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CEP Mentions
ProSieben Galileo: CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler on Russian Spy Operations in Germany
Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Senior Director, was interviewed for a piece on Russia's surveillance and sabotage efforts in Germany, as recently uncovered by Western intelligence.
Analysis
Foreign Policy: Prigozhin’s Ghost Haunts Africa Corps
Two years ago, Wagner Group frontman Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash along with the group’s top deputies. A fiery propagandist and restaurateur turned mercenary warlord, Prigozhin led a mutiny against the Russian Defense Ministry in June 2023, just two months prior to his demise. The rebellion, spurred on by Wagner’s treatment in the Ukraine war and interpersonal conflicts between Prigozhin and Russia’s top brass, culminated with a dramatic scene of a Wagner column approaching Moscow before ultimately being called off.
Foreign Affairs: A Palestinian State Would Be Good for Israel
Israel, mostly owing to its own efforts, now finds itself in a favorable security environment, in which threats along its borders and in the region have been seriously weakened, if not eliminated. The country has never been in a better position to address the strategic challenge posed by Palestinian nationalism, which will require a response with political as well as military dimensions. But such an environment cannot last forever. Although Israel has a friend in the White House who is prepared to back it in important ways, long-term U.S. and European support for Israel is not guaranteed, especially if even more Americans and Europeans come to view it as a pariah state denying rights to others.
Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs: Syria’s Al-Sharaa and the Most Dangerous Mutation of Political Islamism
Syria’s interim self-appointed president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who served for two decades as a militant in the al-Qaeda terrorist organization under the alias Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, told the press recently that he does not see himself as an extension of political Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood or classical Salafi-jihadists like ISIS and al-Qaeda. To those who are blind to the many shades of jihadism, these statements might seem to signal that al-Jolani is abandoning his jihadist beliefs or that Syria is entering a post-Islamist era. In reality, these statements are a declaration of the evolution of an even more volatile and dangerous hybrid ideology: neo-Jihadism.
United States
Times of Israel: Trump tells Hamas to give back ‘all 20 hostages’ and ‘it will end’
US President Donald Trump warned the Hamas terror group on Wednesday to give back “all 20 Hostages,” in order to bring about a rapid end to the war in Gaza. “Tell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 Hostages (Not 2 or 5 or 7!), and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END!” he posted on his Truth Social network.
Washington Post: House Republicans form new subcommittee to probe Jan. 6
House Republicans voted on Wednesday to establish a new subcommittee to reinvestigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, moving to reopen one of the most polarizing chapters in American politics. Lawmakers slipped a resolution into a rule on the House floor that would establish the subcommittee, which is likely to be headed by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Georgia). Republicans have complained that the original probe, which was led by Democrats, was biased against President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly denied he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
The National Interest: The US’ West Africa and Sahel Challenge
The Trump administration’s push for greater US engagement with West Africa is a smart move. The region is a focal point for geopolitical competition with China and Russia, counterterrorism efforts that bolster US security, and business potential for American investors. However, the United States will face obstacles from within and without as it works to grow partnerships in the Gulf of Guinea, which lies along Africa’s western coast, and the Sahel, which includes neighboring landlocked countries in the lower reaches of the Sahara Desert. American officials should develop a framework that balances competing US priorities on defense, democracy, human rights, and immigration with the needs of regional partners.
Reuters: Suspect in killing of Israeli embassy staffers in Washington due in court
The suspect accused of gunning down two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Washington museum in what U.S. authorities have called an anti-Israel hate crime is set to appear in court on Thursday to enter a plea to a raft of criminal charges. Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, is facing nine federal charges including murder of a foreign official and perpetrating a hate crime resulting in death. U.S. prosecutors have alleged that Rodriguez was motivated by hatred of Israel when he fatally shot Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, as they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in downtown Washington on May 21.
Kurdistan 24: Former U.S. Envoy Warns Troop Withdrawal from Iraq Risks Repeating ‘Same Mistake,’ Ceding Ground to ISIS and Iran
A complete withdrawal of American military forces from Iraq risks repeating the strategic errors of 2011, potentially creating a vacuum that could be filled by a resurgent ISIS and emboldened Iranian influence, a prominent former U.S. diplomat has warned. In a wide-ranging interview with Kurdistan24, Ambassador James Jeffrey, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Türkiye and the United States Special Representative for Syria Engagement and Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, expressed grave concern that the departure of U.S. troops could destabilize Iraq and the wider region, undermining years of security gains.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency: Judge overturns Trump administration’s Harvard funding freeze tied to antisemitism allegations
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration had illegally frozen more than $2.6 billion in federal funding to Harvard University over claims of antisemitism. In her 84-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs wrote that the Trump administration had used allegations of antisemitism at top U.S. universities as a “smokescreen” for advancing its political agenda.
