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Russia’s most wanted terrorist eyes Olympic Games as target
The Russian authorities are on high alert following the recent attacks in Volgograd. With the Winter Olympics in Sochi opening on 7 February, there are serious concerns that spectators and athletes will be targets of future attacks. Russia’s most wanted terrorist, Doku Umarov, recently declared that he is prepared to use “maximum force” to prevent the Olympics from occurring.
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Volgograd attacks probes by terrorists in advance of larger Sochi attacks: Experts
Counter-terrorism experts say that the two terror attacks in Volgograd, Russia on Sunday, 28 December and Monday, 29 December, are probes by terrorists in advance of larger attacks against the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Especially worrisome to Russian security services is the growing reliance by terrorist organizations on Russian Muslims, or Slavs who converted to Islam, to carry out suicide attacks, as they can move about in many parts of Russia without drawing attention.
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Al-Qaeda-affiliated West African terrorist group threatens France over Mali intervention
A terror group active in West Africa has threatened it would target the interests of “France and her allies” in retaliation for France’s military intervention in Mali last year. In November, the United States added the group — Groupe des Mourabitounes de l’Azawad (GMA) – to the list of foreign terrorist organizations. The Mourabitounes group was formed in August, when veteran terrorist Mokhtar Belmokhtar officially joined forces with the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mouvement pour l’unicité et le jihad en Afrique de l’Ouest [MUJAO]), a radical al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group that once controlled part of northern Mali and has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in the Gao region since France intervened in Mali in early 2013.
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Scottish terrorist appealing against extradition to Scotland
A judge in Dublin has ordered Adam Busby, founder of the of the Scottish National Liberation Army (SNLA) – members of the SNLA are also known as the “Tartan terrorists” – extradited to Scotland for threatening to poison former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, himself a Scot, and contaminate the water supplies of English cities. Busby, who has been living in Ireland since 1980, argues that forcing him to stand trial in Scotland would constitute “abuse” because he would likely face a much higher penalty if tried in a U.K. court than if he were prosecuted in Ireland. He has now appealed to Ireland’s Supreme Court against the extradition.
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For oppressive regimes, the Internet is another tool of repression
Claims that the Internet will “democratize” the global village are not supported by just-published research. Instead, non-democratic governments simply exploit the networks to spy on and control their citizens more effectively and efficiently than they did before. A study of Internet use – and misuse – around the world found that the Internet, rather than being the great democratizing “carrot,” it is yet another stick with which authoritarian, and supposedly non-authoritarian, governments can beat their citizens into submission.
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“Jihad Jane” sentenced to ten years in prison for plot to kill Swedish cartoonist
Colleen LaRose, a 50-year old Pennsylvania woman whose online name was “Jihad Jane,” yesterday (Monday) was sentenced to ten years in prison for a plot to kill a Swedish artist who, she believed, had insulted Islam. LaRose was described as a “lonely and isolated” woman who joined the jihadist cause out of boredom. Prosecutors said she took part in a 2009 plot to kill artist Lars Vilks over his series of drawings which depicted the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a dog.
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NY DHS chief uses handgun’s laser sighting device as laser pointer during presentation
On 24 October, Jerome Hauer, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s director of homeland security, made a presentation to Swedish emergency officials about New York State’s preparations for man-made and natural disasters. At some point during the presentation, Hauer wanted to use a laser pointer to highlight an item on a map of New York displayed on the wall behind him, but could not find the pointer. Instead, he pulled a loaded 9-millimeter Glock, which he always carries with him, and used the handgun’s laser sighting device to highlight the item.
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Preoccupation with bioterrorism hobbles preparations for natural spread of deadly viruses
Preoccupation with hypothetical bioterrorism attacks is leaving America more vulnerable to the threat of natural spread of deadly viruses. Since the 9/11 attacks, the federal government has poured billions of dollars to prevent and monitor threats of bioterrorism, yet the United States was ill-prepared for the swine flu outbreak of 2009. Experts say it is time to rebalance public health priorities so that preparations for the real threat of the outbreak of infectious diseases will not take a back seat to preparations for the more remote threat of bioterrorism.
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Military technology outpaces laws of war
Today’s emerging military technologies — including unmanned aerial vehicles, directed-energy weapons, lethal autonomous robots, and cyber weapons like Stuxnet — raise the prospect of upheavals in military practices so fundamental that they challenge long-established laws of war. Weapons that make their own decisions about targeting and killing humans, for example, have ethical and legal implications obvious and frightening enough to have entered popular culture (for example, in the Terminator films). The current international laws of war were developed over many centuries and long before the current era of fast-paced technological change.
