Washington Post By Benjamin LessingJust one day after his inauguration, Brazil’s right-wing populist President Jair Bolsonaro faced his first public-security crisis. On Jan. 2, prison gangs launched a terrorism campaign throughout Ceara state, paralyzing the capital city, Fortaleza. Although he has deployed federal troops, violence continues: 278 attacks in 55 cities over 26 days (and counting), with bridges and overpasses bombed, electricity knocked out in some neighborhoods, schools and gas stations set on fire, and dozens of buses burned.What triggered the attacks? Another New Year’s inauguration: Ceara’s newly reelected Gov. Camilo Santana installed a hard-liner as secretary of prisons, who promised to end segregation of prisons by gang, proclaiming he would not “recognize” them.In response, the gangs unleashed their attacks and made specific demands, as in this “Public Notice” to Santana:    … We want this new secretary out of our state … All we want is for our rights to...

Daily Express KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police will seek the help of their Philippine counterparts to confirm a Daily Express report that Malaysians were among foreign terrorist fighters spotted with a wanted Abu Sayyaf sub-leader and believed involved in the neighbouring nation’s first suicide bombing in Basilan which took 10 lives.“We will get assistance from the Philippine authorities to confirm the matter and we’ll update later,” said Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah (pic).A Philippine terrorism expert, Prof. Rommel Banlaoi said seven foreign terrorists, including Malaysians, were spotted recently with an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader who is wanted by the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) in a Sulu village.Prof. Rommel, who is Chairman of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, said the foreign fighters were waiting for financial support to make improvised bombs.“The Abu Sayyaf faction headed by sub-leader Hatib Hajan @ Sawadjaan with seven suspected foreign terrorists, including...

Newsweek By Cristina Maza As Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro faces the biggest challenge to his rule since coming to power in 2013, Russia has quite literally come to the strongman leader’s defense.On Friday, Reuters reported that Kremlin-linked military contractors from the Wagner group had traveled to Venezuela in the past several days to provide security for Maduro. At least one source told Reuters that there were around 400 Russian military contractors in the country. After the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Juan Guaido, declared himself president of Venezuela on Wednesday, Russian officials have offered their full-throated support for the embattled Maduro. President Donald Trump and other leaders from the European Union and Canada, however, have recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president and have backed the position of Venezuelan opposition leaders who say Maduro’s presidency is illegitimate.Maduro’s approval rating is currently hovering at around 20 percent, but experts say Russia is...

Jewish Journal BY Aaron Bandler Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called for a more lenient sentence for nine Somalian men in Minnesota who were convicted of attempting to join ISIS in November 2016.Omar, then a Minnesota assemblymember-elect, wrote in a letter to the judge presiding the case, Michael Davis, about “the ramifications of sentencing young men who made a consequential mistake to decades in federal prison.”“Incarcerating 20-year-old men for 30 or 40 years is essentially a life sentence. Society will have no expectations of the to be 50 or 60-year-old released prisoners; it will view them with distrust and revulsion,” Omar wrote. “Such punitive measures not only lack efficacy, they inevitably create an environment in which extremism can flourish, aligning with the presupposition of terrorist recruitment: ‘Americans do not accept you and continue to trivialize your value. Instead of being a nobody, be a martyr.’” Read more: https://jewishjournal.com/news/nation/292824/rep-omar-called-for-lighter-sentence-for-men-who-tried-to-join-isis/...

By Daniel Hoffman | Fox News What should the U.S. do about our approximately 2,000 troops in Syria? Withdraw? Stay? We’ve heard conflicting ideas from President Trump and some of his top advisers about what should happen. The president said in a video posted on Twitter Dec. 19 – titled “After historic victories against ISIS, it’s time to bring our great young people home!” – that the ISIS terrorist group has been defeated. “Our boys, our young women, our men, they’re all coming back and they’re coming back now,” he said. Democrats and Republicans in Congress criticized the withdrawal as premature, warning that with U.S. troops gone, ISIS terrorists could regroup and gain strength to become a more powerful force in Syria.Defense Secretary James Mattis and Brett McGurk – the U.S. envoy to the coalition fighting ISIS – resigned after the president’s withdrawal announcement. Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/what-should-america-do-about-syria-and-isis...

11/21 CBS DFW SUGAR LAND, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – A former Sugar Land resident was arrested and detained for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations.A federal grand jury returned a sealed indictment against Warren Christopher Clark, 34, on Jan. 23, 2019. Clark was captured in Syria by the Syrian Democratic Forces, transferred to U.S. law enforcement custody this week and arrived yesterday in the Southern District of Texas.“The arm of American Justice has a lengthy reach,” said Patrick. “The number one priority of the Southern District of Texas, along with the FBI and our other national security partners, is to keep America safe. The protection of life is the most sacred job law enforcement has,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.Clark is charged with attempting to provide himself as material support to ISIS, which the Secretary...

