Violence and Security

UK Official: "Muscular Liberalism" Must Counter Radicalization in Schools

February 05, 2018

The Chief of the UK's Office of Standards for Education (Oftsed) called this week for educators to practice “muscular liberalism,” through educational standards committed to pluralism, as the optimal approach to combating Islamist extremists from using schools to undermine British values.
US, UK Confront IS Recruiting in Trinidad

February 05, 2018

The US and British governments are working cooperatively with the government of Trinidad and Tobago to address the Caribbean state's emergence as a nodal point for Islamic State (IS) recruiting and related terrorist threats and radicalization related to the return of foreign fighters from Syria and Iraq to Trinidad.
WEF Panel Warns of "Collapse" of EU Refugee System

February 01, 2018

At the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and other government and civil society leaders warned of the "collapse" of the EU's refugee screening and reception systems and called for more burden-sharing and "shared solidarity" on refugees within the bloc.
US, England Reject "Tolerance" Portion of Global Exam

January 31, 2018

The BBC reports that education systems in the US and England have opted not to require students to take a "global competences" portion of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests designed to measure students' openness to diversity, "cultural awareness," and susceptibility to "fake news."
Instagram, Google Plus Sign up to EU "Hate Speech" Code

January 31, 2018

EUobserver reports that European Commissioner for Justice Věra Jourová has announced tech firms Instagram and Google Plus are the latest social-media companies to join an EU code of conduct requiring them to remove online "hate speech," which she described as "anything that has the potential to incite violence," from their platforms within a day of its posting.
Trial Reveals Jihad Motivated Mall of America Attack

January 30, 2018

The man accused of the November 2017 knife attack against shoppers in Minnesota's Mall of America pled guilty in the court trial underway, stating that his actions were driven by the call for jihad that will make America unsafe because of its "war with Islam."
OIC Sponsors Workshop on Countering Extremism Through Education

January 30, 2018

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is co-sponsoring with the Islamic University of Niger a workshop on the role of education in countering extremism and radicalism, a significant move for the 57-member-state global entity to acknowledge the rapid spread of Islamist radical ideology across West and Saharan-Sahel African states with sizable Muslim populations.
Defendant in Philly Cop Shooting Pleads to Allah

January 30, 2018

The murder trial for the accused perpetrator in the shooting of a Philadelphia police officer opened with his refusal to enter a standard guilty/innocent plea on the ground that he will not "plead to anyone but Allah."
Survey: Islamists Use Opportunism in Deploying Scripture

January 30, 2018

A recent survey by the Brookings Institution reveals a strong tendency toward opportunism and pragmatism by Islamist preachers, politicians, and terrorists in their selective use of Islamic scripture to justify political platforms, social policies, and jihadist actions, suggesting the policymaking importance of education and media for countering extremist Islamism.
Taliban Sustain Pressure with Ambulance Assault in Afghanistan

January 29, 2018

The latest assault by the Taliban in Afghanistan, a high-casualty attack using an ambulance against a police checkpoint in Kabul, underscores the Islamist extremist group’s resilience.