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 23, 2025
Top Stories
Reuters: Suspect charged with murder in fatal DC shooting of two Israel embassy aides
A Chicago-born man arrested as the lone suspect in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington was charged on Thursday in federal court with two counts of first-degree murder in a killing widely condemned as an act of antisemitism. Elias Rodriguez, 31, is accused of opening fire on a group of people on Wednesday night as they left an event for young professionals and diplomats hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel. Rodriguez told police on the scene, "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza," according to the charging documents. Witnesses recounted hearing him chant, "Free Palestine" after he was taken into custody.
Politico: Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups tried to influence EU: Report
A bombshell report from the French authorities alleges that organizations with links to the Muslim Brotherhood have been attempting to influence European Union institutions through “significant lobbying activities.” A version of the document seen by POLITICO before its official publication says the Islamist group’s supposed ideological allies sought to push Brussels to criminalize blasphemy and promote a “singular” vision of religious freedom that clashes with France’s strict model of a secular state that protects both freedom of religion and freedom from religion. The European Parliament and MEPs were “particularly targeted,” the report said.
CEP Mentions
The Berlin-based think tank "Counter Extremism Project" (CEP) also reports on the case in a recent policy paper on the situation of detainees in north-east Syria. According to the paper, the man had been married to a German woman who has since returned to Germany and been convicted according to Islamic rites. Analyst Sofia Koller, one of the authors of the paper, told SWR: "The fact that a second German apparently died in Kurdish captivity not only shows the poor prison conditions on the ground, but also the extensive inaction of German authorities." For example, Mohammad A.'s family was apparently only informed of his death a year later. The first death in prison in north-east Syria had already become known in 2020 thanks to a report in the Bild newspaper.
Analysis
Jewish intelligence analysts have been monitoring chatter in support of the attack online, including celebrations of the killings and calls for more violence.
ICCT: Operation Sindoor: a turning point for India in addressing terrorism in Kashmir?
On 22 April, India was shocked by a deadly terrorist attack at a tourist spot on a scenic meadow near the hill station of Pahalgam. The attack reportedly targeted Hindu tourists as they were allegedly asked to recite the Quran. This attack, which resulted in 26 deaths, was supposedly carried out by a relatively unknown terrorist group in the Kashmir region called The Resistance Front (TRF). The international community condemned the terrorist attack and the UN underlined ‘the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice’. Two weeks later, India struck back with a military operation leading to an escalation of violence between the two rivals, India and Pakistan. Although a fragile ceasefire has been reached, the hardened stance of New Delhi may mark a turning point in India's approach to countering terrorism.
GNET: ‘Welcome Spring, Burn a Tesla’: The Insurrectionary Anarchist Campaign Against Tesla
This Insight explores the growing wave of attacks against Tesla across Europe and North America. While some incidents appear linked to Elon Musk’s role in President Donald Trump’s second administration, a deeper current runs beneath the surface. These attacks fall into two broad categories: on one side are stochastic reactions to current political events; on the other, a more ideologically coherent anti-technology campaign rooted in insurrectionary anarchism. For these actors, Tesla is not just a political or corporate target but a powerful emblem of the techno-industrial system they seek to dismantle – an avatar of surveillance, ecological devastation disguised as ‘green’ technology, and elite control.
Africa Center for Strategic Studies: The Shifting Front of Militant Islamist Violence in the Sahel
Three Sahelian countries—Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—are the focal point of militant Islamist violence in the region. This violence has widened in scale and scope in recent years. Fatalities linked to these groups are more than two and half times the levels seen in 2020 when the first military coup in Mali occurred. Subsequent coups in Burkina Faso and Niger have also been followed by deteriorating security. Militant Islamist groups control more territory and transportation arteries in the three countries than at any point since the insurgencies began more than a decade ago. These figures are likely an undercount as the military juntas in all three countries have systematically intimidated journalists for reporting on military setbacks.
