Eye on Extremism: July 10, 2025
Top Stories
A new report by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is urging the U.S. government to impose sanctions on senior Iranian clerics and regime-controlled institutions that have issued or promoted Islamic legal rulings — known as fatwas — calling for the torture and assassination of President Donald Trump, other American citizens and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The fatwas invoke the Islamic charge of mohareb — "waging war against God" — a term in Iran’s penal code that mandates brutal punishments, including crucifixion and cross-amputation, under the regime’s interpretation of Sharia law.
Reuters: Netanyahu and Trump prioritize hostages as Gaza military campaign grinds on
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump had focused on freeing hostages held in Gaza, as Israel continued to pound the Palestinian territory amid efforts to reach a ceasefire. Netanyahu said on X that the leaders also discussed the consequences and possibilities of "the great victory we achieved over Iran," following an aerial war last month in which the United States joined Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites. Netanyahu is making his third U.S. visit since Trump took office on January 20 and had earlier told reporters that while he did not think Israel's campaign in the Palestinian enclave was done, negotiators are "certainly working" on a ceasefire.
CEP Mentions
WTOP: The Hunt: Halfway through 2025, global terrorism threats are growing fast
In this week’s episode of “The Hunt with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green, Dr. Hans Jakob Schindler, the senior director at the Counter Extremism Project, said there are three major concerns in regards to the growing threat of global terrorism.
Aftonbladet: Nazism and warrior ideals in extreme activist clubs
The active clubs are part of a larger international far-right movement, focusing on strength training and martial arts. The concept has spread quickly and is now present in at least 20 countries with over 100 groups globally and in most US states, according to the organization The Counter Extremism Project.
Analysis
GNET: AI-powered Translation: How AI Tools Could Shape a New Frontier of IS Propaganda Dissemination
Terrorists have always adopted and employed emerging technologies to organise acts of terror, radicalise, and produce propaganda to mobilise recruits. Among them, the Salafi-Jihadi groups and, in particular, the Islamic State (IS), have proved to be consistently ahead of the curve in the adoption of new, cutting-edge technology, creating a consistent and persistent online presence. Despite theological quibbles, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is among the technologies that IS supporters are employing to produce and disseminate propaganda.
Vance Boelter, who allegedly shot Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state representative, and her husband, Mark Hortman, on June 14, 2025, studied at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas. The group is a Bible school linked to the New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR. The NAR is a loosely organized but influential charismatic Christian movement that shares similarities with Pentecostalism, especially in its belief that God actively communicates with believers through the Holy Spirit. Unlike traditional Pentecostalism, however, the organization emphasizes modern-day apostles and prophets as authoritative leaders tasked with transforming society and ushering in God’s kingdom on Earth. Prayer, prophecy and worship are defined not only as acts of devotion but as strategic tools for advancing believers’ vision of government and society.
This week was not the first time a chatbot has turned antisemite. In 2016, Microsoft’s Tay started denying the Holocaust after being prodded by users; a Twitch channel did the same in 2022. Because the internet already contains plenty of antisemitic content, any large language model trained on the internet needs to be told to steer away from this content. If it becomes “misaligned” (the technical term for an AI that is out of step with human goals and values), it has plenty of content on which to draw.
United States
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday he is imposing sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations' special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, over her efforts to have the International Criminal Court take action against US and Israeli officials, companies, and executives. "Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated," Rubio said in a post on X/Twitter. "We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense. The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare and protect our sovereignty and that of our allies," Rubio added.
Reuters: Rights defenders denounce US sanctions on UN expert on Palestinians
Human rights defenders rallied on Thursday to support the top U.N. expert on Palestinian rights, after the United States imposed sanctions on her over what it said was unfair criticism of Israel. Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese serves as special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.