Gov.UkA new eight-week Communities Defeat Terrorism advertising campaign has been launched in cinemas. CT Policing have launched an eight-week Communities Defeat Terrorism cinema advertising campaign today timed to coincide with Oscars season. Using cinemas will allow us to deliver our messaging with fewer distractions, more impact, and to more hard to reach audiences such as young people.We need to keep the public alert and confident enough to come forward and report their concerns. Their actions can help us save lives. Previous national campaigns, which have been amplified at a local level, have helped increase intelligence reports by up to 50 percent. Currently over a fifth of public reports to the Anti-Terrorist Hotline and online through gov.uk/ACT result in useful intelligence for CT officers.The spread of cinemas covers all nine CT regions For forces where there isn’t a cinema showing the advert, we will be producing bespoke social media content. Read...

WJLA Washington D.C. by KRISTINE FRAZAO, Sinclair Broadcast Group WASHINGTON - It’s billed as one of this countries top priorities: fighting terrorism. But the key place government agencies once went to track all things terror-related, The Global Terrorism Database, is a research collection service that was recently de-funded. Those behind the program say that cheaper bid could lead to a higher price for the way this country fights terrorism. Whether it’s tracking an attack at a military base in Kandahar, Afghanistan carried out by the Taliban, a mass killing at a college in Nigeria by Boko Haram or the truck attack in New York City that killed eight people riding their bikes carried out by an Islamic State supporter, this information for more than a decade has been collected and stored in one place - the Global Terrorism Database - used by government agencies like The State Department, The National...

    10 NEWS Sebring bank shooting becomes latest in deadly string of Florida mass shootings The Gun Violence Archive reports hundreds of people have been killed or injured in shootings during the past few years. by Andrew KrietzST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The SunTrust Bank shooting in Sebring, Florida, follows a string of deadly shootings throughout the past few years across the state.According to Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting in which four or more people -- not including the shooter -- were injured or killed, there have been 84 such events since 2016 in Florida. Read more: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/sebring-bank-shooting-becomes-latest-in-deadly-string-of-florida-mass-shootings/67-e0ff79c3-34df-463a-9c6a-2aeb7b848778...

Advanced Homeland Security Training In Israel With Security Solutions International May 31st to June 8th 2019 Advanced Israel Training If you have a strong interest in the Israeli success story with Security, then this once in a lifetime experience taking part in this memorable mission to study advanced topics in Homeland Security while visiting Haifa, the Northern Border, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the Dead Sea is for you. The cost of the program is only $3,100 (*Does not include airfares). All activities are subject to change without notice.  Saint Leo University logo We are proud partners of Saint Leo University – one of the nation’s best Homeland Security and Criminal Justice programs. Accredited for Undergraduate and Graduate Students through Saint Leo. Send A Request To SSI Register Today HERE ...

Express UK ISIS is going to make a full-blown resurgence over the next two years - to the extent that an Interpol chief has branded the projected return “ISIS 2.0”. By Freddie Jordan The haunting comments were made by Secretary-General of Interpol Jürgen Stock on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning. He told BBC veteran Nick Robinson: “The threat with regard to international terrorism is complex. And one of the dimensions is that many of the terrorists that have been put in jail a couple of years ago, for instance for support action they have taken in terrorist activity, will be released in the next couple of years in many parts of the world. “Unfortunately, prisons very often are still a breeding ground for radicalisation.“They are a place where terrorists can make contacts.“It’s a place where they can further learn, for instance, how to build a bomb.“These people, in...

One India By Shubham GhoshSydney, Jan 23: The 2018 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) which was recently released by Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) showed that deaths caused by acts of terror have gone down significantly though experts have cautioned governments that the threat is far from over.According to a report in Vision for Humanity, despite the slide in number of fatalities, European security officials need to be aware of emerging threats in faraway places and "new inflammatory dynamic between far-east and Islamist extremists" that have fuelled uncertainty at home. The GTI report showed that Europe had the best year-on-year percentage improvement with total fatalities decreasing by 75 per cent. It said increase in counter-terrorism spending and security measures have curbed lethality of attacks though there was a rise in the number of incidents in western Europe. Read more: https://www.oneindia.com/international/deaths-from-terror-attack-are-down-but-threat-is-far-from-over-says-global-terrorism-index-2840942.html...

The Straits Times Vigilance remains high amid menace of ISIS, uncovering of more radicalised people here by Hariz BaharudinThe terrorism threat to Singapore remains high as more radicalised individuals here are uncovered and terror groups continue to make their presence felt globally, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a new assessment report.While acknowledging that there has been no specific intelligence on an attack being planned against Singapore since 2017, it said security agencies have continued to maintain high vigilance."Among others, we continue to detect Singaporeans and foreigners working in Singapore becoming radicalised by terrorist propaganda. The public must continue to stay alert and be prepared that an attack might one day succeed," MHA said in the second edition of its Singapore Terrorism Threat Assessment Report released yesterday. Read more: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/spore-still-faces-strong-threat-from-terrorism-mha...