CNN: Far-right activists ‘looted’ corporate assets to buy a castle, NY AG says in lawsuit
The New York attorney general’s office filed civil charges against far-right anti-immigration activist Peter Brimelow and his wife for allegedly misusing more than $2 million in assets, including a West Virginia castle, from a charitable foundation they run.
WTAE 4: Pitt among other Pa. universities urged to combat antisemitism in letter from Fetterman, McCormick
Pennsylvania's two U.S. senators are calling upon five of the state's universities, including one in Pittsburgh, to ensure that Jewish organizations on their campuses are “equipped to protect the students they serve.” In a letter sent to universities at the end of August, U.S. Sens. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, and Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, said the request comes following a record number of antisemitic incidents that have occurred on campuses during the 2024-25 academic year.
Jewish News Syndicate: ‘Disgraceful, antisemitic misconduct,’ NYU says of mezuzah theft
Fountain Walker, vice president for global campus safety at New York University, denounced the Aug. 31 theft of a mezuzah from a student’s room on campus. “I am sure I speak for the entire university community when I express my outrage and condemnation of this disgraceful, antisemitic misconduct,” Walker stated on Tuesday. “Theft or vandalism of religious objects, symbols and spaces is utterly at odds with our university’s values and a gross violation of our rules, and is being treated accordingly.”
Jewish Telegraphic Agency: Clock ticking on California’s K-12 antisemitism bill as legislative session nears end
Time is nearly running out for California lawmakers to pass a signature bill aimed at curbing antisemitism in K-12 education. If AB 715 becomes law, it will mark the first time a state creates an antisemitism watchdog for public schools, potentially setting a template for others. The bill is also a major test case for whether states can legislate in this area without inappropriately restricting speech about Israel — a balance at the center of national debates.
WVTM: Helena police warn parents about extremist group 764 targeting local youth online
Helena police have issued a warning about the extremist group called 764 that is allegedly targeting local youth, working with the FBI and the Shelby County Sheriff's Office to investigate the threat. 764 and groups like it are known to groom vulnerable children on social media, gaming platforms and mobile apps, then use threats and blackmail to manipulate them into producing sexual content or criminal acts, according to the FBI.
Argentina
Jewish Telegraphic Agency: Argentine police recover looted painting that was spotted in Nazi’s daughter’s real estate ad
After multiple failed attempts, Argentine police have recovered a painting that the Nazis looted from a Dutch Jewish art dealer during the Holocaust. Dutch journalists first spotted the painting, “Portrait of a Lady” by Giuseppe Ghislandi, last month in an ad for a property being sold by a daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a Nazi finance official who fled to Argentina after World War II. But when police entered the home to locate the work, one of more than 1,000 looted from the holdings of Jacques Goodstikker, it had been removed from the wall.
Denmark
Helsinki Times: Man jailed as ISIS terrorist was Danish intelligence agent
Ahmed Samsam, sentenced in 2018 to eight years in prison for allegedly joining the so-called Islamic State, has been formally recognised as an agent of Denmark’s intelligence services, according to a ruling by the country’s Supreme Court. The decision ends years of official denial and confirms that Samsam, now 35, worked with both Denmark’s Security and Intelligence Service (DSIS) and the military’s Defence Intelligence Service (DDIS) during the Syrian conflict.
France
Reuters: French far-right accelerates recruitment drive with Macron government on brink
France's far-right National Rally is fine-tuning its candidate list for a possible snap legislative election, seeking to avoid what it called "casting errors" that let several "black sheep" derail its hopes for a majority in last year's vote. With the government hanging by a thread, the RN is betting President Emmanuel Macron's only path out of France's latest budget crisis will be to dissolve its deeply divided parliament. The RN is the largest single parliamentary party and believes it could finally win a majority that would give the far-right unprecedented power over the eurozone's No. 2 economy.
