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 9, 2025
Top Stories
Reuters: Pakistan launched multiple attacks along India's western border, India says
Pakistan's armed forces launched "multiple attacks" using drones and other munitions along India's entire western border on Thursday night and early Friday, the Indian army said, as conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours intensified. The old enemies have been clashing since India struck multiple locations in Pakistan on Wednesday that it said were "terrorist camps", in retaliation for a deadly attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir last month.
US President Donald Trump’s administration is heavily pressuring Israel to reach a ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas ahead of Trump’s visit to the Middle East, threatening that if Jerusalem doesn’t move along with the US toward such an agreement, Israel will be “left alone,” Haaretz reports, citing an unnamed source familiar with the details. The outlet says the office of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer refused to comment.
Analysis
Jewish Chronicle: Why the UK must proscribe the IRGC before it’s too late
Unelected bureaucrats are once again playing politics with British national security: this time in relation to the threat emanating from Iran’s regime. The message needs to be clear to Prime Minister Keir Starmer: intervene now and take back control from Whitehall or on your head be it if and when the Ayatollah successfully carries out a terrorist attack on British soil. And any intervention must begin with the proscription of the regime’s terror arm – the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Forgive me for my frank tone, but the arrests of seven Iranian nationals allegedly plotting an attack by counter-terrorism police over the weekend shows how pressing this threat is.
United States
Reuters: Haiti gangs' US terrorism designation risks harming most vulnerable, NGOs warn
The designation of Haiti's major gangs as terrorists by Washington could risk further entrenching their power by limiting financial and humanitarian aid, NGOs focused on organized crime and human rights have warned. The United States last week designated Viv Ansanm, the armed alliance that controls most of capital Port-au-Prince, and Gran Grif, which operates in the breadbasket Artibonite region, as terrorist groups, following similar measures made recently for Latin American drug cartels.
Reuters: US VP Vance says war between India and Pakistan will be 'none of our business'
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that India and Pakistan should de-escalate tensions, but he added that the U.S. cannot control the nuclear-armed Asian neighbors and a war between them would be "none of our business". "We want this thing to de-escalate as quickly as possible. We can't control these countries, though," Vance said in an interview on Fox News show "The Story with Martha MacCallum."
Afghanistan International: US Engages With Taliban Over Terror Threats, Hostage Releases
The US State Department has confirmed it is engaging with the Taliban to address national security concerns and facilitate the release of American hostages. The announcement was made in a statement to Afghanistan International on Wednesday, though officials declined to disclose the level or nature of these engagements.
NDTV: Nikki Haley Backs India's Right To Retaliate, Slams Pak On Terror
Indian-American Republican leader Nikki Haley on Thursday said that India had "every right" to retaliate and defend itself after the Pahalgam terror attack, asserting that Pakistan does not get to play the "victim".
Associated Press: Texas man convicted of threatening to lynch Nashville DA
A Texas man associated with a neo-Nazi group was convicted on Wednesday of posting threats to lynch and kill Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk after another group member was charged with attacking a downtown bar worker. David Aaron Bloyed, 60, of Frost, Texas, was found guilty by a federal jury in Nashville of one count of communicating a threat in interstate commerce, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. He faces up to five years in prison at sentencing.
New York Times: Far-Right Activist Targets Trump’s Surgeon General Pick
President Trump’s selection of Dr. Casey Means, a Stanford-educated wellness specialist and book author, as his next surgeon general provoked a vigorous debate on Thursday over whether someone who is not a practicing physician should serve as the nation’s top doctor. Laura Loomer, the far-right activist who holds so much sway with Mr. Trump that more than a half-dozen national security officials were fired on her advice, emerged as a vocal critic. So did Nicole Shanahan, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s former running mate, who called the choice “very strange.”
Antisemitism is on the rise in the American healthcare sector, with academic medical centers emerging as the primary setting for such discrimination, according to a peer-reviewed study from StandWithUs's Data and Analytics Department that was published on Monday.
