Fact:
On April 3, 2017, the day Vladimir Putin was due to visit the city, a suicide bombing was carried out in the St. Petersburg metro, killing 15 people and injuring 64. An al-Qaeda affiliate, Imam Shamil Battalion, claimed responsibility.
Eye on Extremism: May 13, 2025
Top Stories
Reuters: Kurdish PKK ends 40-year Turkey insurgency, bringing hope of regional stability
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, which has been locked in bloody conflict with Turkey for more than four decades, has decided to disband and end its armed struggle, group members and Turkish leaders said on Monday. Since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984 - originally with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state - the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, exerted a huge economic burden and fuelled social tensions. The PKK's decision, at a congress last week, could boost NATO member Turkey's political and economic stability and encourage moves to ease tensions in neighbouring Iraq and Syria, where Kurdish forces are allied with U.S. forces.
Reuters: Freed Israeli-American hostage leaves Gaza, Israel says no ceasefire
An Israeli-American hostage was released from 19 months of captivity in Gaza during a brief pause in fighting on Monday and reunited with his family, but Israeli strikes on the battered enclave soon resumed. Israel's military received Edan Alexander, 21, from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which facilitated his transfer from Palestinian militant group Hamas. Fighting halted at midday in Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would pause its operations to allow for the hostage release. Netanyahu has said there will be no ceasefire and that plans to intensify military action in Gaza continued. "Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind," Netanyahu's office said.
CEP Mentions
Blonde pigtails, blue eyes, country flair: this is how "Die Heimat", formerly the NPD, sells itself on its homepage. Its offspring, on the other hand, are aggressive, masked and openly violent. In order to win over young people from outside the party, they set up local groups with new names.
Merkur.de: “Ticking time bomb”: IS tent camps in Syria also endanger security in Germany
CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed regarding ISKP. However, the results of a study by terrorism researcher Sofia Koller of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) suggest that many of those affected have been trying to return to Germany for years. Lydia G. is also said to have had a change of heart; she wants to return to Germany. Whether and when a trial against the IS returnee will begin is not yet known.
Analysis
MEMRI: Qatar's Support For Anti-U.S. Terrorist Activity And Attacks
This report is part one of a forthcoming comprehensive study examining Qatar, the foremost sponsor of Islamist, particularly Wahhabi, and Muslim Brotherhood ideologies, terrorist organizations, and movements in recent decades. Qatar's policies in support of such organizations and movements reflect its ideological and political identity and its religious commitment to globally spread these ideologies and to promote Islamist states and movements, as well as terrorist organizations and individuals.
The Islamic State in Somalia (ISS) has faced territorial and operational setbacks following a large-scale ground offensive by Puntland security forces. The offensive began in late 2024 and has intensified through early 2025. Bolstered by multiple US and UAE airstrikes and intelligence support that eliminated senior ISS leaders, the campaign targeted the militants’ strongholds in the Cal Miskaad mountains of Bari in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region. By late February, Puntland forces had reportedly repelled the group’s offensive attacks, recapturing key strategic military bases and villages, including Shebaab, which served as the group’s operational hub.
United States
Axios: Scoop: Hamas approached pro-Trump activist for secret talks that freed Edan Alexander
The backchannel talks that led to the release of Edan Alexander began with a message from a Hamas official to Bishara Bahbah, the former leader of "Arab Americans for Trump," two Israeli officials, one Palestinian official and one U.S. official tell Axios.
The US military is replacing its B-2 bombers with another type of bomber at a base in the Indo-Pacific that was seen as being in an ideal location to operate in the Middle East, US officials told Reuters on Monday, as the American bombing campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebel group came to an end with a ceasefire reached earlier this month.
Jewish Insider: Leo Terrell: DOJ plans to use litigation to ‘eliminate antisemitism’
Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, says he’s undeterred by critics of the Trump administration’s approach to combating antisemitism, arguing that those dissatisfied with its deportation strategy are “trying to justify, in my opinion, the antisemitic behavior” of those individuals. Terrell, who has a career spanning three decades as a civil rights attorney and a conservative media personality, sat down on Monday for his first interview with Jewish Insider since joining the Justice Department earlier this year — at a time when some mainstream Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee, have expressed concern that the administration’s approach has violated the due process rights of the individuals being targeted. The Trump administration has argued that non-citizens do not have the same constitutional protections as U.S. citizens, though the Fourteenth Amendment grants due process rights to all people regardless of status.
Axios: Indiana sees nation's highest spike of antisemitism
Antisemitic incidents in Indiana more than doubled in 2024, the biggest increase nationwide in a year when anti-Jewish activity reached its highest level recorded in nearly half a century.
