Whippings, Forced Marriages, and Beheadings: Inside ISIS's 'Morality Police'

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A Syrian woman who joined the ISIS morality police and patrolled the streets enforcing strict Islamic State female dress codes has spoken of her experiences after finding the country too much to handle, having witnessed crucifixions and beheadings and being forced into an arranged marriage.

The 25 year-old woman, who has only been identified by pseudonym ‘Khadija’ has spoken to CNN while dressed in a full veiled niqab to hide her face has told the network about life in Raqqa. As a member of the al-Khansaa brigade she was charged with enforcing the morality of the Islamic regime, and patrolled the streets while heavily armed to ensure compliance.

Speaking of the punishment for dissent, she said: “We’d patrol the streets. If we saw a woman who was not wearing the correct sharia clothing, we would grab her. Sometimes, they would be lashed”.

Describing the first time she met the senior figure within the al-Khansaa morality police tasked with carrying out the physical punishments, ‘Khadija’ said: “she’s female, but she’s not a normal female. She’s huge. She has an AK-47, a pistol, a whip, a dagger. And she wears the niqab”.

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Nurse Contracts Ebola in Spain

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Photo Credit: SPANISH DEFENSE MINISTRYBy D News.

In what is believed to be the first infection outside of Africa, an assistant nurse at a Madrid hospital where two Ebola patients died has contracted the virus herself, health officials said Monday.

“Two tests were done and the two were positive,” a spokesman for the health department of the regional government of Madrid said.

How Can Ebola Be Stopped?

The woman works at Madrid’s La Paz-Carlos III hospital where two missionaries who were repatriated from Africa with Ebola died from the disease, a spokeswoman for the hospital said.

“We do not know yet if she treated any of the two missionaries,” the spokeswoman said.

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Photo Credit: AP / Paul WhiteSPAIN PLACES HUSBAND OF EBOLA NURSE IN QUARANTINE

By AP.

Spain has placed in quarantine the husband of a Spanish nurse who has tested positive for the Ebola virus in the first known transmission outside West Africa.

Public Health Director Mercedes Vinuesa told Parliament on Tuesday that authorities were drawing up a list of other people who may have had contact with the nurse so that they can be monitored.

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Pakistani Taliban Declare Allegiance to Islamic State and Global Jihad

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Photo Credit: REUTERS / STRINGERBY SAUD MEHSUD AND MARIA GOLOVNINA.

The Pakistani Taliban declared allegiance to Islamic State on Saturday and ordered militants across the region to help the Middle Eastern jihadist group in its campaign to set up a global Islamic caliphate.

Islamic State, which controls swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, has been making inroads into South Asia, which has traditionally been dominated by local Taliban insurgencies against both the Pakistan and Afghanistan governments.

The announcement comes after a September move by al Qaeda chief, Ayman al-Zawahri, to name former Taliban commander Asim Umar as the “emir” of a new South Asia branch of the network that masterminded the 2001 attacks on the United States.

Although there is little evidence of a firm alliance yet between IS and al Qaeda-linked Taliban commanders, IS activists have been spotted recently in the Pakistani city of Peshawar distributing pamphlets praising the group.

IS flags have also been seen at street rallies in Indian-administered Kashmir. The trend has been of growing concern to global powers struggling to keep up with the fast-changing nature of the international Islamist insurgency.

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Photo Credit: AP / Hani MohammedShiite rebels are Yemen’s new masters

By HAMZA HENDAWI.

The capital of Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest and perhaps most chronically unstable nation, has new masters. Anti-American Shiite rebels man checkpoints and roam the streets in pickups mounted with anti-aircraft guns. The fighters control almost all state buildings, from the airport and the central bank to the Defense Ministry.

Only a few police officers and soldiers are left on the streets. Rebel fighters have plastered the city with fliers proclaiming their slogan — “Death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews and victory to Islam” — a variation of a popular Iranian slogan often chanted by Shiite militants in Iraq and supporters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

While the world has been focused on the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, Yemen — located at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula — has seen its own sudden, seismic upheaval when Shiite rebels known as the Houthis overran Sanaa two weeks ago.

Now the Houthis, who many believe are backed by Shiite-led Iran, are poised to become Yemen’s version of the Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon — top powerbrokers dominating the government and running a virtual state-within-a-state.

