Email from Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Rubio: US gov't will designate Muslim Brotherhood a terror org. Eye on Extremism August 15, 2025   Top Stories Reuters: Hezbollah warns Lebanon 'will have no life' if state moves against it Hezbollah raised the spectre of civil war on Friday with a warning there would be "no life" in Lebanon if the government sought to confront or eliminate the Iran-backed group. The government wants to control arms in line with a U.S.-backed plan following Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah which was founded four decades ago with the backing of Tehran's Revolutionary Guards. But the group is resisting pressure to disarm, saying that cannot happen until Israel ends its strikes and occupation of a southern strip of Lebanon that had been a Hezbollah stronghold. "This is our nation together. We live in dignity together, and we build its sovereignty together - or Lebanon will have no life if you stand on the other side and try to confront us and eliminate us," its leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech. Jerusalem Post: Rubio: US gov't will designate Muslim Brotherhood a terror org. The US federal government is in the process of designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview on Tuesday. In response to a question about designating The Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as terrorist organizations, Rubio said that “all of those things” that were “just discussed” were “in the process.” “We are constantly reviewing for groups to designate for what they are: supporters of terrorists, maybe terrorists themselves, whatever it may be. We haven’t done this in a long time, so it’s – we’ve got a lot of catch-up to do. And you’ve mentioned a couple names, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, that are of grave concern,” Rubio said on Sid and Friends in the Morning, according to a US State Department transcript.   CEP's ARCHER at House 88 The Auschwitz Research Centre on Hate, Extremism and Radicalization (ARCHER) at House 88 is sited at the former residence of Rudolf Höss, Commandant of the Auschwitz concentration and death camp from 1940-1944. We will transform it into a unique symbol of the fight against antisemitism, extremism, and terrorism. Follow ARCHER at House 88 on X, Facebook, and Instagram to stay updated on our progress.   Analysis Amadeu Antonio Stiftung: Right-wing women's network on Instagram - an analysis of new right-wing influencers and their impact Social media is one of the most important tools used by extreme right-wing actors to disseminate their content and reach target groups far removed from their core clientele. Time and again, members of the AfD in particular, but also new right-wing influencers, have shown particular skill here - but how are they networked with each other, what ideological background characterizes them and what influence do they have in non-right-wing spheres? The analysis of a network of new right-wing influencers provides insights into these questions. Times of Israel: Reeling from war with Israel, Iran at crossroads between defiance and diplomacy Weakened by war and diplomatic deadlock, Iran’s clerical elite stands at a crossroads: defy pressure to halt its nuclear activity and risk further Israeli and US attacks, or concede and risk a leadership fracture. For now, the Islamic Republic establishment is focusing on immediate survival over longer-term political strategy. Homeland Security Today: ISKP’s Shifts in Response to Counterterrorism Efforts While the 2024 Crocus City Hall attack marked a turning point in the fight against Central Asian ISKP, the group’s ability to adapt under counterterrorism pressure and evolve its tactics underscores that the threat is far from over. Countering this menace requires not only sustained vigilance but also meaningful intelligence cooperation between Central Asian governments and global partners—before ISKP regains the initiative. United States  CBS News: Federal building housing DHS and ICE in NYC evacuated following report of unknown powder The building at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan was evacuated on Thursday afternoon following reports of an unknown white powder. The FDNY said a call came in just before 4 p.m. saying the powder was reported found in the mailroom on the ninth floor of the building, which is home to the Department of Homeland Security and the New York City field office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among other agencies. First responders and hazmat units were on the scene with four minutes, authorities said. At an evening news conference, authorities said they are awaiting test results on the powder, which was in five separate letters, adding those letters would also be sent to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. Officials said at least two people were exposed to the powder. SpyTalk: Exclusive: Justice Department Erases Domestic Terror Unit A top official in the Justice Department unit assigned to combat domestic terrorism has resigned