Iran International: Trump mocks Iran official's Mar-a-Lago attack threat: 'I don't sunbathe'
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday laughed off a threat by an Iranian official suggesting he could be attacked with drones while sunning himself at his Florida mansion, telling a bemused press corps he had not sunbathed since childhood. “Trump has done something so that he can no longer sunbathe in Mar-a-Lago," Mohammad-Javad Larijani, a former senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader had told Iranian state TV in remarks first reported in the English language media by Iran International.
Shai Davidai, the Israeli business school professor who emerged as one of the sharpest antagonists against Columbia University over its response to antisemitism on campus, has resigned from his employment there. A university spokesperson confirmed that Davidai’s resignation became effective on Tuesday. “The University thanks him for his service and wishes him the best in his future endeavors,” the school said in a statement shared with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
CBS News: Keller: Lawmakers investigating antisemitism in Mass. shocked by findings
For months a special Beacon Hill commission has been investigating the surge in antisemitic incidents in Massachusetts, particularly in public schools. "I have a three-year-old child and right now, I think what is going on in our K-through-12 schools is reprehensible," said an emotional Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield) at Wednesday's meeting of the Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism.
Free Press: EXCLUSIVE: Israeli Researcher Says Stanford Shunned and Sabotaged Him After Hamas Attack
Shay Laps arrived at a prestigious Stanford University research laboratory from Israel in April 2024 with a mission to develop a type of insulin that could transform diabetes treatment. He had won the job after interviews more than six months earlier, and his credentials included a PhD, a groundbreaking method for protein synthesis, and the recommendation of a Nobel Prize winner. By October 2024, however, Laps was gone from Stanford. He had been locked out of the lab, his research sabotaged and his reputation threatened, according to a lawsuit he filed Thursday in a federal court in California. The lawsuit alleges antisemitic discrimination, retaliation, and deliberate institutional indifference.
The Guardian: US neo-fascist group claims it is part of Texas floods relief efforts
A US racist and neo-fascist hate group that has become a public fixture in recent years has descended on central Texas in a stunt it claims is part of the “disaster relief” efforts under way after the devastating flash floods hit the region last week. Patriot Front, founded following the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, after which its leader, Thomas Rousseau, a Texan, was later charged for his participation, has claimed on its Telegram app channel that it has shown up in the areas near Camp Mystic, where 27 young campers lost their lives.
Oklahoma News 4: Far-right extremist group threatens to take weather radars offline
An Oklahoma City news station’s weather radar was attacked not long after a far-right extremist group threatened to take “as many NexRads offline.” “It started with the chemtrails and then it moved into Hurricane Helene,” said Southern Poverty Law Center’s Senior Research Analyst Rachel Goldwasser.
A far-right college lecturer who was suspended and denied a renewed contract for reportedly espousing off-campus comments supporting Adolf Hitler and white supremacy asked a Third Circuit panel on Wednesday to consider whether his employment should have been protected under the First Amendment.
Canada
Town and Country Today: Armed forces needs to strengthen screening to weed out extremists: expert
Terror charges laid against members of the Canadian Armed Forces over an alleged plot to form an anti-government militia show the military needs to do a better job of vetting at the recruitment stage, an expert in extremism said Wednesday. University of Alberta political science professor Andy Knight said the fact that two of the four men charged Tuesday are active members of the armed forces shows the military isn't doing enough to screen out nefarious actors.
Far-right extremism has taken root in Canada, and an expert says this week’s arrest of military-linked men in a Quebec terror plot signals a dangerous shift in a movement shaped by U.S. influence and tailored to Canada. Historically insulated from militia-style far-right movements common in the U.S., Canada began seeing such activity in 2016, said terrorism expert David Hofmann of the University of New Brunswick.
The RCMP made shocking allegations this week when they accused four men, including Canadian Armed Forces members, of amassing a trove of weapons and explosives as part of a scheme to take over land near Quebec's capital. Police called the plot an act of "ideologically motivated violent extremism."