In response to an increase in antisemitic incidents in New York City and around the world, Mayor Eric Adams is creating an Office to Combat Antisemitism. The new mayoral office, announced Tuesday, “will immediately establish an inter-agency taskforce dedicated to fighting antisemitism in all its forms,” according to a press release. The statement said the office will monitor court cases, advise Adams on steps he can take and legislation he can propose, and work across city agencies to “to ensure New Yorkers feel protected against antisemitism and address incidents of antisemitism.”
Komo News: UW professor criticizes university's response to campus antisemitism and violence
He normally watches the upper atmosphere, but on Monday, UW Professor Cliff Mass was fully focused on the campus climate. “I think with all the public universities in the United States, I think the fifth worst is just nothing to brag about,” argued the long-time professor, who was cited by the Anti-Defamation League’s recent scorecard on antisemitism. The ADL gave the UW a "D," citing several dates in recent history, including the pro-Gaza occupation of the campus Quad last year, and vandalism at the home of the UW President.
Canada
Times of Israel: Jewish group exposes antisemitic posts of Quebec med school applicants and students
Canadian Jewish nonprofit B’nai Brith has reported on antisemitic and other hateful content spread by Quebec medical school applicants and students on a social media platform server available to some 1,400 people. On the public Discord server, the “aspiring doctors openly posted Holocaust denial, praise for the ‘Final Solution,’ hurled racial slurs, glorified terrorism, and degraded women,” B’nai Brith said in a statement, releasing screenshots of the French-language posts.
Cuba
Miami Herald: Rubio says Cuba failed to cooperate with U.S. on counter-terrorism efforts last year
Secretary of State Marco Rubio blacklisted Cuba on Tuesday as a country that did not fully cooperate with U.S. counterterrorism efforts in 2024 and blasted the government in Havana for its refusal to discuss the return of people residing on the island who are charged in the U.S. for various crimes.
Germany
Deutsche Welle: Germany and Israel mark anniversary in shadow of war
Sixty years ago, on May 12, 1965, Germany and Israel established diplomatic relations after a long period of preparation. It was anything but a matter of course at the time: World War II had ended just two decades earlier, and the memory of Nazi Germany's genocide of the European Jews was present in both countries. Even now, 80 years after the end of the war, relations with Israel remain extremely important, but also difficult. Israeli President Isaac Herzog is coming to Berlin to mark the anniversary. Together with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, he plans to visit the "Platform 17" Holocaust memorial at Grunewald station in southwest Berlin. Some 10,000 Jews were deported from the train station to concentration camps during the Nazi era.
BBC: Germany arrests self-declared 'king' and bans his extremist group
A self-declared "king" of Germany and three of his senior "subjects" have been arrested and their group banned for attempting to overthrow the state. Peter Fitzek, 59, was among those arrested in morning raids across seven states on Tuesday, which involved about 800 security personnel.
Poland
Euro News: Polish far-right MEPs uncomfortable in Sovereign Nations group
The three Polish members of the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group in the European Parliament are currently at odds over attitudes to Russia with other members of the group, according to several sources familiar with the matter. Poles Marcin Sypniewski, Stanisław Tyszka, and Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik, elected on the "Confederation" list, are reportedly unhappy with their fellow MEPs’ general stance on Russia and the behaviour of some individuals in the group, according to the sources.
Romania
Reuters: Poll shows Romanian hard-right and centrist candidates tied ahead of run-off
Romania's hard-right nationalist George Simion and centrist Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan are neck-and-neck ahead of a May 18 presidential run-off that could have far-reaching consequences for the European Union, an opinion poll suggested on Tuesday. The eurosceptic Simion decisively won the first round of the ballot on May 4, with some 41% of the vote, triggering the resignation of leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, the collapse of his pro-Western coalition government, and significant capital outflows.
Switzerland
I24News: Switzerland ban on Hamas to begin on May 15
The Swiss Confederation takes a new step in its fight against terrorism, with a law to go in effect on Thursday banning Hamas. The decision, voted in late 2024, follows the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023. The security policy committees of the National Council and the Council of States had then filed a motion to ban all Hamas activity in Switzerland.
Afghanistan
Kurdistan24: Taliban Outlaws Chess in Afghanistan, Citing Concerns Over Gambling
In a move that deepens its crackdown on cultural and recreational activities, the Taliban government has officially banned chess across Afghanistan, citing religious concerns over its association with gambling. The decision was confirmed on Sunday, and marks the latest in a series of sweeping restrictions implemented since the group’s return to power in 2021.
Amu: Rights group warns UN ‘Mosaic’ initiative risks legitimizing Taliban
A coalition of human rights defenders has raised alarm over the United Nations’ “Mosaic” initiative for Afghanistan, warning that the plan is being developed with the involvement of regional actors linked to terrorism and could ultimately pave the way for legitimizing the Taliban. In a sharply worded statement released under the name “Alliance of Human Rights Activists,” the group said the initiative does not reflect the will of the Afghan people and is instead being shaped by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) with the cooperation of actors affiliated with extremist networks.
