October 4, 2019

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Officials Are Worried About Turkish Foray Into Syria <[link removed]>

“U.S. officials are increasingly concerned that Turkey soon will mount a major incursion into northern Syria and trigger a clash with Kurdish fighters, a move likely to prompt the Trump administration to withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria to avoid a conflict. A U.S. pullout would essentially end the fight against Islamic State in Syria, which U.S. officials still consider a viable terrorist network capable of staging attacks against the U.S. and its allies and interests despite having lost its so-called caliphate. Turkey wants to resettle up to two million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey in Syrian border towns that would be cleared of Kurdish forces known as the YPG, a group Turkey considers to be a terrorist affiliate of the Turkey-based PKK.”

The New York Times: Coast Guard Officer Called A ‘Domestic Terrorist’ Pleads Guilty To Gun And Drug Charges <[link removed]>

“A Coast Guard lieutenant who described himself as a white nationalist pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal gun and drug charges, prosecutors and court filings said. The lieutenant, Christopher Paul Hasson, 50, who was arrested in Maryland in February, had been plotting to kill journalists, Democratic politicians, professors, Supreme Court justices and those he described as “leftists in general,” federal prosecutors said in a previous court filing. He was indicted that month on charges of unlawful possession of silencers, possession of firearms by a drug addict, and possession of a controlled substance. But in court filings the prosecutors have called those charges the “proverbial tip of the iceberg,” describing him as a “domestic terrorist” who intended “to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country.” At a hearing on Thursday, Lieutenant Hasson appeared in Federal District Court in Greenbelt, Md., and entered a guilty plea under an agreement. “I am grateful for the hard work of the agents and prosecutors to obtain this guilty plea,” Robert K. Hur, the United States attorney for the District of Maryland, said in an emailed statement. “I look forward to the opportunity for the government to present additional evidence to the court at sentencing.”

Reuters: U.S., Allies Urge Facebook Not To Encrypt Messages As They Fight Child Abuse, Terrorism <[link removed]>

“The United States and allies are seizing on Facebook Inc’s plan to apply end-to-end encryption across its messaging services to press for major changes to a practice long opposed by law enforcement, saying it hinders the fight against child abuse and terrorism. The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia plan to sign a special data agreement on Thursday that would fast track requests from law enforcement to technology companies for information about the communications of terrorists and child predators, according to documents reviewed by Reuters. Law enforcement could get information in weeks or even days instead of the current wait of six months to two years, one document said. The agreement will be announced alongside an open letter to Facebook and its Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, calling on the company to suspend plans related to developing end-to-end encryption technology across its messaging services. The latest tug-of-war between governments and tech companies over user data could also impact Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google and Microsoft Corp, as well as smaller encrypted chat apps like Signal.”

Middle East Eye: Syria: Artillery Shells Hit Save The Children-Backed Hospital In Idlib <[link removed]>

“A hospital supported by Save the Children in northwest Syria's rebel-held Idlib province was attacked on Thursday, wounding seven people including a doctor, the UK-based charity said. The facility in the town of Maaret al-Numan was "hit by artillery shells" at a time it was treating 60 patients, including children, Save the Children said in a statement. One of the victims is in critical condition, the group said, without specifying the source of the attack.”

Associated Press: US Sanctions Squeezing Iran-Backed Hezbollah In Lebanon <[link removed]>

“The conflict between Iran and the U.S. that has created tensions throughout much of the Middle East is now also being felt in Lebanon, where Washington has slapped sanctions on the Iran-backed Hezbollah and warned they could soon expand to its allies, further deepening the tiny Arab country’s economic crisis. The Trump administration has intensified sanctions on the Lebanese militant group and institutions linked to it to unprecedented levels, targeting lawmakers for the first time as well as a local bank that Washington claims has ties to the group.”

Vice: Facebook Went To War Against White Supremacist Terror After Christchurch. Will It Work? <[link removed]>

“Facebook had spent nearly three years building out its counterterrorism team, sharpening policies against violent content, and training machines to spot extremist propaganda before it gets posted. But it all unraveled in 29 minutes. That was how long it took for a Facebook user to flag an Australian white supremacist’s livestream of his murderous shooting rampage at two New Zealand mosques in March. The window gave supporters ample opportunity to share the video on the message board 8chan. Then they re-posted version after version on Facebook, swarming its defenses.”

