The U.S.-led coalition is getting set to launch a full-scale attack to capture Raqqa, the unofficial capital of ISIS. A U.S. military officials said the assault on Raqqa would be the culmination of a campaign which saw a substantial weakening of ISIS and its position. Earlier last week, the Pentagon said that coalition’s airstrikes had killed 25,000 ISIS militants, and that the territory ISIS controlled in Iraq had shrunk by 40 percent since last year, and by 10 percent in Syria.

President Barack Obama has said that ISIS ranks have shrunk to the lowest level for two years, the group has lost large areas it used to control, and the militant group’s fighters “realize their cause is lost.”

Obama aid that the jihadist group had lost 40 percent of the territory it used to control in Iraq and 10 percent of its territory in Syria. He also noted that ISIS has suffered major financial setbacks as the U.S.-led coalition was going after the group’s sources of income. Pentagon officials have said U.S. air strikes killed 25,000 militants.

In the wake of terrorist attacks in Brussels, Paris, Istanbul, Ankara, and elsewhere, nations are rethinking many aspects of domestic security. Nuclear plants, as experts have long known, are potential targets for terrorists, either for sabotage or efforts to steal nuclear materials. At last month’s Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., representatives from fifty-two countries pledged to continue improving their nuclear security and adopted action plans to work together and through international agencies. But significant countries like Russia and Pakistan are not participating. And many in Europe are just beginning to consider physical security measures. To prevent an attack at a nuclear site, governments must take security at nuclear sites seriously now, not a year from now. In light of the current terrorist threat and with four Nuclear Security Summits completed, countries with nuclear plants need to up their game with regards to physical security at nuclear power facilities before it’s too late.

2015 was the most lethal year for terrorist violence in Europe in nearly a decade, as terrorists increasingly target private citizens and public gatherings. This marks the first net increase in global terrorism risk ratings since 2013, with the risk ratings of eighteen countries experiencing an increase and thirteen countries seeing a decrease. Shootings overtake bombings in the Western world for the first time since 2007, with terrorists targeting private citizens and public gatherings.

Boko Haram’s attacks on schools, students, and teachers in northeast Nigeria have had a devastating impact on education. Between 2009 and 2015, Boko Haram’s attacks destroyed more than 910 schools and forced at least 1,500 more to close. At least 611 teachers have been deliberately killed and another 19,000 forced to flee. The conflict has left nearly one million children with little or no access to school, and Nigeria’s security forces have contributed to the problem by using schools as military bases, putting children at further risk of attack from the Islamist armed group.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government are in the final stages of negotiating an end to the leftist insurgency in Colombia, but over the last forty years, FARC has proven to be one of the most formidable non-state actors in the world. Showing sophistication and adaptability, the group has upgraded its former methods of drug transportation in favor of a more covert alternative. The development of semi-submersible vessels by FARC highlights the group’s capabilities to engage in highly complex engineering tasks, facilitating drug trafficking across the South and Central American coasts.

The number of children involved in ‘suicide’ attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger has risen sharply over the past year, from four in 2014 to forty-four in 2015, according to a UNICEF report released yesterday. More than 75 percent of the children involved in the attacks are girls.

An in-depth survey found that 96 percent of British Muslims do not sympathize with radical Muslims who take part in suicide bomb attacks. The vast majority of those surveyed show similar levels of support to the wider British public in support for British institutions and a feeling of belonging to Britain. On some social and cultural issues, however, a large number of British Muslims are out of step with the wider population.

The United States is more likely to use force in a military dispute when the president is a Southerner, according to a new study. The study argues that “Southern honor” — an ethical code that emphasizes a reputation for resolve — pervasively shapes Southern presidents’ approach to disputes with other nations, making those presidents less willing than their peers from northern states to back down during international disputes. Consequently, Southern presidents have been more likely to use military force, resist withdrawal, and ultimately achieve victory, the study finds.