CEP Mentions
The Guardian: Far-Right Extremists Flee From Telegram To SimpleX Over Privacy Features
“...”Rightwing extremist propagandists have been looking for a Telegram alternative for several years,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, analyst at the Counter Extremism Project, who first alerted the Guardian to the SimpleX migration of far-right extremists. “This is the most significant platform change for these specific, extreme, privacy-focused online white supremacist communities to date.” Fisher-Birch said that paranoia among neo-Nazi-aligned Telegram channels and the need to find an alternative to that app, soared when US authorities announced the September arrests of two of Terrorgram’s main American operatives. “If these current channels are allowed to remain on the SimpleX platform, it will likely signal to others that the platform is secure and a good alternative,” he said.”
Tagesspiegel: Hamas Leader Still At Large, Israel Hunts Jihia Sinwar, The Architect Of October 7
“There is a lot of speculation, but hardly any precise information. Since October 7, Israel has been hunting Jihia Sinwar , one of the masterminds of the massacre that the terrorist organization carried out in Israel that day. More than 1,200 people were brutally murdered, more than 250 were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip. And the Hamas leader is still at large. […] To find out details about his whereabouts, one would have to be a member of the Israeli or American security apparatus, says Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the international Counter Extremism Project and head of its office in Berlin. "In my opinion, Sinwar is still in the Gaza Strip, or rather in the tunnels under the Gaza Strip ," Schindler told the Tagesspiegel.”
Irish Star: Israel Issued Stark Warning As Tensions And Violence Escalate In Middle East
“Israel received a stark warning that it "cannot wipe out Hezbollah" amidst its operation in Lebanon, which took a more dramatic turn with a ground invasion. In the twilight hours of Tuesday, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) broadcasted their incursion over the Lebanese frontier, describing the initiative as "limited, localized and targeted" offensives aimed at Hezbollah. […] Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project and formerly UKs ambassador to Yemen, echoed these apprehensions, cautioning about the additional dangers posed by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which form another component of Irans "axis of resistance that might expand the already tenuous situation across the Middle East.“
Afghanistan
The Independent: Yazidi Woman Kidnapped At 11 And Held Hostage In Gaza By Isis Militant For A Decade Finally Rescued
“A 21-year-old Yazidi woman who was held captive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and subjected to years of abuse by an Isis militant she was forced to marry, was finally reunited with her family. The rescue of Fawzia Amin Sido, who was 11-years-old when she was abducted from her home in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region in August 2014 following an Isis attack on the religious minority, involved a secret, intricate, and multi-state operation. The terror group killed around 10,000 Yazidi people, whose faith draws from Zoroastrianism, and are predominantly based in Iraq and Syria. The attack also led to the kidnapping and exploitation of thousands of Yazidi women, who were coerced into sex slavery. Following the abduction, Ms Sido was held captive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for several years, subjected to years of sexual and physical abuse by her Palestinian Isis husband.”
Pakistan
Associated Press: Pakistan Capital Locked Down, Phone Service Suspended To Stop Rally By Party Of Ex-Leader Imran Khan
“Pakistani authorities placed shipping containers on key roads and highways leading to the capital and suspended cellphone service in Islamabad on Friday in an attempt to prevent supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan from holding a rally seeking his release. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government also deployed paramilitary rangers and additional police and shut schools in Islamabad and the nearby city of Rawalpindi after Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party refused to withdraw its call for the protest. Videos posted online showed police placing shipping containers on bridges and roads on a key highway in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s party holds power. Khan’s supporters plan to march from the province to Islamabad, defying a ban on rallies imposed this week.”
Lebanon
The Washington Post: 28 Health-Care Workers Killed In Lebanon In Past Day, WHO Says, As Scope Of Israeli Invasion Widens
“World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday that at least 28 health-care workers in Lebanon have been killed in the past 24 hours. Israel continued to carry out strikes on Beirut, killing at least nine people overnight, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Thursday, and Israeli forces issued evacuation warnings for a swath of southern Lebanese villages, an indication that the scope of the invasion could continue to widen. Lebanon’s military said two of its soldiers were killed Thursday in Israeli attacks — the first deaths of Lebanese soldiers in a ground offensive that Israel says is directed at Hezbollah, not the Lebanese people or state. Lebanese forces said they returned fire, in the first such instance since the Israeli ground operation began. Israel said a soldier died fighting in Lebanon on Thursday, bringing its confirmed death toll to nine.”
Reuters: Israeli Strike Closes Off Road Used To Flee Lebanon To Syria, Lebanese Transport Minister Says
“An Israeli strike on Friday morning near Lebanon's Masnaa border crossing with Syria cut off a road used by hundreds of thousands of people to flee Israeli bombardments in recent days, Lebanon Transport Minister Ali Hamieh told Reuters. Hamieh said the strike hit inside Lebanese territory near the border crossing, creating a four-metre (12 feet) wide crater. An Israel Defence Forces (IDF) military spokesman had accused Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on Thursday of using the crossing to transport military equipment into Lebanon. "The IDF will not allow the smuggling of these weapons and will not hesitate to act if forced to do so, as it has done throughout this war," IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.
Middle East
Reuters: Israeli Military Says It Killed Head Of Hamas Network In West Bank's Tulkarm
“The Israeli military said early on Friday it killed the head of the Hamas network in a strike on West Bank's Tulkarm. In a statement, the military identified the Hamas operative as Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi.”
Somalia
Reuters: US, Allies Discuss 'Urgent Need' To Finalize Plans For New African Union Mission In Somalia
“The United States and four other countries discussed the need to finalize plans for the new African Union stabilization and support mission in Somalia, the U.S. Department of State said in a statement on Thursday. The department said the U.S., Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom also discussed the urgency of finalizing funding options for the new mission. The meeting among the U.S. and the other countries took place on Oct. 1, the department said.”
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