Eye on Extremism: October 22, 2026
Top Stories
Reuters: Iran's IRGC Navy says seven vessels hit, warns US of wider response
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said on Thursday that four vessels involved in illegal oil transfers in the northern Persian Gulf were simultaneously hit and caught fire after being tracked by its forces on Wednesday.
Times of London: Teachers say antisemitism definition will stifle debate on Gaza
The biggest teaching union has hit back at government plans for schools and colleges to adopt the internationally recognised definition of antisemitism, saying it will stifle classroom debate on the war in Gaza.
United States
WFAA: FBI arrests 17-year-old accused of plotting to assassinate a North Texas congressman
The FBI has arrested and charged a 17-year-old boy from McKinney for planning to assassinate U.S. Representative Keith Self at an event last Saturday. Federal investigators said the juvenile was also planning to carry out a terrorist attack in North Texas on behalf of ISIS.
Guardian: 24-year-old Kansas man arrested for allegedly threatening to shoot Donald Trump
A 24-year-old Kansas man has been arrested for allegedly threatening to shoot Donald Trump. Authorities arrested Jaden J Read, of Clearwater, Kansas, last Saturday after he allegedly posted threats to kill the US president at his rally in the Wichita area on Monday, according to the justice department.
Jew-hatred and “radical activism” have penetrated K-12 classes at the School District of Philadelphia and the Berkeley Unified School District, which collectively have about 205,000 students in 350 schools, and at the National Education Association, the largest teachers union, according to a new report from the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Times of Israel: NY political leaders warn anti-Zionist group against targeting Jewish events
New York elected leaders warn the Pal-Awda anti-Zionist activist group against targeting Jewish events ahead of a protest planned for Saturday in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. US Congressman Ritchie Torres, State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, and City Council Member Eric Dinowitz issue a joint warning to the group. The lawmakers are all from the Bronx.
A Tullahoma, Tennessee, man is set to spend more than 17 years in federal prison after being sentenced in the 2019 burning of a building belonging to the Highlander Center in New Market, Tennessee. The building was valued at more than $1.2 million.
OregonLive: FBI probes 16-year-old Bend shooter’s online radicalization, apparent Nazi obsession
The 16-year-old who shot and killed three students and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend last Thursday may have been radicalized online by extremist groups and developed an “obsession with Nazism,” law-enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said.
A 21-year-old man was arrested in Homestead after investigators said he sent racist and anti-LGBTQ messages on Instagram, including explicit threats to kill and harm others, prompting an FBI investigation.
KATU2ABC: West Linn condemns hate after white supremacist literature reported
Neighbors in West Linn are speaking out after discovering hate-filled literature was left on driveways in a southwest neighborhood Tuesday morning.
Fox News: El-Sayed, Rogers clash over Muslim Brotherhood, Trump and guns: 5 fiery debate moments
Former Rep. Mike Rogers and his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, tore into each other at their second Michigan Senate debate Wednesday evening. Rogers, a former FBI special agent and the Republican U.S. Senate candidate, clashed with El-Sayed over the personal barbs, accusations and fierce divides that have defined one of the country's most anticipated Senate elections.
New York Times: Abdul El-Sayed Confronts Attacks on His Faith and Family Ties
In the final weeks of Michigan’s closely watched Senate race, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed’s ethnicity, religion and family have come under renewed attacks and scrutiny.
US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has flagged a sharp rise in anti-Indian, anti-South Asian and anti-Hindu hate on social media, accusing major technology companies of profiting from online hatred and calling on Congress to hold them accountable. In a post on X, Krishnamoorthi said, "Anti-Indian hate is exploding on social media, and Big Tech is profiting from it. These companies have no incentive to stop the hatred they help spread. Congress must hold them accountable."
South America
Hezbollah is increasingly recruiting convicted felons in Latin America, targeting individuals with financial difficulties who harbor resentment toward the courts – while relaxing its requirements for ideological alignment – according to a new Washington Institute for Near East Policy assessment. The report was written by Lucas Gualtieri, a Brazilian federal prosecutor who specializes in organized crime and Hezbollah’s use of criminal networks.
France
Reuters: France’s Macron tightens curbs on protests, blaming hard left for unrest
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that “illegitimate” protests would be banned in the coming days and blamed “seditious” ultra-left groups and vandals for last weekend's riots and looting. Speaking after a meeting with intelligence chiefs and senior ministers, Macron said demonstrations organised by groups such as trade unions would be allowed to go ahead but could be diverted along alternative routes to protect businesses.