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U.S. concerned about Karzai’s plan to release dozens of militants
Just a few months after American officials transferred control of all detention operations in Afghanistan to Afghan forces, President Hamid Karzai’s administration has decided to release dozens of prisoners, despite objection from American and Afghan officials.
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Central African Republic, already mired in ethnic violence, faces another threat: famine
Since last year, when they had to flee the intensifying violence across the Central African Republic, farming communities had to abandon their fields along the main roads to replant deep in the bush. This disruption led them to produce much less than in previous years, with a major impact on their food reserves, which will last till February instead of July. The success of the next planting season crucially hinges on the return of farming families to the fields. Families who are unable to plant in March will have to wait one whole year before they can hope to harvest again. Failure to plant in March will have dire consequences for the food security of the Central African Republic’s population.
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Volgograd train station bombing highlights need for more rail security
The recent train station bombing in Volgograd, Russia has focused attention on the vulnerabilities of rail infrastructure. According to a recently published report by IHS, purchases of explosives, weapons, and contraband (EWC) detection equipment at rail stations worldwide is expected to increase by 3.3 percent in 2014, and 8.8 percent in 2015.
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Nations' nuclear ambitions not discouraged by few suppliers
Twenty-nine countries are considering constructing their first nuclear power plant. There are doubts as to which of these nuclear “newcomer” countries can actually succeed and join the thirty-one countries that already operate nuclear reactors. If even half of the national plans for nuclear power plants materialize, the geography of nuclear energy would radically change and could revitalize a stagnant industry. But given the obstacles to starting a national nuclear power program even for rich and stable countries, it’s not likely to happen quickly elsewhere.
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Beirut car bomb exposes Hezbollah’s weakening position in Lebanon
In yet another sign of Hezbollah’s weakening position in Lebanon, a powerful car bomb exploded yesterday near the organization’s political headquarters in the Haret Hreik district of the suburb of Dahiyeh, the well-guarded Shi’a section in southern Beirut. The attack, which killed five and injured dozens, is the fifth such attack since July. Analysts say that the May decision by Hezbollah to send thousands of its fighters to Syria to fight against the Syrian rebels in order to save the Assad regime fatally undermined Hezbollah in Lebanon, proving its critics’ claims that Hezbollah was not much more than an instrument of Iran’s foreign policy, and that it was more loyal to its Shi’a identity than Lebanese interests. Hezbollah’s decision emboldened its Lebanese opponents, and convinced Saudi Arabia to throw its considerable weight behind the Lebanese forces determined to take Hezbollah down.
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Canada designates Boko Haram a terrorist organization
Canada, under its Criminal Code, has designated Boko Haram as a terrorist organization. The United States did so three weeks ago. The Canadian government also listed the Caucasus Emirate, a Dagestan-based Islamist group, as a terrorist organization. The group is blamed for the recent bombings in Volgograd.
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More headlines
The long view
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
A Brief History of Federal Funding for Basic Science
Biomedical science in the United States is at a crossroads. For 75 years, the federal government has partnered with academic institutions, fueling discoveries that have transformed medicine and saved lives. Recent moves by the Trump administration — including funding cuts and proposed changes to how research support is allocated — now threaten this legacy.
“The Federal Government Is Gone”: Under Trump, the Fight Against Extremist Violence Is Left Up to the States
As President Donald Trump guts the main federal office dedicated to preventing terrorism, states say they’re left to take the lead in spotlighting threats. Some state efforts are robust, others are fledgling, and yet other states are still formalizing strategies for addressing extremism. With the federal government largely retreating from focusing on extremist dangers, prevention advocates say the threat of violent extremism is likely to increase.
The “Invasion” Invention: The Far Right’s Long Legal Battle to Make Immigrants the Enemy
The Trump administration is using the claim that immigrants have “invaded” the country to justify possibly suspending habeas corpus, part of the constitutional right to due process. A faction of the far right has been building this case for years.
Luigi Mangione and the Making of a ‘Terrorist’
Discretion is crucial to the American tradition of criminal law, Jacob Ware and Ania Zolyniak write, noting that “lawmakers enact broader statutes to empower prosecutors to pursue justice while entrusting that they will stay within the confines of their authority and screen out the inevitable “absurd” cases that may arise.” Discretion is also vital to maintaining the legitimacy of the legal system. In the prosecution’s case against Luigi Mangione, they charge, “That discretion was abused.”
How DHS Laid the Groundwork for More Intelligence Abuse
I&A, the lead intelligence unit of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) —long plagued by politicized targeting, permissive rules, and a toxic culture —has undergone a transformation over the last two years. Spencer Reynolds writes that this effort falls short. “Ultimately, Congress must rein in I&A,” he adds.