United States
The Greater Washington area is home to several hundred thousand Jewish people, making it one of the biggest Jewish population centers in the country. It’s a region now equally heartbroken and shaken by the killings, which the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, described as “targeted anti-Semitic violence” and an act of terror. A day after a man with a history of pro-Palestinian activism shot the two embassy workers — a couple about to become engaged to be married — many in the community are still processing what happened. Mr. Lischinsky and Ms. Milgrim had been leaving the museum where the American Jewish Committee was hosting a reception for young diplomats. “This could have been one of our kids,” said Rabbi Shira Stutman, the founder of the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, who came to the site with a fellow rabbi to pray.
In the attack’s aftermath, Jewish community professionals including Halber are refocusing, again, on how to protect their institutions from threats. The shooting has also raised urgent questions: What went wrong? And what needs to change? “Why they failed tonight we obviously have to figure out,” Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, said in an interview with JTA hours after the shooting, regarding security. as anti-Israel behavior in America has risen and our security teams have worked so hard to keep up with that. They obviously didn’t succeed tonight but we will not stop until we’ve ensured the security of our community.”
Times of Israel: Washington shooting suspect charged with murder, told police he ‘did it for Gaza’
Elias Rodriguez, the man charged with killing two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, approached police on the scene after the shooting and told them, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” according to a court document filed on Thursday.
New York Times: What We Know About the Accused Gunman in Washington
Elias Rodriguez, a Chicago resident, was charged on Thursday with first-degree murder and other crimes in the killings of two Israeli Embassy aides outside a Jewish museum in Washington. By some accounts, Mr. Rodriguez, 31, led a life typical of a college-educated young professional in Chicago, residing in an apartment in a middle-class North Side neighborhood, with friends and family nearby. But he was also increasingly active in left-wing politics, posting on social media and joining demonstrations in Chicago in opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza, large corporations and racism. When Mr. Rodriguez was taken into custody after the shooting on Wednesday night, he told police officers, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” according to an F.B.I. affidavit filed in federal court.
Jerusalem Post: Trump official: US to crackdown on university antisemitism after Washington attack
A senior Trump administration official confirmed that following the murder of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington, the US government was planning on intensifying the fight against campus antisemitism. Leo Terrell, Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the United States Justice Department, told N12 on Thursday that the administration plans to increase the presence of law enforcement on campuses, expedite and intensify the deportation of international students who take part in antisemitic activities, and tighten economic sanctions against universities.
After a gunman murdered two people outside a Jewish museum, a wide range of major Jewish groups has asked the federal government to sharply increase its funding for religious institutions’ security to $1 billion. The request is one of several made by the coalition in the wake of the attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday, when a shooter killed two employees of the Israeli embassy. In the wake of the shooting, Jewish security analysts are assessing what went wrong, and how such attacks can be prevented in the future.
A far-left, anti-Israel group in the Bronx cheered the suspected terrorist accused of gunning down the two Israeli Embassy staffers in an antisemitic attack. The Bronx Anti-War group said what alleged gunman Elias Rodriguez “did is the highest expression of anti-Zionism” and “We need more Elias Rodriguez in this world” in a pair of social media posts Thursday.
New York Times: Killings Echo Earlier Assassination of Israeli Diplomat
More than 50 years ago, an Israeli diplomat was gunned down in his driveway in suburban Maryland after returning from a dinner party. On Wednesday night, two staff members at the Israeli Embassy were fatally shot as they left an event organized by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum. The suspect, the police say, shouted, “Free, free Palestine,” after he was in custody. The earlier case remained unsolved, but the parallels between the shootings are stark, echoing a combustible chapter in Israeli-Palestinian relations in which violence flared around the globe. “It was a time of heightened tensions between Palestinians and Israelis just as they are today,” said Eugene Casey, a retired F.B.I. agent who investigated the killing of Col. Yosef Alon, the military attaché who was shot five times.
The Guardian: Number of US white nationalist groups falls as extremist views go mainstream
The number of white nationalist, hate and anti-government extremist groups in the US has dropped not because of their declining influence, but because many of their proponents feel their beliefs have become normalized in government and mainstream society, according to a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
NPR: Jewish Museum fatal shooting raises concerns about domestic extremism
The man charged with shooting and killing a couple outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. was once a member of a far-left political group. That is raising concerns about domestic extremism.