Vibe: Ye Shares Militant Music Video For “Heil Hitler”
Ye is fully committed to the Nazi bit. The 47-year-old artist shared a militant music video for his track “Heil Hitler,” which he’d been teasing for a few weeks. On Wednesday evening (May 7), the artist formerly known as Kanye West shared a photo of a painted swastika on X to announce that he was uploading the song, though it was unclear where it would be available to play. Finally, around 4 a.m., fans learned that they could hear the official song directly on X, accompanied by an unexpected music video. The visual featured a group of Black men standing in a military formation chanting “Ni**a heil Hitler!” while some wore animal skins over their heads and others over their shoulders.
New York Times: Proud Boys’ Ex-Leader Thanks Trump for Pardon at Mar-a-Lago Encounter
Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, said he personally thanked President Trump on Saturday night for issuing a pardon that cut short the 22-year prison term he was serving in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Mr. Tarrio’s expression of gratitude came during a brief but extraordinary encounter with Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla. Mr. Tarrio and his mother, Zuny Duarte, were invited to have dinner at the property by one of its members.
Canada
Yukon Now: Trial underway on terrorism charges in 2023 Surrey bus stabbing
The judge-only trial for the man charged with terrorism-related offences in a 2023 bus attack in Surrey started on Monday (May 5) in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. Abdul Aziz Kawam was arrested for attempted murder after allegedly slashing a person's throat on a bus in Surrey in the 14800 block of Fraser Highway on April 1, 2023. Police alleged that the assault was carried out for the Islamic State.
Surrey Now-Leader: Accused pledged allegiance to Islamic State, Surrey terrorism trial hears
Federal Crown prosecutors told the court in their closing arguments Thursday that the man charged with carrying out a terrorist attack in Surrey should be found guilty, pending a hearing to determine if he should be found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. On April 1, 2023, Abdul Aziz Kawam attempted to kill one victim and assaulted another in Surrey. The victim's names are covered under a publication ban.
Germany
New York Times: A Tricky Challenge for Germany’s New Government: a Far-Right Opposition
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition is weighing how to confront the Alternative for Germany party, which has been rising in the polls.
United Kingdom
Reuters: King Charles calls for global peace as UK marks 80th anniversary of VE Day
Britain's King Charles said on Thursday the world had a duty to commit to seeking lasting peace and preventing warfare in a speech to mark the end of four days of commemorations for the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. Following a sombre thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey, Charles and senior royals joined 10,000 guests including veterans for a music concert at Horse Guards Parade near Buckingham Palace as part of events to remember Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender, which took effect on May 8, 1945.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: Taliban Fighters Have Defected To ISIS, TTP, Says Pakistani Envoy
Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, has acknowledged that some Taliban fighters have defected to extremist groups including ISIS and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Speaking on Tuesday at the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad, Sadiq revealed that the Afghan Taliban are hesitant to confront the TTP due to fears that internal divisions could prompt further defections of their own fighters to ISIS. However, he confirmed that such defections have already occurred, with some Taliban members having joined ISIS, the TTP, and other militant groups.
The Telegraph: Afghans resort to death over being sent back into Taliban’s clutches
Osman spent years fighting alongside international forces against the Taliban before fleeing to Pakistan when the Islamist group returned to power in Afghanistan.Last month, however, after being driven to despair by the threat of being forced back into the hands of the insurgents he once fought, he hanged himself in a small room in Rawalpindi. The former major-general was among the three million Afghan refugees whom Pakistan wants to send back across the border and into the clutches of the Taliban.
Amu: Three journalists detained by Taliban in last two days, sources say
Taliban intelligence forces have detained three journalists in the northern province of Takhar over the past two days, according to local sources. The journalists — Asadullah Timur and Sayed Munir Hadaf of the Tasweer weekly, and Nusratullah Ibrahimi of Ariana News — were taken into custody by Taliban intelligence members and transferred to an undisclosed location, sources familiar with the matter told Amu TV. Their current whereabouts and condition remain unknown. Taliban have not publicly commented on the arrests.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Confirms Removal & Ban Of Hundreds Of Books Across Afghanistan
The Taliban have confirmed that hundreds of books have been banned and removed from libraries and bookstores across Afghanistan over the past three years. Abdulhaq Emad, head of copyright at the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture said that the content of these books deemed inconsistent with Islamic Sharia, national unity, or the group’s ideological principles.