United States

Associated Press: Arizona Man Accused Of Terrorism Out Of Jail Until His Trial <[link removed]>

“An Arizona man facing a terrorism charge has been released from jail as he awaits trial. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered 18-year-old Ismail Hamad of Fountain Hills be placed on house arrest and get an electronic monitor until his trial starts next year. The trial had been scheduled to begin later this month, but has been pushed back until May 14, 2020. Hamad was indicted on two charges of terrorism for allegedly providing assistance to the Islamic State and engaging in an act of terrorism. He also was charged with aggravated assault for brandishing a knife and throwing rocks at a county sheriff's sergeant in a Jan. 7 encounter outside a Fountain Hills substation. Hamad was shot and wounded after ignoring warnings to drop the weapon.”

Syria

Fox News: Syrian Opposition Leader Warns Iranian Activity Inside Syria Has Reached Unprecedented Dangerous Level <[link removed]>

“After more than eight years of war and bloodshed in Syria, the Iranian presence in the nation is at an all-time high, warned the top Syrian opposition figure. “Iranian influence is getting bigger and bigger. They are the ones controlling the State of Syria, the Army of Syria, the security of Syria and are infiltrating the society such as the schools and religious sites,” Nasr Al-Hariri, president of the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC), told Fox News following the U.N. General Assembly last week. “While the air cover is being provided to the government by Russia, the troops on the ground are controlled by Iran.”

Foreign Policy: The United States Is Done Caring About Syria <[link removed]>

“If a congressionally mandated report on a vexing foreign-policy issue is published in Washington in 2019, will anybody pay attention? Probably not, especially these days. So it is with the Syria Study Group (SSG), a bipartisan commission charged by Congress with “examining and making recommendations on the military and diplomatic strategy of the United States with respect to the conflict in Syria.” Perhaps it is the SSG’s bad timing—its final report dropped on Sept. 24, the same day House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s alleged abuse of power. The news avalanche that followed buried everything in its path. Still, had the SSG’s final report been published a week or a month earlier, the chances are it would have been met with the same indifference and obliviousness. In a town of people obsessed with the 24-hour news cycle, only a small number of people in Washington were even aware that the SSG existed. Everyone else would prefer not to care.”

Voice Of America: US Urges 'Plan B' For Islamic State Fighters, Families In Syria <[link removed]>

“The United States and other countries hoping to deal the Islamic State terror group an enduring defeat risk failure by ignoring the tens of thousands of fighters, women and children stuck in prisons or camps across northeastern Syria, key U.S. officials warn. For months, the U.S. has been urging countries, especially its Western allies, to take back and prosecute citizens who left to fight with IS, also known as ISIS or Daesh. They have also called up upon them to repatriate family members who traveled to or were born into the terror group's self-declared caliphate. But those calls have largely gone unheeded. And now U.S. officials are growing more vocal, publicly echoing warnings that the prisons and camps are serving as an incubator for the terror group. “That is a big concern for us at the Defense Department,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Michael Mulroy told an audience in Washington on Wednesday. “These are people, many of them children, who are only going to have one view and one philosophy the entire time,” he said, referring to the al-Hol displaced persons camp. “If the international community doesn't come up with a way to rehabilitate them and reintegrate them into society, that's the next generation of ISIS.”

Iran

Los Angeles Times: Death Of Iran’s ‘Blue Girl’ Casts Spotlight On Lives Of Iranian Women <[link removed]>

“Sahar Khodayari understood the law: Women in Iran are forbidden to enter sports stadiums. But the 29-year-old wanted to watch a soccer match — a benign activity hundreds of thousands of women around the world enjoy. So, in March when her favorite team was playing, Khodayari did what other Iranian women have done in order to watch live sports events: She disguised herself as a man. Donning a blue wig and long overcoat, Khodayari made her way toward Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, but she never made it inside. A security guard caught her and arrested her. When she found out in early September that she faced six months in prison, Khodayari set herself on fire outside the courthouse where she had been summoned. She died in a Tehran hospital less than two weeks later.”