Media Max by Shadrack AgakiThe terrorist attack at DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi last week highlights some negative effects of globalisation, a phenomenon that presented new dynamics in the international relations. From the super-powers to the least developed nations, none is insulated from terrorism.Chances are there are young men and women out there perusing massive literature on the internet on how to join terrorist groups.Globalisation of terrorism is not expected to slow down, but that does not mean that governments are helpless in bid to wipe out violent extremism. However, it is imperative for nations to understand what motivates individuals join terrorist groups to inform formulation of strategies and frameworks to address the thorny issue.Top on the list is radicalisation. Most extremist organisations and networks have flooded their agents on social media tools, where they use algorithms to determine venerable individuals who make for great recruitment target. Sadly, youth and women...

Laredo Morning Times by Amir Shah and Rahim Faiez, Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Dozens of people killed in a brazen Taliban attack on a military base were members of Afghanistan's intelligence agency, officials said Tuesday, in a severe blow to the government that already has lost control of nearly half of the country to the insurgents.At least 45 people were killed and as many as 70 were wounded by a suicide bomber who drove an armored Humvee packed with explosives at the base in eastern Maidan Wardak province on Monday, the officials said. There were fears the death toll from the daytime assault could increase. The base, which also serves as a training center for pro-government militias, is run by Afghanistan's intelligence service known as the National Directorate for Security, or NDS.The NDS said its reports show 36 military personnel were killed and 58 were wounded. Though the...

Sri Lanka: Major Islamic terror attack thwarted on ancient Buddhist shrines Jihad Watch By Shwe Kalaung During the search for suspects wanted for a series of anti-Buddhist hate crimes in Mawanella, on January 17, 2019, where several Buddha statues were destroyed several weeks before, the authorities in Sri Lanka discovered a large amount of high explosives (100 kg, or 220 pounds), along with 100 detonators and various other items, including firearms, chemicals and dried food rations. An elite force of police commandos raided the remote compound near the Wilpattu National Park wildlife sanctuary, where the two suspects were known to be hiding when the shocking discovery was made at the makeshift compound operated by Islamic jihadis. The current explosives seizure has thwarted a significant Islamic terror attack in Sri Lanka. Authorities indicate the terrorists were planning to destroy sacred Buddhist shrines in the ancient city of Anuradhapura with C4 high...

  Agence-France Presse A suicide bomber attacked a convoy of US troops and their allies in Syria on Monday, killing five members of a Kurdish-led force fighting the Islamic State group, a monitor said.The assault, claimed by IS jihadists, came less than a week after another deadly attack on US forces in Syria, and a month after Washington announced a US troop pullout from the war-torn country.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five fighters from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were killed in the blast on a road in northeastern Hasakeh province."A suicide attacker driving a bomb-laden car targeted a convoy of American forces accompanied by the SDF on the Hasakeh-Shadadi road," said the Observatory, a monitor that relies on a network of sources inside Syria.Shadadi lies to the south of Hasakeh, capital of the eponymous province, which has been relatively spared by the war that erupted in...

The Asian Age by Munir Akram The endgame in Afghanistan is evolving rapidly. Expectations of an end to America’s long military adventure in Afghanistan have unleashed multiple moves to shape the country’s future.Current diplomacy may lead to either a political settlement which brings a semblance of peace to Afghanistan and the region or a unilateral or disorderly US-Nato withdrawal which sets the stage for the next iteration of Afghanistan’s 40-year civil war. Yet, other scenarios are possible, as several forces clash and coalesce in the endgame. The most visible force is the momentum of the Afghan Taliban insurgency. It is now dominant in 60 per cent of the country and exerting relentless pressure on the demoralised Afghan security forces. Brimming with self-confidence, the Taliban refuse to negotiate peace with the beleaguered Ashraf Ghani government and want to talk only to the US about a timetable for withdrawal of foreign forces,...

DW Documentary Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey: tourists to these countries are often targeted by terrorists. A climate of fear prevails and holidaymakers are staying away. ...

By: FOX 10 Staff PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- A man who was shot and wounded in Fountain Hills after allegedly advancing toward a Maricopa County Sheriff's sergeant with a knife has been charged with terrorism-related charges.According to court documents, 18-year-old Ismail Hamed has been charged with two counts of Intentional Act of Terrorism, which is a felony, in a direct complaint to the court that was filed on Tuesday. In court documents obtained by FOX 10, Hamed is accused of providing advice, assistance, direction or management to ISIS on January 7, and accused of commiting an act of terrorism on the same day. Court documents did not provide any further information on the exact nature of the criminal complaints. In the deputy involved shooting incident, Sheriff's officials say Hamed called 911, saying he wanted to talk to a deputy at MCSO's Fountain Hills substation northeast of Phoenix. They say an...