Iran
The National: Iran to ‘open the gates of hell' if US or Israel launch attack, IRGC chief warns
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Maj Gen Hossein Salami on Thursday warned that Tehran would "open the gates of hell" if attacked by the US or Israel. "These are serious warnings to the Zionist and American authorities ... if you make the slightest mistake, we will open the gates of hell for you," Maj Gen Salami said in a video carried by the Tasnim news agency.
Iran International: Hybrid warfare aims to destabilize Iran internally, says senior IRGC official
A senior intelligence official from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday that foreign powers have shifted to a hybrid warfare strategy aimed at undermining the Islamic Republic across multiple sectors.
Iran International: Iran calls report on alleged secret nuclear weapons site politically motivated
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday dismissed recent satellite imagery reports about a suspected nuclear facility in Iran, linking them to efforts to undermine upcoming nuclear talks with the United States. “Like clockwork, more Very Scary Satellite Images are being circulated as Iran-US indirect nuclear talks are set to resume,” Araghchi wrote on X, in an apparent reference to a Fox News report citing the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
Israel
Reuters: Hamas says it is engaged in 'fierce fighting' in Gaza's Rafah
Hamas militants engaged in "fierce fighting" with Israeli soldiers on Thursday in the south of the Gaza Strip near Rafah, the Palestinian militant group said. The statement, issued on Telegram, suggests that Hamas is still active in areas where the Israeli military has expanded its control, more than 19 months after the start of Israel's air and ground campaign in Gaza.
Times of Israel: Hamas-linked sources: Group met mediators this week but ‘no progress’ toward deal
A Hamas delegation held two meetings with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Doha this week but they produced no breakthrough in the search for a Gaza truce, sources close to the Palestinian terror group say. “Egyptian officials met twice with a high-level Hamas delegation led by [chief negotiator] Khalil al-Hayya [and] Qatari officials on Wednesday and Thursday in Doha,” one source tells AFP. A second source says the talks were “serious” but made “no concrete progress.”
Jewish News Syndicate: Israeli forces kill, arrest Lions’ Den terrorists in heart of Nablus
Israeli security forces killed a member of the Iranian-backed Lions’ Den terrorist coalition and arrested a second operative during a counter-terrorism operation in the heart of Nablus (Shechem) on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces announced in a statement.
Ynet: Hamas terrorist who abducted elderly woman on Oct. 7, filmed it, killed in Gaza strike
The IDF said Thursday it eliminated a Hamas terrorist involved in the deadly October 7 cross-border attack and the abduction of hostage Yafa Adar, whose capture became one of the most iconic images of the assault. According to a joint statement from the military and the Shin Bet security agency, Muhammad Rasmi Marzouq Barakeh, a member of Hamas’ military intelligence wing, was killed in an airstrike near Gaza City on Wednesday. Barakeh took part in the October 7 massacre and was identified in footage sitting beside Adar in the vehicle that transported her into Gaza.
Times of Israel: Two IDF soldiers killed, six wounded in southern Gaza fighting
Two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed on Thursday, and at least six were wounded in separate incidents amid fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, the military announced. The soldiers were named Friday morning as Sgt. Yishai Elyakim Urbach, 20, of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 605th Battalion, from Zichron Yaakov, and Staff Sgt. Yam Frid, 21, of the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, from Sal’it.
Times of Israel: Ex-hostage Eliya Cohen says he and others tried to escape on their 1st day in Gaza
Freed hostage Eliya Cohen says he and other abductees tried to escape on their first day in captivity in Gaza. As Israel started striking the Strip and flattened a building where they were initially held, another warning of an impending bombing caused the captors to leave Cohen and several others alone, he tells Ynet.