Le Monde: French police arrest man over Limoges city hall fire during protests
French security forces arrested a man on Tuesday, October 20, over a fire that burnt down a historic city hall in central France during rioting at the weekend on the sidelines of nationwide protests. The city hall in Limoges, a heritage-listed building that dates back to 1883, had its roof and belfry collapse when it was engulfed by fire on Saturday. The building's facade is still standing, though at risk of collapse. The interior and roof have been destroyed.
France24: Around the world, far right blames immigrants for French protests
There has been no link between the violence -- which spilled over from cost-of-living protests -- and immigration, but the upheaval in France has become a favourite talking point for politicians in the United States, Spain and Israel.
Germany
Deutsche Welle: Can Germany overhaul its economy before the AfD grows stronger?
Conflicts, rising costs and Chinese competition are testing Germany's economic model like never before. Which new sectors could revive growth and contain the far-right AfD, whose support has grown larger than ever?
The concept of “Active Clubs” originated in the USA. However, right-wing extremist martial arts groups are also increasingly common in Germany. Young men are recruited, for example, in fitness groups.
Spain
ARA: Vox chooses a candidate with a neo-Nazi past to head the list of Tarragona for 29-N
Vox announced on Wednesday the names heading their lists for the Spanish elections on November 29. Most of the current members of Congress are in the top spots, but there are also nearly twenty new faces. And among them stands out the head of the list for Tarragona, where the far-right has decided to place a candidate with a neo-Nazi past. This is Jordi de la Fuente, a councilor in Sant Adrià de Besòs and current leader of Solidaridad, the Vox union.
United Kingdom
Counter Terror Business: Man who travelled to Somalia to join Daesh jailed for 12 years
A man who travelled to Somalia to join the terrorist group Daesh has been sentenced to 12 years’ in prison. Following a three-week trial at Winchester Crown Court, Mohamed Mohamoud, was found guilty of preparation of acts of terrorism, contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006, following a three-week trial at Winchester Crown Court, which concluded on 18 August.
Britain’s largest teaching union has rejected one of the key recommendations of a major government-backed review of the scale of antisemitism within British education.
BBC: Holocaust school lessons to be improved after ‘shocking’ antisemitism review
Education Secretary Lucy Powell says the government will “update and strengthen” Holocaust education within schools after a major review highlighted the “shocking scale” of antisemitism in British society. Schools and colleges in England will be required to recognise antisemitism as a distinct category of harm and take explicit action against it.
Russia
Afghanistan International: Russia Plans To Expand Defence Cooperation With Taliban
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says Moscow plans to expand cooperation with the Taliban in counterterrorism, anti-narcotics efforts and defence.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: Taliban Member Killed In Takhar, Says AFF
The Afghanistan Freedom Front has claimed responsibility for Wednesday evening’s blast in Taloqan, saying one Taliban member was killed and three others wounded in an attack on the group’s city intelligence unit.
KabulNow: UN Confirms Security Incident Involving Staff Member in Central Afghanistan
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Thursday confirmed a security incident involving one of its staff members in Afghanistan’s central Bamyan province, saying the employee was unharmed.
New York Times: ‘Open War’ Between Afghanistan and Pakistan Adds a Volatile Element
China has tried to mediate, unsuccessfully. So have Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. And yet the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan shows no sign of ending, and each side appears to have abandoned diplomacy. Proxy groups are also playing a growing role in the fighting.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Fighters Enter Restricted Zone Along China Border
A newly circulated video appears to show Taliban fighters entering a restricted area along China’s border in Wakhan, where Chinese border guards warn them in English to leave immediately.
Some experts say that children who go through the various stages of their physical, psychological, and intellectual development under Taliban rule are influenced by Taliban thinking in every aspect of their lives. According to them, the transmission of the Taliban’s mindset, particularly their interpretation of religion, could have devastating consequences for the country’s future. These experts believe that, if the current situation continues, Afghanistan may in the coming years face a generation of teenagers and young people who have been influenced by extremist views and beliefs that are stricter than those of today.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Palestinians attacked a pro-settlement tour group that included Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, a candidate for the right-wing People of Israel party, in the central West Bank village of Turmus Ayya on Monday, the party said, accusing the government of failing to crack down on terrorism.
JNS: IDF hunts suspects after Jewish holy site torched in Samaria
Israeli soldiers were dispatched on Wednesday to the Samaria village of Awarta following a report and footage of a grave being set on fire, the IDF told JNS on Thursday. Troops searched for suspects, who had fled before their arrival, the military said in response to a JNS inquiry. No injuries were reported.
Iran
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Wednesday that it was preparing to unveil a new weapon, which it dubbed the “Father of All Bombs,” in response to US threats to use the most powerful conventional bomb in the American arsenal against Iran's nuclear facilities.
