among the media to consciously forget the primary target of these Islamic terrorists. They have sisd it time without number, though we all choose to pretend about it, that Christians are their primary target. On several occasions they have commanded some Christians to deny Christianity failing which results in brutal killing.<br /><br />Like the Christians in North Eastern Nigeria so are the Christians in Mosul, Irbil etc and the Yazidi sect, in Iraq. From what is going on right now, I am constantly jealous that the threats and killings of the Yazidis was what kicked the World out of sleep. It seems that the World did not and are not considering the lives of the Christians, viciously killed by the Islamic State, right there in Mosul and other places. While these  Christians lives were being killed and forced out of their communities, forced to deny Christianity, no threat came from anywhere. No military intervention, no Aids droppings, nothing.<br /><br />The case of Christians in Iraq is even nothing to be compared with the plight of Christians in North East Nigeria. We all know that, before the wicked Islamic State wickedness began, Boko Haram terrorists have been killing Christians in Nigeria. Did you hear the sound of planes coming to drop Aids for these wickedly and viciously killed Christians? Not even a mention! The World left everything for Nigeria to handle. Several of these Christians were beheaded, burnt to death, shot dead inside their places of worship, bombed while having service and so on. All the World did was to condemn these devilish actions. While they continue to tell anyone that cares to listen that their primary goal is to Islamize the whole of a northern Nigeria, many laugh it off.<br /><br />Today, many of these Christians in Northern Nigeria are in caves, eating wild fruits and battling with dangerous animals. They have been forced out of their homes, places of worship, farms and their very lives and yet the world seem not to consider them for Aids droppings neither do Nigeria qualify to be given a hand, without unnecessary conditionalities, so as to battle these terrorists to a standstill.<br /><br />The worst is that I am yet to hear from the world acclaimed human right movements. I must say here that, it is complete hypocrisy for these people to campaign against the falling of trees and the killing of animals and fishes in the waters but yet lend no loud voice to the condemnable vicious acts of devilish wickedness against Christians in North Eastern Nigeria and in Iraq.<br /><br />Well, whether in Iraq or in Nigeria, Christians are Christians and lives are lives! Let the World speak up or forever keep Quiet in every other thing happening anywhere in the world!<br /><br />Below is details of the happening in Iraq.<br /><a href="http://lists.catholic.org/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL3ljdmYub3JnL2NvbGxlY3Rpb25zL2VtZXJnZW5jeS1yZXNwb25zZS9wcm9kdWN0cy9lbWVyZ2VuY3ktZnVuZC1zYXZlLWlyYXFpLWNocmlzdGlhbnM=&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=MTIxNTE3NjQ3Njg%3D&CampaignID=5561&CampaignStatisticsID=14987&Demo=0&Email=c2VsZmxlc3NoZWFydHNuZ0BnbWFpbC5jb20=" shape="rect" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" target="_blank"><img border="0" hspace="0" name="147df28016686283_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.19" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhkGt8UKIfIF1WENYE4OuQ0Xw8ND4jbRbI6bszZd7k9XP5nWef2m0fEHlke74xlUENKsuthIocoqFtiJjpJQAjXy_OzCfJzlQhQuN_VqHuuIP8bymh2c_noUHnUBX5vwWJBKsrRME4yeb9qINwksejeIIZ3Xdx2_vnjI4owVVT-_aktLLM=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: none; display: block; max-width: 100%;" vspace="0" width="638" /></a></span></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The mark of death for Christians.