Associated Press: French Minister Thanks Belgium For Detaining 7 Terror Suspects On Eve Of Olympics Opening Ceremony

“On the eve of the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris, France’s interior minister thanked Belgium Thursday for a string of raids that led to the detention of seven people for questioning over suspected terrorist activities. The Belgian Federal prosecutor’s office said that the people detained during 14 raids in towns and cities across the country “are suspected of participating in the activities of a terrorist group, of financing terrorism and preparing a terrorist attack.” Spokesperson Arnaud d’Oultremont told The Associated Press that investigators had “not yet identified the suspects’ concrete objectives.” While the targets of the suspected plot were not immediately clear, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin thanked “our Belgian friends who, today, led a judicial operation to protect us.” He said French authorities were waiting for more details about the raids and said no arrests were made in France as part of the Belgian operation.”

Reuters: Pakistan Using “Terrorism, Proxy War” To Stay Relevant, Says India PM Modi

“Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that Pakistan is trying to stay relevant through "terrorism" and "proxy war" but its "unholy plans" will never succeed. The nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours share an uneasy relationship and India has, for decades, accused Pakistan of backing Islamist militants fighting its rule in Kashmir, the Himalayan region both claim in full but rule only in part. Pakistan denies the accusations, saying it only provides diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination in the Muslim-majority region. Modi's comments came at an event to mark the 25th anniversary of India's short military conflict with Pakistan in the Himalayan region of Kargil. The arch rivals have also fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir. They also come in the aftermath of a spate of militant attacks in the Hindu-majority Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir - as the territory is formally called - with almost a dozen Indian soldiers killed this year. Modi said Pakistan was humiliated whenever it tried to further its plans but had "not learned anything from its history".”

CEP Mentions

Jewish Standard: Reflections On A 30-Year Struggle For Justice

“At 9:53 a.m. on July 18, 1994, an explosives-filled truck detonated at the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) community center in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people and wounding 300 in the worst terror attack in Argentina’s history. At 9:53 a.m. on July 18, 2024, a siren sounded in Buenos Aires as hundreds gathered outside the rebuilt AMIA building to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the attack. Holding up photographs of the 85 innocent victims, those gathered honored the lives lost while calling for them finally to receive justice. As family members of the victims told stories of loss, the crowded responded loudly, “Presente!”—“Present!” acknowledging the shared pain, not just within the Jewish community but for all of Argentina.”

ZDF Heute: Arson Attacks On Train Network: What We Know

“Just hours before the start of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris, France's railway company SNCF reported a "massive attack" on the high-speed train network. Arson attacks were also reported. What is currently known about this and how are the authorities reacting? An overview of the current situation: Acting Prime Minister Gabriel Attal spoke of "coordinated acts of sabotage". According to media reports, signals were set on fire and cables were cut, among other things. The SNCF said that connections in the west, north and east of the country were affected. Trains to Belgium and Great Britain were also affected. […] The French authorities face the major challenge of organizing these games because the individual events are taking place in the country's densest urban area, terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project told ZDFheute.”

ZDF Heute: Hamas Terror Warning Apparently Fake

“"You will pay for what you have done," threatens the alleged Hamas fighter, dressed in black. A Palestinian flag is emblazoned on his chest, and his head and face are covered with a scarf. "You supplied the Zionists with weapons and helped to murder our brothers and sisters and children," the man complains. His warning, addressed to all French people and President Macron, shortly before the start of the Olympic Games: The terror threat was shared thousands of times and viewed millions of times on the short message service X, formerly Twitter. Even Elon Musk responded to one of the clips, posting two exclamation marks and thus ensuring even greater reach. Experts are indeed warning of terrorist attacks on the Olympic Games in Paris. But the video is clearly a fake that appears to have come from a well-known Russian disinformation group. […] The Russian actions come as no surprise to terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler. The aim of such a disinformation campaign is to spread uncertainty, he explained to ZDFheute.”

United States

NBC News: Pro-Palestinian Protests Inflame Tensions In Washington Over The Israel-Hamas War

“The pro-Palestinian protests that erupted in Washington during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress drew condemnation Thursday from political leaders. It was the latest inflection point as the protests have persisted around the U.S. since Israel responded to Hamas' terrorist attack in October. The war has engulfed the Gaza Strip, with hostages still being held there by Hamas. The protesters have called for a cease-fire and criticized America's ongoing support for Israel, mostly in the form of weapons. Opponents of the protests say they ignore the ongoing hostage situation and echo the talking points of a terrorist organization. A smaller group of protesters returned Thursday to demonstrate outside the White House, where Netanyahu met separately with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.”

