ABC News Documents May Be Breakthrough In Case Of FBI Veteran Robert Levinson, Who Vanished In Iran By James Gordon Meek  Levinson, a veteran agent and specialist in Russian organized crime, vanished on March 9, 2007, after arriving on the remote Kish Island while working on a murky CIA contract for intelligence analysts at the agency. For the first seven years he was missing, U.S. officials said Levinson was working as a private investigator and was "not a U.S. government employee."The purported Iranian files took on new significance after the U.N. revealed Tehran had recently admitted to having an "ongoing" judicial inquiry into Levinson, at the same time a more precise English translation of the Farsi-language documents his family has had for nine years appeared to reveal that his arrest in 2007 was from a "judicial" order by the Iranian military.MORE: New book fuels hope, anger for family of ex-FBI...

Would-Be Terrorist Fixated On ‘True Crime Community’ Sentenced To Prison New York Post By Ben FeuerherdThe Ohio woman who was inspired by an online group known as the “True Crime Community” to plot the bombing of a pipeline and another terrorist attack at a local bar was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday, authorities said.Elizabeth Lecron, 24, was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervision for plotting the attack at a Toledo bar and an interstate pipeline in Georgia in 2018, the FBI said.Lecron, along with her boyfriend Vincent Armstrong, became obsessed with mass shootings and other violent acts through the internet fetish group, authorities alleged after her arrest.Lecron wrote letters to Dylann Roof and the pair visited areas associated with the Columbine high school massacre, the FBI said.They also bought guns and went to the shooting range to practice ahead of their planned attack, which they called...

USA Today Undercover FBI Agents Say Chicago College Student Tried To Write Code For ISIS by Grace Hauck CHICAGO — A 20-year-old U.S. college student was arrested Monday for allegedly writing computer code to help the Islamic State spread propaganda online, according to the FBI.Thomas Osadzinski, a student at DePaul University who lives in the city's northside neighborhood of Buena Park, was charged in a federal criminal complaint with one count of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization — a charge punishable by up to 20 years.Osadzinski appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole in Chicago Tuesday and was ordered held without bond.According to the complaint, Osadzinski designed a process that uses a computer script to make ISIS propaganda easier to access and disseminate on a social media platform, bypassing preventive code which routinely removes ISIS content due to the violent nature of the materials. Read more:...

Miami Herald He Pledged Loyalty To ISIS. He Then Taught An FBI Agent How To Make Bombs, Cops Say By C. Isaiah Smalls II A St. Augustine man was arrested on a federal charge for helping to better arm the ISIS terrorist organization through producing and disseminating instructional explosive videos, according to a court documents.Romeo Xavier Langhorne, 30, is charged with providing material support or resources to terrorists as first reported by the Florida Times Union.Under federal law, he faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Law enforcement first became aware of Langhorne’s allegiance to ISIS in 2014 after a Facebook post supporting the terrorist organization, investigators say. That’s when they began monitoring his presence on social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.Read more: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article237538719.html...

Forbes Terrorist Targets: The Ten Countries Which Suffer Most From Terrorism Dominic DudleyContributorI write about business and politics in the Middle East and beyondFor the first time since it was invaded by U.S. forces in 2003, Iraq is no longer the country most affected by terrorism, according to new research released today.The latest edition of the Global Terrorism Index, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), finds the number of deaths caused by terrorism in Iraq fell by 75% between 2017 and 2018, with 3,217 fewer people being killed. Even so, some 1,054 people were killed in the country in terrorist atrocities last year.While the situation in Iraq has improved following the territorial defeat of Islamic State, in other parts of the world things are getting much worse. Last year four countries recorded a large increase in deaths from terrorism. Mali, Mozambique and Nigeria all saw more than...

Iran in Flames: US Sanctions Pit People Against Regime The Clarion Project By Ran Meir Iran is in flames with protests against the regime foreign terror spending, perceived to be the cause of the deteriorating economic situation in Iran.America has heavily sanctioned Iran for its recalcitrant funding of international terror, putting an enormous pinch on the Iranian economy.Massive protests erupted over the weekend after the Iranian government announced a 50 percent hike in gas prices as well as gasoline rationing.See our infographic below on just how much Iran is spending financing terror in the Middle East.Protesters took to the street in at least 53 cities. In some locations, security forces used snipers and opened fire on the protesters using live ammunition.At press time, at least 36 protesters were killed and more than 1,000 arrested.Demonstrators could be heard chanting against the regime: “No Gaza. No Lebanon. I give my life for...

ABC News US and Australian hostages held by Taliban for over 3 years released in prisoner swapBy James Gordon Meek and Jon Hawthorn An American and Australian professor who were kidnapped in Afghanistan and held hostage for more than three years have been released by the Taliban in a prisoner swap aimed at restarting peace negotiations between the United States and the Afghan militant organization. American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks were both professors at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul when they were ambushed and abducted by gunmen while leaving the campus in August 2016. They had appeared in a proof-of-life video looking gaunt and disheveled in January 2017 requesting then-President-elect Donald Trump secure their release by agreeing to a deal."We are so happy to hear that my brother has been freed and is on his way home to us," King's sister, Stephanie Miller, said in a...