</span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There's a red mark on your door. In dripping blood-red paint, it's been marked with the Arabic letter N, a monogram for Christians. It's a mark of death, a warning. You have 24 hours to flee, leaving everything behind. No food or water, no vehicle, no money, nothing is allowed to you. </span><br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />To stay means death. You've heard the stories. Children beheaded, their heads displayed in a public park in Mosul. Women and girls raped and enslaved. Even those who pay the tax for being Christian have still had their family kidnapped, their wives raped and their livelihoods confiscated. The only option is to flee on foot.<br /></span><br /> <table style="border: none; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; width: 608px;"><tbody> <tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="608"><a href="http://lists.catholic.org/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL3ljdmYub3JnL2NvbGxlY3Rpb25zL2VtZXJnZW5jeS1yZXNwb25zZS9wcm9kdWN0cy9lbWVyZ2VuY3ktZnVuZC1zYXZlLWlyYXFpLWNocmlzdGlhbnM=&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=MTIxNTE3NjQ3Njg%3D&CampaignID=5561&CampaignStatisticsID=14987&Demo=0&Email=c2VsZmxlc3NoZWFydHNuZ0BnbWFpbC5jb20=" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" hspace="0" name="147df28016686283_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhvCYUj_uqRC-_mRK3hiI_rnN46y8Pa7mhGZE8TTn0WtDqKY6ZCM02BLqBe0X4DWTjN6quqjwuySi1FA4VFdUnvXZVYfgYxi3M2uia4LtndFP0ZKJSMhQf-XqniFH63IBy994wiDIfDTVHkBweiysRhV-AvG7jUmEp8q_qE8m5CvZCN5Ys=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: none;" vspace="0" width="598" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Christians flee as ISIS terrorists close in to kill. Not all of them will make it.</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /><br />At a border checkpoint, your family is aggressively searched for hidden money and jewelry. A woman shrieks in pain as her finger is cut off because in her panic she could not remove the ring. In front of you, a child's favorite toy is stripped from his tiny hands, as if the Islamic State needed it.<br /><br />You know your home, heard-earned and well-kept, will be given as a reward to a terrorist fighter and his family along with all your possessions inside.<br /><br />These thoughts weigh on your mind as you are forced to walk in the grueling 120 degree summertime heat of the unrelenting Iraqi desert. You have nothing but the clothes on your back. Nobody is coming to rescue you as your lips crack with dryness.<br /></span><br /> <table style="border: none; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; width: 608px;"><tbody> <tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="608"><a href="http://lists.catholic.org/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL3ljdmYub3JnL2NvbGxlY3Rpb25zL2VtZXJnZW5jeS1yZXNwb25zZS9wcm9kdWN0cy9lbWVyZ2VuY3ktZnVuZC1zYXZlLWlyYXFpLWNocmlzdGlhbnM=&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=MTIxNTE3NjQ3Njg%3D&CampaignID=5561&CampaignStatisticsID=14987&Demo=0&Email=c2VsZmxlc3NoZWFydHNuZ0BnbWFpbC5jb20=" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" hspace="0" name="147df28016686283_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.21" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEiYpLhySZj3b9qDjpHPfsIFvMNDR5NQCo64uQxI7Lxwp3F7VRfR2vsSGYbV7OnwvC-UgELAkgdSXt984O12QtdlgGMJovvXSs36E4Kr__lbQg5bJ_CfLWlwMap5-2vqcJ8lHQ2GJ1y2z5nJ5DxByxTnwWPTo2IxrjM6NfOedC5dbpnQf-g=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: none;" vspace="0" width="598" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The odds of survival in the desert are poor, especially for the elderly and young.