• ISIS caliphate shrinks a further 12 percent in 2016

    Territory controlled by ISIS shrunk by 12 percent in the first six months of 2016. In 2015 the ISIS caliphate shrunk by 12,800 km2 to 78,000 km2, a net loss of 14 percent. In the first six months of 2016, that territory shrunk again by 12 percent. As of 4 July 2016, ISIS controls roughly 68,300 km2 in Iraq and Syria, which is roughly the size of Ireland or West Virginia.

  • ISIS uses Whatsapp, Telegram to sell girls and women as sex slaves

    ISIS has been using instant messenger apps Whatsapp and Telegram to advertise Yazidi women and girls as young as 12 for sale as sex slaves. These apps are also being used to share photos databases of women held by ISIS as sex slaves. ISIS uses the apps to distribute these of photographs to ISIS militants manning the group’s checkpoints so that these women can be identified if they try to escape ISIS-controlled territory. Telegram and Facebook-owned Whatsapp both use end-to-end encryption, preventing the two companies from accessing users’ communications.

  • Feds tight-lipped on weeding out corrupt border agents

    In a video message intended for the tens of thousands of men and women working to keep drugs and people from illegally entering the United States, then-Deputy Border Patrol Chief Ron Colburn wanted to leave little doubt about the consequences for those who betrayed their mission. But whether most — or even a significant fraction of — corrupt federal border agents really are caught and punished is an open question.

  • Five officers killed by a sniper in Dallas (updated)

    Five police officers were killed, and seven officers and two civilians injured, on Thursday by 25-year old Micha Xavier Johnson, who opened fire on the officers during a protest march in Dallas. During a 3-hour standoff with the police, Johnson said he was not associated with any group or organization, and that his only purpose was to kill White people – especially White police officers. It was the deadliest attack on law enforcement officers since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

  • U.S. decision to dismantle Saddam’s army led to ISIS emergence: U.K. foreign secretary

    Philip Hammond, the British foreign secretary, said that the single most disastrous mistake relating to the U.S. 2003 invasion of Iraq was the mass removal of supporters of the Ba’ath party from the Iraqi army. Hammond said this decision led directly to the creation of ISIS.

  • DHS announces the Countering Violent Extremism grant program

    Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson on Wednesday announced the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Grant Program, with $10 million in available funds. DHS snotes that this is the first federal assistance program devoted exclusively to providing local communities with the resources to counter violent extremism in the homeland.

  • DHS announces the Countering Violent Extremism grant program

    Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson on Wednesday announced the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Grant Program, with $10 million in available funds. DHS snotes that this is the first federal assistance program devoted exclusively to providing local communities with the resources to counter violent extremism in the homeland.

  • Schengen agreement allows free movement of terrorists: French security panel

    A French parliamentary committee said on Tuesday that potential terrorists can move too freely in the Schengen open-border area, and that EU member-states should more systematically flag up suspects on a shared police database. The committee also called for reforming France’s six intelligence services and recommended merging them into a single counterterrorism agency. The committee’s 300-page report focused on the debilitating effects of poor coordination among French police and intelligence services, and among the twenty-six European countries which are members of the Schengen agreement.

  • Planning terrorist attacks must be made a crime in all EU members states: MEPs

    Travelling abroad for terrorist purposes, training or being trained, incitement to terrorism, or financing of terrorist activities must be made a crime in all EU member states, urge Civil Liberties Committee MEPs in a resolution voted on Monday night.

  • Irish Republican Ivor Bell to stand trial for 1972 murder of Jean McConville

    A judge ruled that veteran Irish republican Ivor Bell, 79, will stand trial for involvement in the 1972 murder of Jean McConville, a mother of ten children. Bell is charged with aiding and abetting the kidnapping, killing, and secret burial of the widow. The case against Bell could be brought as a result of the content of tapes police secured from an oral history archive collated by Boston College in the United States.

  • Death toll of Baghdad attack climbs to 250

    The Iraqi government said that the number of dead in Sunday’s massive suicide truck bombing near a central Baghdad shopping mall has reached 250, making it the deadliest attack in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The Iraqi health ministry said the number of dead is likely to rise as more bodies are being pulled from the rubble, and more of those seriously injured die in hospitals.

  • Iraq to stop using fake bomb detectors in wake of Baghdad attack

    In the wake of the deadliest terrorist attack in Iraq since 2003, Iraq’s prime minister Haider al-Abadi has instructed all the country’s security forces – the federal and local police and the army — to stop using fake bomb detectors at the hundreds of security checkpoints across the country. A British businessman, James McCormick, purchased thousands of the novelty golf ball finders for $19.95 each, repackaged them, and then sold them to Iraq and other nations as advanced hand-held bomb detectors. McCormick charged $40,000 for each of the repackaged golf-ball finders.

  • Women’s connections, role in extremist networks

    Researchers who examined the role of women in extreme networks or organizations, such as terrorist groups, dispelled the common assumption that women are lured into these dangerous environments solely to offer support while men are recruited and tend to be the key players. Instead, the researchers found, women are better connected within the network, essentially becoming the glue holding the system together, fueling its vitality and survival.

  • Understanding California electricity crisis may help prevent future crises

    Between 2000 and 2001, California experienced the biggest electricity crisis in the United States since the Second World War. Exactly how it happened, however, is complex. New research now reveals insights into the market dynamics at play, potentially helping regulators standardize the market and prevent future crises.

  • Baghdad terrorist attack’s death toll reaches 175

    Iraqi officials say that the death toll from Saturday’s massive ISIS suicide bombing near two busy shopping malls in Baghdad now stands at 175. The number is going to rise, as more bodies are being recovered from the destroyed and burned-down buildings. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered the bolstering of security measures in Baghdad and other cities. These measures include the withdrawal of a fake hand-held bomb-detection device which has been used at Iraqi security checkpoints.