Origins of ISIS – Special Coverage

In a special report, RT America examines the origins, power and expansion of the terrorist group known as the Islamic State (IS, formerly known as ISIS). RT’s Ben Swann delves into the roots of the organization while Ameera David explains how the group amasses the millions of dollars it requires to operate. Finally, Manuel Rapalo explores how the Iraqi army fell apart despite benefiting from billions of dollars of US money – and military hardware – meant to ensure security.

ISIS Has A Wacky Rap Music Video. No, We're Not Joking.

ISIS recently released a new attack video that aims to shake fear in the hearts of the 'capitalist pigs' in the west through the power of their sweet beats. The video features beheadings and torture while hinting at suicide bombers in Germany and New York City all set to a rap sound track. The video is gruesome and should be taken seriously of course, but its hard to not imagine a masked member of the terrorist organization in their multimedia wing sighing and with a heavy voice asking, "How do I reach these kids?". The video made sure to promise that a lot of pain and loss of life would be coming because that's how you let everyone know you're an Original G in the international community nowadays, apparently.

The video included subtitles in English, though had a few sections in German for good measure.

What do you think will be ISIS next move? Let us know in the comments section below.

Read more here: http://www.vocativ.com/world/isis-2/i...

What It's Like To Live As A Women Under ISIS Rule

Militants working for ISIS' all-female police force in Syria have released a manifesto on the role of women - claiming children as young as nine should be encouraged to get married and condemning beauty parlours as the work of the devil.

The chilling document, titled 'Women in the Islamic State', demands women live a completely 'sedentary' lifestyle and that their role in life should be primarily to remain 'hidden and veiled' and at the service of men, who are described as their masters.

The manifesto urges 'pure' females to ensure they are married by 16, 'while they are still young and active', but insists that children as young as nine can 'legitimately' marry adult men.

It goes on to state that beauty parlours and shops selling fashionable clothes must not be tolerated as they are both instruments of the devil designed to encourage women to spend vast amounts of money to change God's design.

The document is the first of its kind to be released by ISIS' all-female Al-Khansa Brigade and while it claims not to have been written or approved by ISIS' leadership, it provides a disturbing look at the way women living under the terror group's barbaric regime can expect to be viewed and treated."


Read more here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...

Freezing and Fighting for Aid: Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

As Syria’s civil war has raged over the past four years, more than a million refugees have fled into neighboring Lebanon. The Bekaa Valley, which serves as the main passageway between Damascus and Beirut, is now home to the largest concentration of Lebanon’s Syrian refugees.

Currently in Lebanon there is one Syrian for every four Lebanese citizens — a population growth that has created a strain on the small villages and towns that bear the responsibility of hosting the refugees. Al Marj, a small city of about 15,000 in the southern end of the Bekaa Valley, is home to a refugee camp where approximately 400 families are living.

VICE News traveled to the Bekaa Valley to see how the refugee population is faring as winter fully sets in, and found that the freezing temperatures are only one of their problems.

Watch "The War Next Door (Full Length)” - http://bit.ly/1we4sbb

Anonymous Launches Cyber War On ISIS

Activist hacking group Anonymous has posted hundreds of Twitter accounts, Facebook pages and email addresses it says are tied to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“ISIS; We will hunt you, Take down your sites, Accounts, Emails, and expose you,” the group said in its post to Pastebin, a frequent repository for hacked content. “From now on, no safe place for you online ...”

Anonymous declared digital war on all Islamist extremists following the terrorist attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo last month, in which attackers with loose ties to ISIS and al Qaeda killed 12 people.

Monday’s posting includes over 800 Twitter accounts, 12 Facebook pages and upwards of 50 email addresses. Most of the Twitter and Facebook pages appear to have been taken down by Anonymous.

Read more here: http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecuri...

VICE NEWS: The Islamic State (Full Length) ISIS

The Islamic State, a hardline Sunni jihadist group that formerly had ties to al Qaeda, has conquered large swathes of Iraq and Syria. Previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the group has announced its intention to reestablish the caliphate and has declared its leader, the shadowy Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as the caliph.

The lightning advances the Islamic State made across Syria and Iraq in June shocked the world. But it's not just the group's military victories that have garnered attention — it's also the pace with which its members have begun to carve out a viable state.

Flush with cash and US weapons seized during its advances in Iraq, the Islamic State's expansion shows no sign of slowing down. In the first week of August alone, Islamic State fighters have taken over new areas in northern Iraq, encroaching on Kurdish territory and sending Christians and other minorities fleeing as reports of massacres emerged.

VICE News reporter Medyan Dairieh spent three weeks embedded with the Islamic State, gaining unprecedented access to the group in Iraq and Syria as the first and only journalist to document its inner workings.