American atheist blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh

Guardian, American atheist blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh

UK Police Want to Remove ISIL Instruction Manual From Internet

UK Police Want to Remove ISIL Instruction Manual From Internet / Sputnik International "Earlier this month, the militant group operating in Syria and Iraq published "Hijrah [journey to an Islamic country] to the Islamic State," a guidebook for would-be fighters planning to join IS ranks in Syria."

Spain breaks up online network

Spain breaks up online network recruiting young women for Islamic State - Telegraph 

Fighting Islamic State in Brooklyn

WSJ, Fighting Islamic State in Brooklyn  "Federal agents monitoring an obscure Uzbek-language website, Hilofatnews, provided the initial thread that would lead to the unraveling of the terrorist plot. Hilofatnews promotes the ideology of Islamic State (aka ISIS or ISIL) and encourages its readers to join. In August 2014, an individual using the handle “Abdullah ibn Hasan” asked on the website if “it was possible to commit ourselves as dedicated martyrs . . . by “shoot[ing] Obama and then got shot ourselves” in order to “strike fear in the hearts of infidels.”"

ISIS Beheader ‘Jihadi John’ Unmasked

The Daily Beast, ISIS Beheader ‘Jihadi John’ Unmasked AP, UK spies face questions about failure to stop 'Jihadi John'

Missing schoolgirls 'in Syria'

BBC News, Missing schoolgirls 'in Syria' comprehensive coverage - web is a key driver in this case

Australia to Challenge Radical Islam Online

VOA, Australia to Challenge Radical Islam Online "The Australian government plans to monitor social media in real time to try to combat terrorist propaganda on the Internet."

U.S. Muslims Take On ISIS’ Recruiting Machine

NYT, U.S. Muslims Take On ISIS’ Recruiting Machine "Imam Mohamed Magid tries to stay in regular contact with the teenager who came to him a few months ago, at his family’s urging, to discuss how he was being wooed by online recruiters working for the Islamic State, the extremist group in Syria and Iraq."

Kayla Mueller

Guardian, Family of Isis hostage Kayla Mueller confirms aid worker has been killed

Anonymous v. ISIS

mic.com, Anonymous Just Released a Haunting Video Alleging Major Cyber-Attacks Against ISIS also see countercurrentnews.com, Anonymous Adds THOUSANDS To The List of Downed and Exposed ISIS Accounts

U.S. blacklists German ISIS rapper

alarabiya.net, U.S. blacklists German ISIS rapper "The United States added German former rapper Denis Cuspert to its list of “terrorists” over his role as a fighter with the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, the State Department said Monday."

Book Review: ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror

Joshua Landis, Book Review: ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror this looks like a useful book, based on this review. ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, Michael Weiss & Hassan Hassan (Simon & Schuster - UK version publisher page) 

German-Based Cyber-Daʿwah 2.0

Erik Munder, German-Based Cyber-Daʿwah 2.0: Back to the Roots with Forward Technology journal article - looks interesting, but there is an expensive pay wall, so I have yet to see it.

Isis

Hassan Hassan, Guardian, Isis has reached new depths of depravity. But there is a brutal logic behind it, 8 Feb 2015 "Savagery is part of Isis’s ideological DNA. The danger of the group lies in its effort to transform the concept of jihad not through individual fatwas, as al-Qaida does to justify suicide bombing in civilian areas, but through a fully fledged ideology. To do so, Isis uses stories from Islamic history and modern jihadi texts to change the paradigm of how to understand and conduct jihad." Useful article.

British ISIS hostage John Cantlie appears in latest propaganda film

Daily Mail, British ISIS hostage John Cantlie appears in latest propaganda film "The Islamic State has released a new propaganda video featuring John Cantlie in which the captured British journalist gives a guided tour of Aleppo."

Experts Debate the Compatibility of AI and Religion

bigthink.com, Experts Debate the Compatibility of AI and Religion | Big Think refers to Zoltan Istvan, Gizmodo, ​When Superintelligent AI Arrives, Will Religions Try to Convert It? " As artificial intelligence advances, religious questions and concerns globally are bound to come up, and they're starting too: Some theologians and futurists are already considering whether AI can also know God."

YouTube to remain blocked in Pakistan indefinitely, says official

Tech2, YouTube to remain blocked in Pakistan indefinitely, says official "YouTube will remain blocked in Pakistan ‘indefinitely’, an official said Saturday, as experts have failed to find a way to filter content deemed offensive and blasphemous in the Muslim majority country."

Tech-skeptic Erdogan sends first tweet

alarabiya.net, Tech-skeptic Erdogan sends first tweet " “Get a grip of yourself against this poison,” Erdogan wrote, using the hashtag #SigarayaTeslimOlma (Don’t give in to cigarettes) and signing off with his initials RTE."

Social media's fruitful exchange with Gulf women

yourmiddleeast.com, Social media's fruitful exchange with Gulf women "Many high-profile women in the Gulf have taken to social media platforms, from Saudi Arabia’s Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel, a regional leader in women’s education development, to the United Arab Emirates’ Noura Al Kaabi, leading the region in digital business development. Where women’s exposure was once shied away from, women role models are now making bits of their personal and public lives accessible to large audiences on Twitter and Instagram. With a mobile penetration of over 110% in the Middle East, people are increasingly engaging with social media, which has activated a key group: women."

Slaying, Slaughtering, and Burning: ISIS, the Cinematic Caliphate

Islam Sakka, al-akhbar.com, Slaying, Slaughtering, and Burning: ISIS, the Cinematic Caliphate "Watching the latest videos posted by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS), it is easy to see the changes in cinematic technique and the group’s choice of English as the main language. Their latest video, showing Jordanian pilot Moaz Kasasbeh being burned alive, sets a new precedent for brutality, ruthlessness, and high quality propaganda."