CEP Mentions
DW: Iran Looking For A New Military Strategy?
“Two days after Israel's retaliatory attack on military targets in Iran, Iran's government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani announced that the defense budget would be increased by more than 200 percent. When presenting the budget plan at a press conference on Tuesday (October 30), Mohajerani stressed: "We have made every effort to meet the country's defense needs." However, the spokeswoman did not give any concrete figures. […] "Israel has shown Iran that it can, if it wants, carry out attacks on targets throughout Iran. It has used its fighter jets for this purpose, all of which have returned unscathed," explains terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the transatlantic think tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP) in an interview with DW.”
Tribune Juive: How Qatari Money Influences France’s Anti-Israel Policy
“The recent quarrel between France, or more precisely President Emmanuel Macron, and Israel seems to have a simple and plausible catalyst: money. Behind the calls for an arms embargo on Israel, the support for the useless or even harmful mission of UNIFIL, and the neo-colonial ambitions to “protect” Lebanon, there are purely economic motives. These are both public and private economic interests. […] According to experts from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), France has opted for a strategic partnership with Qatar. Only a fraction of this alliance is transparent – in early 2024, the emirate has committed to investing 10 billion euros in the French economy.”
United States
NBC News: When Does Free Speech Cross The Line Into Breaking U.S. Anti-Terrorism Laws?
“Charlotte Kates, a New Jersey native and Rutgers Law School graduate who co-founded the pro-Hamas organization Samidoun, has become the focus of an ongoing legal debate: When does free speech cross the line into breaking federal anti-terrorism laws? Over the last year, Kates, who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, said she met with mid-level leaders of at least two U.S.-designated terrorist organizations at a public conference in South Africa. She also joined members of the groups in online seminars in which they urged the audience to support Hamas and Hezbollah. “The Palestinian resistance and the Lebanese resistance are not engaging in terrorism,” Kates told NBC News. “They’re engaging in a national liberation struggle.””
CBS News: Suspect Faces Hate Crime, Terrorism Charges In Shooting Of Jewish Man On Chicago's North Side
“Authorities on Thursday announced terrorism and hate crime charges against the man accused of shooting an Orthodox Jewish man in the West Ridge neighborhood last weekend, and then opening fire on police and paramedics. Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, had already faced six counts of attempted first-degree murder, seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, and aggravated battery. On Thursday, Police Supt. Larry Snelling announced Abdallahi also has been charged with one felony count of terrorism and one felony count of a hate crime. Police said Abdallahi shot a 39-year-old man in the 2600 block of West Farwell Avenue in the West Ridge, or West Rogers Park, neighborhood around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.”
Iran
Reuters: Iran Preparing Strike On Israel From Iraqi Territory Within Days, Axios Reports
“Israeli intelligence suggests Iran is preparing to attack Israel from Iraqi territory in the coming days, possibly before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two unidentified Israeli sources. The attack is expected to be carried out from Iraq using a large number of drones and ballistic missiles, the Axios report added. The report said that carrying out the attack through pro-Iran militias in Iraq could be an attempt by Tehran to avoid another Israeli attack against strategic targets in Iran. Israel and Iran have engaged in a series of tit-for-tat military strikes, part of broader Middle East warfare set off by fighting in Gaza. On Saturday, Israeli military jets struck missile factories and other sites near Tehran and in western Iran in retaliation for Tehran's Oct. 1 barrage of more than 200 missiles against Israel.”
Iraq
Reuters: Iraq Tries To Avoid Regional Fight As Militias Fire At Israel
“Nervously watching Israel's destructive campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, Iraq is working to avoid being drawn into the growing regional conflict as Iran-backed armed groups launch attacks on Israel from Iraqi soil, sources familiar with the matter say. Two decades after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq is experiencing relative stability with high revenue from oil sales funding a service-based agenda that has turned much of the country into a construction site. Iraq does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's government is wary of regional conflicts that could affect its delicate balancing act between Washington and Tehran, both states it is allied with.”
Turkey
Reuters: Kurdish PKK: What To Know About The Militants Fighting Turkey?
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group could potentially restart peace talks with the Turkish government, after President Tayyip Erdogan's main ally last week revived hopes of ending the 40-year-old conflict. But underscoring the difficult road ahead, just one day after Erdogan's ally Devlet Bahceli made his proposal, the PKK claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a defence industry firm in Ankara, prompting Turkey to hit back at the militia in Iraq and Syria. Here are details about the group: The PKK is a militant group founded by Abdullah Ocalan in southeast Turkey in 1978 with an ideology based on Marxist-Leninist ideas. The PKK launched its insurgency against Turkey in 1984 with the initial aim of creating an independent Kurdish state.”
Afghanistan
Associated Press: The Taliban Say Blasts And Gunfire In Iran Targeted And Killed At Least 2 Afghans Earlier This Month
“Explosions and gunfire in Iran killed at least two Afghans earlier this month, the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said on Thursday. Iran has denied any shooting took place near Saravan, a town in the country’s restive southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, which borders Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. A high-ranking Taliban committee has been investigating the incident for the past few weeks. Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the committee found that explosions and gunfire targeted Afghans in the Kalgan Valley, within Iranian territory. He did not say who was responsible for the attack. “As of now, the bodies of two martyrs and 34 eyewitnesses, some of whom were injured in the incident, have been transported by the committee,” the spokesman said.”
