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 5, 2025
Top Stories
Jerusalem Post: Israel to retaliate against Houthi missile strike on airport, cabinet decides
Israel is set to retaliate to the Houthi missile launch at Ben-Gurion Airport on Sunday, following a decision made at the security cabinet later in the day. Following the Houthi missile strike, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video that Israel has acted against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen in the past and will act again in the future. On Sunday, an Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post that following the recent Houthi missile attack, Israel is considering revising its recent policy toward Yemen to respond directly to such attacks. Since US President Donald Trump took office, partly due to his request, Israel has refrained from striking targets in Yemen since the Houthis resumed their attacks.
The Guardian: Eight men including seven Iranians arrested in two England anti-terrorism operations
Police have thwarted an alleged imminent terror plot in England with a number of Iranian nationals arrested amid concern about the growing level of Tehran-backed hostile activity in the UK. Five suspects, including four Iranians, were arrested as part of a suspected plan to target “specific premises”, the Metropolitan police said. Of those arrested, the nationality of the fifth was still being established. In a separate investigation, three Iranian nationals were detained in London on suspicion of being involved in threat activity on behalf of Iran, though police said the two sets of high-profile arrests were not linked. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, described the arrests as “two major operations” that reflected some of the biggest threats “we have seen in recent years” – and while she did not comment directly on whether the incidents were linked to the Iranian state, she noted “it involves Iranian nationals in both investigations”.
CEP Mentions
ARD: Messenger service Telegram - Chats as a hotbed of right-wing terrorism
Hans-Jakob Schindler classifies these groups as extremely dangerous: "Firstly, the network poses a danger because there is a network of violence-oriented individuals. At some point, it will become difficult for the security authorities to monitor everyone at the same time. And secondly, all kinds of attack scenarios are played out in these channels, from bomb attacks to knife attacks." The Center for Monitoring Analysis and Strategy, CeMAS for short, has found more than 650 Germans in 164 "Terrorgram" groups since 2022. CeMAS expert Miro Dittrich is particularly concerned that many Germans are so heavily involved in these groups: "It is alarming that some very young people are active in these channels. 12- or 13-year-olds who are already at the end of a radicalization process. Some of them order explosives and plan to commit mass murders for an extreme right-wing ideology." He warns that the network could continue to try to motivate attacks - in Germany too.
Analysis
Jerusalem Post: Why is it so hard to stop the Houthis in the Middle East?
Israel has generally allowed the Houthis to launch long-range missiles at it over the last 12 months, assuming these will be intercepted. While Israel launched a handful of retaliatory raids using warplanes in 2024, it has basically stepped aside when the US began launching its own airstrikes on the Houthis beginning on March 15. The US campaign against them involves at least two aircraft carriers now. However, Sunday’s attack could be a game-changer. Although Israeli politicians issued the usual threats, it is unclear if the Houthis can be easily stopped or deterred. What do we know about this challenge? To answer that, we need to say more about the Houthis first.
United States
Reuters: US designates powerful Haiti gang alliance as transnational terrorist group
The United States on Friday designated Haiti's powerful Viv Ansanm gang alliance, whose members have taken control of almost all the capital Port-au-Prince and spread to surrounding areas, a "transnational terrorist group". The U.S. Treasury Department also applied the designation to the Gran Grif gang, which in October took responsibility for a shocking massacre of at least 115 people in the agricultural town of Pont-Sonde.
At least one Temple University student has been suspended after an antisemitic incident Saturday at a Philadelphia sports bar owned by Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, the school said Sunday. The incident began when a customer ordered bottle service at Barstool Sansom Street in downtown Philadelphia, and an antisemitic sign was ordered along with it, Portnoy said in a video posted to social media Sunday.
Like so many other Jews living in the diaspora, Tamar Warburg experienced an awakening of sorts after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel. She lives in Teaneck, N.J., where Orthodox Judaism flourishes and more than a dozen synagogues dot the suburban landscape. But when a pro-Israel resolution that came before the town council soon after Oct. 7 sparked vitriolic protests, Warburg experienced the resulting tension as a “defining moment” leading to a life-changing turn to electoral politics — from a surprising rise in local party politics to a long-shot campaign this year for the New Jersey Assembly.
Dozens of people rallied in uptown Marion on Saturday in response to a neo-Nazi demonstration in the city two weeks ago. “It’s just something I would never expect, that there would be neo-Nazis you know protesting in Marion. So I was shocked and surprised and that’s why I showed up here,” rally attendee Kristie Steepleton said. The rally was hosted by the Marion Alliance for Racial Equity and the Cedar Rapids NAACP.
