Photo taken on Dec. 6, 2018 shows the ruins of al-Nuri Mosque in the old city of Mosul, northern Iraq. Iraqi authorities on Thursday began removing debris from the site of the ancient al-Nuri Mosque destroyed last year during battles to dislodge the Islamic State (IS) militants from the old city center of Iraq's second largest city Mosul. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)