CEP Mentions
Ynet News: How Qatari Money Influences France’s Anti-Israel Policy
“... According to the experts of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), France has decided on a strategic partnership with Qatar. Only a fraction of this alliance is transparent — at the beginning of 2024, the emirate pledged to invest €10 billion into the French economy. The hidden part is much larger and silently grows as Qatar’s significant investments in France’s sports and luxury sectors gradually increase. The Qatari government owns luxury hotels in Paris, Cannes and Nice, a stake in Bernard Arnault’s renowned French brand, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Qataris own department store company Printemps abd own the majority of the Paris Saint-Germain soccer club’s shares.”
DW: Israeli Strike 'Fairly Proportional'
“DW spoke with Middle East security expert Hans-Jakob Schindler about the risk of a further escalation in the Middle East after Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Iran.”
The Sun: Deadliest Al Qaeda Attack You’ve Never Heard Of: 600 Civilians Dead In Burkina Faso Fails To Make Global Headlines
“... “Despite the seriousness of the situation and the significant deterioration of the security situation that the attack demonstrated, it hardly drew any media attention,” the senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, Hans-Jakob Schindler, tells the Sun. Similarly, a second Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin attack occurred on September 17 in neighboring Bamako, the Mali capital. More than 70 were slain and at least 200 more injured, with little coverage in the Western press. According to Hans-Jakob Schindler’s assessment, there are two main reasons why the terrorist situation in West Africa is not getting much attention: One is that the conflict in the Middle East has taken center stage, and the second is that over the past two years, Western forces have withdrawn from the region almost entirely.”
I24: How Qatari Money Influences France’s Anti-Israel Policy
“... According to the experts of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), France has decided on a strategic partnership with Qatar. Only a fraction of this alliance is transparent — at the beginning of 2024, the emirate pledged to invest €10 billion into the French economy. The hidden part is much larger and silently grows as Qatar’s significant investments in France’s sports and luxury sectors gradually increase. The Qatari government owns luxury hotels in Paris, Cannes, and Nice, a stake in Bernard Arnault’s renowned French brand, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Qataris own department store company Printemps, owns the majority of the Paris Saint-Germain football club’s shares.”
DW: Can Egypt Convince Israel And Hamas On A Temporary Truce In Gaza?
“Egypt has proposed a two-day truce in Gaza as a prelude to a longer cease-fire. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Hamas to free four of the Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. He proposed more negotiations to follow that release within ten days.
Meanwhile, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli strikes killed at least 45 people, mainly in the north of the strip. UN Chief Antonio Guterres said he was shocked by what he called the "harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction." Egypt proposes temporary truce in Gaza. DW speaks with Hans-Jakob Schindler, Middle East security expert and Senior Director at the Counter Extremism Project in Berlin”
The Telegraph: Rioter Dies In Prison After Being Jailed For Two Years
“A grandfather jailed for violent disorder and abusing police at an anti-immigration riot this summer has become the first rioter to die in prison. Peter Lynch, 61, described as a conspiracy theorist at his court hearing, is believed to have taken his own life on Saturday night at HMP Moorland near Doncaster in south Yorkshire, according to prison service sources. […] Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and government adviser, said: “Any death in custody is a tragedy. Not all can be prevented. “However, the profile of this offender, rightly jailed for his role in rioting, suggests to me he ought to have at least been considered as a suicide risk. “The investigation which must take place after a fatal incident in a prison will need to explore this in relation to his vulnerability and care.””
Spiked: Was Peter Lynch A Political Prisoner?
“Ian Acheson and Paul Embery discuss the rioter who has died in prison. This is a clip from the latest episode of the spiked podcast.”
TalkTV UK: Rioter Dies In Prison After Being Jailed For Two Years
“Former prison governor Ian Acheson says the justice system is much worse than just two-tier policing, after an asylum hotel rioter died in prison. "The first thing I want to say to Mr. Lynch's family is that I've got huge amounts of sympathy for them."”
The Telegraph: Britain Is Soft On Crime And Soft On The Causes Of Crime
“‘House arrest’ may be a term more usually associated with tinpot dictatorships, but it has in fact been a key feature of our crime control apparatus for years. Home Detention Curfew (HSC) was brought in under Labour in 1999. Now the Justice Secretary wants to extend that Blairite concept which covered only the last six months of an offender’s custody to the whole sentence. Will this make a difference in solving Britain’s omnishambles prison crisis? […] Ian Acheson is a former prison governor and author of Screwed: Britain’s prison crisis and how to escape it.”