</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /><br />You watch as the elderly collapse at the side of the road, family wailing because if they don't keep moving, roving bands of Islamic State terrorists will kill them family for sport. Grandparents are left to die from exhaustion, or at the hands of gleeful terrorists.<br /><br />If you're lucky, you might make it to a city that will take you in, but then you're likely to be shuttled to a refugee camp where all you can do is wait - a virtual prison sentence with heat and hunger for bars.<br /></span><br /> <table style="border: none; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; width: 608px;"><tbody> <tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="608"><a href="http://lists.catholic.org/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL3ljdmYub3JnL2NvbGxlY3Rpb25zL2VtZXJnZW5jeS1yZXNwb25zZS9wcm9kdWN0cy9lbWVyZ2VuY3ktZnVuZC1zYXZlLWlyYXFpLWNocmlzdGlhbnM=&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=MTIxNTE3NjQ3Njg%3D&CampaignID=5561&CampaignStatisticsID=14987&Demo=0&Email=c2VsZmxlc3NoZWFydHNuZ0BnbWFpbC5jb20=" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" hspace="0" name="147df28016686283_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.22" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgqMYKaCUJoLxGUbu2hTfgu8Lz7eg8mO1OrPQ7ekF6yKUM31K-v4IuTy58fN3e8qQV1-z5cQNbH3rrk1e8ZYvG7rE4nff8Oq7qlG_-gzAuwmz9FQJVOZC9CCCAzvRSpOs9-tVZKPE6ktt7tjFYzca3I1MK7idyB3vF-w6bMj565bqnTe5M=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: none;" vspace="0" width="598" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For Iraqi Christians, this is what good luck looks like. Could you imagine living like this?<br />Could you imagine this being your child?</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /><br />The unlucky are trapped on mountains of death, surrounded by another band of Islamic State fighters who think you should die instead of leave. For those people, trapped on a mountainside without food, water, medicine or the ability to flee, all you can do is wait for a slow death by exposure and starvation.<br /><br />The children are the first to die, especially the babies.<br /></span><br /> <table style="border: none; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; width: 608px;"><tbody> <tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="608"><a href="http://lists.catholic.org/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL3ljdmYub3JnL2NvbGxlY3Rpb25zL2VtZXJnZW5jeS1yZXNwb25zZS9wcm9kdWN0cy9lbWVyZ2VuY3ktZnVuZC1zYXZlLWlyYXFpLWNocmlzdGlhbnM=&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=MTIxNTE3NjQ3Njg%3D&CampaignID=5561&CampaignStatisticsID=14987&Demo=0&Email=c2VsZmxlc3NoZWFydHNuZ0BnbWFpbC5jb20=" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" hspace="0" name="147df28016686283_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.23" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgBdenfjB4KRGS4v5uZIX5J0eEMjbExQVur910K8v-VCSl9AJGZpDe6pS5xIJs5zeEzGIuq3wkNEU73a8AO4ddn2r4UTbE68yR_Gh62RT3DK62bLTloY0Uy3coC5kIH6rGUS1r08BIpcqEU6pn61s0cJ5Q3K6lVDQUL8dbtxKFRuwbz4pQ=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: none;" vspace="0" width="598" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Many children have died in the desert. Many more are expected to die in the weeks to come.</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This is not a work of fiction. This is real. This is happening right now. The only way you can help is to act now. Tomorrow will not be too late, IT IS TOO LATE. DO SOMETHING RIGHT NOW!</span><br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You can write to: selflessheartsng@gmail.com for enquiries on how you can help.</span></div>

