Eye on Extremism: September 17, 2026
Top Stories
Afghanistan International: Legal Action Against Taliban Remains On Track, Says Australia
Australia’s Foreign Ministry says it is pursuing legal action with international partners, including Canada, Germany and the Netherlands, to hold the Taliban accountable for widespread violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
President Donald Trump recently amplified a report about a U.S. government investigation that referred more than 100 current or former UNRWA employees over alleged ties to Hamas — as a new watchdog report accuses the U.N. agency of overstating how much it has reformed.
Analysis
Phys.Org: Predominantly online friendships linked to greater support for white nationalism
New research by New York University and Vanderbilt University political scientists is the first study to document the demographic, economic and behavioral characteristics linked to explicit support for white nationalism among the U.S. white population. Expressed support, the authors note, is distinct from organizational affiliation with the movement, which the study did not measure.
Jerusalem Post: Is the Saudi defense pact misunderstood amid Houthi attacks? – analysis
The Houthi advances in Yemen have taken Saudi Arabia and the Middle East by surprise. Riyadh had been working on cementing a new defensive alliance with Turkey and Pakistan on the eve of the Houthi attacks. Now, some commentators seem to think the Saudi-Pakistan-Turkey pact may already be in jeopardy.
Independent: This extremist group has found a new way to threaten the global economy: cheap drones
There is a dangerous tendency to treat the renewed conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi Shiite group as a sideshow to the simmering US-Iran war on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.
United States
An Islamic State group member was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for aiding the terrorist organization that took credit for a suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members and about 160 Afghans at the Kabul airport five years ago during the American military’s chaotic withdrawal from the country.
CNN: DOJ charges Russian agents for financing terrorism, murder-for-hire plots
CNN News Central’s Kate Bolduan talks to Correspondent Kara Scannell about the details of a Justice Department indictment of several suspected Russian intelligence operatives for allegedly financing terrorism and plotting attacks, including a murder-for-hire plot against a Kremlin critic living in the U.S.
US Senator for Nevada Jacky Rosen called for a major expansion of federal security funding for religious institutions on Monday, warning that American Jewish communities are facing an unprecedented wave of threats and violence during the High Holy Days.
Axios: Hasan Piker on “The Axios Show”: America worse than al-Qaeda “pound for pound”
Left-wing streamer Hasan Piker tells Axios he believes America conducts more terrorism in the world than al-Qaeda, the terror network that carried out the 9/11 attacks.
Of four religion-based hate crimes in Hawaii in 2025, three targeted Jews, according to newly released official statistics from the state’s attorney general. The fourth hate crime based on religion targeted a member of an unnamed faith.
JNS: Hasan Piker sued over alleged incitement against Jews, Christians
Larry Klayman, founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch, filed a civil lawsuit against antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker in Palm Beach County, Fla., alleging that Piker incited violence against Jewish and Christian Zionists. Filed Sept. 10 in the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County, the suit names Klayman as plaintiff, representing himself.
Politico: How talks to clean up California’s controversial antisemitism law fell apart
Two words sank seven months of negotiations in Sacramento: “factually accurate.” The phrase was a major source of controversy in AB 715, the contentious law passed last year to combat antisemitism in California schools despite fervent opposition from teacher unions, school administrators and civil rights groups who said it would force teachers to censor themselves when discussing the war in Gaza and other charged subjects. Its authors say it does nothing of the sort.
Fox13Now: Synagogue sign vandalized, rattling Park City's tight-knit Jewish community
Summit County sheriffs detectives are asking for help to identify the person or persons who vandalized the signage outside a Park City synagogue. The physical damage was fairly minimal, but it has emotions running higher than normal for members of the city's small, Jewish community.
The Oct. 27, 2018, synagogue shooting in Squirrel Hill remains the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. On that Sunday in December, Bondi Beach earned the grim title of becoming the site of the worst antisemitic attack in Australia.
New Hampshire Public Radio: Manchester coffee shop vandalized with white supremacist graffiti
Manchester’s Moka Pot coffee shop was vandalized early Wednesday, according to local police. Vandals spray-painted the phrase “white power” and swastikas on the side of the building, and they smashed windows.
Europe
Dozens of members of the European Parliament from Patriots for Europe, the European Parliament's third-largest group, signed a charter adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) principles on combating antisemitism and commemorating the Holocaust at a special conference in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
France
JNS: French Jewish students decry court’s omission of antisemitism
French Jewish students condemned a court’s decision this week to drop antisemitism charges from its sentencing of a woman for her role in a group assault of three Jewish students, whose attackers called them “dirty Zionists” as they beat them.