Reuters: Iran Rejects French Call For Release Of Dual National Scholar <[link removed]>

“Iran said on Friday that France’s call for it to release a detained French-Iranian scholar was an interference in its internal affairs and would not help resolve the issue, the official news agency IRNA reported. France’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday demanded Iran release dual national Fariba Adelkhah, a senior research fellow at Sciences Po university in Paris, who was detained on unspecified charges earlier this year. “(Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas) Mousavi said the French Foreign Ministry’s interference in the case of an Iranian citizen was irrelevant..., and added: ‘This will not only fail to help resolve the issue, but rather make the legal process more complicated’,” IRNA reported.”

Iraq

Radio Farda: Iraq Warns Iran's Ambassador For His Remarks As Death Toll In Protests Climbs <[link removed]>

“As Iraqis defied government curfew and continued widespread protests on Thursday, the death toll climbed to more than 30 and Iran’s ambassador in Baghdad was summoned to the foreign ministry for provocative remarks he made last week. In a local television interview aired last Thursday, the ambassador Iraj Masjedi said Iran will not hesitate to target American forces in Iraq if these forces threaten his country. "If they [U.S. forces] don't cause any problem for the Islamic Republic, Iran won't respond to this presence [of US forces in Iraq],” Masjedi said. "If the Americans want to cause any problem for the Islamic Republic, they have to expect a response and reaction," Masjedi added.”

The National: US Diplomat: ISIS Could Make A Return In Iraq <[link removed]>

“The malign influence of Iran-backed militias in areas of Iraq could lead to new conflict and allow the return of ISIS, a senior US diplomat has warned. Andrew Peek, deputy assistant secretary for Iran and Iraq at the US State Department, told The National that the greatest concerns were in areas once run by ISIS but are now controlled by groups that answer to Tehran. “Where does ISIS come back?” Mr Peek said on the fringes of Chatham House’s Iraq in Transition conference in London. “It comes back in areas where there are sectarian gains on religious minority population or populations that are not represented, where the security forces do not look like them or pray like them, where there are sectarian gains in majority Sunni areas.” He said that ISIS had not gone from Iraq but was hiding underground. With the continued threat from the radical group, Mr Peek warned that the US and its allies needed to remain “very vigilant”. He said it was crucial to promote the integration of Iraq’s different communities to stop another resurgence, “whether it is ISIS or whatever radical iteration has come in the past or, God forbid, comes in the future.”

Voice Of America: Iraq Forces Fire On Anti-Government Protesters In Bagdad <[link removed]>

“Iraqi security forces opened fired on anti-government protesters gathering in Baghdad Friday for a fourth day of demonstrations against unemployment, poor public services and corruption. The security forces fired directly at the protesters, not in the air, an AFP correspondent said. No casualties have been reported. Earlier, Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi during a televised address to the nation called on protesters to go home, saying their “legitimate demands” had been heard. Abdul-Mahdi sad that the security measures, including the temporary curfew imposed were “difficult choices” but they were needed like “bitter medicine” that had to be swallowed. At least 31 people have been killed in protests since Tuesday and hundreds of others have been wounded. The demonstrations have spread in Baghdad and in areas south of the capital. Six people were killed during anti-government protests Thursday. Police and medical officials said the protesters were shot to death in Nasiriyah, a city south of the capital of Baghdad. Iraqi security forces used tear gas and fired live bullets Thursday to disperse protesters in Baghdad. In addition, authorities have deployed water cannons and rubber bullets to try to break up the crowds.”

Afghanistan

The Washington Post: Pakistan, Afghan Taliban Call For Resumption Of Peace Talks <[link removed]>

“Senior Afghan Taliban leaders and Pakistani officials on Thursday called for the resumption of talks on a peaceful resolution to the war in Afghanistan. The appeal, made during a rare Taliban visit to Islamabad, comes after months-long U.S.-Taliban negotiations collapsed in September and President Donald Trump announced the talks with the insurgents were “dead.” The timing of the Taliban visit _ which coincided with that of Washington’s special peace envoy for Afghanistan, who was also in Islamabad on Thursday for “consultations” with Pakistani officials _ appears to indicate Pakistan is seeking to help restart the talks. In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said both sides agreed Thursday that the peace process should be resumed as soon as possible. Also on Thursday, Trump was asked at the White House about Pakistani officials calling for the talks to resume. The president was noncommittal about whether they would, saying the Taliban’s standing with him had not yet been restored from when he called off the talks amid a surge in violence that he claimed the Taliban had orchestrated to increase their leverage at the negotiating table. “We have a real problem,” Trump said, without elaborating.”