in frustration after watching his office effectively gutted with much of its funding cut off and its lawyers reassigned to immigration enforcement and other matters. “I no longer had a functioning job. There was nothing for me to do anymore,” said Thomas Brzozowski, who had served as the unit’s senior counsel for the last 10 years, in an exclusive interview on the SpyTalk podcast scheduled for posting on Friday. “And so I couldn’t in good conscience continue to hold myself out as counsel for domestic terrorism when it became evidence to me that this was simply not going to be something that I would be permitted to work on.” Jerusalem Post: Massachusetts man sentenced to 26 months for threats to synagogues, Israel consulate A Massachusetts man was sentenced on Thursday to more than two years in prison after he threatened to bomb synagogues and kill Jewish children in a series of calls he placed to two local houses of worship and the Israeli consulate in Boston after Israel and Hamas went to war in 2023. John Reardon, 60, was sentenced by US District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston to 26 months in custody after pleading guilty in November to charges related to what prosecutors said were dozens of violent and antisemitic calls and voicemails he placed to Jewish institutions beginning on October 7, 2023. Mexico Al Jazeera: Why has the US issued a ‘terrorism’ travel alert for Mexico? On Tuesday, the United States government issued a new travel alert for Mexico, warning of “terrorist” violence in 30 of its 32 states. It’s the first time Washington has ever sounded the alarm on Mexico for terrorism risk. The advisory paints a grim picture: soaring rates of homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery, alongside a new warning of possible terrorist attacks and terrorist violence. “There is a risk of terrorist violence, including attacks and related activities,” it warned, urging Americans to take precautions. The travel alert was raised to Level 2 – “exercise increased caution” on a scale of four levels. Germany Tagesspiegel: Already 615 anti-Semitic crimes in Berlin The Berlin police registered a total of 615 suspected anti-Semitic crimes in the first half of 2025. This was stated by the Senate Interior Administration in response to a question from SPD MP and legal expert Sebastian Schlüsselburg. The number of anti-Semitically motivated acts has risen rapidly since the attack on Israel by the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas on 7 October 2023. There were 380 such cases in 2022, 901 in 2023 and 1823 last year. Anti-Semitic crimes are no longer primarily committed by right-wing extremists. Israel haters and the pro-Palestine scene are responsible for the rapid increase in crimes. Israel and Jewish life are declared "enemy images of jihadist groups and militant or terrorist actors and therefore a direct operational and propagandistic target", explains the Home Office. The Islamist scene had used the Hamas attack, spread propaganda and called for support. The result is an increase in religiously motivated, anti-Semitic acts and "the worsening of the security situation in Berlin". Berliner Morgenpost: New statistics: violence among left-wing and right-wing extremists on the rise The Berlin police registered fewer right-wing extremist crimes in the first half of the year than in the same period last year - but these crimes still account for the largest share of politically motivated crime. Crimes committed by left-wing extremists increased. This is according to an as yet unpublished response from the Interior Administration to a question from Green Party MP Ario Mirzaie, which was made available to the German Press Agency. According to this, the statistics for crimes with a political background list 1,200 cases from the right-wing spectrum. This is a quarter (24%) less than in the same period last year, when there were 1,579 offenses. Propaganda offenses (721), which include Nazi graffiti, accounted for the largest share, followed by insult and defamation (157) and incitement to hatred (123). The number of violent acts committed by right-wing extremists rose from 47 to 61 in the same period. Poland Jerusalem Post: Israeli rabbi recounts antisemitism during tour in Poland "There were more antisemitic insults and comments this past week than in all my 20 years of being a tour guide in Poland," Rabbi Rafi Ostroff, a part-time Poland tour guide and Head of the Gush Etzion Religious Council, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. Rabbi Ostroff just returned from Poland, where he took a group of students on a Holocaust education tour, something he has been doing two or three times a year for two decades. Israel Jerusalem Post: Behind the attack: How IDF’s northern chief Uri Gordin defeated Hezbollah It was September 15, 2024, and the Jerusalem Post was visiting IDF Northern Command Headquarters to hold interviews and off-record conversations with relatively senior brigadier general and colonel-level officers there. What I could not report at the time was that