Europe
Four European intelligence officials told AP they’re worried the risk of serious injury or even death is rising as untrained saboteurs set fires near homes and businesses, plant explosives or build bombs. AP’s tracking shows 12 incidents of arson or serious sabotage last year compared with two in 2023 and none in 2022. “When you start a campaign, it creates its own dynamic and gets more and more violent over time,” said one of the officials, who holds a senior position at a European intelligence agency. The official, like two others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters.
Austria
Reuters: Austrian lower house passes bill on monitoring of secure messaging
Austria's lower house of parliament passed a bill on Wednesday to allow the monitoring of suspects' secure messages, in limited cases, which security officials have said would close what is a dangerous policing blind spot. Because Austria lacks a legal framework for monitoring messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal, its main domestic intelligence service and police rely on countries with far more sweeping powers, such as Britain and the United States, to alert them to chatter about planned attacks and spying.
Germany
Deutsche Welle: Police detain man in anti-terror raids
Police in Germany detained a man and searched a number of properties on Wednesday, across the western state of North Rhine-Wesphalia in connection with plans to carry out an Islamist terror attack. Police said they swooped on six properties in the cities of Essen, Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Soest with the raids being conducted as part of a "comprehensive investigation into suspected organized commercial fraud." According to a joint statement from the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor's Office and Essen police, the investigation had turned up evidence that money gained through commercial fraud was intended to go toward financing an Islamist terrorist attack. The detainee, a 27-year-old man with Bosnian-Herzegovinian citizenship, was due to come before an investigating judge on Wednesday, officials said.
ARD: After the attack in Bavaria: Suspected train attacker in psychiatric ward
The 20-year-old man who injured several people in an ICE train near Straßkirchen last Thursday has been transferred to a psychiatric ward. According to the Lower Bavaria Police Headquarters, the Regensburg District Court has converted the pre-trial detention order into a placement order. According to an expert, the man could be of reduced culpability. The suspect is mentally ill. The 20-year-old was examined by a forensic psychiatric expert, according to the police. The expert diagnosed him with a "complex psychopathological disorder from the schizophrenic spectrum". This means that the young man suffers from a schizophrenic disorder, which is why his capacity for guilt may have been significantly impaired during the crime.
TRT Global: Are 'Ceasefire Now', 'Stop Genocide' slogans anti-Semitic? A German guide says so
At first glance, Buchenwald Memorial's latest booklet reads like a routine guide to identifying extremist symbols, an attempt to shield the memory of Nazi atrocities from being misused. But as you flip the pages, a contradiction emerges that has come to define the German sense of fairness. Nestled among unmistakably hateful signs like swastikas, SS runes and neo-Nazi logos lies a very different list: a watermelon, a red triangle, a key, the word "genocide", and even a slogan like "Ceasefire Now". These, the memorial says, may be signs of anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiment.
Luxemburg
RTL: Prosecution demands 12 years in prison for alleged neo-Nazi
Thursday marked the final day of the trial of an alleged neo-Nazi at Luxembourg City’s Court, with the prosecution and defence delivering their closing arguments. The suspect, in his early twenties, faces a long list of charges, including incitement to hatred, manufacturing explosives, membership of a terrorist organisation, incitement to terrorism, and preparation of terrorist acts.
Sweden
The Guardian: Sweden’s migration minister ‘shocked’ by teenage son’s far-right activism
Sweden’s migration minister has said he is “shocked and horrified” after discovering his teenage son’s involvement in far-right extremist groups. Johan Forssell, whose centre-right party runs a governing coalition that depends on the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats, said on Thursday that he had been contacted a few weeks ago by the Swedish security service, Säpo, about his 16-year-old son’s activities.
United Kingdom
Reuters: Iran threat to UK is significant and rising, lawmakers say
Iran poses a significant and wide-ranging threat to Britain and, while not in the same league as Russia or China, it is one that is rising and for which the UK government is not fully prepared, British lawmakers said in a report released on Thursday. Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee said the Iranian threat varied from physical attacks on and potential assassinations of dissidents and Jewish targets, to espionage, offensive cyber capabilities and its attempt to develop nuclear weapons.
