• Hamas considers resuming suicide bombings, warns CT expert

    A counter terrorism expert recently warned that Hamas is considering suicide bomb attacks against Israeli civilians once more; Colonel Jonathan Fighel, a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center’s Institute for Counter Terrorism, said, “We’re seeing more and more Hamas flags in Hebron. The public atmosphere to Hamas is much more lenient. This allows the creation of operational terror cells. Hamas is taking into consideration the renewal of suicide bomb attacks”; Fighel added that “Hamas is gaining influence in the West Bank and acting more freely”

  • Swedish police arrest 4 in terror plot

    On the ten year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Swedish police arrested four people on suspicion of a terrorist attack and evacuated an arts center in Goteborg, Sweden’s second largest city; police said they evacuated the arts center due to a threat that posed “serious danger for life, health, or substantial damage of property”; police have provided little details on the four individuals arrested; roughly 400 people were evacuated from the arts center around midnight

  • Singapore arrests three on terrorism charges

    On Monday, authorities in Singapore announced that they had detained three people for terrorism-related activities; the arrest occurred earlier this year between January and July; the individuals were detained under the Internal Security Act, which allows law enforcement agencies to detain suspects without trials under certain circumstances; each of the three arrested individuals had known ties to terrorist organizations like al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah and had undergone weapons training

  • India struggles with threat of Islamic terrorism

    According to a new report by the U.S. Congress, India has a growing domestic Islamic terrorism movement that its government reluctantly acknowledges; the Congressional Research Service (CRS) concluded, “Despite New Delhi’s reluctance to openly acknowledge the fact, India also has its own indigenous Islamist terrorism threat”; at the top of the list of threats is the Indian Mujahedeen; “The newly emergent ‘Indian Mujahedeen’(IM) group, widely believed to be an offshoot or pseudonym of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), has been found complicit in a number of recent bombings, even as government leaders continue to name Pakistan as an abettor of such episodes,” the report found; the group is believed to be responsible for three synchronized bombs that killed seventeen people and injured more than 130 in Mumbai earlier this year

  • Indians urged to buy terrorism insurance

    India’s Economic Times is urging citizens to consider protecting their interests and purchasing insurance in light of recent terrorist attacks in the country; while there is no terrorism insurance policy, individuals can purchase health insurance as well as life insurance to ensure that family members are protected in the event that a catastrophic accident were to occur; “A terror attack can cause disability or dismemberment or loss of life in addition to the medical expenses that may be incurred for treating the same. A person needs to have both personal accident cover for death and disability and medical expenses cover to provide for both the eventualities,” said Sanjay Datta, head of ICICI Lombard’s customer service

  • Former MI5 urges dialogue with terrorists

    Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5, Britain’s intelligence agency, recently urged government officials to begin a dialogue with terrorists, even elements of al Qaeda; “Dialogue, even with terrorists, is necessary,” she said; “Talking doesn’t mean approval”, she continued; “It’s a way of exploring peaceful options, what compromises, if any, can be reached”; as an example she pointed to the fact that British governments had dialogues with the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland

  • U.K. police pay student falsely held on terrorism charges £20,000

    British authorities recently paid a graduate student £20,000 in damages, after police arrested and held him for seven days for downloading an al Qaeda training manual as part of his university research into terrorist tactics; in 2008, Rizwaan Sabir, a graduate student at the University of Nottingham was detained by police under the Terrorism Act for downloading material for illegal use; police held Sabir in custody for seven days without charging him or issuing an apology; the £20,000 comes from an out of court settlement, in which Nottingham Police agreed to pay him to avoid going to trial; Sabir is currently a PhD student at the University of Strathclyde studying domestic UK counterterrorism policy

  • U.K. politician warns about dangers of steep police budget cuts

    Yvette Cooper, the U.K.’s shadow home secretary, warns that Yorkshire could be vulnerable to future riots due to a “perfect storm” of uncertain leadership, deep budget cuts, and rising unemployment; the region was largely untouched during the recent riots, but Cooper said that deep spending cuts will leave police forces unequipped to handle civil unrest; due to a budget shortfall of £200 million, Yorkshire will have to cut 1,500 police officers and 2,000 support staff over the next four years; “I am sure police forces will be very clear about learning the lessons of the riots, but I do worry about whether we will have enough officers in future to respond to problems that arise. It makes Yorkshire more vulnerable,” she said

  • Floods ravage Pakistan

    Widespread flooding in Pakistan has left 200,000 people homeless and heavy rains have made relief efforts more difficult; the United Nations is rushing to deliver food and tents to disaster areas; Japan, China, and the United States have already pledged to deliver relief goods or money; the recent flooding stems from the severity of this year’s monsoon season; the disaster does not bode well for the current government which is struggling to gain legitimacy and is widely disliked; the government is also struggling to contain Islamist militants, political turmoil, and economic troubles; so far more than 200 people have been killed, 200,000 left without homes, and 4.2 million acres of farm land inundated

  • Israel rushes completion of Egyptian border fence

    On a tour of the Egyptian border fence on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the security barrier will be completed earlier than scheduled; in recent months the Sinai Peninsula has become a restive area, breeding terrorism and other illegal activities since the fall of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak; Netanyahu said, “Israel’s border with Egypt is a peaceful border. To maintain this peace, there must be security, and to that end a fence is necessary”