Their takeover of the capital also threatens to bring a violent backlash from hard-line Sunnis, creating a sectarian battle that would boost al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen, which the United States has been battling for years in a drone campaign and in coordination with the Yemeni military. The rallying cry of fighting against Shiite power could turn Yemen into a magnet for Sunni jihadis from around the region, like Syria and Iraq.

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Sierra Leone Records 121 Ebola Deaths in a Single Day

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Photo Credit: REUTERS / JAMES GIAHYUEBy Umaru Fofana, Joe Bavier and Jonathan Oatis / Reuters.

Sierra Leone recorded 121 deaths from Ebola and scores of new infections in one of the single deadliest days since the disease appeared in the West African country more than four months ago, government health statistics showed on Sunday.

The figures, which covered the period through Saturday, put the total number of deaths at 678, up from 557 the day before. The daily statistics compiled by Sierra Leone’s Emergency Operations Centre also showed 81 new cases of the hemorrhagic fever.

Ebola was first reported in Guinea in March and has since spread to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone in what has become the worst epidemic of the disease since Ebola was identified in 1976.

Smaller outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal were brought under control. The United States last week confirmed its first Ebola case, a Liberian national who had traveled to Texas.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: AFP / Pascal GuyotUS journalist with Ebola to arrive in Nebraska Monday

By AFP.

Doctors in Nebraska are set for the Monday arrival of Ashoka Mukpo, an NBC television cameraman who contracted Ebola in Liberia, the hospital where he will be treated said.

The Nebraska Medical Center on Sunday tweeted “Patient to arrive tomorrow,” without specifying an exact time.

Earlier the hospital had announced on Twitter that it had “received a call from the US State Department letting us know that we will be receiving a second Ebola patient. Possibly on Monday morning. Our 40+ member team with the Biocontainment Unit is ready.”

The hospital has already treated Rick Sacra, a doctor who overcame the virus and was given the experimental drug TKM-Ebola.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: AP / Tanya BindraShipment of medical supplies to fight Ebola in Sierra Leone reportedly delayed for weeks

By Fox News.

A shipping container filled with approximately $140,000 worth of medical equipment needed to fight the spread of the Ebola virus in the West African country of Sierra Leone has sat untouched on the docks of the country’s capital for nearly two months according to a published report.

According to The New York Times the shipment of hospital linens, protective suits, face masks, and other items arrived in the port of Freetown Aug. 9, but has still not been cleared by government officials.

The Ebola outbreak has killed over 3,000 people, with the vast majority of deaths occurring in Sierra Leone and two other West African countries, Liberia and Guinea. Local health officials have been overwhelmed by the spread of the virus, and some say the case of the delayed container is a vivid illustration of how government corruption has undercut efforts to fight Ebola as well.

Read more from this story HERE.

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If Obama thinks Ebola is a ‘national security priority,’ why no travel ban?

By Gregg Jarrett.

President Obama declared the Ebola outbreak a “national security priority.” That was three weeks ago. Yet, he has failed to treat it as such.

He could ban all travel into the U.S. of any person who has been in the affected West African countries. He has the legal power to do so.

Why hasn’t he?

The fundamental duty of the nation’s chief executive is to protect its citizens. Under Article II of the Constitution, he is duty-bound to respond to threats and to conduct the country’s foreign affairs. When a crisis presents itself, the president has nearly unfettered power and discretion to act. This includes protecting the health and safety of Americans. Does stopping the deadly spread of Ebola constitute such a crisis?

“This is a social crisis, a humanitarian crisis, an economic crisis, and a threat to national security beyond the outbreak zones.” Those are the words of the director general of World Health Organization during an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Ebola protection myths busted: ‘direct contact’ means indirect contact, N95 masks, full-face respirators and more

By Mike Adams.

If ebola goes airborne, its spread would be utterly impossible to stop, say many experts. Some scientists insist the possibility of the virus mutating into a full-blown “airborne” variety is rather small, but no one denies that such risk increases with each and every day that the contagion is not stopped in Africa.

At the same time, ebola is now in America, having been confirmed in “patient zero” Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas. Because of this, a huge number of Americans and Canadians are now wisely investing in protective gear such as Tyvek body suits, N95 masks, respirators, latex gloves, isolation gowns and more. But most people have little or no training on how to use these items properly, so in the interests of public health and safety, I’m going to cover a few basics here.

As far as my own background goes, I’m trained in microbiology testing and I’m the director of the Natural News Forensic Food Lab, where I conduct food contamination testing using ICP-MS instrumentation. Although I’m not a doctor, I can easily cover the basics of safety from exposure to viral pathogens.