Reuters: UK police arrest four over cyberattacks on M&S, Co-op and Harrods
Four people under 21 have been arrested as part of a police investigation into cyberattacks that disrupted the operations of UK retailers Marks & Spencer (MKS.L), opens new tab, the Co-op (42TE.L), opens new tab and Harrods, Britain's National Crime Agency said on Thursday. April's ransomware attack on M&S, one of the best known names in British business, was the most serious, forcing it to suspend online clothing shopping for nearly seven weeks and costing it about 300 million pounds ($400 million) in operating profit.
Social media channels linked to British neo-Nazis have been actively sharing details of ‘phantom’ anti-immigrant protests in Derry. A new analysis of cross-border anti-migrant mobilisation by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue examined links between loyalists, neo-Nazis and the small but noisy nationalist far-right in Ireland.
Afghanistan
Reuters: German foreign minister expresses concern about human rights under Taliban
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday that Berlin was only in technical contact with representatives of the Taliban's de facto government in Afghanistan, nothing more, and would continue to monitor the human rights situation there. "There are serious concerns about the humanitarian situation there, the human rights situation in Afghanistan, and particularly the situation of women and girls, and we, as the federal government, will continue to make these clear to the Taliban's de facto regime," said Wadephul in Vienna.
A BIZARRE campaign has been launched to lure tourists to terrorist-infested Afghanistan - featuring a sick spoof hostage video. The slick, professionally produced 50-second promotional film starts with footage of a hooded man surrounded by armed Mujahideen warriors.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Publicly Flog Man In Ghazni For Alleged Extramarital Affair
The Taliban have publicly flogged a man in Ghazni province on charges of engaging in sexual relations outside of marriage, sentencing him to 30 lashes and one year and six months in prison. According to a statement issued by the Taliban’s Supreme Court on Thursday, 10 July, the punishment was carried out in Jaghori district in the presence of local officials, court representatives, and members of the public. The statement added that the sentence was implemented following formal approval by the Supreme Court.
Afghanistan International: UN Raises Alarm Over Taliban’s New Media Restrictions in Afghanistan
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has expressed concern over a new directive issued by the Taliban that imposes sweeping restrictions on media operations across the country. In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, 10 July, UNAMA warned that the policy, which requires prior approval of programme content and guest speakers by Taliban authorities, risks fostering fear and self-censorship among Afghan journalists and media outlets.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Arrest Former Deputy Head Of Panjshir Ulema Council In Kabul
Taliban forces have arrested Mawlawi Abdul Malik, the former deputy head of the Panjshir Ulema Council, in Kabul, according to sources close to his family. The arrest took place on Wednesday, at a mosque in District 15 of the capital. Malik was reportedly taken to an undisclosed location, and his current whereabouts remain unknown.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Publicly Flogs Two Men In Kapisa, Faryab Provinces
The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced that two men were publicly flogged in Kapisa and Faryab provinces after being convicted of “illicit relations” and “transporting alcoholic beverages.” According to separate statements issued by the court, the men received between 20 and 39 lashes and were also sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to two years.
Gaza Strip
Kurdistan24: Hamas Agrees to Release 10 Hostages as Netanyahu Signals Optimism for Gaza Truce
Hamas agreed to release 10 hostages as Netanyahu signaled optimism for a Gaza truce. Mediators push for a deal, but key issues like a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal remain unresolved.
Israeli strikes pounded the Gaza Strip overnight, killing at least 34 Palestinians, including 10 people waiting for care outside a medical clinic, local hospitals and aid workers said Thursday. The Israeli military said one soldier was killed in Gaza. The fighting in Gaza has shown no sign of slowing as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Donald Trump in Washington this week to work on a U.S.-led ceasefire plan. Hopes for an agreement in the near term appeared to be fading as Netanyahu prepared to return to Israel.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed group that has been supplying food aid to the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, said Wednesday that it will also begin supplying aid “directly to communities” through a new program after a “successful community distribution pilot.” The group said that its new program aims to provide “20,000 boxes, or 1.2 million meals, per day in all regions of Gaza,” up tenfold from the 2,000 boxes it says are currently distributed daily.
