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415 children under 10, 1,424 secondary school children, referred to U.K. anti-extremism program
Almost 4,000 Britons have been referred to the U.K. government’s counterterrorism program last year, among them children under nine. The figures released in January show 415 children aged 10 or under and 1,424 secondary school aged children had been referred to the program in England and Wales since July.
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Paris terrorist attacks’ mastermind captured
The Belgian police an hour ago captured Salah Abdeslam, the 26-year old French national who was the mastermind behind the 13 November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris which killed 130 people. “We got him,” the Belgian justice minister declared after confirming that Abdeslam had been captured during the operation in the Brussels’ neighborhod of Molenbeek.
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Fingerprints of Paris attacks’ mastermind found in Brussels flat
The Belgian police found the fingerprints of Salah Abdeslam, a prime suspect in last November’s terrorist attacks in Paris, in the Brussels apartment raided by the police on Tuesday. Abdeslam, a 26-year-old French national who lived in Brussels, was driven from Paris to Belgium hours after the 13 November attacks, which killed 130 people. Ten Belgians who helped him escape Paris and hide in Brussels have been in custody since late November.
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California university campus attacker was inspired by ISIS: FBI
Faisal Mohammad, 18, a college student from Santa Clara who attacked four people at a University of California campus in 2015, had been self-radicalized by terrorist propaganda from ISIS, the FBI said yesterday (Thursday). On 4 November Mohammad stabbed a fellow student in a UC, Merced classroom, then attacked three others as he fled on campus. Police gave chase and shot and killed him.
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ISIS committed genocide, crimes against humanity: U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry said that ISIS has committed genocide against Christians and other ethnic minorities. This is the first time the United States has declared genocide since Darfur in 2004.
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Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams denied entry to White House
After being denied access to the White House for a St. Patrick’s Day reception, Gerry Adams, the Sinn Féin leader, described the incident as an “unacceptable development.” Adams turned up on Tuesday evening for the annual Irish event hosted by the President, Barack Obama, but was denied access to the White House over a “security” issue. Sinn Féin “will not sit at the back of the bus for anyone,” Adams said in a statement.
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Belgian police arrest two suspects linked to November’s Paris terror attacks
Two suspects have been detained by Belgian police in connection with Tuesday’s shooting during a house raid in Brussels, in which another suspect was killed. The operation is linked to investigations into November’s Islamist attacks in Paris.
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Saudi Arabia leads effort to create a Muslim NATO-like alliance
Saudi Arabia has approached thirty-four Muslim-majority countries with a proposal to create a NATO-like military alliance of Islamic countries to combat terrorism. The proposed alliance would not be formed to confront any country in particular, but rather would be put together for the purpose of combatting terrorism. It is unclear whether Iran will be invited to join the new alliance.
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Remote detection of radioactive materials
National security experts believe terrorists continue to be interested in such devices for terror plots. Now researchers have proposed a new technique remotely to detect the radioactive materials in dirty bombs or other sources. It is the increased ion density that the researchers aim to detect with their new method. They calculate that a low-power laser aimed near the radioactive material could free electrons from the oxygen ions.
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Death of ISIS’s most senior military leader confirmed
A senior ISIS leaders, Omar the Chechen, has died after being seriously injured in a U.S.-led coalition strike in northeastern Syria, the Pentagon confirmed Monday. The Pentagon’s announcement clears up the fate of Omar al-Shishani a week after a U.S. official said the most-wanted militant had been targeted in a 4 March attack on the jihadist’s convoy. Shishani was one of the most-wanted ISIS leaders, and the United Stateshas put a $5 million reward on his head.
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American ISIS fighter captured in northern Iraq
Muhammad Jamal Amin, a 27-year old American from Virginia who joined ISIS and fought in its ranks, was taken into custody in northern Iraq. He was captured by Kurdish forces after trying to cross into Turkey. Amin is the first American fighting with ISIS to have surrendered in the field.
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Three gun-safety laws in effect in some states could significantly reduce gun deaths
A nationwide study which analyzes the impact of gun-control laws in the United States has found that just 9 of 25 state laws are effective in reducing firearm deaths. The research suggests that three laws implemented in some states could reduce gun deaths by more than 80 percent if they were implemented nationwide. Laws requiring firearm identification through ballistic imprinting or microstamping were found to reduce the projected mortality risk by 84 percent; ammunition background checks by 82 percent; and universal background checks for all gun purchases by 61 percent. Nineother states laws — such as the so-called “Stand your Ground” laws — were associated with increased mortality.
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1,500 people killed in 160 documented chemical attacks in Syria since 2011
The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) earlier today (Monday) released a report detailing 161 chemical attacks in Syria since the conflict emerged in 2011. These attacks have killed nearly 1,500 people in Syria, according to the report. A UN war crimes expert says the documentation of the attacks will allow for international prosecution in the future.
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ISIS attacks Iraqi town with chemical weapons
Iraqi officials has said that ISIS has launched two chemical attacks near the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, killing a three-year-old girl and wounding up to 600 people. The chemical attacks took place early Saturday in the town of Taza, security and hospital officials said place early on Saturday in the small town of Taza. The town was struck by several rockets carrying the chemicals.
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600 ISIS fighters killed in past three weeks: Kerry
Secretary of State John Kerry, in Paris for talks on the future of Syria, said that ISIS has lost 600 fighters and thousands of square kilometers of territory over the past three weeks. “In Syria, over the last three weeks alone, Daesh [ISIS] has lost 3,000 sq km (1,160 sq miles) and 600 fighters,” Kerry said.
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More headlines
The long view
Kinetic Operations Bring Authoritarian Violence to Democratic Streets
Foreign interference in democracies has a multifaceted toolkit. In addition to information manipulation, the tactical tools authoritarian actors use to undermine democracy include cyber operations, economic coercion, malign finance, and civil society subversion.
Patriots’ Day: How Far-Right Groups Hijack History and Patriotic Symbols to Advance Their Cause, According to an Expert on Extremism
Extremist groups have attempted to change the meaning of freedom and liberty embedded in Patriots’ Day — a commemoration of the battles of Lexington and Concord – to serve their far-right rhetoric, recruitment, and radicalization. Understanding how patriotic symbols can be exploited offers important insights into how historical narratives may be manipulated, potentially leading to harmful consequences in American society.
Trump Aims to Shut Down State Climate Policies
President Donald Trump has launched an all-out legal attack on states’ authority to set climate change policy. Climate-focused state leaders say his administration has no legal basis to unravel their efforts.
Vaccine Integrity Project Says New FDA Rules on COVID-19 Vaccines Show Lack of Consensus, Clarity
Sidestepping both the FDA’s own Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), two Trump-appointed FDA leaders penned an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine to announce new, more restrictive, COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. Critics say that not seeking broad input into the new policy, which would help FDA to understand its implications, feasibility, and the potential for unintended consequences, amounts to policy by proclamation.