Voice Of America: Pakistan Says Visiting US, Taliban Negotiators To Hold Direct Talks <[link removed]>

“Pakistan says that visiting U.S. and Taliban delegates will hold a direct bilateral meeting to discuss resumption of peace talks aimed at ending to the nearly two decades of conflict in neighboring Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, while making the announcement told reporters Islamabad is optimistic the stalled U.S.-Taliban dialogue will resume soon. But U.S. President Donald Trump appeared non-committal. “We have a real problem,” Trump said Thursday morning responding to VOA’s question about whether he will revive talks with the Taliban. “We've been hitting the Taliban very, very hard. And as far as I'm concerned, they still haven't recovered from killing 12 people, one of them happens to be a great American soldier from Puerto Rico. They still have not recovered, and they probably never will,” he added. Trump was referring to Sgt. First Class Elis A. Barreto Ortiz, whose death by a suicide car bomber in Kabul, Afghanistan, claimed by the Taliban upended the peace talks in September. Qureshi expressed optimism after holding official talks in Islamabad with a high-level delegation of the Taliban insurgency, which arrived in the Pakistani capital the previous day.”

Xinhua: Afghan Air Raids Kill 8 Taliban Fighters In Northern Balkh Province: Official <[link removed]>

“A total of eight militants have been confirmed dead as fighting aircraft struck Taliban hideouts in Chamtal district of the northern Balkh province on Thursday, army spokesman in the northern region Mohammad Hanif Rezai said. The airstrikes were conducted at 09:20 a.m. local time in Asiab Sharaf area of the troubled Chamtal district, killing eight insurgents on the spot and wounding five others, said the official. Rezai also said that the fighting planes would continue to strike armed militants in Chamtal and adjoining areas. Taliban militants who are active in parts of Balkh province have yet to make a comment.”

Pakistan

The Wall Street Journal: Pakistan Gives A Pass To China’s Oppression Of Muslims <[link removed]>

“Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s foreign-policy agenda carries a contradiction at its heart. Mr. Khan seeks to project himself as a global defender of Islam, but he won’t utter a peep about one of the most egregious persecutions of Muslims: China’s repression of Xinjiang’s Uighurs and its project to Sinicize Islam. In New York last week, Mr. Khan laid out his vision in a rambling 50-minute address to the United Nations General Assembly. He defended the right of Muslim women in the West to don the hijab. “A woman can take off her clothes in [some] countries, but she can’t put on more clothes,” he said. He declared that “there is no such thing as radical Islam,” only “one Islam and that is the Islam we follow of Prophet Muhammad.”

Nigeria

Reuters: Gunmen Kidnap Six Schoolgirls In Nigeria <[link removed]>

“Gunmen kidnapped six schoolgirls and two staff members from a boarding school in northern Nigeria on Thursday, police said. Police said the girls and staff were taken in the early morning from a school called Engravers College in a remote area near the village of Kakau Daji in Kaduna state. It was not immediately clear who had taken them. While the militant Islamist group Boko Haram and a branch of Islamic State are active in northern Nigeria, kidnappings by other armed groups are also rampant — mostly for ransom. “The command is doing everything possible to secure the release of all the victims unhurt,” a police statement said. About 100 of the more than 270 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram from the town of Chibok in 2014 remain in captivity. Last week, police in the city of Kaduna freed hundreds of men and boys from a purported Islamic school where they had been beaten and abused.”

Reuters: Nigeria Releases 25 Children Cleared Of Suspected Ties With Boko Haram -UNICEF <[link removed]>

“The Nigerian army released 25 children on Thursday after clearing them of suspected ties with armed Islamist groups in the country’s restive northeast region, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said. Nigeria has fought an insurgency by militant Islamist group Boko Haram in northeastern states that has killed more than 30,000 people over the past decade. It is not clear how many children in total have been drawn into armed groups, including Boko Haram, or how they have been recruited. UNICEF said 23 boys and two girls were released by the army and handed to authorities in Borno, the state worst affected by the insurgency. “These are children taken away from their families and communities, deprived of their childhood, education, health-care, and of the chance to grow up in a safe and enabling environment,” said UNICEF Nigeria Acting Representative Pernille Ironside. The children would be given access to medical support, education and vocational training, the agency said. The release comes against the backdrop of widely reported cases of young people being held captive in Nigeria in differing circumstances. In May, a regional militia allied with government forces freed almost 900 children it had used in the war against Islamist insurgents.”