Could you survive as a Christian living in Gwoza, Chibok in Nigeria or Iraq, right now?

So much happened and is still happening in North East Nigeria but just a little is being reported. Interestingly, the only report we get i...

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Razing of Mosul’s shrines sparks first signs of resistance against Islamic State: Who said prayer does not work?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="inline-content inline-photo" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="unprocessed" data-hi-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Iraq-04f42.jpg?uuid=ccnw4BgdEeSeO38vEQxiZQ" data-low-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_400w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Iraq-04f42.jpg?uuid=ccnw4BgdEeSeO38vEQxiZQ" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_400w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Iraq-04f42.jpg?uuid=ccnw4BgdEeSeO38vEQxiZQ" style="border: 0px; width: 599px;" /><br /><span class="pb-caption">People walk on the rubble of the destroyed mosque of the prophet Jonah in Mosul on July 24. The Muslim shrine was destroyed by Islamic State militants who overran the city in June and imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law. (AP)</span></span></div> <br /> <article></article><br /> <div class="pb-sig-line hasnt-headshot has-0-headshots hasnt-bio is-not-column" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: auto; padding-bottom: 20px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> <span class="pb-byline" style="display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProBold, sans-serif; padding-right: 5px;">By <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/loveday-morris" style="color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;">Loveday Morris</a></span> <span class="pb-timestamp" style="color: #aaaaaa; display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 1em; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; padding-right: 5px; white-space: nowrap;">July 30 at 6:14 PM</span> <span class="pb-tool email" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px;"><a href="mailto:loveday.morris@washpost.com?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20'Razing%20of%20Mosul%E2%80%99s%20shrines%20sparks%20first%20signs%20of%20resistance%20against%20Islamic%20State'" style="color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;"><span class="fa fa-envelope" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: inline-block; font-family: FontAwesome; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1;"></span></a></span> <span class="tweet-authors" style="white-space: nowrap;"><span class="pb-twitter-follow" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 5px; position: relative; top: 5px;"><a class="twitter-follow-button" data-lang="en" data-show-count="false" href="https://twitter.com/@LovedayM" style="color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;">Follow @LovedayM</a></span></span></div> <br /> <br /> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="dateline">BAGHDAD –</span> As al-Qaeda-inspired militants have reduced Mosul’s ancient religious shrines to rubble in recent weeks, their support has also crumbled, with popular outrage producing the first signs of resistance in the Iraqi city.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A newly formed militant group calling itself the Mosul Battalions claims to have killed nine members of the extremist Islamic State in recent days in knife and sniper attacks as retaliation for the destruction of the religious sites.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meanwhile, residents say they have protested attempts to destroy the city’s most iconic landmark – an 800-year-old minaret known locally as al-Hadba, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mosque_of_al-Nuri_%28Mosul%29" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">“the Hunchback,</a>” because of its distinctive lean.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Many Mosul residents had initially welcomed the Sunni militants when they took over in early June, praising them for expelling the largely Shiite Iraqi army, which had been accused of mistreating the city’s majority Sunni population. But local dissatisfaction with the new overlords has been increasing.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The city has suffered from severe electricity, fuel and water shortages, and the smashing of shrines and statues. But the expulsion of tens of thousands of Christians from the city and the destruction a week ago of a highly prominent religious site — the tomb of the prophet Jonah, who, according to Islamic, Jewish and Christian scriptures, survived being swallowed by a whale — brought a new level of resentment.</span></div> <div class="inline-content inline-photo-left" style="border: 0px none; clear: left; float: left; margin: 0.5em 20px 10px 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 300px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Iraq-07b32.jpg?uuid=8TCy5BgbEeSeO38vEQxiZQ" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><br /><span class="pb-caption">A photo posted on a militant Web site that frequently carries official statements from the Islamic State shows a bulldozer destroying a Sunni Ahmed al-Rifai shrine and tomb in Tal Afar, Iraq. (Uncredited/AP)</span></span></div> <div class="subhead" style="padding-bottom: 15px; padding-top: 10px; zoom: 0;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">‘People feel deceived’</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It was truly shocking for the people of Mosul,” said a 37-year-old resident who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “The people feel deceived by Islamic State. When they first came, they told us, ‘We will set you free,’ but they have turned against everyone.