Naharnet: Report: Iran says doesn't need Hezbollah support in new war
Speaker Nabih Berri has relayed recent warnings from foreign visitors to Hezbollah, urging the Iran-backed party to refrain from military involvement in the event of a new war on Tehran, a source directly involved in the U.S.-sponsored Lebanese–Israeli negotiations said.
Israel
Naharnet: Netanyahu vows to ‘sever head of octopus’ and ‘its arms Hamas and Hezbollah’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he would inform U.S. President Donald Trump of what Israel intends to do, but will not ask him for a green light to strike Iran. Netanyahu added that he had issued a directive stating that “the only acceptable solution is the overthrow of the fanatical regime in Iran.”
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday extended the remand of a suspect arrested on suspicion of involvement in settler attacks in the West Bank over the weekend, including on a Washington Post photojournalist and European diplomats.
Nine of the 10 suspects arrested in an investigation into militant settler attacks on a US journalist and European diplomats have been released from custody and placed under house arrest, a law firm that represents settlers said.
JTA: Herzog calls for crackdown on violent West Bank settlers as olive harvest tensions mount
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is backing senior Israel Defense Forces commanders in taking decisive action against violent settler attacks in the West Bank, he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Lebanon
Hezbollah is rebuilding its military capabilities in Beirut, while the IDF is preparing for the possibility of renewed fighting with the terrorist organization if it attacks the Israeli home front during an escalation involving Iran, a security official told Walla on Wednesday.
Naharnet: Will Cabinet refer Hezbollah explosives case to Judicial Council?
Cabinet will meet at 3:00 PM today, Thursday, at the Presidential Palace. The agenda includes a request from the Ministry of Justice to refer the case of explosives seized by Lebanese authorities last week to the Judicial Council.
Naharnet: Nassar: Hezbollah explosives probe expanding, file must be referred to Judicial Council
Minister of Justice Adel Nassar has said that the investigation into the file of Hezbollah's explosives shipment "is ongoing and expanding,” in line with “the commitments of President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and the Ministry of Justice that there is no ceiling on the investigations, and no political interference to influence them."
Naharnet: Berri calls for national unity, cautions against escalation over Hezbollah explosives
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri believes Lebanon is in dire need of unity. In remarks published Thursday in al-Joumhouria, he called on the Lebanese people to unite and avoid provocative or sectarian speech.
Saudi Arabia
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Thursday they had attacked Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry in Riyadh, Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.
Naharnet: Two killed, 8 injured in Dammam airport attack
An attack targeting the King Fahd International Airport in eastern Saudi Arabia's Dammam killed a Saudi citizen and an Indian national and injured eight others Wednesday evening, the kingdom's civil aviation authority said.
Reuters: US orders diplomats to depart Saudi Arabia amid Houthi strikes
The US State Department has ordered some diplomats and family members to depart from its missions in Saudi Arabia and plans to withdraw family members from a number of other US missions in the region, US officials told Reuters.
Syria
Sana: Security operation targets cell affiliated with ISIS terrorist group
Internal Security Forces carried out a security operation targeting a cell affiliated with the ISIS terrorist organization in the town of Rankous in western Damascus countryside, the forces said on Thursday.
Shafaq News: ISIS clash kills two Syrian security members
Two members of Syria's Internal Security Forces were killed and five others wounded on Thursday in clashes with an ISIS cell in the town of Rankous, in the countryside west of Damascus, the forces said.
Yemen
Iran International: Yemen’s armed forces say airstrikes hit Houthi sites in Taiz
Yemen’s armed forces carried out airstrikes on Houthi positions and equipment in western, southern and eastern Taiz province on Thursday, according to Yemen’s state-run Saba news agency.
Kenya
KBC: Man in court over alleged ISIS links, extremist files on phone
A 26-year-old man has been charged in a Mombasa court with membership in the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group and two other terrorism-related offences. Bakari Omar Kingi appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Gladys Olimo on Tuesday, where he denied the three charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2012.
Morocco
Morocco’s National Commission charged with applying UN Security Council sanctions, known by its acronym CNASNU, added 10 new individuals to the country’s local terrorism list on Monday. The listings target Moroccan nationals accused of ties to the Islamic State (Daesh) and to al-Qaeda’s affiliate in the Sahel.
Niger
BBC: Two European women held captive for more than a year in Niger freed in Libya
Two women - a Swiss and an Austrian – have been freed after more than a year in captivity in Niger and handed over to authorities in the Libyan city of Benghazi. Austrian national Eva Gretzmacher, 76, and Swiss Claudia Abbt, 69, were kidnapped separately in the northern Nigerien city of Agadez in January and April last year.
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