Germany
MDR: Poll: AfD at 39 percent in Saxony-Anhalt, CDU at 27 percent
One year before the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD is far ahead in the favor of voters. This is the result of the Saxony-Anhalt Trend conducted by Infratest Dimap for MDR, "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung" and "Volksstimme". According to the representative survey, the AfD could currently expect 39% of the vote in an election. This would mean that it would almost double its result in the 2021 state elections and the last Saxony-Anhalt trend from February 2022 and would be on course for the best result in state elections in Germany.
Deutsche Welle: Red lines: Will Germany change on sanctioning Israel?
But so far, senior German politicians, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, have mostly restricted themselves to saying that Israel should act within the bounds of international law. Some German arms exports have been restricted but may resume in the future, and any trade embargo or other kinds of sanctions have been rejected. As the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt put it in a May 2025 commentary, Germany's role has mostly been limited to "criticism without consequences."
Spain
Nordic Monitor: Spanish Supreme Court exposes Turkey’s role in channeling jihadists to Syria
In July Spain’s Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a Spanish-Moroccan who fought with al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra (now Hayat Tahrir al-Sham), in a case that again underscored Turkey’s role as a gateway for European jihadists. Evidence presented in both the trial and appeal showed that Casiano, identified only by his first name, systematically relied on Turkey as a transit route and a platform for online jihadist propaganda as well as a jurisdiction that complicated his prosecution in Spain.
United Kingdom
BBC: Six charged with terrorism offences over support for Palestine Action
Six people have been charged with terrorism offences relating to encouraging support for banned group Palestine Action, the Metropolitan Police said. The charges relate to public gatherings held in London, Manchester and Cardiff that took place over the summer, as well as a planned demonstration this weekend in London.
Gaza Strip
New York Times: After Trump Comments, Hamas Says It’s Ready for Deal on All Hostages
Hamas has expressed readiness for a comprehensive deal to end the Gaza war and release all hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. While Hamas has made similar statements in the past, the militant group reiterated the position late on Wednesday after President Trump called on it to immediately release all of the living hostages still held in Gaza.
Iran
Reuters: Iran downgrades diplomatic ties with Australia after row over arson attacks
Iran has downgraded diplomatic ties with Australia, its foreign ministry said on Thursday, a week after Australia expelled the Iranian ambassador over accusations that Tehran directed two antisemitic arson attacks in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne. "According to diplomatic law and in response to Australia's action, the Islamic Republic has also reciprocally reduced the level of Australia's diplomatic presence in Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, adding that Canberra's ambassador had left Iran.
Iraq
Shafaq News: Iraq arrests 4 ISIS members in joint operations
Iraqi forces arrested four ISIS members on Thursday in separate operations across al-Anbar and Kirkuk provinces. Military Intelligence Directorate units detained three wanted individuals under terrorism charges in al-Anbar, the agency confirmed in a statement.
Kurdistan24: Kurdish Security Forces in Western Kurdistan Foil Mass Escape Attempt at al-Hol Camp
The Internal Security Forces (Asayish) in North and East Syria (Western Kurdistan), announced on Tuesday that their units thwarted a large-scale escape attempt from the heavily guarded al-Hol camp, south of Hasakah in the Jazira region (The Jazira region in northeast Syria is a region located in the east of the country, bounded by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and includes Qamishli, Hasakah, Derik and Tal Abyad).
Kurdistan24: Increased ISIS Presence Reported Along Kirkuk Border
The specter of ISIS has returned to haunt the rural outskirts of Kirkuk, where militants are increasingly exploiting a dangerous security vacuum between the positions of the Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga and the Iraqi army. In the span of just one month, armed ISIS fighters have been sighted twice by local residents in the border area of the Shwan sub-district, creating a palpable sense of fear and anxiety and underscoring the fragile security situation in the Kurdistani territories outside the KRG's administrative control since the events of October 2017.
Kurdistan24: Kurdistan Region President, U.S. CENTCOM Commander Discuss Security and Anti-ISIS Cooperation
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Tuesday received Admiral Brad Cooper, newly appointed Commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), along with a high-level delegation of senior military officials and advisors, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
Shafaq News: ISIS explosive injures shepherd in Iraq’s al-Anbar
An explosive device left behind by ISIS detonated on Thursday in al-Anbar, Iraq’s largest province in the west, a local police source reported. The source confirmed to Shafaq News that the blast occurred on a slope south of Fallujah, seriously wounding a shepherd as he tended his flock. Security forces have since launched a search operation to ensure no additional devices are present in the area.
