- Fearing the ultimatum issued by the Islamic State (IS) militants, who have captured Mosul and declared an Islamic Caliphate, the Christians and Shias of the region are fleeing to Kurdistan.
- The ultimatum issued demanded that all Christians either convert, pay a special tax or leave, but later messages also threatened them with swords.
- The militants are looking at wiping all traces of minorities in its control areas and Mosul in now empty of Christians for the first time in history.
- Meanwhile 80-yr old Iraqi President Jalal Talabani flew back to his Kurdish fiefdom of Sulaimaniyah after 18 months of treatment in Germany.
- Read at:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/mosul-christians-flee-after-jihadist-ultimatum/article6229575.ece