Eye on Extremism
October 4, 2019
The
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Officials Are Worried About Turkish Foray
Into Syria
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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?
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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.
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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”
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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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