The Spectator: Is Airbnb To Blame For Rising Crime In London
“Does Airbnb drive up crime in London? That’s the question posed of the world’s most successful short-term rental service in new research by the Cambridge Institute of Criminology. The UK’s holiday rental market is enormous, projected to reach £3.5 billion this year. Airbnb eats up a sizeable chunk of that revenue; millions on the move take advantage of what the platform has to offer in the nation’s capital. And surely where there’s brass there’s muck? Well, sort of. The research claimed a ‘positive association’ between areas of London where there were high levels of Airbnb and increased criminality. […] Professor Ian Acheson is a former prison governor. He was also Director of Community Safety at the Home Office. His book ‘Screwed: Britain’s prison crisis and how to escape it’ is out now.”
The Spectator: Mass Prisoner Releases Aren’t Working
“Today, over a thousand offenders will walk out of jail early as part of the government’s ongoing emergency scheme to ease the pressure on our crippled prison system. This time at least officials have dropped the pretence that no dangerous criminals will walk free earlier than a judge decided they should serve. Goodbye just deserts, hello justice by logistics. It remains to be seen whether we’ll witness the previous disgraceful scenes of people celebrating with champagne in front of our prisons. But our criminal justice system is so hollowed out by complacency and incompetence, I wouldn’t bet against it happening again. […] Professor Ian Acheson is a former prison governor. He was also Director of Community Safety at the Home Office. His book ‘Screwed: Britain’s prison crisis and how to escape it’ is out now.”
UnHerd: MI5 Must Rethink Islamic Terrorism
“MI5 has one hell of a job on its hands.” That was the warning yesterday from the agency’s Director-General, Ken McCallum, in a speech which touched on everything from Russian espionage to Iranian assassination plots, and from the present competition with China to the violent echoes of last century’s conflict in Northern Ireland. On counterterrorism, McCallum gave the “headline split” of “75% Islamist terrorism, 25% extreme Right-wing.” Despite delving into the shifting ideological configurations of the violence, McCallum underlined that the threat of most concern is still that posed by al-Qaeda and Islamic State. […] Liam Duffy is a researcher, speaker and trainer in counter-terrorism based in London.”
Iran
Associated Press: Attack On A Police Convoy In A Restive Southeastern Province Of Iran Kills 10 Officers
“An attack on an Iranian police convoy Saturday in the country’s restive southern province of Sistan and Baluchestan killed at least 10 officers, authorities said. Details remain scarce over the attack in Gohar Kuh, some 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) southeast of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Initially, reports simply described an attack by “miscreants” without more information. But shortly after, Iranian state media said 10 officers had been killed. HalVash, an advocacy group for the Baluch people of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, posted photos and video of what appeared to be a disabled truck painted with the green stripe used by Iranian police vehicles. One graphic photo shared by the group showed what appeared to be the corpses of two police officers in the front seat of the truck.”
Associated Press: Analysis: Iran Faces Tough Choices In Deciding How To Respond To Israeli Strikes
“It’s Iran’s move now. How the Islamic Republic chooses to respond to the unusually public Israeli aerial assault on its homeland could determine whether the region spirals further toward all-out war or holds steady at an already devastating and destabilizing level of violence. In the coldly calculating realm of Middle East geopolitics, a strike of the magnitude that Israel delivered Saturday would typically be met with a forceful response. A likely option would be another round of the ballistic missile barrages that Iran has already launched twice this year. Retaliating militarily would allow Iran’s clerical leadership to show strength not only to its own citizens but also to Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the militant groups battling Israel that are the vanguard of Tehran’s so-called Axis of Resistance.”
Turkey
Associated Press: Kurdish Militants Claim Responsibility For Deadly Attack On Turkish Defense Firm
“A banned Kurdish militant group on Friday claimed responsibility for an attack on the headquarters of a key defense company in Ankara that killed at least five people. A statement from the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, said Wednesday’s attack on the premises of the aerospace and defense company TUSAS was carried out by two members of its so-called “Immortal Battalion” in response to Turkish “massacres” and other actions in Kurdish regions. A man and a woman stormed TUSAS’ premises on the outskirts of Ankara, setting off explosives and opening fire. Four TUSAS employees were killed there. The assailants arrived on the scene in a taxi that they had commandeered by killing its driver. More than 20 people were injured in the attack.”