Germany
Jewish students in Germany experience significantly greater psychological strain than their non-Jewish peers, a new study by researchers from the University of Regensburg and the Sigmund Freud Private University Berlin has revealed.
The Guardian: Merz cancels UN visit after AfD election win puts his leadership on the ropes
Powerful German state leaders from Friedrich Merz’s party have rallied behind him as speculation builds that his days in office may be numbered. The chancellor’s hold on power has looked increasingly shaky since a bombshell regional election result earlier this month in which the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party routed his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in Saxony-Anhalt.
DPA: Germany’s Merz braces for bad news as AfD targets more election gains
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz faces another humbling at the ballot box on Sunday as two eastern states head to the polls, two weeks after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a resounding victory in Saxony-Anhalt.
The Times: Wielding bratwurst and waffles, ‘state mother’ takes fight to the AfD
In a circus tent beside the river Warnow a profusion of trapezes, aerial hoops and fabric bands dangle from the ceiling. Beneath them, Manuela Schwesig is performing a one-woman political high-wire act: to try and prevent her state from falling to the hard right.
The Telegraph: Germany’s wind turbine boom fuels AfD support
The turbines around the town of 5,000 residents in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are a culture war flashpoint before regional elections this Sunday. For the hard-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD), they are an ugly symbol of the failure to replace cheap Russian gas imports and nuclear power.
Italy
Jerusalem Post: Milan rabbi attacked by three men while waiting for bus, police arrest one suspect
A 60-year-old rabbi from Milan's Jewish community was assaulted by three young men while waiting for a bus near the city's Jewish quarter on Tuesday, according to the Jewish community.
Sweden
JNS: Sweden expels Iranian diplomat for targeting Jews
Sweden has expelled an Iranian embassy employee and summoned the country’s ambassador for allegedly threatening Jewish and Israeli interests in Sweden, the country’s justice minister said on Wednesday.
United Kingdom
Guardian: English far-right extremist who discussed killing Jews, Muslims and migrants is jailed
A rightwing extremist who discussed poisoning Jews and Muslims and called for the killing of migrants and minority communities has been jailed. Ivan Jennings, 46, called for the murder of hundreds of people he labelled “subhumans,” saying it was “justified and actually needed,” in extreme far-right groups over a period of three months in 2024.
Afghanistan
Amu TV: US envoy Waltz urges UN Security Council to demand ‘action, not words’ from Taliban
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz called on the Security Council to demand “action, not words” from the Taliban, saying they have been wrongfully detaining foreign nationals, violating the rights of women and girls and allowing terrorist groups to operate in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan International: Khalilzad Must Clarify Where He Stands On Taliban, Says Pakistan
Murtaza Solangi, spokesman for Pakistan’s president, says Zalmay Khalilzad should make clear as an American which side he stands on: the United States, which he served as ambassador in Kabul, or the Taliban, which the US overthrew after the 9/11 attacks.
Arab News: Pakistan warns Taliban against sheltering terrorist groups
Pakistan has warned of the growing terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan, and called on the Taliban to crack down on the militant groups threatening other countries in the region.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
The new Palestinian technocratic government tasked with replacing Hamas in Gaza has crafted 71 projects for rehabilitating the war-decimated enclave, aiming to implement them in its first six months. Almost all of the plans, however, require significant cooperation from Israel, which has been largely reluctant to allow such efforts to date.
Iran
Iran International: IRGC commander says Iran preparing major public mobilization exercise
Iran is preparing what a senior Revolutionary Guards commander described as one of its largest public mobilization exercises, with volunteers being organized and trained to take part.
IranWire: IRGC Mobilizes “Janfada” Campaign for Weapons Training and Mass Military Drills
The Greater Tehran IRGC Headquarters has announced an upcoming military exercise in Tehran allegedly involving half a million participants. Meanwhile, the “Janfada” campaign, originally launched under the guise of a “popular” civil movement, has shifted to registering citizens for military training and organizing them into 1,000 “National Resistance Battalions.”
News.AZ: Iran’s IRGC claims it downed another US MQ-9 drone over Qeshm Island
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has said its Aerospace Force intercepted and destroyed a US MQ-9 reconnaissance drone over Qeshm Island on Thursday morning. The drone was intercepted at 10:12 am local time by the IRGC Aerospace Force’s advanced air defence system, operating under the control of Iran’s integrated air defence network, Mizan News Agency quotes Sepah News as saying.