Daily Record: Neo-Nazi who plotted to destroy BGE substations denied new trial
Brandon Clint Russell, the neo-Nazi who plotted to destroy Baltimore-area electrical substations, was denied a new trial on Tuesday. A Maryland woman conspired with the Florida neo-Nazi leader to carry out an attack on several electrical substations in the Baltimore area, officials said Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. This June 7, 2017, file photo provided by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office shows Brandon Russell. A Maryland woman conspired with the Florida neo-Nazi leader to carry out an attack on several electrical substations in the Baltimore area, officials said Feb. 6, 2023. Russell, who was convicted on Feb. 4 of conspiracy to damage an energy facility, asked for a new trial after learning a confidential FBI informant had been paid more than had been disclosed.
Federal prosecutors charged a Tullahoma man suspected of starting the fire that destroyed part of the historic Highlander Center six years ago. An FBI agent says in court documents Regan Prater extensively participated in neo-Nazi online group chats and shared a symbol that was found spraypainted at the fire scene. Some of these connections led to his arrest after a tipster alerted authorities.
Brazil
Two people arrested on suspicion of planning an attack at a Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro were targeting LGBTQ+ people, police said on Sunday. According to the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, the pair had attempted to “recruit” people, including teenagers, to carry out coordinated attacks at Saturday’s concert, using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails. The goal of the planned attack, according to police, was “gaining notoriety on social media.” Meanwhile, in a separate development following police searches at nine addresses across Brazil, a third person who allegedly planned to carry out a “satanist ritual by killing a child or a baby” during the concert was charged with terrorism offenses, according to Brazilian police.
Europe
Wall Street Journal: Teenage Terrorists Are a Growing Threat to Europe’s Security
Terrorists in Europe are getting younger, and authorities are struggling to find them. In recent months, dozens of adolescents as young as 14 have been arrested across Europe for allegedly plotting attacks against music venues, shopping centers and sites of worship.
Germany
Reuters: AfD files lawsuit against German spy agency's extremist classification
Far-right party Alternative for Germany filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging a decision last week by Germany's domestic intelligence agency to classify the party as an extremist organisation. A spokesperson for the administrative court in Cologne said the lawsuit and a corresponding emergency petition had been submitted, both of which would be reviewed once the BfV domestic intelligence agency had confirmed that it had been notified.
Reuters: Kremlin says Germany's decision on AfD is a restrictive measure
he Kremlin said on Monday that Germany's decision to classify the Alternative for Germany party as an "extremist" entity is a restrictive measure against European non-mainstream forces. Germany's domestic intelligence agency classified the AfD as an extremist entity that threatens democracy, a move enabling it to better monitor the party that came second in February's federal election.
ARD: Almost 200 police officers under suspicion of extremism
According to a report, at least 193 state police officers are the subject of disciplinary proceedings or investigations on suspicion of right-wing extremism and/or conspiracy ideology. The actual number could be even higher, as North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were unable to provide clear figures, according to a survey conducted by Stern and RTL among the interior ministries of all 16 federal states. North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin, for example, reported around 80 disciplinary cases currently being processed, but said they were unable to assign them to political categories such as "right-wing" or "left-wing".
BILD: New interior minister wants to review AfD intelligence report
Unlike his predecessor, Federal Interior Minister-designate Alexander Dobrindt wants to have the report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) on the AfD professionally reviewed. On "Berlin Direkt" (ZDF) on Sunday evening, he said: "This report will not disappear into a filing cabinet, but will be professionally evaluated by the Federal Ministry of the Interior." He had also already "invited the head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to present this report to me, to discuss it and to give me a more technical understanding." Further decisions will then be made, Dobrindt continued. Nancy Faeser (54, SPD), still Minister of the Interior, announced on Friday, her penultimate day at work, that the entire AfD had been classified as "definitely right-wing extremist" by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).
Italy
An incident at a restaurant in Naples that led to the ejection of an Israeli couple has sparked widespread attention in Italian media, with some describing it as “first-hand antisemitism.” The episode occurred at Taverna a Santa Chiara, a restaurant in the historic center of the city, where Gili Moses and her husband said they were asked to leave solely because they are Israeli. The dispute with the restaurant’s owner was captured on video and quickly went viral on social media.
Romania
Reuters: Romanian hard-right leader George Simion wins first round of election rerun
Hard-right eurosceptic George Simion won the first round of Romania's presidential election re-run on Sunday, final results showed, after a ballot seen as a test of the rise of Donald Trump-style nationalism in the European Union. Ballots from 100% of voting stations, early Monday, showed Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, 55, was in second place at around 21%, behind Simion's 41%. They will meet in a runoff on May 18.