Somalia

The Washington Post: In Somalia, Al-Shabab Targeted U.S. And E.U. Forces This Week. Here’s What These Troops Are Doing There. <[link removed]>

“On Monday, al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate group in Somalia, launched two attacks. This happens regularly, but these attacks, which were probably coordinated, generated considerably more international attention because they targeted U.S. and European Union forces.  The first target Monday was Baledogle, a military facility about 60 miles outside Mogadishu that U.S. and Somali forces use as a base. A few hours later, the second attack targeted a convoy of E.U. military advisers in the capital. In the Baledogle attack, al-Shabab adopted its usual tactic of deploying multiple Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices followed by a coordinated infantry assault. The E.U. convoy attack also involved a VBIED. U.S. and E.U. authorities quickly stated that neither attack killed any U.S., E.U. or Somali troops. There were no clear reports of Somali civilian casualties. The United States also reported that it destroyed one VBIED at Baledogle in a defensive strike, while Somali and U.S. forces quickly defeated al-Shabab’s subsequent infantry assault. Al-Shabab propaganda disputed this but provided no evidence. U.S. and E.U. troops are in Somalia to support African Union peacekeepers and Somali security forces in the war against al-Shabab.”

Reuters: U.S. Re-Opens Embassy In Somali Capital Amid Persisting Islamist Violence <[link removed]>

“The United States announced on Wednesday it had re-opened its embassy in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, nearly three decades after it was shut down, underscoring deepening ties between the two nations amid persisting threats from Islamist group al Shabaab. Somalia, in the Horn of Africa, has been gripped by widespread lawlessness and violence since 1991 when autocrat Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled by various warlords. The United States closed its embassy in January 1991. In a statement the U.S. embassy to Somalia said the move was a milestone in the strengthening of relations between the two countries and would help advance stability and development in Somalia. “It is a significant and historic day that reflects Somalia’s progress in recent years,” the U.S. ambassador to Somalia, Donald Yamamoto, was quoted as saying. The embassy, he said, would act “to enhance cooperation, advance U.S. national strategic interests, and support our overall security, political, and economic development.” The re-opening of the embassy builds on the re-establishment of a permanent U.S. diplomatic presence in Mogadishu last year.”

Africanews: Somalia Hopes To Counter Al Shabaab With New Education Curriculum <[link removed]>

“Somalia’s government is implementing a new curriculum for primary and secondary school students, for the first time since the civil war broke out in 1991. In the past, schools had to make do with whatever materials came to hand. More than 40 curricula were used across Somalia, creating a hodgepodge of competing education systems in a variety of languages, the government said. Schools sourced textbooks from more than 10 countries during the civil war and English and Arabic replaced Somali as the language of instruction. Up to 2 million textbooks printed in Somali have been issued to pupils in most of Somalia since August and their schools have synchronised academic terms, the ministry of education said. The new books cover English, Arabic, Somali, maths, Islamic studies, science, physical education, technology, and social studies. “Students have coped well with the new curriculum because it is based on their religion, culture and vernacular,” said Abdulkadir Mohamed Sheikh, a teacher at Banadir Zone School. “This new syllabus is better than the old Kenyan syllabus, which was in English. The new curriculum is the best,” Shuayb Muhidin said, a student at Banadir Zone School. Religious education is particularly important, said State Minister of Higher Education And Culture Abdirahman Mohamed Abdulle.”

Africa

The East Africa Monitor: Africa Holds The Key To Defeating Terrorism <[link removed]>

“On Somalia’s southeast coast, the US outpost of Camp Baledogle is getting a facelift. After al-Shabab militants carried out an attack on the site in September, the US Defence Department has given the green light to “emergency repairs” worth more than $12 million. The continued threat from al-Shabab is indicative of the importance that Africa, particularly East Africa, plays in the global fight against terrorism. The continent has turned into a hotbed for terror cells, with several groups operating nearly unfettered – a problem that has caught the EU’s attention and increased in urgency with the onset of the migrant crisis.”