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said as residents gathered at the tomb of Jonah to see what had happened, some started shouting at the militants in anger.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nonetheless, the following day, the mosques and shrines of the prophets Seth and George were also destroyed. Axel Plathe, the Iraq representative for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, described the actions as “deliberate and systematic destruction” on a scale never seen before in Iraq’s modern history.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In total, at least seven sacred <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/25/after-leveling-iraqs-tomb-of-jonah-the-islamic-state-could-destroy-anything-in-the-bible/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">shrines have been razed</a>, said an official with the city’s Sunni endowment authority, which manages religious affairs.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“At first, we expected them to only blow up places for Shiite people,” said the official, who declined to be identified for security reasons. “Now they are blowing up everything.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At least three Shiite mosques have been destroyed in Mosul, and more in nearby areas, he said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Islamic State militants argue that it is idolatrous for Muslims to revere shrines and tombs.</span></div> <div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mosul has some of the most diverse cultural history in Iraq, said Plathe.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“There are mosques built on churches, built on synagogues,” he said. “It’s a city that has all these layers, where cultural diversity and religious diversity has been existing for so many hundreds of years.”</span></div> <div class="subhead" style="padding-bottom: 15px; padding-top: 10px; zoom: 0;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Armed defiance grows</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The destruction of the religious sites has spurred an increasing backlash.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Because of what has happened with the shrines, the population has completely turned against Islamic State,” said Atheel al-Nujaifi, the former governor of Nineveh province who fled the city when the militants took control.</span></div> <div> <br /></div> <br /> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The imam of a Sufi mosque in the city was arrested by Islamic State when he and other worshipers protested the destruction of a shrine there, Nujaifi said. He was released on Tuesday after being held for two days, he said, and the mosque and shrine are still intact. Sufis are followers of a mystical branch of Islam.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The militants took their extreme doctrine a step further when they rigged the ancient Hadba minaret with explosives Saturday, residents said. Just last month, UNESCO­ had begun urgent restoration work to stabilize the minaret on the city’s oldest mosque.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“When people heard, they quickly gathered around and prevented it from being destroyed,” the 37-year-old Mosul resident said. “They were very, very angry.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That anger has fueled armed resistance to Islamic State, said Nujaifi, who said that at least five Islamic State members have been killed in recent days by the Mosul Battalions. Two were stabbed, while others were killed by sniper fire, he said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The people in the city of Mosul are busy forming armed groups and small brigades to work against Islamic State,” he said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said he was not directly involved with the Mosul Battalions, but is in contact with its leaders, who include former army officers from Saddam Hussein’s regime.</span></div> <br /> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb_3" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; height: auto !important; margin: 6px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> </div> <br /> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> Local insurgent groups, including the Naqshbandi army and other Sunni militants who had formerly fought U.S. soldiers, have yet to lend support to the battalions, he said. The killings could not be independently verified and have not been acknowledged by Islamic State.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a statement on its <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B5%D9%84/261442370716092" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">Facebook page</a>, the Mosul Battalions group says it began forming soon after Islamic State seized the city, but that the destruction of Mosul’s sacred shrines had sped up its military activities. It lists nine killings of Islamic State members in the past week. </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It stressed that it was not looking for the Iraqi army to return, saying the government forces are as bad as the militants.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“People are rising up, but the resistance is based on sniping at them from a long distance,” the Sunni endowment authority official said. “That’s all we can do.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That the Iraqi army did not allow Mosul residents to keep arms makes it even more difficult to turn on the extremists, he said. “But we are now against them, 100 percent.”</span></div> </div>