WIFR: Rockford-area advocates address rising extremism in the U.S.
With rising hate and discrimination to minorities, local peace groups focus on ways to end hate in the stateline. Ann Rundall with Eliminate Racism 815 doesn’t understand why hate thrives in this country, and why it drives people to say awful things and commit heinous crimes. “What kind of trauma have people been through in their life that has caused them to want to be a part of a hate group?” asks Rundall.
The Times: Inside the ‘strangest terrorist movement the US has ever seen’
“Is life an illness?” asks a member of a fringe chat group on the internet. “I’m not depressed,” writes another. “I just don’t want to exist.” Both identify as “morose and misanthropic” men in the Promortalism group on the chat forum Discord. They are two of several thousand members who sign in regularly to debate the merits of being alive. Such reflection on human existence has been happening in the darker reaches of the internet for years. But last weekend, the philosophy took on real-world consequences when one of the promortalist movement’s followers bombed a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, killing himself and leaving four injured.
Germany
ARD: Solingen attack: Planned, targeted - closely coordinated with the IS
Now, a few days before the trial at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court starts on Tuesday, research by WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) shows in more detail how Issa Al H. apparently radicalized himself over the years and finally coordinated closely with IS in the days before the crime - a development and an escalation that the security authorities apparently only learned about after the crime. Years before H. came to Germany, from 2019, al H. is said to have searched for and consumed fight songs and IS information on the internet. As a result, he is said to have internalized the ideology. Investigators claim to have discovered this by analyzing one of his cell phones. H., who originally comes from Deir al-Sor in Syria, was probably living in Turkey or in the Syrian-Turkish border region at the time.
SPIEGEL: Right-wing extremist sentenced to prison for arson at youth center
Around five years after a fire at the left-wing youth center "Friese" in Bremen, a 29-year-old man from the right-wing extremist scene has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison. The man had committed aggravated arson, grievous bodily harm and attempted grievous bodily harm, said the presiding judge at Bremen Regional Court. The motive for the crime in February 2020 was therefore contempt and hatred for people with a politically different world view. The police classify the 29-year-old as part of the far-right scene. On the night of the crime, he stuck "Die Rechte" party stickers on the building.
CNN: Germany deploys permanent troops to another country for the first time since World War II
Chancellor Friedrich Merz inaugurated a groundbreaking German brigade in Lithuania that is meant to help protect NATO’s eastern flank and declared Thursday that “the security of our Baltic allies is also our security” as worries about Russian aggression persist. He said Berlin’s strengthening of its own military sends a signal to its allies to invest in security.
Sweden
Reuters: Sweden lowers terrorist threat assessment back to level before 2023 Koran burnings
Sweden's SAPO security service lowered its national terrorist threat warning on Friday back to the "elevated" level assessed before 2023, when it was raised in the wake of a spate of Koran burnings. SAPO had raised the threat level to "high", the second highest level, after several high profile cases in which anti-Islam activists based in Sweden burned copies of the holy book, outraging Muslims in several countries.
Afghanistan
Reuters: Exclusive: Taliban in talks with Russia, China for trade transactions in local currencies
The Taliban administration is in advanced talks with Russia for banks from both sanctions-hit economies to settle trade transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars in their local currencies, Afghanistan's acting commerce minister said. The Afghan government has made similar proposals to China, the minister, Haji Nooruddin Azizi, told Reuters on Thursday. Some discussions have been held with the Chinese embassy in Kabul, he said.
Taliban forces have detained the 12-year-old son of prominent cleric and vocal Taliban critic Mawlawi Abdul Qadir Qanit during a raid on the family’s home in Kabul, sources close to the family told Afghanistan International. Qanit himself was arrested two days earlier from the same residence.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Publicly Flogs Woman & Two Men In Takhar For Theft, Adultery
The Taliban has publicly flogged a woman and two men in Yangi Qala district of Takhar province after convicting them of theft and engaging in sexual relations outside of marriage. The Taliban’s Supreme Court announced on Thursday that each of the three individuals received 39 lashes in a public setting.