Israel
Jerusalem Post: Israel winning in Gaza, losing global narrative war, genocide study shows
Israel is fighting two wars against Hamas. The first is the grinding military campaign in Gaza. The other is the battle over narrative and legitimacy. On the first front, Israel is winning resoundingly: Hamas leaders and commanders eliminated, thousands of terrorists killed, its rocket arsenal depleted, its labyrinth of tunnels badly degraded. On the second front, Israel is taking a beating. Or, as US President Donald Trump said on Friday, Israel “may be winning the war, but they’re not winning the world of public relations.”
Times of Israel: Israel tells Hamas to surrender or see Gaza City leveled, as group says it’s open to deal
Israeli leaders on Wednesday dismissed a statement from Hamas declaring its willingness to free all the hostages in an exchange for ending the war in Gaza, vowing to go ahead with the planned invasion of Gaza City if the Palestinian terror group doesn’t accept Jerusalem’s conditions to permanently halt the fighting. The statement from Hamas, which said the terrorist organization was still waiting for Israel’s reply to the ceasefire proposal it accepted two weeks ago, came after US President Donald Trump demanded the release of the remaining living captives.
Times of Israel: Prosecutors charge man from Baqa al-Gharbiya as member of ISIS
State prosecutors filed charges against a resident of Baqa al-Gharbiya accused of swearing allegiance to ISIS, police say. The defendant, 25-year-old Najib Deek, allegedly swore allegiance to the Islamic State, joining the terror group as a member and consuming its content online — including videos of executions and beheadings.
Ynet: Israeli Arabs increasingly involved in terrorism, say Shin Bet and police
The Haifa District Attorney's Office filed an indictment Thursday against a resident of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, or ISIS, and planned to carry out an attack against Israeli security forces.
Times of Israel: Houthi missile, 3rd in 24 hours, falls short of Israel; Katz threatens ‘all 10 plagues’
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, still reeling from deadly Israeli strikes last week, launched a missile at Israel on Thursday and accused UN staffers of spying for the Jewish state. Defense Minister Israel Katz responded to the missile attack, writing on X: “The Houthis are firing missiles at Israel again. A plague of darkness, a plague of [death of] the firstborn – we will complete all ten plagues.” The tweet was a reference to the biblical story of the exodus from Egypt, according to which God struck the Egyptians with ten plagues before Pharaoh allowed the enslaved Hebrews to leave.
Reuters: Israeli military identifies missile launched from Yemen towards Israel
The Israeli military said on Thursday a missile launched from Yemen towards Israel fell in an open area outside Israeli territory and no sirens were activated, the third such launch within less than 24 hours. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis recently stepped up attacks and missile launches, in what they have called an initial response to Israeli attacks on Yemen.
Reuters: Israel's Shin Bet says it thwarted attack on right-wing minister Ben Gvir
Israel's Shin Bet domestic intelligence service said on Wednesday it had thwarted a plan to assassinate National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and that members of a Hamas cell had been arrested. The planned Hamas attack against the far-right cabinet minister would have involved use of explosive drones, the Shin Bet said.
Lebanon
Kurdistan24: Israeli Strikes Kill Five in Southern Lebanon Amid Escalating Tensions with Hezbollah
At least five people were killed and 10 others wounded, including children, in a series of Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Wednesday, according to the country’s health ministry and state media. The attacks came hours after United Nations peacekeepers accused Israel of endangering their personnel with drone-dropped grenades. The Lebanese health ministry confirmed that four people were killed in separate Israeli strikes across the south, while the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported a fifth death in Ansariyah, a coastal town near Sidon. Among the wounded in Ansariyah were three children.
Reuters: Lebanon faces crunch point on Hezbollah arms
Lebanon's government is set to discuss a plan on Friday for disarming Hezbollah, a critical juncture in a standoff between the Iran-backed group which is refusing to give up its weapons and rivals who want it to disarm in line with U.S. demands. Calls for Hezbollah's disarmament have taken centre stage in Lebanon since last year's devastating war with Israel, which upended a power balance long dominated by the Shi'ite Muslim group.
Naharnet: Report: Army's plan for disarming Hezbollah to begin from Beirut
One of the proposals for implementing the Lebanese Army’s plan for disarming Hezbollah and the other armed groups suggests starting from Beirut, where the army would place monitors for Hezbollah’s arms depots and declare that they have become in the Lebanese state’s custody, ad-Diyar newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Syria
Jerusalem Post: The end of the Muslim Brotherhood, but the birth of neo-jihadism
What we are witnessing is not moderation but mutation. Sharaa is engineering something I call neo-jihadism: a new hybrid ideology that fuses the political tactics of the Muslim Brotherhood, the violent rigor of al-Qaeda and ISIS, and the authoritarian pragmatism of Syria’s Ba’athist socialism. Unlike the rigid dogmas of older jihadist movements, neo-jihadism is flexible, adaptive, and dangerously sustainable.