Iran

Sarajevo Times: Israel Claims That Iran Is Planning Terrorist Attacks During The Olympics

“Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Kac, in a letter addressed to his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne, expressed concern that Israeli athletes and tourists could become targets of terrorist attacks during the Summer Olympics in Paris. The letter does not state whether Israel has any specific information about the impending attacks, nor does it cite any evidence. The Olympic Games begin in Paris on Friday and end on August 11. “Certain intelligence indicates that Iranian agents and other terrorist groups are planning to attack members of the Israeli delegation and Israeli visitors. This underscores our (Israeli and French) mutual interest in ensuring the safety of all (Olympics) participants,” the letter said. The Summer Olympics in Paris begin this Friday, and security measures in the French capital are at an all-time high.”

Iraq

Reuters: Rockets Launched At Iraq’s Ain Al-Asad Airbase, No Casualties, Sources Say

“Multiple rockets were launched at Iraq's Ain al-Asad airbase housing U.S.-led forces late on Thursday, U.S. and Iraqi sources said, with no damage or casualties reported. Two U.S. officials said the base itself had not been struck in the attack. The attack came two days after a military summit in Washington where Iraqi and U.S. officials discussed winding down the coalition's work a decade after it was formed to fight Islamic State as it stormed across Iraq and Syria. No major announcement was made at the end of the talks, though U.S. and Iraqi sources say an announcement that it will begin to gradually wind down is likely in the coming weeks. Iran-aligned Iraqi political and military factions have pressured the country's government to quickly draw down the coalition's work and say they want all 2,500 troops deployed by the country's one-time occupier to leave.”

Pakistan

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty: New Extremist Groups – At Least In Name – Enter Pakistan’s Militant Scene

“Suicide bombers and gunmen penetrated a military base in northwestern Pakistan last week, killing eight soldiers. It was just the latest in a string of deadly attacks to hit the South Asian country, where militant violence has surged in recent years. But what was significant about the July 15 attack in the city of Bannu was the group that claimed responsibility -- Jaish Fursan-e Muhammad (JFM) -- a previously unknown militant outfit. JFM is among several new militant groups that have announced their arrival on the crowded militant scene in Pakistan in recent months. But experts believe the new actors are in fact fronts for existing groups, including the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the most lethal militant organization waging war against Islamabad. JFM is a believed to be a front for Hafiz Gul Bahadar (HGB), a separate extremist group. The group is named after its leader, a former TTP commander.”

Lebanon

BBC: Rushdie Attacker Charged With Supporting Militant Group Hezbollah

“The man accused of stabbing writer Sir Salman Rushdie in 2022 in New York now faces a new charge of supporting a terrorist group. Hadi Matar has been charged with providing material support to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday. The federal charges come weeks after Mr. Matar rejected an offer from prosecutors that would have sentenced him to prison for a shorter period of time if he pleaded guilty. He is also charged with attempted murder and assault for the 2022 attack which left Mr. Rushdie blind in one eye. Mr. Matar's lawyer, Nathaniel Barone, told the BBC his client plans to plead not guilty to the new charges. "We plan on zealously and feverishly defending him on these matters," Mr. Barone said, adding that his client maintains his innocence on all the charges brought against him. He has been held without bail since the attack.”

Middle East

Los Angeles Times: Israel Is Spying On Hezbollah Commanders – And Killing Them One By One

“The first assassination took two tries. An Israeli drone fired a missile that hit a Renault van in southern Lebanon. When the target, a Hezbollah operative, climbed out and fled into a roadside thicket, a second missile finished the job. — That same morning, 60 miles to the northeast, another drone struck a Dodge pickup carrying a commander in Jamaah Al-Islamiyah, a Lebanese Sunni Islamist faction allied with Hamas and Hezbollah. The third assassination took place that night, when a missile slammed into a three-story building in the town of Jmaijmeh, killing Ali Maatouq, a senior commander with Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force. The three hits last week were part of a particularly violent day across southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah, the Shiite paramilitary faction and political party, has tussled with Israel for more than nine months. But they were also another salvo in a longer-running intelligence war.”