Israel
Washington Post: Who are the hostages believed to still be alive in Gaza?
The last known living American hostage in the Gaza Strip, 21-year-old Edan Alexander, was released Monday as part of an effort by Hamas to secure a ceasefire with Israel, after the group said it had direct contacts with the Trump administration “in the last few days.” The shattering of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire in March leaves uncertain the futures of the remaining hostages, of which 23 are presumed to still be alive in Gaza. Last week, President Donald Trump suggested that the number had fallen to 21. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said that the condition of three hostages is uncertain.
Jerusalem Post: 'Things you've never seen before are going to happen in Gaza,' Netanyahu says
“Within days, things are going to happen in Gaza — things you’ve never seen before," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the War Wounded Forum on Monday. According to a handout, the prime minister met with wounded soldiers for an hour and a half and listened to the soldiers’ stories of heroism and injury. Netanyahu's statement comes after Israeli sources have signalled IDF readiness to expand combat operations in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli official source told The Jerusalem Post that the moment Edan Alexander returns home, Israel will resume combat operations in Gaza. The IDF had stopped operations in Gaza for the Israeli-American hostage's safe crossing, but emphasized that it would resume combat as soon as he was in Israel.
AFP: Hamas says dialogue, not bombs, led to release of Alexander
Hamas is rejecting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that military pressure helped secure the release of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander. “The return of Edan Alexander is the result of serious communications with the US administration and the efforts of mediators, not a consequence of Israeli aggression or the illusion of military pressure,” the Palestinian terror group says in a statement.
CNN: See Edan Alexander's reunion with family after release from Hamas captivity
Edan Alexander, the last known living American hostage in Gaza, was released by Hamas and reunited with his family on Monday, ending an 18-month ordeal that began with the militant group’s October 7 attack.
Times of Israel: Hostage envoy Boehler says ‘better chance’ now for wider deal with Hamas
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy on hostages, Adam Boehler, tells a group of Israeli reporters in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square that following the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, there is a “better chance” to reach a deal with Hamas that sees the remaining 58 hostages in Gaza go free. “I think there’s a better chance now than before,” Boehler says when asked about the likelihood of a larger deal.
Jerusalem Post: A divided Israel strengthens Hamas, Witkoff tells hostage families
US President Donald Trump will accept nothing less than the release of all the hostages, US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff told hostage families in a meeting in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. He also mentioned the social divisions in Israel relating to the ongoing war. "When you argue between yourselves, when you're disbanding as a society, do you know who's watching? Hamas. That's why it's necessary to come together."
Lebanon
Naharnet: Qassem urges govt. and world to act 'more effectively' as to Israel's attacks
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has urged Lebanon's government and the international community to act "more effectively" to make Israel comply with the November truce, which largely ended more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed group, including two months of all-out war. In a televised speech commemorating slain Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine, Qassem added that Lebanon and Hezbollah had fulfilled their commitments under the ceasefire, and the army has deployed in south Lebanon, "while Israel has not withdrawn, has not stopped its attacks."
Naharnet: Report: Berri's advice to Hezbollah to talk to Aoun dispelled its concerns and suspicion
President Joseph Aoun and Hezbollah “have started to exchange positive messages” aimed at reassuring the group and “dispelling its concerns as well as its suspicion over the election of Aoun as president,” Lebanese political sources said. In remarks to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, the sources attributed the progress in Aoun’s relation with Hezbollah to a “positive role” played by Speaker Nabih Berri.
Naharnet: UNIFIL says found 225 arms caches since Israel-Hezbollah truce
The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said that since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah it had uncovered more than 225 weapons caches in the south and referred them to the army. Since the November 27 truce began, "peacekeepers have found over 225 weapons caches and referred them" to the Lebanese Army, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon said in a statement.
Syria
Arab News: Sharaa to forego Arab summit as al-Qaeda past in Iraq catches up with him
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will not attend the Arab League Summit in Baghdad this weekend, Syrian state media said on Monday, after Iraq’s invitation spurred controversy over the rebel-turned-leader’s potential return to a country where he fought as a radical Islamist and was jailed for years.
Turkey
I24News: Turkish warplanes face off with Israeli fighters over Syria – reports
An aerial confrontation took place between Israeli and Turkish forces in Syrian airspace, according to media reports on Sunday. According to the Sözcü Turkish opposition media, Turkish F-16s reportedly entered Syrian airspace over the weekend and sent "warning messages" to Israeli planes involved in a wave of strikes there. The Israel Defense Forces denied such reports. According to the Turkish media outlet, the incident occurred as part of one of the most intense Israeli operations since the fall of the Assad regime. Several of the strikes' targets were reportedly pro-Turkish militias operating in northern Syria, including the Sultan Murad and Suleyman Shah brigades, which are affiliated with Ankara.
