Abortion Ruling & Violence | Giving Old Dams New Life | Curbing Domestic Terrorism, and more

A Washington Post analysis last year of data compiled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies showed that domestic terrorism incidents have surged to new highs, predominantly due to a rise in white-supremacist, anti-Muslim and anti-government extremism on the far right. In an interview Wednesday, Schneider noted that a previous version of the legislation was approved by unanimous voice vote in the House in September 2020. This time, however, House Republican leaders urged members of their party to vote “no,” arguing that the legislation is unnecessary.

Islamic State in Afghanistan Building Capability to Strike on US Soil, Pentagon IG Says  (J. P. Lawrence, Star & Stripes)
The Islamic State group’s branch in Afghanistan likely will develop the ability to target the U.S. homeland within the next 12 to 18 months, a Pentagon report said. The group, known as ISIS-K, has grown stronger and recruited more fighters since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S. Central Command said in Tuesday’s report by the Defense Department Inspector General. The report did not elaborate on the group’s capabilities or how it might target America. ISIS-K’s growth comes as the U.S. military’s abilities to track and stop threats in Afghanistan have become “significantly reduced,” military officials said in the report. The findings reviewed plans to check terrorist threats from Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from the country last year. The Taliban agreed to prevent terrorists from using Afghan soil to threaten America in the deal that secured the withdrawal of U.S. and allied troops. But the Taliban government is finding it difficult to contain the estimated 2,000 members of ISIS-K, the report said. “Absent effective pressure, that threat will only grow and metastasize over time,” former chief of Central Command Gen. Frank McKenzie said in March. Meanwhile, U.S. efforts to contain terrorist threats from afar are facing challenges, the report said.”

Giving Old Dams New Life Could Spark an Energy Boom  (Chris Iovenko, Washington Post)
Out of about 90,000 dams in the U.S., few generate hydropower. A push to retrofit nonpowered dams could change that.

Tech Firms Ask U.S. Supreme Court to Block Texas Social Media law (Reuters)
Lobbying groups representing Facebook, Twitter, Google and other tech companies filed an emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, seeking to block a Texas law that prohibits large social media platforms from banning users based on their political views.
The Texas law went into effect on Wednesday when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the state’s request for a stay of a district judge’s injunction blocking the law.
The law forbids social media companies with more than 50 million active users per month from banning members based on their political views and requires them to publicly disclose how they moderate content.

State to Gain More Ability to Monitor DOD Cyber Ops Under White House Agreement  (Suzanne Smalley, Cyberscoop)
The Biden administration has forged a new agreement under which the State Department will have more ability to weigh in on certain kinds of cyber operations, according to two sources familiar with the discussions between the White House and the agencies.
The sources said the negotiating parties reached consensus on a policy that gives the State Department greater ability to monitor and weigh in on “third-party notifications,” defined as whether and how the U.S. government alerts countries if it plans to enter their cyberspace to interrupt adversaries’ cyber operations.