The Hindu Rebalancing counterterrorism by Arzan Tarapore How should India respond to the next terrorist attack sponsored by Pakistan? Future attacks are inevitable — the sponsorship of cross-border terrorism is a core tenet of Pakistan’s security strategy, even as Kashmiri militancy is increasingly dominated by radicalised locals. The BJP-led government has repeatedly declared that it will emulate Israel’s apparently successful strategy in responding to cross-border terrorism. But the government’s fetishisation of Israeli counterterrorism mischaracterises Israeli strategy. New Delhi risks overemphasising the showy but narrow role of military punishment, and it elides other elements of strategy, which Israel itself has embraced, that are critical to counterterrorism effectiveness.India’s military responses in 2016 and 2019 were framed as attempts to impose costs on the Pakistani terrorist groups and their Army backers. But such minor actions have marginal material impact on the target; at best they may have killed fighters and temporarily damaged a...

Fox News Chicago Gang Leader Accused Of Supporting ISIS By Morgan Phillips The leader of a street gang in a Chicago suburb was arrested for allegedly attempting to aid ISIS, the Justice Department announced Friday.Jason Brown, also known as “Abdul Ja’Me,” allegedly provided $500 to an individual three separate times in 2019, believing that the recipient would then wire that money to an Islamic State (ISIS) soldier in Syria, according to the federal complaint.In a recorded conversation obtained by the Justice Department, Brown can be heard saying, “it [jihad] cannot be done like it is in Syria. In the U.S., jihad is done by spreading the word of Islam.”What Brown, 37, did not know was that the individual with whom he was dealing was working with law enforcement; the supposed ISIS fighter was an undercover officer.   Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/us/chicago-gang-leader-accused-of-supporting-isis...

Associated Press American Held In Turkey As IS Suspect Returns To US By MATTHEW LEE WASHINGTON (AP) — An American citizen alleged by Turkey to be an Islamic State member has returned to the United States.According to a government report obtained by The Associated Press, federal authorities questioned the man when he arrived Friday night at Dulles International Airport in Virginia and inspected his electronic devices.The report says he was allowed to enter the country en route to visit relatives in Texas.Media in Turkey have identified the man as 39-year-old Muhammad Darwis B.Turkey deported him after he spent five days in no man’s land between Turkey and Greece, where he had asked to be sent. Repatriation began after the U.S. agreed to accept him and provided travel documents. Read more: https://apnews.com/cad53e8403754f17b84fe1f8c440810b...

ISIS Returnees to be Placed Under Close Monitoring in Germany Asharq Al-Awsat Nine German nationals suspected of supporting ISIS who are being deported from Turkey this week will not face immediate arrest when they return, German security sources have said.The sources said Wednesday there was insufficient evidence for warrants to be issued against the nine, prompting criticism from opposition politicians who said the deportations have caught the government unprepared.The deportees, who are due to arrive on Thursday or Friday, include a family of seven from Hildesheim -- a town in central Germany that has in the past been a focus of police raids against extremists.The father is a German of Iraqi origin referred to by the sources only by his first name, Kanan, and is known to be a radical, the sources said. Read more: https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1991041/isis-returnees-be-placed-under-close-monitoring-germany...

Islamic State returnees cloud anniversary of Paris attacks Stars and StripesBy LORI HINNANT, Associated Press PARIS — France commemorated the fourth anniversary of the Islamic State attacks that struck the heart of Paris with a solemn reading Wednesday of the names of 131 dead, and the growing certainty that the group’s recruits will return home in increasing numbers.Three squads made up almost entirely of French and Belgian fighters for the Islamic State attacked the country’s national stadium, the Bataclan concert hall, and bars and restaurants in the city center, in the deadliest attack committed by the group in Europe. All but one of the attackers died.Wednesday’s commemorations of the Nov. 13, 2015, attacks were clouded by the impending return of more European recruits for the Islamic State — many of them women and their children. Turkey’s president has promised to deport foreign supporters of the group, even if their home...

Voice of America Life Under Islamic State: Abducted, Trained and Forced to Fight  By Heather Murdock KHANKE, IRAQ - As Islamic State militants lost their territorial holdings in Iraq and Syria, VOA chronicled the events through the words of the victims, in a 12-part series called "Life Under Islamic State."Now we bring you voices of victims who were silenced until recently. Officials estimate nearly 3,000 Yazidi people remain missing after being captured and enslaved by IS.When Daoud was 15, he was kidnapped, trained and forced to fight for the militant group. He was imprisoned after the final battles.  These are his words, told to us in the tent where he lives with his brother in an informal refugee camp. They are are translated into English and edited for clarity.It was August 3, 2014 and we were preparing to flee when the militants captured us. My sister, mother, father and five...