How ebola spreads

The key point to understand in all this is that you can catch ebola by coming into contact with any body fluid that originated from another person.

Read more from this story HERE.

Man Dies of 'Marburg', Fever Similar to Ebola, in Uganda

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Photo Credit: ShutterstockA man has died in Uganda’s capital after an outbreak of Marburg, a highly infectious haemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola, authorities said on Sunday, adding that a total of 80 people who came into contact with him had been put under quarantine.

Marburg starts with a severe headache followed by haemorrhaging and leads to death in 80% or more of cases in about nine days. It is from the same family of viruses as Ebola, which has killed thousands in West Africa in recent months.

There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the Marburg virus, which is transmitted through bodily fluids such as saliva and blood or by handling infected wild animals such as monkeys.

Samples taken

The health ministry said in a statement that the 30-year old radiographer died on 28 September while working at a hospital in Kampala. He had started feeling unwell about 10 days earlier and his condition kept deteriorating.

Read more from this story HERE.

ISIS to Attack US with Ebola? Jihadists 'to Send Infected Militants' to America to Spread Disease

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Photo Credit: Wikimedia CommonsIf latest reports are to be believed, the Islamic State militants might be conspiring to deliberately infect jihadists with the deadly Ebola virus and send them to America in order to spread the disease in the US – an event that could see America being attacked in a new pseudo-war.

The Israeli News Agency, a site which claims to be Israel’s first online news organisation has confirmed the authenticity of the report saying it “clears all news items relating to Israeli security with the Israel government press office.”

The agency said, citing “Israeli security sources”, that dozens of ISIS fighters in Syria have fallen ill and had symptoms of Ebola. This news quickly ignited a new conspiracy theory claiming that ISIS is planning to send Ebola-infected militants into the US to spread the disease.

“While Western nations fighting the Islamic State might consider this reported Ebola outbreak among radical jihadists to be welcome news, there is a very big, very dangerous downside to Islamic terrorists being carriers of the virus,” Norvell Rose, the winner of numerous journalism honours, writes for WesternJournalism.com.

Read more from this story HERE.

ISIS Beheads ANOTHER Hostage, Threatens to Kill American War Vet-Turned-Aid-Worker Next

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Photo Credit: APBy Jon Gambrell and Jill Lawless.

An Internet video released Friday purports to show an Islamic State group fighter beheading British hostage Alan Henning, the fourth such killing carried out by the extremist group now targeted in U.S.-led airstrikes.

The video mirrored other beheading videos shot by the Islamic State group, which now holds territory along the border of Syria and Iraq, and ended with a militant threatening a man they identified as an American named Peter Kassig.

“Obama, you have started your aerial bombardment of Shams (Syria), which keeps on striking our people, so it is only right that we continue to strike the neck of your people,” the masked militant in the video said.

National Security Council Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden confirmed that Kassig was being held by Islamic State militants, in a statement issued Friday evening.

“At this point we have no reason to doubt the authenticity of the video released earlier today. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal — military, diplomatic, law enforcement and intelligence – to try to bring Peter home to his family,” Hayden said.

Read more from this story HERE.

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‘We will bring them to justice’: Obama promises revenge as ISIS executioner Jihadi John beheads British aid worker and threatens to kill American war vet-turned-aid-worker next in horrific video

By WILLS ROBINSON and CHRIS PLEASANCE.

ISIS have threatened to execute an American war veteran after Jihadi John beheaded British aid worker Alan Henning.

Peter Kassig, 26, a former Army Ranger from Indianapolis, was shown kneeling in the desert at the end of the video of the murder posted online by the terror group.

During the video, the masked militant sends a message to President Obama admitting that U.S. ‘aerial bombardments’ are putting them under strain, before adding: ‘It’s only right we continue to strike the necks of your people.’

Mr Henning, a 47-year-old father-of-two, was kidnapped on Boxing Day last year as he delivered aid to Syrian refugees.

The clip, which is in English with Arabic subtitles, shows Jihadi John stepping forward to cut Mr Henning’s throat before the screen turns black, then shows his body lying on the desert floor.

Read more from this story HERE.

More U.S. Troops Being Sent to Battle Ebola

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Photo Credit: Dominique Faget, AFP / Getty By Tom Vanden Brook and David Jackson.

As Obama administration officials sought to reassure Americans about efforts to contain Ebola in the wake of the first U.S. case, the military announced Friday that an additional 1,000 troops could be sent to West Africa to help fight the virus.