Razing of Mosul’s shrines sparks first signs of resistance against Islamic State: Who said prayer does not work?

People walk on the rubble of the destroyed mosque of the prophet Jonah in Mosul on July 24. The Muslim shrine was destroyed by Islamic Sta...

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FROM IRAQ: this story came today from an Egyptian who works across the Middle East.

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> (This came through the Facebook Page of an Uncle, distant Mentor and Friend)<br /> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He says that, "It describes the plight of Christians in war-torn Iraq as the ISIS group advances. Please read it prayerfully in the spirit of Hebrews 13:3." (If you hit "Like" on Facebook or write a prayer on eberesamuel.blogspot.com, I'll interpret this to mean " I will pray..."<br />++++++++++++++++++++<br />My name is Victor, I am Christian, I am 57 years old. Together with my family I enjoyed life in Mosul (Iraq) where I had a good private busin<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ess which secured a comfortable life for us. We lived there till Saturday July 4, 2014</span></span></div> <div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); display: inline;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px;"> In June militia from the fundamental, violent Islamic forces ISIS, entered Mosul with no resistance from the Iraqi army. With their arrival our lives changed drastically.<br />Within one week of their arrival, crosses were removed from on top all Churches in the city and replaced with their black flag. They ordered that all women and girls in the region (they control) must be circumcised, a tradition which we never practiced in our area of Iraq.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"> Then they ordered all Christians to leave the city before Saturday August 12 – they announced that all their property would be confiscated. If Christians chose to stay they would have to pay high tax or convert to Islam otherwise they would be killed.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"> Several days ago, they arrived at my house, they searched every room, they found a New Testament in English, I was beaten and accused of being a traitor. I am not sure what that meant, but I knew that killing people was very easy for them and happened very fast, they had already executed hundreds of people since they arrived. It was God’s mercy that they didn’t kill me on the spot.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"> On their way out they painted the sign “Christian” on the door of our house – the Arabic letter “N”, an incomplete circle with a dot on the top. Next to it they wrote “Property of the Islamic republic” !</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"> Next day early in the morning we left out home, we were not allowed to take anything with us, we left with the clothes on our back. They searched each one of us, they took the money, the passports, even my medicine, I’m diabetic and have high blood pressure, they confiscated my medicine!</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"> We, together with all the Christian families in the city walked for more than 50 km to the nearest Kurdish town. There was no place for us to go except to a monastery - they received us.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"> In one day we lost everything we possess, we turned from being owners of a house and a business to being refugees. That is where we live now. It is devastating, so embarrassing. That is where we sleep. That is not just us, but that is how each family lives, just take a corner and stay together, surrounded by hundreds, each in his spot.</div> </div> </div>

FROM IRAQ: this story came today from an Egyptian who works across the Middle East.

(This came through the Facebook Page of an Uncle, distant Mentor and Friend) He says that, "It describes the plight of Christians in...

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Lebanon: TV channel shows support for Iraqi Christians

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lebanon: TV channel shows support for Iraqi Christians</span><br /> <span class="byline byline-photo" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(216, 216, 216); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; display: block; height: 62px; margin: -1px -160px 21px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; position: relative;"><img alt="News from Elsewhere..." src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/68386000/jpg/_68386559_blog_paper_internet_radio.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; float: left; font-style: italic; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; position: relative; top: 2px;" /><span class="byline-name" style="display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 2px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">News from Elsewhere...</span></span><span class="byline-title" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">N stands for Nasrani, an archaic Arabic word for Christians</span></span></span><br /> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="Screenshot of Dima Sadeq wearing a T-shirt in solidarity with Christians" height="351" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/76598000/jpg/_76598554_76598550.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span></div> <br /> <br /> <div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="clear: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Lebanese TV channel is using the Arabic letter N in its logo, in what appears to be a show of solidarity with Christians in Iraq.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dima Sadeq, one of the main anchors on the channel LBCI, has appeared on screen wearing a T-shirt with the letter N - pronounced Noon in Arabic. "From Mosul to Beirut, we are all Noon," Sadeq said just before a recent edition of LBCI's nightly news bulletin, <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Jul-29/265396-lbci-launches-mosul-solidarity-initiative.ashx#axzz38qphdIVT" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The Daily Star newspaper reports</a>. N appears to stand for the old Arabic word Nassarah - a term used in the Koran to describe Christians.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since the Iraqi city of Mosul fell into the hands of Islamic State militants in June, houses where Christians live have been marked out with the letter N. Many Christians have fled the city <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28381455" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">after they were told</a> to pay a tax, convert to Islam, or face death. "We are all targets to be pointed at with a finger or a sword because we're different, whether in terms of sex, religion, or colour of our skin," Sadeq said, adding: "We are all targets of murder in this insane era."</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/140899-lb%D9%86-lbci-changes-logo-in" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Naharnet news website says</a> LCBI was inspired by the Iraqi Muslim journalist Dalia al-Aqidi, who started a campaign to wear cross pendants in solidarity with her Christian countrymen, and Lebanese social media users are using the letter N on their Facebook avatars, The Star says.</span></span></div> <div> <br /></div> </div>

Lebanon: TV channel shows support for Iraqi Christians

Lebanon: TV channel shows support for Iraqi Christians News from Elsewhere... N stands for Nasrani, an archaic Arabic word for Christians ...

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