Pakistan
Voice Of America: Clashes With Militants In Northwest Pakistan Kill 14 Security Force Members
“Pakistani authorities said Friday that clashes with militants killed at least 14 security force officers and injured several others in a northwestern province bordering Afghanistan. The violence took place in the militancy-affected Khyber, Bannu, and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, frequently ambushes military and police personnel and stages attacks against their outposts. Local security officials in Khyber said a gunfight between TTP assailants and security forces erupted Friday, resulting in the deaths of at least two personnel and injuries to three others. They also reported the killing of at least two militants. Separately, militants ambushed a police vehicle in Bannu, killing a senior police officer and his guard.”
Voice Of America: Suicide Blast Kills At Least 8 In Northwest Pakistan
“Pakistani officials reported Saturday that a suicide bomber targeted a security checkpoint in a volatile region near the border with Afghanistan, killing at least eight people and injuring several others. The attack occurred in the town of Mir Ali in Pakistan’s militancy-hit North Waziristan district. At least two soldiers, four police officers and two civilians were said to be among the dead. Multiple area security officials confirmed the casualties, reporting that the bomber detonated a motorbike rickshaw filled with explosives at the checkpoint. The explosion also injured five security personnel, with local hospital sources describing the condition of some of them as “critical.” Militants allied with the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, reportedly claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing. It came a day after fierce clashes with militants in districts surrounding North Waziristan killed at least 16 Pakistani security force members and injured many others.”
Lebanon
Associated Press: Destruction Of Lebanon-Syria Border Crossings In Israeli Airstrikes Creates Difficulties
“A stream of refugees fleeing Lebanon to Syria crossed a narrow makeshift bridge on foot Sunday in the Qusair area of Syria’s Homs province after the official border crossing was put out of commission by an Israeli strike two days earlier. Only three functioning crossings remain between the countries, which share a border 375 kilometers (233 mi) long. In late September, an Israeli airstrike hit the border crossing of Matraba in Lebanon’s northeast, forcing it to close. A few weeks later came a strike on Masnaa, the main crossing between the two countries, putting it out of service. The Jousieh crossing was struck on Friday. The Israeli military has accused the Hezbollah militant group of using the crossings to move weapons and military equipment from Syria to Lebanon.”
Middle East
The Wall Street Journal: Truck Hits Crowd At Israel Bus Stop, Injuring Dozens
“Nearly three dozen people were injured when a freight truck plowed into a crowd at a bus stop in central Israel, in what police said they were investigating as a terrorist attack. The truck rammed into the crowd as people were getting off a bus, police said. At least six of the 35 injured were in serious condition and five were in moderate condition, medical officials said. Some of the injured were trapped under the bus when Israeli paramedics arrived. The site of the attack was adjacent to a mall and near a military base in Glilot, north of Tel Aviv. Glilot is home to the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, which Hezbollah and Iran have both claimed to target over the past year in separate missile attacks. The driver of the truck was “neutralized” by armed civilians at the scene, police said. It wasn’t immediately clear if the driver was killed or injured.”
Reuters: Palestinian Authority Treads Tightrope In West Bank Crackdown On Militants
“In the West Bank city of Tubas, the Palestinian Authority has been rounding up militants who are spoiling for a fight with Israel and challenging its own rule, seeking to show it can help shape the future for Palestinians after the war in Gaza. President Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority (PA) has poured forces into Tubas, saying it aims to quash lawlessness and deny Israel pretexts to raid the city in the occupied territory. His militant adversaries - Hamas and Islamic Jihad - say the PA is serving Israel's agenda at a time when Israel is going after their fighters in the West Bank as they battle Israel in Gaza, sharpening old divisions between the militants and Abbas. Residents of Tubas said clashes between the militants and the PA this month involved heavy machine guns and bombs in some of the worst violence they can remember.”
Reuters: Israeli Defence Minister: Hamas, Hezbollah No Longer Effective Proxies For Iran
“Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that Iran is no longer able to effectively use its proxies Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon against Israel. "Over the past year, the security establishment led by the Israel Defense Forces turned the tide of the war and had unprecedented achievements in all arenas of fighting," he said in remarks to a memorial ceremony in Jerusalem. Gallant said Hamas was no longer functioning as a military network in Gaza, while Hezbollah's senior command and most of its missile capabilities had been wiped out. He said both groups "are no longer an effective tool" to be used by Iran.”