Lebanon
Reuters: In East Lebanon, Looming Winter Hints At Stretched Aid Response
“Nerjes Hassan was so worried her children would fall ill from bathing in the frigid water of a displacement shelter in northeast Lebanon that she drove back into her hometown to give them a hot bath and pick up food preserves. While at home on Wednesday morning in the town of Buday, near the eastern city of Baalbek, an Israeli air strike killed her, her husband and her two children, according to her coworkers and neighbours. Hassan, who worked for the Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) aid organisation, was among thousands seeking refuge from Israeli strikes in the mountainous Christian town of Deir al-Ahmar in eastern Lebanon. The town was already hosting more than 10,000 displaced people before Israel escalated its strikes on predominantly Shi'ite Muslim Baalbek and nearby towns starting on Wednesday this week.”
Reuters: Israel Wants To Enforce Any Lebanon Ceasefire Deal, Netanyahu Tells US Envoys
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. envoys on Thursday that Israel's ability to counter threats to its security from Lebanon and return displaced people to the north were key elements of any ceasefire deal with Lebanon. He was speaking shortly after a Hezbollah attack on northern Israel's Metula killed five people including an Israeli farmer and four foreign workers, while two more civilians were killed by shrapnel near the town of Kiryat Ata, Israeli authorities said. Meanwhile, Beirut said a series of Israeli strikes had killed six health workers in southern Lebanon. "The main issue is ... Israel's ability and determination to enforce the agreement and thwart any threat to its security from Lebanon," Netanyahu's office cited him as telling two U.S. envoys.”
Middle East
Reuters: Israel Pounds Beirut's Southern Suburbs After US Truce Push
“Israel pounded Beirut's southern suburbs with a series of powerful airstrikes early on Friday morning after issuing evacuation orders to residents, in the first such strikes in days targeting the dense urban area, Reuters witnesses said. The Israeli military said it was targetting Hezbollah facilities and assets, an assertion that it has repeated over the course of dozens of strikes over more than a month in the neighborhood where the Iran-backed group holds sway. The strikes followed a renewed but as yet of fruitless bout of U.S.-led diplomacy aimed at getting a ceasfire in Gaza and Lebanon to stop over a year of fighting between Israel and Iran-backed groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon were moving toward understandings on what is required for implementing a long-violated U.N. resolution, 1701, that would be the basis for ending the current conflict.”
Reuters: At Least 46 Palestinians Killed In Israeli Strikes, Hospital Hit, Says Gaza Ministry
“At least 46 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, mostly in the north where one attack hit a hospital, torching medical supplies and disrupting operations, the enclave's health officials said. Israel's military has accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas of using Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya for military purposes and said "dozens of terrorists" have been hiding there. Health officials and Hamas deny the charge. Later on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike on two houses in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza killed at least 16 Palestinians, medics at Al-Awda Hospital in the camp told Reuters. The dead included a paramedic and two local journalists, they added. Northern Gaza, where Israel said in January it had dismantled Hamas' command structure, is currently the main focus of the military's assault in the enclave.”
Mali
The New York Times: How Wagner’s Ruthless Image Crumbled In Mali
“For years, Russia has promoted the Wagner mercenary group to authoritarian leaders in Africa as a force of fearsome warriors who could protect leaders’ grip on power and help their armies reclaim territories from armed groups. In return, Moscow has gained access to resource-rich countries, dislodged Western and U.N. troops and seeded influence across West and Central Africa to a degree not seen since the fall of the Soviet Union. But a major defeat for Wagner this summer in northern Mali showed that its actual capabilities might be overstated and unable to meet the ambitions of one of the group’s closest African partners. The New York Times confirmed the deaths of at least 46 Wagner fighters and 24 allied Malian soldiers by matching details seen in footage of the corpses, such as uniforms and tattoos, with imagery of the soldiers when they were alive.”
Germany
DW: Manhunt After Explosives Left At Berlin Station
“Police were searching for a suspect on Thursday after he apparently dropped a bag of explosives when confronted by officers at a Berlin train station on Wednesday evening. A police officer told the daily Berliner Zeitung that "it seems as if an attack has been prevented," as an explosion caused by the contents of the bag would have had "dramatic consequences" if it occurred near a group of people. The man ran away after he was subjected to a check by police officers. Berlin police said the bag was reportedly destroyed at a nearby car park in a controlled explosion. A police spokesman said results of an examination of the explosives were not yet available. However, the mass-circulation Bild daily said that the bag had contained triacetone triperoxide, an explosive powder known often used in extremist attacks on the public.”
Europe
Associated Press: Greek Police Say Fatal Athens Apartment Blast Was Likely Caused By Improvised Bomb
“Greek police said Friday that an explosion in an Athens apartment that killed a man and severely wounded a woman appeared to have been caused by an improvised bomb. Police searching the wrecked apartment seized two handguns and ammunition, authorities said in a statement, as well as mobile phones and other “digital evidence.” The statement added that the blast is being investigated by the police’s special violent crimes unit. Firefighters who responded to the explosion Thursday afternoon freed the wounded woman from the wreckage, and later found the man’s body while using sniffer dogs to search the apartment for other survivors, the fire service said.”
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