Yemen
New York Times: Why Trump Suddenly Declared Victory Over the Houthi Militia
Steve Witkoff, his Middle East envoy, who was already in Omani-mediated nuclear talks with Iran, reported that Omani officials had suggested what could be a perfect offramp for Mr. Trump on the separate issue of the Houthis, according to American and Arab officials. The United States would halt the bombing campaign and the militia would no longer target American ships in the Red Sea, but without any agreement to stop disrupting shipping that the group deemed helpful to Israel. U.S. Central Command officials received a sudden order from the White House on May 5 to “pause” offensive operations. Announcing the cessation of hostilities, the president sounded almost admiring about the militant Islamist group, despite vowing earlier that it would be “completely annihilated.”
Newsweek: Houthis Send Warning on Trump Middle East Visit
The Yemeni Houthi fighters have warned Arab states to be wary of any agreements with U.S. President Donald Trump as he visits the Middle East—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar—saying the United States has a consistent pattern of discarding its allies when circumstances change. Newsweek has contacted the White House and the Saudi and Emirati foreign ministries by email and the government of Qatar through its website contact form.
Libya
Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU), based in Tripoli, declared a state of emergency on Monday night, according to local media. This followed clashes between the 444th Brigade and the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA) after SSA Commander Abdel Ghani al-Kikli, also known as "Ghneiwa," was assassinated. The 444th Brigade is alleged to have been responsible for al-Kikli's assassination. SSA is under the purview of the GNU's executive body, the Presidential Council, which came to power in 2021 through a United Nations-backed ceasefire process. Thus, Al-Kikli was an influential supporter of the GNU Prime Minister Abdel Hamid al-Dbeibah and SSA is one of the best-armed militias that control key infrastructure in Tripoli.
Reuters: Libya clashes point to growing power of Turkey-allied PM
The killing of a powerful militia leader in the Libyan capital on Monday night sparked hours of intense clashes that drove his group from its main stronghold and may prompt a consolidation of power among armed factions aligned with the Tripoli government. The death of Abdulghani Kikli, a militia leader who had controlled swathes of Tripoli for years, could also have repercussions for the stability of the wider region.
CNN: UN mission in Libya calls for de-escalation after fighting erupts in capital
he United Nations mission in Libya called for de-escalation Monday after fighting erupted in the North African nation’s capital. The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) is “alarmed by the unfolding security situation in Tripoli with intense fighting with heavy weaponry in densely populated civilian areas,” it said in a post on X late Monday.
India
Reuters: India PM Modi warns Pakistan of more strikes if there is a 'terrorist attack'
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan on Monday that New Delhi would target "terrorist hideouts" across the border again if there were new attacks on India and would not be deterred by what he called Islamabad's "nuclear blackmail". Modi's first public comments since Indian armed forces launched strikes on what New Delhi said were "terrorist camps" across the border last week indicated a hardening of India's position on ties with its neighbour, which were icy even before the latest fighting. Pakistan denies Indian accusations that it supports militants who attack it and says the locations hit by India last week were civilian sites.
AFP: India kills three suspected militants in Kashmir as Pakistan ceasefire holds
Three suspected rebels were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday in a gun battle with soldiers, the army said, the first since an attack on tourists last month brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. The clash happened after the army's special counter-insurgency force received information that militants were in Keller forest in the southern Kashmir valley, the army said.
India has defended its air strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, calling them a direct response to cross-border terrorism and a necessary act to prevent further loss of life. “Terrorist infrastructure India destroyed were responsible not only for the deaths of Indians but of many other innocents around world,” said Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, at a press briefing on Tuesday.
Pakistan
Reuters: Pakistan says committed to truce with India, vows to respond to aggression
Pakistan said on Tuesday that it remains committed to the truce with India, agreed after four days of intense military fighting last week, but vowed to respond to any future aggression by New Delhi with full resolve. The comments from Islamabad came in response to an address to the nation by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, in which he warned Pakistan that New Delhi would target "terrorist hideouts" across the border again if there were new attacks on India, without being deterred by "nuclear blackmail".
Pakistan’s military has denied claims that Hafiz Abdur Rauf, a US-designated terrorist, led the funeral of militants killed in recent Indian airstrikes as a terrorist. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), said Rauf is a religious figure and “a common family man.”
Burkina Faso
AFP: Jihadist attack kills 'several dozen' in Burkina Faso
Fresh jihadist violence has killed "several dozen" soldiers and civilians in simultaneous attacks in a town in northern Burkina Faso which for three years has been besieged by armed groups. The junta-ruled west African country has endured a decade of attacks by jihadist armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
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