NPR: More Captives To Be Freed As Mediators Work To Prolong The Israel-Hamas Truce

“A temporary truce between Israel and Hamas was set to expire on Wednesday, but mediators in Qatar were trying to extend it for at least another 48 hours to allow for the exchange of more captives and for additional aid to reach embattled Gaza. On the second day of a two-day cease-fire extension, at least another 10 Israelis were expected to be freed by Hamas in exchange for at least 30 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says it believes that 161 of the original 240 hostages seized by Hamas in last month's attack on Israeli communities were still being held by the Islamist militant group. Israel says around 1,200 people were killed when Hamas fighters swept out of the Gaza Strip, striking nearby Israeli communities. On Tuesday, Hamas freed 10 Israelis and two Thai laborers in exchange for 30 Palestinians prisoners and detainees. The families of Israeli hostages released by Hamas continue to share stories of their relatives' captivity, with some relatives speaking to media outlets. Gideon Heiman says his 84-year-old mother did not receive necessary medical treatment while being held Gaza. Israeli doctors also say rescued hostages have returned malnourished. One of the former captives is in stable condition at a hospital, but her family says her neurological condition is still unclear. Devora Cohen says her 12-year-old nephew Eitan told her that his captors used guns to threaten crying Israeli children to be quiet.”

Reuters: Turkey Freezes Assets Of 82 Organisations, People For Alleged PKK Ties

“Turkey froze the local assets of 20 organisations and 62 people based in Australia, Japan and various European countries, citing alleged ties with Kurdish militant group PKK, a decision published in the Official Gazette showed on Wednesday. Turkey's Ministry of Treasury and Finance said the decision was "based on the existence of reasonable grounds" that they committed acts falling within the scope of the law on preventing the financing of terrorism. The list included three organisations from Germany and another three from Switzerland, both countries that are home to a large Kurdish diaspora. It also named two organisations each from Australia, Italy and Japan. Other affected organisations were in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom and Iraq-Syria. A spokesperson for Insamlingsstiftelsen Kurdiska Roda Solen, the one organisation on the list in Sweden, said the group is a humanitarian aid organisation with no operations and no assets in Turkey. Sweden as well as Finland requested to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in May last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan raised objections to both requests, citing the Nordic nations' protection of those whom Turkey deems terrorists, as well as their defence trade embargoes. Turkey endorsed Finland's bid in April. From Sweden, it has demanded further steps to control local members of the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK), which the European Union and the United States consider a terrorist group.”

CEP Mentions

Blue Line: The Active Club Network

“In past columns, I have explored the psychology of conspiracy theories and extremism, as well as focusing on extremist groups such as the Boogaloo Boys and QAnon. This month, I wanted to explore the transnational extremist group, known as the Active Club. In September 2023, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) referred to them as a racist group “hiding in plain sight”. The Active Club network in Canada is, in part, a recruiting front for the Hammerskins, a racist skinhead gang with a decades-long history of violence.”

Breitbart: Report: Hamas Has Lost Track Of Some Israeli Hostages Abducted In Terror Attack

“…“There’s been a well-developed smuggling economy in Gaza for decades – long before Hamas took control – organised by networks of crime families. So it’s possible hostages are neither under the control of Hamas nor Islamic Jihad – but these crime organisations,” Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director at the transatlantic thinktank the Counter Extremism Project, told Sky News.”

The Messenger: Gaza Ceasefire Problem: Hamas Says 40 Hostages Are ‘Missing’ — And Doesn’t Know Who’s Holding Them

“…The hostage situation has shown that Hamas’ control over Gaza is not absolute, said Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter-Extremism Project, a policy institute based in Washington and Berlin. Schindler said he believes Hamas enlisted the aid of the PIJ and organized crime groups in Gaza for the raid, but that the groups are competing when it comes to the hostages. He added that given the ferocity of the Israeli war against Gaza, the hostages have become “life insurance” for Hamas leaders in Gaza, who fear a renewed Israeli onslaught will only end when they are dead. “This is their one ticket for getting out of Gaza and not getting killed by Israel,” Schindler told The Messenger.”