during the visit to the base, I witnessed up close thousands of officers and soldiers in unusual meetings, clearly preparing for a major operation against Hezbollah. And yet nothing leaked, and even the officers whom the Post spoke to thought it was still quite possible that the sides would reach a deal before the war would get much larger. Jerusalem Post: Mossad chief conducting extensive hostage talks in Doha despite previous reports The issue of hostage deal negotiations was discussed extensively during a meeting between Mossad director David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post. This follows a briefing earlier on Thursday, during which a senior Israeli official told reporters that “The Mossad chief conveyed the message that a partial deal is off the table and, beyond that, did not engage in negotiations but in Mossad-related matters.” Times of Israel: Settlers said to injure several Palestinians, torch property in overnight attacks Extremist settlers were reported to have injured several Palestinians and torched their properties in a spate of attacks on West Bank villages overnight Thursday. The attacks came amid a burgeoning wave of settler violence in the West Bank, with two Palestinians reported killed this month amid clashes in the territory. At around midnight, a man and his wife were wounded in the southern village of Susya, after a gang of settlers were said to have attacked their home. Footage from the scene showed a middle-aged man with a bloodied head and torso. The two were evacuated to a hospital. Egypt The National: Egypt to start training 5,000 Palestinian officers for postwar Gaza Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Wednesday that lists had been finalised for about 5,000 Palestinian officers to begin training in the country to help fill the security vacuum in a postwar Gaza Strip. Mr Abdelatty told local broadcaster DMC TV that Egypt was working with Jordan to prepare Palestinian police to manage and administer the war-ravaged enclave after Israel's war. Cairo will host an international conference for Gaza’s reconstruction, during which Egypt’s vision for administering the strip will be announced, he said. Yemen Stimson Center: China Sends Houthis Dual-Use Technology to Boost Influence and Undercut the US China has not given formal recognition to the Houthis, a militant faction that has taken control of much of Yemen since 2014. But by providing the Houthis with dual-use technologies such as satellite imagery and drone components, Beijing complicates U.S. maritime security efforts. To manage this delicate position, China employs indirect diplomacy and dual messaging: avoiding direct criticism of the Houthis while emphasizing civilian ship protection. For instance, in January 2024, China refrained from blaming the Houthis for Red Sea instability but called for maritime safety. In February of that year, it deployed its 46th Navy Fleet to the region, yet abstained from a UN resolution condemning the Houthis just a month earlier. Nigeria Africanews: U.S approves $346m weapons sale to Nigeria to fight terrorism The deal will support the foreign policy goals of the United States by improving the security of a strategic partner in Sub-Saharan Africa, the U.S State Department said in a press release, Wednesday. The Nigerian government requested a long list of weapons, according to the statement, including more than a thousand MK-82 500 lb bombs – a weapon which was most recently used by the Israeli military to bomb civilians in Gaza. The deal also included 5000 precision rocket Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS), laser-guided bomb kits, high-explosive rockets, as well as technical personnel services. Mali Reuters: Mali arrests generals, French national accused in alleged destabilisation plot Mali's military-led government has arrested two generals and a French national, accusing them of participating in an alleged plot to destabilise the West African nation, according to a government statement and state-owned media. Mali has endured over a decade of turmoil marked by Islamist insurgencies in its arid north along with political instability that culminated in a series of coups in 2020 and 2021 that brought current president General Assimi Goita to power. Sources told Reuters earlier this week that more than 30 soldiers and military officials had been taken into custody on suspicion of attempting to destabilise Goita's government. Mali's ministry of territorial administration, in a statement released late on Thursday, said those arrested included Yann Vezilier, a French citizen. CEP Podcasts Unpacking the week's extremism-related anniversaries and news, as well as counter extremism developments and prospects. A deep dive into CEP's research and topics that are relevant to our mission, from our Berlin-based team.   The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) is a nonprofit and non-partisan international policy organization working to combat the growing threat posed by extremist ideologies. 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