• Thrill-seeking, search for meaning fuel political violence

    What drives someone to support or participate in politically or religiously motivated acts of violence, and what can be done to prevent them? While one factor may be a search for meaning in life, research published by the American Psychological Association suggests people may be further driven by an increased need for excitement and feeding that need with thrilling but non-violent alternatives may curb the desire.

  • Suspect detained in mail-bomb investigation

    Federal authorities have detained a person in connection with a series of 12 mailed suspicious packages. The suspect was identified as Cesar Sayoc, 56, a resident of Plantation, Florida. He has a criminal record. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said Friday an 11th suspicious package addressed to Democratic Senator Cory Booker, and that a 12th suspicious package targeting former National Intelligence Director James Clapper.

  • “Far right” groups may be diverse – but here’s what they all have in common

    Far right parties and groups have been enjoying increasing support across Europe. However, the term “far right” tends to subsume a broad range of parties and groups that differ significantly in agenda and policy – especially economic and welfare policies – as well as the extent to which they support and employ violence. For this reason, the use of the term “far right” is often contested. So is it appropriate to group such different organizations under the same label? The short answer is “yes.”

  • The Road to Power: Idaho outfit behind rash of racist, anti-Semitic robocalls

    The Road to Power, a white supremacist and anti-Semitic broadcasting outlet based in Sandpoint, Idaho, continues to ramp up its tactic of robocalling communities nationwide with racist, anti-Semitic and bigoted language. The calls, which have targeted communities in California, Idaho, Iowa, Florida and Pennsylvania, seek to exploit current events by disseminating vile, offensive commentary.  Robocalls are a relatively low-cost and easy means of communicating hate and allow callers to mask their identity while reaching a wide audience.

  • Nuclear experts: Documents show Iran’s weapons work was more advanced than previously known

    The documents recovered by Israeli intelligence from Iran’s hidden nuclear archive show “that Iran conducted far more high explosive tests at the site than previously understood,” according to a paper published on Tuesday by the Institute for Science and International Security.

  • Big data does not help in preventing terror

    We leave behind digital traces all the time. This information reveals a lot about people. Intelligence agencies like to collect as much data on people as possible in the fight against terrorism. But it won’t help us catch terrorists, one researcher says.

  • Secret Service intercepts explosive devices sent to Clintons, Obama, CNN

    The U.S. Secret Service says it has intercepted two suspicious packages with “possible explosive devices,” one of them addressed to former President Barack Obama and the other to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Within hours, the Time Warner Center in New York, where news network CNN has studios, was evacuated Wednesday morning after a suspicious device was found in the mail room there.

  • Police detonates explosive device sent to George Soros’s NY home

    The New York police said that a package containing an explosive device has been found in a mailbox outside the New York residence of billionaire financier George Soros. Soros, a Hungary-born billionaire, has become one of the world’s biggest funder of politically and socially liberal groups and causes. He has become a hate figure for right-wing movements in the United States and eastern Europe, and the target of a hostile, even anti-Semitic media and political campaign by the nationalist government of Victor Orban in his native Hungary.

  • In-depth look at current state of U.S. White Supremacy

    ADL has released a new report that examines the current state of white supremacy. The report is a deep dive into the forces behind this extremist ideology — from the emergence of the alt right to the ongoing threat posed by more established elements of the movement.

  • No more fog of war: Predicting patterns of violence within wars and terrorism

    New Research predicts reliable patterns in violent events occurring within wars and terrorism, regardless of geography, ethnicity and religion. The researchers can predict with reasonably accuracy the mixtures of events of different sizes, for example, the number of events killing 10 or more people compared to the number of events killing 20 or more people.  

  • Mothers’ exposure to terror attacks during pregnancy increases risk of schizophrenia in their children

    The children of mothers exposed to terror attacks during pregnancy are 2.5 times more likely to develop schizophrenia than mothers not to exposed to terror during pregnancy. This was the finding of a comprehensive new study. “It is possible that the psychosocial stress of terror attacks in the mothers occurred during a critical period of fetal brain development. Insults during such a critical period of neurodevelopment were so potent that years later the risk of schizophrenia increased.” explained Prof. Stephen Levine, one of the authors of the study.

  • Insects as potential weapons in biological warfare

    Owing to present-day armed conflicts, the general public is well aware of the terrifying effects of chemical weapons. Meanwhile, the effects of biological weapons have largely disappeared from public awareness. A project funded by a research agency of the U.S. Department of Defense is now giving rise to concerns about being possibly misused for the purpose of biological warfare.

  • After historic Texas flooding, officials will likely open more floodgates on Central Texas dam

    Across Central Texas and the Hill Country, heavy rain has led to catastrophic flooding in the past week. With more rainfall in the forecast, state and local officials are working to manage floodwaters before they move downstream. After the wettest September in Texas history, multiple Central Texas reservoirs are completely full. That has forced officials to consider releasing a historic amount of water down the Colorado River.

  • German intelligence foiled 2016 Islamic State terror attack

    Germany’s intelligence services thwarted a 2016 Islamic State attack. A German couple traveled to Syria to try to send teams of militants back to Germany. The woman, a German convert to Islam, tried to recruit women in northern Germany to marry IS members so that they could be granted permission to enter Germany. One of the women she contacted was an informer for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, and she alerted authorities.

  • Court in Finland finds pro-Kremlin trolls guilty of harassing investigative journalist

    In a major ruling that exceeded prosecutors’ requests, a court in Finland sentenced a pro-Russian troll to prison for harassing journalist Jessikka Aro. an award-winning Finnish investigative journalist who was among the first reporters to expose the work of the Internet Research Agency (IRA), the Kremlin’s troll factory. Russia and its Finland-based internet trolls made her a prime target for harassment since her reports appeared in 2014.