Canada

The New York Times: In Canada, A Judge Sentences An Incel Killer As A Terrorist

“The teenager was lying next to his bloodied sword when the police captured him outside a Toronto massage business where one woman had been stabbed to death and another seriously injured. The sword was inscribed with a sexist epithet and a note promoting an ideology of violence against women was found in the pocket of the teenager, Oguzhan Sert. With the evidence stacked against Mr. Sert, he pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder. But a Canadian judge ruled that the attacks were acts of terrorism, in part because Mr. Sert wanted to send a message that he hated women. On Tuesday, the judge, Justice Suhail Akhtar, sentenced Mr. Sert — who was 17 at the time of the attack — to life in prison, though he will be eligible for parole after 10 years. Mr. Sert was sentenced as an adult, which voided a previous ban under Canadian juvenile justice laws against naming him, according to one of his lawyers, Monte MacGregor. The case represents the first time in Canada that the murder of a woman killed because of her gender has been prosecuted as an act of terrorism, a charge that increases the length of a prison sentence. In a country that has grappled with recent, high-profile attacks against women, the case underscores how Canada is rethinking the classification of some violent acts as terrorism. Mr. Sert embraced the ideology of an online group whose members call themselves incels, or “involuntary celibates,” and who disparage women and blame them for denying incels what they believe is their right to sex.”

Afghanistan

The Guardian: Taliban Could Be Convinced To Open Girls’ Schools, Says Afghanistan Ex-Education Minister

“There are many Taliban officials who would support reversing the ban on schooling for girls in Afghanistan, according to the country’s last education minister before the takeover. Under Taliban rule, Afghanistan has become the only country in the world where girls are banned from schooling beyond the age of 11. The group has also imposed what has been described as a policy of “gender apartheid”, banning women from most work and public spaces. But internal fractures that exist within the Taliban on girl’s education could be leveraged by the international community to lobby with them to reopen girls schools, said Rangina Hamidi, who recently visited the country. “The Taliban are not a monolith. There are differences of opinions within the Taliban, just as with any other group. And it is evident, particularly on the issue of the ban on girls’ education, there are many within the Taliban who support reversing the decree,” she said. “Whether or not the world recognises the Taliban, for nearly 40 million Afghans, at least half of whom are women and girls, this is a lived reality,” she said. “And it pains me, that even after two years, the international community hasn’t figured out how to deal with the Taliban, at the expense of the people and girls of Afghanistan. “Not that long ago the US government, along with its allies and international agencies, were engaged in the political talks with the Taliban. Why then, does the same global community today have a problem with working with the Taliban?””

Middle East

The Washington Examiner: Russia ‘Using Migration’ To Pressure NATO As Israel-Hamas War Heightens Terrorism Threat

“Russia has orchestrated an influx of immigrants into Finland, a “hybrid operation” that has forced NATO’s newest member to close its eastern border. “Russia is enabling the instrumentalization of people and guiding them to the Finnish border in harsh winter conditions,” Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said Tuesday. “Finland is determined to put an end to this phenomenon.” More than 800 people have arrived at Finnish border crossings over the last month, with the asylum-seekers “predominantly from the Middle East and Africa,” according to Voice of America. Western officials characterized the new surge as “yet another” attempt by Russia to find unconventional ways to threaten NATO. “We have seen them using energy, we have seen them using cyberattacks, we have seen them using different kinds of clandestine operations to try to undermine our democracies,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday at a meeting of NATO’s top diplomats in Brussels. “The fact that Russia is now using migration as a tool is yet another example of the attempt to put pressure on neighbors, NATO allies, and they will not succeed because we stand together.” As Finnish authorities finalized their plan to close the last border crossing with Russia, Moscow issued a new rebuke of the Nordic state’s decision to join the trans-Atlantic alliance.”