Iran
The National: Iran hosting and protecting Al Qaeda leadership, says UK
Intelligence officials in the UK believe that Iran is hosting the headquarters of Al Qaeda, giving the terrorist leadership a lifeline after years of setbacks. “The transactional arrangement between Iran and the senior leadership of Al Qaeda is concerning,” parliament's Security and Intelligence Committee reported.
Iraq
Reuters: PKK disarmament to take a few months in Iraq, Turkey ruling party says
The handover of weapons by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Iraq, following its decision to disband, should be completed within a few months, a spokeperson for Turkey's ruling AK Party said late on Wednesday. Speaking to broadcaster NTV, Omer Celik said a confirmation mechanism, including officials from Turkish intelligence and the armed forces, will oversee the handover process.
Israel
Jerusalem Post: From Tehran to terror tunnels: Netanyahu’s pivot back to Gaza
The pivot back to Gaza is natural. While Netanyahu continues to speak about eradicating Hamas from Gaza, reality is tugging in another direction. Five more IDF soldiers were killed in Gaza on Monday, bringing the number who have fallen since the last day of Operation Rising Lion to 17. As a result, public attention has snapped back to the war’s unfinished, painful business: not the destruction of Iranian centrifuges, but the ongoing cost in Israeli lives and the 50 hostages, including 20 believed to still be alive, in Gaza. Israel may have scored a historic operational success in Iran last month. Netanyahu’s trip to Washington may yet produce the outlines of a new Middle East. But none of that has lifted the fog of uncertainty that still surrounds the war in Gaza, nor dulled the pain.
A 22-year-old Israeli man was killed in a terror attack at a shopping complex at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank on Thursday, the military, police, and medics said. The two Palestinian terrorists who carried out the attack were shot dead by a soldier and another armed civilian in the area, West Bank District Commander Moshe Pinchi told reporters at the scene.
Reuters: Israel says missile launched from Yemen was intercepted
Yemen's Houthi militant group said on Thursday they had attacked Israel's Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv area with a ballistic missile, while the Israeli military said the missile from Yemen was intercepted after air raid sirens were triggered in several parts of the country. Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
Times of Israel: PM says he’s in sync with Trump on hostage deal, won’t agree to one ‘at any price’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that he and US President Donald Trump were in lock-step with their efforts to secure a hostage deal. In a seeming attempt to project unity with the United States amid the ongoing ceasefire negotiations, the premier insisted that both he and Trump would not agree to a deal “at any price,” as the American president again suggested that a deal was close to being finalized.
Jerusalem Post: Israel, ICC prosecutor have third fight over 'State of Palestine' war crimes probes
Israel and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor have been engaging in an almost weekly duel of legal briefs in their third round of fighting over whether a "State of Palestine" exists which can grant the ICC judges jurisdiction over war crimes probes against Israelis. At stake is whether the ICC Prosecutor can move forward with its case and arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, after suffering a setback decision on April 24 from the ICCAppeals Chamber.
Could the key to Middle East peace come not from military victory or White House pressure but a coterie of sheikhs in the West Bank? Almost certainly not, according to regional experts. But that didn’t stop an unorthodox proposal this week from five prominent sheikhs in the Hebron region from stirring excitement among some in the region, particularly among those who are eager to advance peace that sidesteps the possible creation of a Palestinian state.
Jerusalem Post: Houthi leader says group won't permit sea passage of goods related to Israel
Yemeni Houthi militia leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Thursday that no company could be permitted to transport goods related to Israel through designated areas at sea. He reiterated that a Houthi ban on navigation the group sees as associated with Israel through the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea would remain in place.