Associated Press: Wounded In A Strike That Killed Her Family, A 2-Year-Old Joins Gaza’s Ranks Of Thousands Of Orphans

“The 2-year-old toddler lay on a foil blanket, her face covered with salve for her burns and her little body riddled with scars from shrapnel. She squirmed, her breath heaving, as doctors examined her and the tube in her chest. Siwar Abdel-Hadi is now an orphan. She’s the lone survivor of an Israeli strike that hit their family home in central Gaza, killing her parents, her two sisters and her brother, along with a brother of her mother. “The whole family was gathered around a table for lunch” when the missile struck Tuesday in the Bureij refugee camp, said Nour Abdel-Hadi, one of Siwar’s paternal aunts. She spoke at nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where the overwhelmed staff rushed around her dealing with influxes of wounded. Israel’s campaign of bombardment and offensives in Gaza has left thousands of orphans.”

Reuters: Battered Hamas Confounds Israel’s Bid To Declare Victory

“Senior figures in Israel's government have said it is closing in on its war aims of defeating Hamas militarily and the return of hostages seized on Oct. 7. But Hamas' survival as a guerrilla force and its sway in Gaza may overshadow any deal. After nine months of pummelling by one of the most powerful militaries in the Middle East, Hamas is much weakened from the force that carried out the cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Early in the war, Hamas propaganda videos showed well-drilled fighters in body armour and battle fatigues, their torsos wrapped with ammunition belts. Now, small groups of insurgents in T-shirts and trainers stage hit-and-run attacks in Gaza's bombed-out streets, the videos show. Reuters spoke with three sources with knowledge of Hamas tactics, two former Hamas militants, three Palestinian officials, two Israeli military sources and an Israeli defence official to shed light on the group's losses and its strategy.”

Africa

WE News: 20 Killed In Militant Attack In Eastern DR Congo

“At least 20 people were killed in an attack in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), local sources told AFP on Thursday who attributed the assault to militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group. The incident, reportedly carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militant group, occurred in the Beni territory of North Kivu province, an area plagued by persistent unrest and armed conflict. Nicolas Kikuku, mayor of the commune of Oicha and capital of Beni territory, confirmed the tragic event to AFP, stating that the victims were farmers who were attacked while cultivating their fields. “The enemy always attacks the poor farmers,” Mayor Kikuku lamented, describing the brutal nature of the attack where victims were either shot or killed with knives in a village located approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Oicha.”

Germany

DW: German Court Denies Protection Status To Syrians

“For asylum seekers from Syria, a ruling could have far-reaching consequences: the Münster Higher Administrative Court in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has ruled that some regions in Syria are not generally unsafe, despite the ongoing civil war. This is the reasoning given by the court on Monday for rejecting the appeal of a Syrian who entered Germany in 2014 and sought before the court to qualify for subsidiary protection status. Subsidiary protection is available to those who do not qualify as refugees as defined by the Geneva Refugee Convention, but who are in serious danger in their home country. Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees had previously denied the Syrian man refugee status or subsidiary protection status as a civil war refugee because he had been involved in smuggling people from Turkey to Europe before entering Germany. For this, he was sentenced to several years in prison in Austria.”

Ukraine

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty: Series Of Terrorist Acts Prevented In Ukraine, EU Countries, Kyiv Says

“Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said on July 25 that its officers, along with the National Police, had prevented a series of terrorist attacks in the country and IN EU member states Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. According to an SBU statement, the suspected organizer of the planned arson attacks on civic buildings and an associate were detained in the western Prykarpattya region. The two suspects allegedly coordinated, under the supervision of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the activities of 19 members of a terrorist group in several Ukrainian regions. The two men were informed that they are suspected of high treason and forgery. Russia has not commented on the report.”

Europe

The Moscow Times: Moscow Labels Dozens Of Indigenous Groups, Free Russia Foundation As ‘Extremist’

“Authorities in Moscow have added an unprecedented 54 Indigenous groups and the U.S.-based Free Russia Foundation to the country’s growing list of “extremist” organizations. Russia’s Justice Ministry labeled the 55 seemingly unrelated organizations as “structural divisions” of the vaguely defined “Anti-Russian Separatist Movement,” which Russia’s Supreme Court banned as an “extremist” organization last month. Rights groups have said the authorities could use the designation as a pretext for the criminal prosecution of anti-war, anti-colonial or Indigenous rights activists. The new list of 55 “extremist” groups includes the Asians of Russia and Free Buryatia foundations, the Free Ingria movement, the Sakha Pacifist Association community and the World Chechen Congress. In the listing, the Justice Ministry described the “Anti-Russian Separatist Movement” as seeking to “destroy the multinational unity and territorial integrity of” the country. The “extremist” designation means anyone convicted of association with the vaguely defined organization could be imprisoned for up to six years.”