Afghanistan International: Pakistan, Taliban To Elevate Diplomatic Ties To Ambassador Level
China has announced that Pakistan and the Taliban have agreed to elevate their diplomatic relations to the level of ambassadors. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomed the development, stating that Beijing supports the strengthening of ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Publicly Flog 9 In Kabul, Kunduz On Charges Of Sex, Drug Offenses
The Taliban judiciary has announced the public flogging of nine individuals, including two women, in Kabul and Kunduz provinces. The punishments were carried out by the group’s counter-narcotics court in Kabul and its primary court in Qala-e-Zal district, Kunduz.
Gaza Strip
The Israeli airstrike that targeted Hamas’s Gaza chief this month hit him as he attended a meeting of the group’s highest ranking militants, killing several important operatives and leaving a void in its top leadership, Hamas and Arab officials said. The airstrike killed Mohammed Sinwar, who was quietly buried days later, along with other top militants including Mohammad Shabana, the commander of the group’s Rafah brigade, the officials said.
Jerusalem Post: France, Saudis seek to disarm Hamas, keep it as political entity
France and Saudi Arabia are working on a proposal to disarm Hamas terrorists, paving the way for its demobilization, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing "people familiar with the discussions." Saudi officials have reportedly been in contact with Hamas leadership as part of the efforts, the sources stated, adding that it is unclear if France has also been in direct contact, especially as the European Union recognizes Hamas as a terror organization. According to the sources, allowing Hamas to "retain a degree of political power would make it more likely to accept disarming," and the objective of the talks is to transform Hamas into a "purely political entity that can still play some role in future Palestinian governance."
Jewish News Syndicate: The groups vying for control of Gaza post-Hamas
The vast majority of members of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip, the so-called shadow government, have either been killed or fled abroad. Against this backdrop, it appears that the position of other terrorist organizations in Gaza is set to strengthen. It’s not just Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which still manages to occasionally fire rockets; more than 15 additional groups and smaller cells are active in the Strip.
Iran
CNN: Iran doesn’t believe a nuclear deal is likely, sources say, as talks with US resume
Iran and the United States began a fifth round of high-stakes nuclear talks in Rome on Friday amid growing skepticism in Tehran about the chances of a deal as Washington hardens its position. Two Iranian sources have told CNN the talks seem unlikely to lead to an agreement, with the US insisting that Tehran dismantles its uranium enrichment program – a demand Iranian officials say would cause the nuclear negotiations to collapse.
Israel
Jerusalem Post: IDF control of Gaza Strip jumps over 50%, on the way to vast majority
IDF control of the Gaza Strip has jumped more than 50% in recent weeks. At that pace, the IDF is well on its way to controlling the vast majority of the enclave. Whether IDF control of Gaza will stop at about 70% or reach 100%, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a major speech on Wednesday night, is a matter of debate and interpretation. Even before Operation Gideon’s Chariots intensified earlier this week to further defeat Hamas and take over more Gazan territory, the IDF had taken control of about 50% of Gaza since it renewed hostilities when negotiations for releasing more hostages broke down in March.
Reuters: Netanyahu accuses France, Britain and Canada of 'emboldening' Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the leaders of France, Britain and Canada of wanting to help the Palestinian militant group Hamas after they threatened to take "concrete action" if Israel did not stop its latest offensive in Gaza. The criticism, echoing similar remarks from Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Thursday, was part of a fightback by the Israeli government against the increasingly heavy international pressure on it over the war in Gaza.
Jewish News Syndicate: Family of slain policeman sues Palestinian Authority for $15.5m
The family of First Sgt. Amir Khoury, a police officer who died in a terrorist attack in Bnei Brak, northeast of Tel Aviv, in 2022, filed a lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday, demanding approximately 56 million shekels (~$15.5 million) in damages.