Iran International: Iran condemns threats to Mecca but disputes basis for blaming Houthis
Iran said on Thursday that any attack on Islamic holy sites, including Mecca, was condemnable, but said Saudi Arabia's account of intercepting a drone headed toward the city was not enough to establish who was responsible.
Reuters: China presses Iran to help rein in Houthis after Saudi appeal, sources say
China has privately asked Tehran to help rein in Yemen’s Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the Iran-backed group's military blitz in the past week, according to three Iranian sources familiar with the matter.
Israel
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) will hunt down every Hamas member involved in the October 7, 2023 slaughter of 1,200 Israelis, no matter where they are hiding across the globe, Shin Bet Director David Zini said on Thursday.
A source close to the Board of Peace has criticized Israel’s current policy in the Gaza Strip, arguing that while Israel’s targeted killings of Hamas operatives may be justified, the strategy will not ultimately lead to the dismantling of the terrorist organization.
Licensed gun owners should carry their weapons when attending synagogue on Yom Kippur, Arik Barbing, a former head of the Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency)'s Jerusalem and West Bank district and former head of the agency's cyber division, told 103FM on Wednesday.
Lebanon
Naharnet: Geagea says govt. represents Lebanese majority after confidence vote
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Thursday that the government represents the majority of the Lebanese people, after Parliament granted it a vote of confidence following two days of debate. Geagea, a staunch opponent of Hezbollah, said the sessions proved that the government truly represents the aspirations of the Lebanese people, who believe the only way out of the current crisis and cycle of wars is to put an end to Hezbollah's "illegal" weapons.
Naharnet: Parliament renews confidence in Salam’s government with 68 votes
Parliament renewed its confidence in Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's government on Wednesday with 68 votes in favor, 12 against, and two abstentions, following two days of heated debate.
Saudi Arabia
Reuters: One killed as Saudi Arabia intercepts drone launched by Yemen’s Houthis
A Yemeni living in Saudi Arabia was killed on Thursday in the interception of a drone, which the kingdom's civil defence said was launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis. The death in the southwestern governorate of Taif is the first announced by Saudi Arabia this month since the militant Houthis intensified their attacks.
Yemen
The Telegraph: Four ways the Houthis became a major military power
When Houthi rebels stormed towards a key global shipping strait last week, it was clear they were no longer just a group of ragged tribal fighters. Wearing flip-flops and high on stimulants, they drove into captured port towns aboard four-wheel-drive military trucks and fired American guns that were abandoned by the Saudi-backed Yemeni forces who fled before them.
Houthi rebels on Wednesday released video of what they said was a Saudi F-15 fighter jet they shot down over Yemen as the recent lightning advance by the Iran-backed rebels piles further pressure on global energy supplies.
Associated Press: Tens of thousands flee as Iran-backed rebels draw Yemen into the wider war
As Houthi rebels closed in, Eshraq Abdel Gelil and her husband fled their home, walking through the mountains before catching a ride to a nearby city. Four months pregnant, she feared another miscarriage. They are among more than 125,000 people who have fled as the Iran-backed rebels have advanced down the Red Sea coast to a key maritime chokepoint. The offensive, linked to the wider Iran war, has threatened Saudi oil exports, pushed up global fuel prices and rattled markets.
Yemen Online: Houthis Raise Fuel Prices in Yemen, Deepening Cost-of-Living Pressures
Yemen's Houthi Militia has imposed a new increase in fuel prices in areas under its control, a move expected to further raise living costs for millions of residents already struggling with economic hardship, shrinking incomes, and prolonged salary disruptions.
Australia
A man who volunteered for One Nation during the party’s successful West Australian by-election was previously named by a federal tribunal for promoting neo-Nazi ideologies.
Canberra Times: Custody for man who allegedly kept IS beheading videos
A man charged with possessing “horrific” Islamic State beheading propaganda will be held in custody after failing to convince a magistrate his case is exceptional.
Technology
Video Game Industry Memo: A Christchurch Call to act against misogyny in games, 17/09/2026
Earlier this week at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, the Call hosted the first of four action forums to guide its work in the years to come. This event was dedicated to tackling the problem of misogyny – defined as hatred towards women and girls that seeks to police their behaviour and punish them for things like stepping beyond ‘traditional gender roles’ — within online communities. Given the industry’s failure to address misogynistic hate emerging from Gamergate and the Sweet Baby Inc conspiracy theories, it felt pertinent to go.
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