OUR PICKS LAST WEEKHoliday Threats | Crunchy-to-Alt-Right Pipeline | Grappling with Managed Retreat | Banning TikTok in U.S., and more
EXTREMISM & TERRORISM
··Holiday Threats: Potential Targets in a Complex Threat Environment
The large gatherings that make the holidays festive are attractive target for violent extremists
··Pan Am Flight 103: The Story of the UK’s Deadliest Terror Attack
On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Scotland, 38 minutes after takeoff from London
··U.S. Builds New Firewall to Stop Spread of Militant Islamists
Niger offers hope of stopping the seemingly inexorable spread of jihadism in Africa
··White-Supremacist Messages on Call of Duty, Fortnite; Hate-Crime Charges in Club Q Shooting
Colorado Springs club shooter influenced by online extremists
··The Family That Invaded the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 — and Became a National Curiosity
At the Capitol, the Munns were surrounded by fellow trespassers as well as police officers yet interacted only with one another
THE LONG VIEW
··The Crunchy-to-Alt-Right Pipeline
Those living on the fringe of the left and the right share more in common than you might think
··A World-Changing Race to Develop a Quantum Computer
Will the U.S. or China get there first?
··Why Scientists Can’t Give Up the Hunt for Alien Life
The scientific case remains extremely compelling for suspecting that life is out there somewhere
··Water Wells Go Dry as California Feels Warming Impacts
A record number of water wells in California have gone dry
··Feds Grappling with Managed Retreat
Helping communities and people relocate when threatened by rising sea levels linked to climate change
MORE PICKS
··Hacker Claims Breach of FBI’s Critical-Infrastructure Forum
Hacker called the vetting process surprisingly laxfor an FBI-run outreach program that shares sensitive information on national security
··Are Electric Substation Attacks the New Normal? Keys to Better Infrastructure Protection
The sabotage of the electric substations in Moore County, North Carolina, was disturbing, but it is certainly not without precedent
··US Soil Could Be Eroding Up to 1,000 Times Faster Than It Should
The United States is building its future on an eroding foundation
··Prosecuting the Fake Electors: Wisconsin Case Study and Template for Other States
No person is above the law in our system of governance, including and especially those who would seek to dismantle it
··Lawmakers Intro Bill to Ban TikTok in U.S.
Chinese-owned TikTok is said to pose a national security threat
··US Teases ‘Major’ Science News Amid Fusion Energy Reports
Federal laboratory had recently achieved a major milestone in nuclear fusion research
··Mass Migrant Crossing Floods Texas Border Facilities
Nearly 2.4 million encounters recorded by federal agents in a yearlong period
··U.S. Plans for a Hypothetical War Limit Aid to a Real One
“We’re measuring against a reality that no longer exists,” one congressional aide said
··’Firmageddon’: Researchers Find 1.1 Million Acres of Dead Trees in Oregon
Drought-stricken Oregon saw a historic die-off of fir trees in 2022
EXTREMISM & TERRORISM
Holiday Threats: Potential Targets in a Complex Threat Environment(Bridget Johnson, HSToday)
Multiple factors are shaping a rapidly evolving threat environment and the risk to gatherings that could be targeted by extremists.
Pan Am Flight 103: The Story of the UK’s Deadliest Terror Attack (Jack Guy, CNN)
The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 may have taken place more than 30 years ago, but the appearance of alleged bombmaker Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi in a US court on Monday has sparked a new wave of interest in the attack. Here’s what you need to know about the deadliest terrorist attack to have taken place in the United Kingdom. On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Scotland, 38 minutes after takeoff from London. Two hundred and fifty-nine people on board the New York-bound Boeing 747 were killed, along with 11 people on the ground. Witnesses in Lockerbie and the surrounding areas reported portions of the aircraft falling “from the sky, some of which appeared to be engulfed in flames,” according to a 2020 affidavit by a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent, shared by the US Department of Justice. “As pieces of the aircraft hit the ground, some exploded. One such incident created an explosion that witnesses likened to a “mushroom cloud,” and left a crater approximately 40 feet deep where, moments before, residential homes had stood in the town of Lockerbie,” the agent said in the affadavit. Afterward, United States and British investigators found fragments of a circuit board and a timer, and ruled that a bomb, not mechanical failure, caused the explosion. Over three years, investigators from the United States, Britain, Germany and other countries questioned more than 15,000 people in more than 30 countries and collected thousands of pieces of evidence.