BBC: Toxic Gas Putting Millions At Risk In Middle East, BBC Finds

“Flaring - the burning of waste gas during oil drilling - is taking place across the Gulf, including by COP28 hosts the United Arab Emirates. New research suggests pollution is spreading hundreds of miles, worsening air quality across the entire region. It comes as the UAE hosts the UN's COP28 climate summit on Thursday. The UAE banned routine flaring 20 years ago, but satellite images show it is continuing, despite the potential health consequences for its inhabitants and those in neighbouring countries. Analysis for BBC Arabic shows gasses are now spreading hundreds of kilometres across the region. Pollution from wells in Iraq, Iran and Kuwait were also analysed as part of the study. All of the countries involved either declined to comment or did not respond. Oil companies, including BP and Shell, who are responsible or partly responsible for sites where flaring took place said they were working to reduce the practice. On Monday, BBC News revealed leaked documents showed how the UAE had planned to use its role as the host of UN climate talks as an opportunity to strike oil and gas deals. David R. Boyd, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment said the BBC's findings were: "Very disturbing. Big oil companies and states in the Middle East are violating the human rights of millions of people by failing to tackle air pollution from fossil fuels.”

Nigeria

CNN: Away From Threat Of Islamist Violence Or Floods, Health Risks For Pregnant Women In Nigeria's Refugee Camps Remain High 

“Aisha Aliyu is eight-months pregnant and sprawled out on a mat in front of her house with four of her children spread around her feet. Two-year-old Hauwa and five-year-old Abba are both crying and tugging at their mother's coffee-colored hijab. She, in response, rolls her eyes and clicks her tongue at them. She looks tired.  The child Aliyu is carrying is her tenth. The last four were delivered in the Durumi Camp, a place in Nigeria's capital city, Abuja, that she and an estimated more than 3,000 other internally displaced people call home.  In 2013, Aliyu fled her home in the village of Wala in Nigeria's northeastern Borno State to its capital, Maiduguri. She said her village was attacked and much of it burned down by armed Islamist group, Boko Haram. Two years later, the militant group attacked Maiduguri, forcing Aliyu to again migrate, this time travelling over 856km south to Abuja with her husband and five children. The now 39-year-old saw having many children as a way of replacing her relatives killed by the insurgents, but reveals she was done after her last pregnancy in 2021 and began using contraceptives. However, she became pregnant again this year.  Having already borne children in Durumi camp (one of 264 communities for internally dispaced people (IDPs) known to exist across Nigeria as of September 2021), Aliyu was fearful, knowing of the limited resources she would have access to. The farmer's wife had been unable to afford the food and medication she needed to stay healthy, and antenatal services were limited. ”

Europe

Reuters: Two Brazilian Brothers Arrested In Spain For Alleged Islamic State Links

“Spanish police have arrested two Brazilian brothers in the southern city of Estepona over alleged links to the Islamic State militant Islamist group, the Civil Guard police force said. The police said the siblings had been radicalised and had distributed IS propaganda over the internet. The Civil Guard's statement on Monday said it had identified "significant international links" between the brothers and individuals arrested or under investigation in European countries related to what it described as "the jihadist threat". The arrest comes days after Brazil's Federal Police, in cooperation with Israel's Mossad spy agency, took down an alleged cell of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah seeking to establish itself in Latin America's largest country. Mossad's unusual trumpeting of its involvement in the operation has strained Brazil-Israel ties. A Brazilian Federal Police source identified the brothers arrested in Spain as Thaylan Padilha Palomanes and Thauann Padilha Palomanes, requesting anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The Federal Police had been tracking them for a while, the source said, adding that Thauann had lived in the Netherlands before joining his brother Thaylan in Estepona. They were arrested on Monday "for activities related to terrorism," the source said. The brothers' legal representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.”

Technology

Reuters: Bitcoin Group: Taking Steps Against Money-Laundering, Terrorist Financing

“Germany's Bitcoin Group (ADE.DE) said on Wednesday it was taking measures to improve its internal control system, after the financial regulator BaFin ordered its subsidiary futurum bank to remedy shortcomings on money-laundering and terrorist financing. "The Bitcoin Group expressly points out that there are currently no indications of violations of money laundering and terrorist financing laws within the Group," the company said in a statement. The company said it had already taken measures in the current financial year to meet regulatory requirements and that it aimed "to remedy the identified deficiencies in a timely manner". On Tuesday, BaFin identified "severe deficits" at futurum bank involving its internal security measures, its fulfillment of due diligence obligations and its system for reporting suspicious activity. "We are actively working with BaFin to quickly address the criticized weaknesses in our internal processes, which have not kept pace with the company's growth in recent years," Bitcoin Group Chief Executive Marco Bodewein said in the statement."