Fox News Missouri Man From Bosnia Who Aided ISIS Gets 8-Year Prison Term, Faces Deportation A Missouri man who came to the U.S. from Bosnia was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison for supporting terrorists, including an ISIS leader in Syria.Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, 45, of St. Louis County, pleaded guilty last spring to backing Bosnian-American Abdullah Ramo Pazara, who left Missouri for Syria in 2013 and died fighting for ISIS, authorities said. Hodzic sent cash and military equipment to several Middle Eastern countries and Pazara between 2013 and 2015 that furthered ISIS’s efforts, prosecutors said.His attorney asked for a lighter sentence, saying Hodzic mostly sent Pazara supplies like socks and that he loved the United States, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.Three of Hodzic’s co-defendants have already been sentenced. His wife and another defendant who pleaded not guilty await sentencing. Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/us/missouri-man-sentenced-to-8-years-for-supportign-isis...

Business Insider A Federal Judge Ruled That New Jersey-Born, ISIS-Bride Hoda Muthana Is Not A US Citizen by  Rosie Perper A federal judge on Thursday ruled that Hoda Muthana, a 25-year-old woman born in New Jersey who joined ISIS in 2014, is not a US citizen.  Hoda Muthana is currently staying in a refugee camp in Syria with her young son. Her family sued the US government in order to have Muthana and her son recognized as US citizens so they could return home.  On Thursday, the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that there was sufficient evidence to indicate that Muthana was born while her father held diplomatic status in the US.  The Department of Justice has said that because Muthana's father, a former Yemeni diplomat, was under diplomatic protection at the time of her birth, she did not obtain US citizenship by birth. A federal judge...

Clarion Project To Dodge Border Crisis, NY Times Pins Cartel Killings on Religion Breaking news coming out of Mexico detailed the horrific cartel killings of an American family, which, astonishingly, The New York Times tried to pin on (get ready for it) fundamentalist religion. Specifically, the Mormon faith.An American family living in Mexico was ambushed and massacred by a cartel, with three women and six children murdered. The scene as described by surviving family members is horrific:    “They described a terrifying scene in which one child was gunned down while running away, while others were trapped inside a burning car. Two of the children killed were less than a year old, the family members said. The car they were in with their mother was set ablaze.”In one article, the family is described as being part of a “fundamentalist Mormon community,” while in another the spotlight is on the victims’ faith.In...

Sweden's 100 explosions this year: What's going on? BBC News By Maddy Savage Stockholm When three explosions took place in one night across different parts of Stockholm last month, it came as a shock to residents. There had been blasts in other city suburbs, but never on their doorstep.Swedish police are dealing with unprecedented levels of attacks, targeting city centre locations too. The bomb squad was called to deal with 97 explosions in the first nine months of this year."I grew up here and you feel like that environment gets violated," says Joel, 22.The front door of his apartment block in the central Stockholm neighbourhood of Sodermalm was blown out and windows were shattered along the street.Who is to blame?This category of crime was not even logged prior to 2017. Then, in 2018, there were 162 explosions and in the past two months alone the bomb squad have been called...

Associated Press By LOLITA C. BALDOR WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that America now has its eye on a new Islamic State leader, telling the Economic Club of New York that “we know where he is.”Trump didn’t mention the name of the new target, but he is likely referring to Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the man who has been named to replace Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as head of the terror group. Al-Baghdadi took his own life last month as U.S. commandoes closed in on him in northern Syria.In a speech Tuesday, Trump said the U.S. got al-Baghdadi, then got “his second” and now, “we have our eye on his third. His third has got a lot of problems because we know where he is, too.”Little is publicly known about al-Qurayshi, and the group typically identifies its leaders using pseudonyms that refer to their tribal affiliation and lineage....

The Guardian Alleged militant deported as part of Turkey’s drive to expel foreign jihadists in its custody An alleged American member of Islamic State, stranded for a second day on the border between Greece and Turkey after Turkey expelled him, is “not our problem”, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said.The man, named by the Turkish news agency Demiroren as Muhammed Darwis B, is believed to be a US citizen of Jordanian descent. He was deported on Monday as part of Turkey’s controversial new policy to deport foreign jihadists in its custody.A Turkish official told AFP that he had refused to be returned to the US and instead asked to be sent to Greece. Athens said he was refused entry when he tried to cross the no man’s land between the two countries to the Greek town of Kastanies. He is reported to have spent the night outside and...

Live: Several Israelis injured as Islamic Jihad continues firing rockets By JERUSALEM POST STAFF Israel came under heavy rocket fire Tuesday morning after the Air Force bombed a building in the Gaza Strip in a targeted strike which killed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Leader Bahaa Abu al-Ata.Rocket sirens sounded in Israeli towns surrounding the Gaza Strip including Ashkelon, Ashdod and Gedera as two different barrages of rockets slammed into Israel. As of 1 p.m. Israel time, more than 150 rockets were launched and more than 50 intercepted, according to the IDF.Several Israelis have been injured, including an eight-year-old girl who collapsed while running for shelter in Holon. She was evacuated to Wolfson hospital in serious condition.The following is a list of red alerts and rocket interceptions in real time: Read more: https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Rocket-sirens-sound-near-Gaza-Strip-after-assassination-607581...