Lebanon
The Lebanese and Palestinian presidents agreed Wednesday that Palestinian factions won’t use Lebanon as a launchpad for any attacks against Israel, and to remove weapons that aren’t under the authority of the Lebanese state. The announcement was made during a meeting between President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived earlier in the day beginning a three-day visit to Lebanon, his first in seven years. Lebanon’s government is seeking to establish authority throughout the country, mainly in the south near the border with Israel after the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war that ended in late November with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
Reuters: Hezbollah seeks boost in Lebanon vote as disarmament calls grow
Amidst the rubble left by Israeli bombardment of south Lebanon, campaign posters urge support for Hezbollah in elections on Saturday as the group aims to show it retains political clout despite the pounding it took in last year's war. For Hezbollah, the local vote is more important than ever, coinciding with mounting calls for its disarmament and continued Israeli airstrikes, and as many of its Shi'ite Muslim constituents still suffer the repercussions of the conflict.
Naharnet: Qassem urges supporters to secure 'resounding' win in polls despite Israeli attacks
Despite a rise in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon in recent days, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has called on supporters to go out to municipal polls in the country’s south and secure a "resounding" victory. “We will not give up a single grain from the soil of our generous south and we will not accept that the Israeli occupation stay on any inch of our land and country,” Qassem said in a televised address.
Syria
Kurdistan24: ISIS Issues Incendiary Message Targeting Damascus Authorities Amid Escalating Tensions
In a provocative development that underscores persistent security threats in Syria, the Islamic State (ISIS) has issued a new propaganda message inciting division and urging defections from Syrian authorities. The statement, described by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) as both emotionally charged and theologically framed, included veiled threats and called on foreign fighters to repent and abandon their posts.
India
Japan Forward: After Pahalgam, Indian Lawmakers Embark on Global Offensive Against Terrorism
A month has passed since the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam reignited longstanding tensions between India and Pakistan in the disputed territory of Kashmir. It was one of the deadliest assaults in recent memory and a rare one aimed at tourists. Though a ceasefire was signed on May 10, bringing an uneasy halt to weeks of hostilities, many questions loom. Chief among them are the nature of the Pahalgam attack, Pakistan's alleged role in assisting terrorist groups, and the wider regional implications. Seeking to reinforce an international coalition, a delegation of Indian parliamentarians has embarked on a diplomatic tour to explain New Delhi's position. Their first stop in Asia was Japan.
Kenya
Two Kenyan men charged with facilitating the 2019 attack on a luxury hotel complex that left 21 people dead were found guilty on Thursday and will be sentenced next month. Judge Diana Kavedza, while sitting a court in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, ruled that the prosecution had proved that Hussein Mohamed Abdille Ali and Mohamed Abdi Ali sent money and helped acquire fake identification documents for the militants who died during the DusitD2 hotel complex attack.
South Africa
Reuters: South Africa town leader 'sad' about Trump's misuse of white crosses video
A local representative of an area shown in a video played at the White House said she was "sad" that U.S. President Donald Trump used the footage of hundreds of white crosses as false evidence of mass killings of white South African farmers. Trump showed an aerial shot of a procession of cars moving along a road lined with white crosses during his meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, as he doubled down on false claims of a white genocide in South Africa. He said the crosses were "burial sites" for over 1,000 white farmers.
Technology
Reuters: Vietnam orders messaging app Telegram to be blocked, government document shows
Vietnam's technology ministry has instructed telecommunication service providers to block the messaging app Telegram for not cooperating in combating alleged crimes committed by its users, according to a government document reviewed by Reuters. The document, dated May 21 and signed by the deputy head of the telecom department at the technology ministry, ordered telecommunication companies to take measures to block Telegram and report on them to the ministry by June 2.
At 12:52 a.m., just minutes after the name of one of the victims of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington attack began to trickle out online, a social media user by the name of Mejd S tweeted a short message: “F— Yaron Lischinsky.” Mejd’s post may have been one of the first to justify the murder of two Israeli embassy employees at a Jewish event in Washington, DC, Wednesday night, but it was hardly the most popular. Some who have used the “Free Palestine” slogan the shooter repeated, or who once had ties to him, are disavowing him under criticism from pro-Israel activists. But a range of hardline pro-Palestinian social media accounts are praising the attack or paying homage to the man who allegedly committed it, Elias Rodriguez.
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Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
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