Russia
New Lines Magazine: Russia’s New Weapon: Child ‘Suicide Bombers’
Moscow’s intelligence services are recruiting civilians, including the young and vulnerable, to carry remotely detonated explosives. According to Alex Finley, a former CIA officer who has written extensively about Russian active measures, “These attacks are designed to be deniable and below the threshold of what we generally consider an act of war. But to Russia, these attacks are very much part of their war plans. Hybrid attacks that combine kinetic actions with information operations are weapons Russia is using against us. They do it to destabilize the Western alliance from the inside, in order to lower Western resolve to support Ukraine.”
United Kingdom
BBC: Police continue to question Iranian men over alleged terror plot
Five men are continuing to be questioned by police over an alleged terror plot in the UK. The men, including four Iranian nationals, are being held over an alleged plan to "target a specific premises", the Metropolitan Police said.
The Telegraph: BBC to launch review of Gaza coverage after anti-Semitism claims
The BBC is to appoint an independent figure to investigate its Arabic channel over repeated allegations of anti-Semitism exposed by The Telegraph. On Saturday, Dr Samir Shah, the chairman of the BBC, said that the corporation’s wider handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict would also be examined.
Gaza Strip
Reuters: Hamas executes looters in Gaza as food crisis worsens under Israeli blockade
Hamas has executed a number of alleged looters after several incidents in which heavily armed gangs attacked food stores and community kitchens in the Gaza Strip this week, sources close to the Palestinian militant group said. Hamas officials have accused some of the looters of working in collaboration with Israel, which has sealed off aid from entering Gaza for the past two months. Israel has not commented on the allegation.
Iran
Reuters: Iran says it will strike back if US or Israel attack
Iran's Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Sunday that Tehran would strike back if the United States or Israel attacked. Nasirzadeh's comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against Iran for the Tehran-backed Houthi group firing a missile that landed near Israel's main airport.
Naharnet: Iran condemns US calls for disarming Hezbollah
The Iranian foreign ministry on Monday condemned Washington’s calls for disarming Hezbollah in Lebanon, noting that “this decision is a domestic affair that no side has the right to interfere in.” “The issue of arms and defense is a domestic affair for any country and any third party should not be involved in it, especially if it is party to the conflict,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.
Israel
Reuters: Israeli leadership votes to expand Gaza ground offensive
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet voted to scale up the offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza to the point of seizing the entire enclave and holding its territories, an Israeli official said on Monday. A report by Israel's public broadcaster Kan, citing officials with knowledge of the details, said the new plan was gradual and would take months, with forces focusing first on one area of the battered enclave.
Reuters: Missile fired by Yemen's Houthis lands near Israel's main airport
A missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels towards Israel on Sunday landed near the country's main international airport, causing panic among passengers and drawing threats of retaliation against the group and Iran. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for the missile strike that struck near Ben Gurion Airport, the latest in a string of attacks, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate."Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran. Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters," Netanyahu said on X. In a separate video issued by his office, Netanyahu said: "We will do what we need to do to take care of our security, to respond effectively, and to give Iran due warning that this cannot continue."
Reuters: Flights again halted to Israel after Houthi missile lands near airport
European and U.S. carriers cancelled flights for the next several days after a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Sunday landed near Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, the country's main international travel gateway. Many foreign airlines subsequently suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv after the missile hit, sending a plume of smoke into the air and causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
Reuters: Israel calls on Qatar to 'stop playing both sides' in Gaza talks
Israel called on Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, to "stop playing both sides with its double talk and decide if it's on the side of civilization or if it's on the side of Hamas", the Israeli Prime Minister's office said on Saturday. Qatar rejected the statements as "inflammatory".
Lebanon
Naharnet: A second Hamas suspect handed over to army over rocket fire
The Lebanese Army said Monday that Hamas handed over a second Palestinian suspected of involvement in rocket fire at Israel, one day after the first suspect was handed over and several days after authorities warned the militant group against harming the country's security. The two men are suspected of involvement in two rocket launches towards Israel from Lebanon on March 22 and 28, the army said. Israel responded to the rocket fire by bombing south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hamas ally Hezbollah holds sway.
Syria
Deutsche Welle: Internally displaced Syrians long to return home
The United Nations estimates that over one million internally displaced Syrians have returned to their hometowns since the fall of the Assad regime. But 6 million others remain in temporary shelters. DW reports from Zardana, Idlib.
Speaking at a conference on “The Druze and the security of Israel: The blood alliance in practice” at Western Galilee College in Acre, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Muafak Tarif, warns that “less an hour and a half away [in Syria] are extremist terror groups that threaten Israel.” “After October 7 and after what Hezbollah did, Israel cannot allow extremist terror groups to be on its northern border,” Tarif says.