Yemen
Reuters: Yemen's Houthi-run Foreign Ministry says UN should not shield espionage activities
Yemen's Houthi-run Foreign Ministry said United Nations officials' legal immunities should not shield espionage activities, days after at least 18 U.N. personnel were detained in the capital Sanaa. The U.N. said on Sunday that Houthi rebels raided its premises in Sanaa and detained U.N. staff, following an Israeli strike that killed the prime minister of the Houthi-run government and several other ministers.
Associated Press: Suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targets ship in Red Sea after missiles fire on Israel
A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the Red Sea on Thursday, officials said, as the militants increase their missile fire targeting Israel. The attack off the coast of Hodeida follows an Israeli strike last week that killed the rebels’ prime minister along with several officials. The Houthis have been using cluster munitions in the missile attacks on Israel — which open up with smaller explosives that can be harder to intercept, raising the chances of strikes as Israel prepares for a new ground offensive in its war on Hamas that’s decimated the Gaza Strip.
Pakistan
Reuters: Bomb blast kills 15 near political rally in Pakistan
Fifteen people were killed and more than 30 others were wounded in a suicide bombing near a political rally in Pakistan, authorities said. Hundreds of members of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) had gathered for a rally at a stadium in Quetta, the capital of restive Balochistan province, when a bomb exploded in the parking area on Tuesday night.
Arab News Pakistan: Gunmen kill three police officers in northwest Pakistan ambush
Unidentified gunmen ambushed a police patrol in northwest Pakistan last night, a senior official said on Thursday, killing three policemen and wounding another before escaping.
Nigeria
Reuters: Nigerian military kill over 28 militia in northeast Borno state
Nigeria's air force killed more than 15 Islamist militia fighters in an airstrike on their hideout around the Sambisa forest in the northeastern Borno state, a spokesperson said on Thursday. Nigeria has faced a 16-year Islamist insurgency in the northeast led by Boko Haram and its offshoot ISWAP, causing mass casualties, displacement and a deepening humanitarian crisis.
Hong Kong
Reuters: Hong Kong jury convicts three, acquits five in anti-terrorism trial
A Hong Kong jury convicted three people and acquitted five others on Thursday over three bomb plots aimed at shutting the city's borders during the COVID pandemic in 2020. The defendants were accused of planting a homemade bomb in a hospital toilet and of placing a bag containing two bombs on a train carriage. Both devices detonated, but no injuries were reported.
Australia
Sky News: ‘It's a privilege not a right’: Sussan Ley says ISIS brides made ‘deliberate choice to leave our shores’ and should not be allowed back into Australia
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has declared anyone entering Australia must “believe in what our Australian values are” as she argued ISIS brides should not be allowed back into the country. A top-secret operation to bring Australian ISIS brides back home from northern Syria was first reported by The Australian on Tuesday, with the masthead revealing more than a dozen women, children and young men were set to be evacuated out of camps and returned to New South Wales and Victoria before Christmas.
Sky News: Greens under fire for wanting to bring Palestinian flag into parliament
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley discusses the Greens Party wanting to bring in the Palestinian flag into parliament if the Australian flag is allowed. “They don’t look at the world the way we do,” Ms Ley said.
The Australian: Young Australians are being radicalised online, counter-terrorism officer warns
A top counter-terrorism cop has warned that artificial intelligence is amplifying the online radicalisation and recruitment of young Australians through crypto currency and social media platforms. Detective Superintendent Heath Hutchings, acting assistant commissioner of the Queensland Police Force security and counter-terrorism command, told an anti-Semitism conference on Thursday that online hate and terror threats were becoming harder to detect and shut down.
The Age: ‘Sickened, horrified and scared’: Call to treat neo-Nazis as terrorists
Australia’s peak Jewish representative body has called for laws to proscribe neo-Nazis as an extremist organisation, while the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service has called for the National Socialist Network to be treated as domestic terrorists. Peter Wertheim, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive, said federal and state governments should respond to the rise of right-wing extremism in the same way that police deal with outlaw motorcycle gangs.
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