Times of Israel: Arab Israeli indicted for swearing allegiance to ISIS, trying to join it in Syria
Prosecutors say they have indicted a resident of the Arab city of Kafr Qasim over alleged membership in the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group. Adam Sarsour, 29, is accused of having consumed ISIS material for a decade through social media and other websites. He allegedly decided to join the group, traveled to Turkey twice and unsuccessfully tried to cross the border into Syria.
Lebanon
Lebanese voted Sunday in the country’s first local elections in almost a decade, months after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire ended a war between Israel and Hezbollah. The first round of voting, which is taking place by region, was in the Mount Lebanon districts including Beirut’s battered southern suburbs, where Hezbollah headquarters are located and much of their leadership including veteran leader Hassan Nasrallah were killed in Israeli airstrikes during the 14-month war.
Naharnet: Hamas says 'individuals' behind rocket fire at Israel from Lebanon
Palestinian militant group Hamas has blamed "individual" actors for firing rockets towards Israel from Lebanon after it handed over several people, saying it was committed to a Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire. Hamas claimed attacks on Israel from Lebanon during more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Palestinian group's Lebanese ally Hezbollah that erupted over the Gaza war and largely ended with a November truce.
Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening security cooperation on Thursday, vowing to work against threats, including Kurdish militants based on Iraqi territory.
Yemen
Stars and Stripes: US strikes depleted Houthi arsenal, but militants primed to rearm, analysts say
The Houthis are rearming for future fights and will continue to attack Israel, analysts say following a deal the Iran-backed militants struck with the White House to stop attacking Red Sea shipping in exchange for an end to crippling American airstrikes.
India
Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra said India is at war with terrorists, and the world should be concerned that Pakistan supports terrorism. He said when India retaliated with precise, measured raids on terror factories in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, it assumed a sense of finality to it. However, Pakistan that regularly supports terrorists, decided to escalate matters by attacking India.
NDTV: 7 Terrorists, Backed By Pak Rangers, Shot Dead Trying To Infiltrate Jammu
India foiled an infiltration attempt last night and killed seven terrorists in the Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan Rangers were helping them infiltrate by firing across the border from Dhandhar post, said the Border Security Force (BSF). India's military action also caused damage to the Pakistani post.
The Hindu: Nine militants arrested in Manipur
“Security forces have arrested nine militants belonging to several proscribed outfits from three districts of Manipur,” police said on Friday (May 9, 2025). “Four active members of the banned Kangleipak Communist Party were apprehended from Lamding Khumanthem Leikai in Thoubal district on Thursday (May 8, 2025),” they said.
Kenya
Kenyans: Suspected Al-Shabaab Militant Killed, Others Arrested While Planting IEDs in Garissa
A suspected Al-Shabaab militant was killed and three others arrested following an operation by Kenya's elite Special Operations Group (SOG) on Thursday, May 8. According to a statement from Counter Terrorism Policing Kenya, the operation was carried out after the SOG intercepted an Al-Shabaab cell targeting civilians and security vehicles along the Dadaab-Hagadera road.
The elite Special Operations Group (SOG) has killed an Al-Shabaab terrorist in Garissa while responding to reports by locals of militants attempting to plant Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) along the Dadaab-Hagadera road, targeting civilians and security vehicles. According to Counter Terrorism Policing Ke, the team tracked the four suspects, where one was killed and three others were injured during the fire exchange early Thursday morning and is in pursuit of the others.
The Eastleigh Voice: US offers Sh1.29 billion bounty for terror suspect linked to Manda Bay attack
The United States government has placed a bounty of up to Sh1.29 billion (USD 10 million) on the head of terror suspect Abdullahi Banati, who is linked to the 2020 terror attack on Manda Bay Airfield in Lamu County.
Australia
Notorious Australian terrorist leader Abdul Nacer Benbrika organised funding for radical Sydney preacher Wisam Haddad's hate-speech legal battle against Australia's peak Jewish body. The revelation is contained in a Victorian Supreme Court decision, published last week, handing a terrorism supervision order to Benbrika, in part because of his associations with Mr Haddad.
Daily Dose
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
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