BBC: Syrian security forces monitored armed civilians who killed Alawites, accused man says
One of the men accused of taking part in a wave of sectarian violence against Syria's Alawite minority two months ago has told the BBC that he and other armed civilians who travelled to the area were advised and monitored by government forces there. Abu Khalid said he had travelled as a civilian fighter to the Mediterranean coastal village of Sanobar on 7 March, to help battle former regime insurgents.
Long War Journal: Israel renews airstrikes in Syria as sectarian violence flares
Israel carried out several rounds of airstrikes in Syria between April 30 and May 3 that targeted an area near the presidential palace in Damascus and various sites containing military assets. Israel conducted the strikes, the latest since the Bashar al Assad regime fell on December 8, 2024, to warn the new Syrian government against attacks on the country’s Druze minority. On April 30, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said he had “instructed the IDF to prepare to strike targets belonging to the Syrian regime should the violence against Druze communities continue.”
Yemen
The Houthi terrorist organization said on Sunday night that they are working on imposing a "comprehensive air blockade" on Israel by repeatedly targeting the country's airports. Three people were mildly wounded earlier that morning as a result of a missile fired by the Yemen-based terror group that crashed in the area of Ben-Gurion Airport's Terminal 3. The IDF's failure to intercept the missile was due to a technical error, Israeli military sources told The Jerusalem Post. Houthi military spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yahya Saree posted on Telegram that the missile strike was in response to expand its operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The decision to expand operations was agreed upon by the Israeli security cabinet on Friday night. Several IDF reserve brigades will be mobilized for the operation's expansion.
Reuters: Yemen's Houthis announce campaign targeting Israeli airports
Yemen's Houthi rebels said late on Sunday they would impose a "comprehensive" aerial blockade on Israel by repeatedly targeting its airports, in response to Israel expanding its operations in Gaza.The Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for a missile strike on Sunday that hit near Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, the latest in a string of attacks, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Morocco
Amid growing calls to label it a terrorist group, the Polisario Front is explicitly resorting to more terrorist tactics, not only against Morocco and its southern provinces but also foreign businesses that are operating or seeking a presence in the region. Members of the Polisario leadership, including Mustapha Sidi Ali El Bachir, conveyed the separatist group’s terrorist threats, noting that foreign investors and tourists visiting southern provinces are “in great danger.”
Tunisia
BBC: Tunisia jails ex-prime minister on terrorism charges
A court in Tunisia has sentenced former Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh to 34 years in prison on a raft of terrorism charges. He is the latest high-profile critic of the president to be jailed as campaigners slam "sham trials" in the country. The 69-year-old is a prominent opponent of President Kais Saied and leader of Ennadha, a moderate Islamist party that holds the largest number of seats in parliament.
India
Reuters: India bans imports from Pakistan amid tension over tourist killings
India said on Saturday it had banned the import of goods coming from or transiting via Pakistan and barred Pakistani ships as tensions rise between the nuclear-armed neighbours in the wake of a deadly attack on tourists in the disputed Kashmir region.</ｂｒ>India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification that the ban would take effect immediately.
Hindustan Times: Japan backs India's fight against terrorism
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday hosted his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani for wide-ranging talks touching upon the scourge of terrorism and ways to expand bilateral defence ties in the wake of China's military posturing in the Indo-Pacific.
Pakistan
Reuters: Pakistan tests missile amid India standoff, Moody's warns of economic cost
Pakistan carried out a second missile test in three days on Monday after saying it was preparing for an incursion by India, as Moody's warned that the standoff over violence in Kashmir could set back Islamabad's economic reforms. Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have nosedived since gunmen killed 26 people on April 22 in an attack targeting Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir, the worst such assault on civilians in India in nearly two decades.
Australia
The man alleged to have masterminded a spate of antisemitic attacks in Sydney and a “fake terrorism” caravan plot has denied responsibility – but admits he was involved in having the caravan moved. In January, police discovered a caravan packed with explosives in the outer Sydney suburb of Dural, triggering a massive multi agency investigation.
The Australian: Election 2025: Neo-Nazis reported to AEC over alleged breaches of electoral laws
Neo-Nazis who impersonated Orthodox Jews and handed out fake Liberal Party flyers outside a polling booth have been reported to the Australian Electoral Commission for breaches of electoral laws. A leading Jewish group has complained to the AEC that the anti-Semitic incident constituted unclear authorisation and fraud by displaying a blue “Liberal” banner and handing out flyers purporting to be from the party.
Daily Dose
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Stay up to date on our latest news.
Get the latest news on extremism and counter-extremism delivered to your inbox.
×