The National: Malian Government Urges Unity As Number Of Troops Killed In Extremist Attacks Rises <[link removed]>

“The death toll in two attacks this week on Malian military camps near the Burkina Faso border has risen to 38 soldiers, the Defence Minister said on Thursday, calling for unity. “I am very proud of these paratroopers, who defended their positions,” Ibrahima Dahirou Dembele said on national radio. “But unfortunately, today we buried 38 bodies.” The minister, speaking from Boulkessey, the scene of one of the attacks, said 33 missing soldiers were found alive, eight of whom were receiving treatment. Mr Dembele did not say if any more were still missing. An earlier death toll after the attacks on Monday and Tuesday put the number of fatalities at 25 troops, with dozens missing. “In spite of this hard blow, we have to stick together,” Mr Dembele said. “It's a tough, difficult fight. But in the face of this war, we have to remain united behind our leader.” Using heavily armed vehicles, the militants raided two military camps, at Boulkessy and Mondoro. Fifteen militants were killed in the raids, the government said, which began early on Monday and took more than a day to quell. The attacks were eventually subdued with the help of Malian special forces and foreign allies, including French warplanes and helicopters. The militants made off with a large amount of weapons, ammunition and equipment.”

Xinhua: One Civilian Dead And Several Others Injured In Boko Haram Attack In Cameroon's Far North Region <[link removed]>

“Terror group Boko Haram killed one civilian and injured several others in a raid in Cameroon's Far North region, the army said on Thursday. The Boko Haram militants stormed the Talkoumri village in Kolofata subdivision early Thursday, looted foodstuffs, motorcycles, abducted and killed one villager, local authorities said. “The terrorists also attacked another village called Mozogo in the region. They stole everything from the villagers. They injured some villagers so badly,” an army officer who asked not to be named told Xinhua, stressing that the villagers were rescued thanks to the timely intervention of government forces. In early September, the terror group killed four civilians in another attack in Talkoumri, according to security reports. Boko Haram has killed about 2,000 people in Cameroon since 2014, according to local media reports quoting international NGOs.”

France

The New York Times: Knife Attack At Paris Police Headquarters Leaves 4 Dead <[link removed]>

“A veteran police employee in France slipped a knife through security at the heavily guarded Police Headquarters in the heart of Paris on Thursday, killing four of his colleagues before being shot dead in the building’s vast courtyard. The employee, a 45-year-old man who worked in computer services for the intelligence division of the Paris police, moved methodically from his office, up the stairs and back down, killing one woman and three men as he went, police union officials told French television. The attack immediately raised fears of a return to the waves of terrorism that hit Paris in 2015 and 2016, which included assaults on the police, although officials were looking elsewhere for a motive, at least for now. Discontent among police officers was already rising before the attack, and the authorities will almost certainly be asked to explain how a man with a knife was able to enter a heavily secured Police Headquarters filled with armed officers and kill four people before finally being brought down. The unhappiness and disquiet plaguing the French police have led to a record number of suicides and to a mass demonstration by officers through Paris on Wednesday, the biggest in nearly 20 years.”

Daily Mail: Deaf 'Islamic Convert' Is Named As Paris Police HQ Attacker: IT Worker Who Fell Out With Supervisor 'Over Dealing With Women' Slaughters Four Colleagues, Including Female Officer, With A Knife Before Being Shot Dead <[link removed]>

“A deaf civilian police worker who had recently converted to Islam was shot dead in Paris today after murdering four colleagues with a ceramic knife following a 'dispute over working with female colleagues'. Michael Harpon, 45, went on the rampage in the French capital's historic Police Prefecture, next door to Notre Dame Cathedral. Investigators have not ruled out a possible terrorist motivation for the Thursday afternoon attack, which left a woman and three men dead. All were repeatedly stabbed by Harpon, who had worked in the IT department at the Prefecture since 2003, in the worst loss of French police lives in a single day since World War II.”

Europe

El Pais: “In Spain, Summer Surveillance Triggers Alerts For Returning Jihadists” <[link removed]>

“Between mid-July and mid-September, Spanish police monitoring travel across the Strait of Gibraltar detected 46 individuals suspected of being returning jihadists, according to a European Commission report. Part of a border control effort dubbed Operation Minerva, the 46 anti-jihadist alerts did not result in any arrests as there were no existing warrants against the suspects.”

