700,000 Iraqis displaced in Kurdish north: UN
GENEVA - Agence France-Presse, Aug. 22, 2014

About 700,000 Iraqis have gathered in the Kurdish north after being driven from their homes by jihadist fighters, the United Nations said Aug. 22 as it stepped up a massive aid operation to the region.

"The Kurdistan region of Iraq is now hosting close to 700,000 displaced Iraqis, most having arrived in early June," Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the UN's refugee agency, told reporters in Geneva.

Earlier this week, the UNHCR had put the number at around 600,000, but it is unclear how many of the additional 100,000 were new arrivals and how many had arrived earlier but only been registered in recent days.

"There has been some increase in numbers, but we haven't finished registration at the moment," Edwards said. The UNHCR was continuing its largest single aid push in more than a decade following the first aid flight to northern Iraq two days ago [....]

Gulf states fear 'monster' they created: Hezbollah minister
Daily Star, Lebanon, Aug. 23, 2014

BEIRUT: Hezbollah Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan Saturday said the Arab world should confront the conspiracy that is distorting the image of Islam, saying Gulf countries now fear the “monster” they created, in reference to ISIS.

“The biggest conspiracy against Islam is distorting its image and making every Muslim be seen as a terrorist,” Hajj Hasan said during a ceremony in the coastal city of Sidon.

“Lebanese, Syrians, Iraqis, Egyptians and everyone, including Christians, Muslims, Shiites and other sects, are concerned with confronting this [conspiracy] culturally and socially - in defense of Islam not a party, a sect or a people,” he said.

“We have to defend Christians and Muslims, not against killing but against this social, psychological and infrastructure destruction that is threatening countries.”

Hezbollah has said they were fighting in Syria against the rise of takfiri groups and the possibility of such fighters infiltrating Lebanon [....]