Reuters: Gaza truce possible in one or two weeks but not in a day, Israeli official says
Israel and Hamas may be able to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal within one or two weeks but such an agreement is not likely to be secured in just a day's time, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday. Speaking during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, the official said that if the two sides agree to a proposed 60-day ceasefire, Israel would use that time to offer a permanent ceasefire that would require the Palestinian militant group to disarm.
Times of Israel: A new strategy for destroying Hamas?
Netanyahu has not been prepared to back a one-time deal to end the war in exchange for all the hostages because he fears, he says, that the US and international community will not permit Israel to resume fighting Hamas, when, as it inevitably will, it breaches the terms of any permanent ceasefire. Witkoff helped finalize the last phased hostage-ceasefire deal, in January, but it collapsed in March because Netanyahu was not willing to negotiate substantively on ending the war. Thirty-eight soldiers, a police officer and a civilian Defense Ministry contractor have been killed in Gaza since then.
Lebanon
Jerusalem Post: Hezbollah's Radwan Unit 'unfit' to carry out large-scale invasion into Israel
Since Hezbollah joined the Israel-Hamas war and until the ceasefire on November 27, 2024, Hezbollah suffered a ‘fatal blow,’ Tal Beeri, Head of the Research Department at the Alma Center for the Study of Security Challenges in the North, wrote in an analysis published Wednesday. The analysis, titled "Radwan Unit: The elimination of its operatives teaches about attempts to return to the South Litani and rebuild operational readiness," focused on IDF operations against the Radwan unit during the war and the organization's conduct since the ceasefire. Beeri estimated that after the attacks, the Radwan Unit was rendered unfit, at least temporarily, to carry out its central mission of launching a large-scale invasion into northern Israel.
Naharnet: Progress made in Hezbollah disarmament 'but much remains to be done': US official
Progress has been made by the Lebanese army on disarming Hezbollah in south Lebanon "but much remains to be done", a U.S. State Department spokesperson told Saudi channel al-Arabiya. The State Department source said the U.S. "needs the Lebanese state to do more to completely eliminate all weapons and infrastructure of Hezbollah and non-state actors across the country".
Naharnet: UNIFIL patrol fires tear gas after clash with Aytit residents
A patrol from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Thursday attempted to enter the southern town of Aytit, but was met with resistance from a group of local youths, the state-run National News Agency reported. According to NNA, the patrol fired tear gas in the direction of the protesters before retreating from the area.
Syria
Reuters: Fact Check: Image does not show Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa meeting Israel’s Netanyahu
A parody news account shared a fabricated image of Syrian Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and falsely suggested Syrian leader had been speaking Hebrew. An image of al-Sharaa shaking hands with Netanyahu was posted on social media, opens new tab with the superimposed text, “WKM NEWS - Syrian President slips up, starts speaking perfect Hebrew during meeting with Netanyahu”.
Turkey
Reuters: Turkey detains hundreds of Erdogan opponents in pursuit of 'octopus' of corruption
Tayyip Erdogan's main political opponents have faced an unprecedented crackdown that has seen more than 500 detained in just nine months, according to a Reuters review of a sprawling investigation that has accelerated dramatically in recent days. Turkey's president says the probe tackles what he calls a corrupt network that is like "an octopus whose arms stretch to other parts of Turkey and abroad."
Reuters: Key facts on Turkey's legal crackdown on main opposition party CHP
Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) faces a wave of charges of corruption, insulting officials and terrorism links that has left hundreds of its members and municipal workers, including 14 mayors, detained or jailed. Here are some details on the crackdown:
Israel Hayom: Turkish media's descent into antisemitic propaganda under Erdogan's watch
Turkey's transformation under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan into a bastion of Palestinian advocacy and Israeli hostility has become impossible to ignore. Anyone walking through Istanbul's streets encounters a disturbing visual landscape – spray-painted portraits of Yahya Sinwar, the October 7 mastermind, Palestinian flags draped from buildings, and graffiti demanding Israel's annihilation.