Egypt
Reuters: Egypt Proposes Short Gaza Truce With Small Hostage-Prisoner Exchange
“Egypt has proposed an initial two-day ceasefire in Gaza to exchange four Israeli hostages of Hamas for some Palestinian prisoners, Egypt's president said on Sunday as Israeli military strikes killed 45 Palestinians across the enclave. Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made the announcement as efforts to defuse the devastating, more than year-long war resumed in Qatar with the directors of the CIA and Israel's Mossad intelligence agency taking part. Speaking alongside Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during a press conference in Cairo, Sisi also said that talks should resume within 10 days of implementing the temporary ceasefire in efforts to reach a permanent one. There was no immediate comment from Israel or Hamas but a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort told Reuters: "I expect Hamas would listen to the new offers, but it remains determined that any agreement must end the war and get Israeli forces out of Gaza."”
Africa
Reuters: Ghana Rejects Reuters Report On Jihadis Finding Refuge In Its North
“Ghana's government on Saturday rejected Reuters reporting on Islamist militants in Burkina Faso that found they are discreetly using neighbouring Ghana's north as a logistical and medical base to sustain their insurgency. In a statement on Saturday, Ghana's security ministry said there were no "non-aggression policy" or tacit agreements with militant groups. "The ministry strongly rejects the portrayal of Ghana as a 'supply line' for militants. Ghana's counter-terrorism efforts are rightly commended by her partners in the relentless regional and global fight against terrorism," the statement said. It added that national security forces were actively engaged in counter-terrorism efforts, particularly along Ghana's northern border. "The Government of Ghana, through its State Security and Intelligence agencies, conducts continuous operations to prevent any terrorist infiltration or cross-border movement of militants and has been doing so over the years with notable successes," the statement said.”
United Kingdom
The Guardian: How An English Extremist With A Hitler Tattoo Hid In Plain Sight – And Plotted To Kill
“When neo-Nazi terrorist Callum Parslow walked into a countryside hotel on 2 April and stabbed an asylum seeker in the chest, it was not the first time he had come to the attention of the police. The 31-year-old computer programmer was on bail, having been arrested four months earlier for sending racist and sexual messages to a black female journalist. The mindset that drove his attack was clear. When police searched Parslow’s home in Worcester on 13 December, they found a stockpile of Nazi memorabilia, including rings and medallions from the Third Reich, two copies of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and numerous other far-right books. The items were scattered through his bedroom, which had a huge St George’s flag on the wall, 10 cans of cider on the desk and empty crisp packets and milk cartons on the floor.“
Europe
A Deadly Attack At A Police Station In Bosnia Is An Act Of Terrorism, Prosecutors Say
“An attack by a teenager who broke into a police station in northwest Bosnia — killing one officer and wounding another — was described as an act of terrorism by authorities on Friday. The assault happened around 9 p.m. in the town of Bosanska Krupa on Thursday. The assailant, born in 2009, went into the local police station and stabbed the officers in a “totally unprovoked” attack, police said. Prosecutors working to determine the motive and all the circumstances of the attack characterized it as a terrorist assault. They said the injured officer has been hospitalized and is in a stable condition. “Unofficially, the motive is an attack on the institution, i.e. the police station as an authority with the aim of intimidating the population,” said Chief Prosecutor Merima Mesanovic.“
Technology
Politico: Feds See Uptick In Online Chatter Among Extremists Preparing For ‘Civil War’
“U.S. intelligence authorities are seeing a rise in online discussions among domestic extremists about preparations for what they imagine to be an imminent civil war, according to a Department of Homeland Security report. The discussions — which largely take place in anonymous, unmoderated online forums — are linked to the 2024 election and concerns about immigration. “Some domestic violent extremists (DVEs) are reacting to the 2024 election season and prominent policy issues by engaging in illegal preparatory or violent activity that they link to the narrative of an impending civil war, raising the risk of violence against government targets and ideological opponents,” the report from the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis says. The report, dated Sept. 6, 2024, reflects widely held concerns that violence could mar the election.”
Associated Press: Middle East Latest: Social Platform X Suspends New Account On Behalf Of Iran’s Supreme Leader
“The social platform X has suspended a new account on behalf of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that posted messages in Hebrew. The account was suspended early Monday with a brief note appended to it saying: “X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules.” It wasn’t immediately clear what the violation was. The Elon Musk-owned social media company did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. The move came after Israel openly attacked Iran for the first time this weekend. Khamenei said in a speech on Sunday that Israel’s strikes — in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack this month — “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation.”
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