And that number could go higher than that, said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary.

“I’m not going to put a floor or ceiling on this,” Kirby said.

President Obama initially ordered 3,000 troops to West Africa to help build hospitals, labs and treatment centers and provide logistics help. They are not going to treat Ebola victims.

“We are not going to be in the treatment business,” Kirby said.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: WNDDOGS EAT EBOLA VICTIMS, SPREAD PLAGUE

By JEROME R. CORSI.

A horrifying threat has surfaced in the fight West Africans are waging against the epidemic of Ebola – dogs digging up corpses of virus victims and feasting on the remains, then carrying the infection with them wherever they go next.

A recent report in the Mail Online in the U.K. said villagers in Liberia were complaining dogs were found digging up the corpses of Ebola victims buried in shallow graves and eating them in the street.

“Furious residents of Johnsonville Township, outside capital Monrovia, raised the alarm after packs of wild dogs were spotted digging up corpses from a specially designated ‘Ebola graveyard,’ dragging them into the open and feeding on their flesh,” the Mail Online noted.

“Now fears are mounting that the dogs – which cannot grow sick from the strain of Ebola running rampant through West Africa but can carry it – will be able to pass it on to humans through licking or biting.”

A YouTube video documented the problem with dogs eating corpses of buried Ebola-infected dead in Johnsonville Township.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Rand Paul: Imagine ship full of U.S. soldiers with Ebola

By BOB UNRUH.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a licensed physician and a possible presidential candidate in 2016, is warning that handling Ebola in a politically correct manner will rebound.

In an interview with radio talk show host Laura Ingraham, he said decisions such as keeping travel open from Africa and sending soldiers to fight Ebola “have been dominated by political correctness.”

“Because of political correctness, we’re not making sound, rational, scientific decisions on this,” he said.

Joinging the program by telephone from the campaign trail for Republicans, he started with a quip.

“I can’t believe that you don’t think it’s enough of a plan to prevent worldwide pandemic to cough into your elbow,” he told Ingraham. “Surely that should stop a worldwide pandemic.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Iraqi Vicar: No Communion in Nineveh this Week for First Time in 2,000 Years

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Photo Credit: Reuters The Islamic State’s goal of eradicating Christianity from its ancient home in northern Iraq is nearly complete, report Christian officials remaining in the area. According to one Vicar, last week marked the first time in millennia that Christians did not receive Holy Communion in Nineveh, northern Iraq.

As the Telegraph reports, Canon Andrew White, the only Anglican Vicar remaining in Iraq, reported that Communion did not take place in Nineveh this year. “All [churches] are closed, all their people have run away.” Canon White noted that the few Iraqis remaining in the region are there due to poverty or immobility, and that those remaining fear for their lives constantly.

He added that many in the area expressed concern over the possibility of airstrikes on the region, citing the possibility of civilian casualties. “From the Iraqi point of view, the only way we can gain some kind of real safety and real removal of the Islamic State, as they call themselves, would be by having troops on the ground,” he noted. President Obama has categorically refused to entertain the option of ground troops in Iraq during this operation.

Read more from this story HERE.

The View From China on Hong Kong’s Massive Demonstrations

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Photo Credit: Frank Li / NewscomAs thousands of protestors flood downtown Hong Kong in opposition to Beijing’s efforts to control the political future of the “Special Administration Region,” there is growing concern about how this situation will be resolved.

For the people of Hong Kong, the issue is straightforward. Under the terms of the Basic Law, negotiated between the People’s Republic of China and the British government when Hong Kong was still a colony, the PRC committed itself to preserving the institutions that had made Hong Kong such a success—a free press, an independent judiciary, civil liberties and a civil society—for the half-century after reversion in 1997.

This program of “one country, two systems” was touted not simply as a means of ensuring the continued prosperity of Hong Kong, but also as a bellwether for the possibility of eventual application to Taiwan.

Because Hong Kong had not held elections while under British rule (a hypocritical point from Beijing’s perspective), how the territory’s chief executive would be selected had to be addressed in the Basic Law. A gradual transition was agreed upon, wherein Hong Kong would implement a policy of universal suffrage over time to elect a chief executive.

In 2014, in preparation for the scheduled 2017 elections, the universal suffrage plan was unveiled. Beijing held to the letter of the agreement—there would be elections for a chief executive where all the eligible citizens of Hong Kong could vote, but the range of possible candidates would have to pass muster from Beijing.

Read more from this story HERE.