Once famous – or infamous – for its stance on polygamy, these days the Mormon Church is better known for its earnest young missionaries who doorknock our suburbs promising enlightenment. But on 60 MINUTES, enlightenment about a subject the Mormon Church wants to keep secret: serious accusations that Mormons in Australia have been able to draw on $400 million in tax deductions not lawfully available to followers of other religions. It’s alleged by church whistle-blowers that the Mormon books are being cooked in an elaborate tax dodge. As Tom Steinfort reports, this is money Australia could well use, but despite the federal government’s bluster about cracking down on waste and rorting, so far it has done nothing.
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.
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