Euronews: 'We Must Take Responsibility': Parents Of Europe's IS Fighters In Struggle To Repatriate Loved Ones <[link removed]>

“Thousands of families were torn apart when their children left to join the so-called Islamic State terror group and its world of radical ideas and brutal acts. But many of these relatives are now among those fighting to bring the runaways – and their new families – home. For some who know little about the fate of their loved ones, it has also become a journey to establish the facts around what actually happened after they left. Veronique Roy Burin told Euronews her son Quentin, 22, was “a nice boy” who “simply made a bad decision” when he left France for Syria in 2014. He was “naive, generous, extremely gentle,” she added. But a Whatsapp message sent to Quentin's parents in January 2016 shattered any hopes of reunification as it confirmed their son had died somewhere between Iraq and Syria. “It was like the sky fell on us,” his father Thierry said. Since receiving the news, Quentin's family have been battling to find out the details surrounding the circumstances of his death. “Where was he killed?” his mother asked. “How? On what date? “We don't have a body and his death is not recognised...it's really hard to mourn.” Veronique’s Catholic family have led a quiet existence in the suburbs of Paris.”

Technology

Financial Times: UK And US Sign Agreement On Access To Terrorist Data <[link removed]>

“Police and intelligence agencies are to be given expedited access to electronic communications sent by terrorists, serious crime gangs and white-collar criminals, under a new agreement between the UK and the US. This deal — the first-ever bilateral data access agreement — was signed on Thursday by Priti Patel, UK home secretary, and William Barr, US attorney-general. It will compel US technology companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter to hand over the content of emails, texts and direct messages to British law enforcement bodies, and require the same of UK companies holding information sought by US investigators. It takes police and security services from six months to two years to request and access electronic data, under a cumbersome “mutual legal assistance” treaty between the US and UK governments. Officials believe that the new agreement will reduce this process to “weeks or even days”. Facebook received just over 7,000 such requests from British authorities in the second half of last year, data from the company shows. The difficulties for investigators have worsened as digital communications are increasingly stored in networks of virtual servers run by third-party providers and scattered across the world.”

The Wall Street Journal: Barr Presses Facebook On Encryption, Setting Up Clash Over Privacy <[link removed]>

“U.S. Attorney General William Barr has asked Facebook Inc. FB 2.74% to hold off on plans to add encryption throughout its messaging services, citing public safety in a push to force the social-media giant to delay a major strategic shift outlined by Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg earlier this year. Mr. Barr made the request in an open letter signed by his British and Australian counterparts that was published Friday. The letter asks the company to delay the encryption plan until it figures out a way to provide government access to the services for investigative purposes. “Companies cannot operate with impunity where lives and the safety of our children is at stake, and if Mr. Zuckerberg really has a credible plan to protect Facebook’s more than two billion users it’s time he let us know what it is,” Mr. Barr’s letter says.”

The New York Times: Free Speech Is Killing Us <[link removed]>

“There has never been a bright line between word and deed. Yet for years, the founders of Facebook and Twitter and 4chan and Reddit — along with the consumers obsessed with these products, and the investors who stood to profit from them — tried to pretend that the noxious speech prevalent on those platforms wouldn’t metastasize into physical violence. In the early years of this decade, back when people associated social media with Barack Obama or the Arab Spring, Twitter executives referred to their company as “the free-speech wing of the free-speech party.” Sticks and stones and assault rifles could hurt us, but the internet was surely only a force for progress.”

NBC News: AG Barr To Facebook: We Need 'Lawful Access' To Users' Digital Messages To Fight Crime <[link removed]>

“Thee Department of Justice published an open letter Thursday evening, asking Facebook to alter its plan to fully encrypt Facebook’s messaging services — Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram — a move the company announced in March. Attorney General William Barr and acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, along with two top law enforcement officials from Australia and the United Kingdom are urging the tech giant to ensure that law enforcement agents have a means to access conversations when authorized by a judge.”

Los Angeles Times: Opinion: Facebook Just Gave Up The Fight Against Fake News <[link removed]>

“Up is down. Left is right. Cats are dogs. President Trump is a very stable genius. Trump is Lucifer incarnate. These are all demonstrably false statements. But now, thanks to a new Facebook policy that exempts political advertisements from fact-checking, they may as well be true. At least, as long as they appear in a campaign ad. Yup, that’s right. Facebook, already a “Mad Max"-style digital hellscape of fake news and misinformation, has taken the final step toward creating a fact-free reality: allowing politicians to lie with impunity. The Truthpocalypse is now, officially, upon us.”



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