Yemen
New York Times: Houthis Took Sailors Hostage After Attacking Ship, U.S. Says
Yemen’s Houthi militia has taken hostage some of the crew members of a cargo ship they attacked earlier this week, the U.S. Mission to Yemen said on Wednesday on social media. The move is an escalation of a conflict that has already disrupted global shipping. “We call for their immediate and unconditional safe release,” the Embassy’s statement said. The Houthi attack on Monday on the Eternity C, a Liberian-flagged vessel that was sailing through the Red Sea, killed at least two of its crew members, according to Liberian officials who spoke to a United Nations meeting on Tuesday.
Reuters: Six crew rescued, 15 missing after Houthis sink latest Greek ship in Red Sea
Rescuers pulled six crew members alive from the Red Sea after Houthi militants attacked and sank a second ship this week, while the fate of another 15 was unknown after the Iran-aligned group said they held some of the seafarers. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the assault that maritime officials say killed four of the 25 people aboard the Eternity C before the rest abandoned the cargo ship. Eternity C went down Wednesday morning after attacks on two previous days, sources at security companies involved in a rescue operation said.
Associated Press: Yemen’s Houthi rebels release video of attack on Eternity C vessel in Red Sea
A Liberian-flagged cargo ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels sank Wednesday in the Red Sea. UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen Hans Grundberg said there was “grave concern seeing an escalation in the Red Sea,” as well as potential for “environmental damage.”
Reuters: Houthi attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea
Yemen's Houthis sank two cargo ships in the Red Sea this week, the first flare-up in seven months in the Iran-backed group's years-long campaign to choke global shipping in protest over the war in Gaza and the plight of the Palestinians. Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted more than 100 merchant ships travelling through the Red Sea, sinking four vessels, seizing another and killing at least eight sailors.
Pakistan
Pakistani media have reported that security forces killed eight militants from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as they attempted to cross into Bajaur district from Afghanistan’s Kunar province on Tuesday. According to Dawn newspaper, citing security sources, the militants were intercepted and killed during an intelligence-based operation in the mountainous Lowi Mamund area of Bajaur. The Pakistani military has not yet issued an official statement regarding the incident.
Australia
Reuters: Australian antisemitism report proposes university funding cuts, deportations
An Australian report on combating antisemitism has recommended cutting funding for universities that fail to protect Jewish students and screening visa applicants and non-citizens for extremist views. The plan, led by Australia's special envoy on antisemitism Jillian Segal, responds to a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents across Australia since the beginning of Israel's war in Gaza in late 2023.
Times of Israel: Australian Jews feel ‘very unsafe’ amid surging attacks, warns antisemitism envoy
Jewish Australians feel “very unsafe” after a surge in threats, vandalism and violence that started with the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, Australia’s antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal said Thursday. A year after being appointed to her role, Segal released a string of recommendations for combating antisemitism while decrying an upswing in violence against the Jewish community in Australia.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, appeared alongside the special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, who delivered her report to the government. 'There is no place in Australia for antisemitism. The kind of hatred and violence that we have seen on our streets recently is despicable and it won’t be tolerated and I want those responsible to face the full force of the law,' Albanese said
Technology
The Hill: Musk releases latest Grok version after antisemitism controversy
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) company xAI unveiled the newest version of its chatbot Grok on Wednesday amid fallout from a recent update that resulted in numerous antisemitic responses from the chatbot. Musk claimed during a livestreamed launch on his social platform X that Grok 4 is the “smartest AI model in the world.”
Reuters: X removes posts by Musk chatbot Grok after antisemitism complaints
Social media posts on the X account of the Grok chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI were removed on Tuesday after complaints from X users and the Anti-Defamation League that Grok produced content with antisemitic tropes and praise for Adolf Hitler. Issues of political biases, hate speech and accuracy of AI chatbots have been a concern since at least the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in 2022.
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