Telegraph: Youngest Oct 7 victim was just 14 hours old when her mother was shot in the womb
The youngest victim of the Oct 7 massacre was just 14 hours old, a UK parliamentary report has found. The study also disclosed the existence of another Briton who died in the attack, bringing the total number of UK citizens killed to 18. Lord Roberts, the historian who has presided over the report, said its purpose was to produce a definitive account of the Hamas attacks to “counter pernicious” attempts at denying or minimising the atrocities. The report’s main findings – corroborating studies that have come out of Israel – found that planning by Hamas had begun in 2018, five years before the massacre, and that 7,000 militants had taken part in a “co-ordinated assault” launched from Gaza on 55 separate locations in Israel.
In the years leading up to its invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas developed a concrete plan to destroy the Jewish state, in full coordination with Hezbollah and Iran, according to classified documents published by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. The Hamas documents reveal that in the lead-up to October 7, Iran was a critical player in funding Hamas’s plan to destroy Israel, that the Gaza-based terror group pushed for a coordinated attack from multiple fronts, and that its leader Yahya Sinwar believed that his military force could push Israel toward collapse.
UnHerd: Southport-style attacks don’t need a new terrorism definition
CEP Strategic Advisor Liam Duffy writes: To call something “terrorism” is no longer to merely describe a tactic, but instead issues the most severe form of moral condemnation. This was evident in last year’s announcement that the UK Government would treat misogyny as a form of extremist terrorism and consequently mobilise a raft of anti-terror resources to tackle it. Meanwhile, many called for the Southport murders perpetrated by Axel Rudakubana in July to be labelled as terrorism. Some on the Right wanted to pin them on Islamic terrorism, citing the fact that the killer had previously downloaded an al-Qaeda manual. On the other hand, those on the Left wanted to brand the stabbings as terrorism on the basis that the act had terrorised.
The Spectator: Are our jails unfixable?
CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report, published today, addresses the prison cell crisis in the UK, highlighting huge government and organisational failures in managing prison capacity. We may be wary of the term, but it is yet another description of a system in crisis, with many prisoners stuffed into ‘inhumane conditions’, looked after by a battered and overwhelmed front line of officers, many of whom leave before they have finished their probation. This latest devastating critique focuses on a four-way car crash of broken promises, wild miscalculations, reactive mismanagement and the absence of solid planning.
Express: Kyle Clifford to become Britain's most expensive prisoner costing "millions and millions"
Former prison guard and governor Ian Acheson said: “I cannot think of another prisoner in the UK who is like Kyle Clifford. “There are prisoners who have attempted suicide and become paralysed whilst in jail, but he made himself paralysed before being put behind bars and the service has a whole life sentence to manage him through. Mr Acheson said it was impossible to estimate the full cost of Clifford’s incarceration but said his young age and injuries make a “hugely unique – and costly – situation.” He added: “He’s going to have complex needs and will need a level of care that most prisons are simply not organised to provide. The combination of the severity of his crimes and the extent of his disability will make it very challenging. They will need to find a place in a relatively high security prison because even though he is wheelchair-bound escape must be made impossible. If he did somehow escape then there would be severe damage done to the reputation of the justice system.
The Telegraph: What prison will look like for crossbow killer Kyle Clifford
In accordance with the severity of his crimes, Clifford will be held in one of the maximum-security Category A prisons designed for the most dangerous offenders, at least initially. “There are only a limited number of prisons that can house those who have committed crimes of such gravity it must be impossible for them to escape,” says Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project. These Category A men’s prisons include HMP Belmarsh, in London, where Clifford was held before his trial, and HMP Frankland, in County Durham. “He has committed a crime so outrageous that escape must be made impossible,” Acheson adds.
Homeland Security officials on Monday said that a doctor from Lebanon who was deported over the weekend despite having a U.S. visa “openly admitted” to supporting a Hezbollah leader and attending his funeral. The department’s statement, posted on social media, provides a possible explanation for Dr. Rasha Alawieh’s deportation, which has sparked widespread alarm, especially after a federal judge ordered that she not be removed until a hearing could be held. Government lawyers have said customs officials did not get word until after Alawieh was sent back to Lebanon.
The Justice Department on Monday announced the creation of a task force to investigate Hamas for its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel as well as potential civil rights violations and acts of antisemitism by anyone supporting the militant group. Agents and prosecutors participating in Joint Task Force October 7, or JTF 10-7, will investigate and look to bring charges against Hamas militants directly responsible for the rampage in southern Israel, the department said.
It has been revealed that more Britons were killed on October 7 than in any other foreign terror attack since 9/11, as the final British victim has been named. A landmark parliamentary report commissioned by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Israel and led by historian Lord Robertson detailed the murder, torture and sexual violence that took place on October 7.
Express: Iran terror group behind 20 assassination attempts thwarted by MI5 is 'recruiting in UK'
Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) have openly infiltrated the cultural and religious centres to spy on and threaten both Iranian dissidents now based in the UK and Britain generally, the Joint Committee on Human Rights heard. One dissident giving evidence on the scale and seriousness of the threat has been shot twice by IRGC agents and only survived a fatal bullet when the gun jammed.
Every day from 5 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, the team that guarded Israeli hostage Tal Shoham used a type of electric demolition hammer to carve additional miles of tunnel from the soft Gaza clay, he said. The former hostage, released last month in the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, recalled that the digging teams rotated in nine-hour shifts. In the 17 months since the terrorist organization launched its surprise rampage through Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas appears to have survived Israel's withering bombing campaigns through the ceaseless expansion of its vast web of tunnels that honeycomb underneath Gaza and has come to be known by Israeli officials as "the Metro."
Wall Street Journal: Israeli Strikes Kill Hundreds, Tipping Gaza Back Toward War
Israel launched a series of attacks against Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing more than 400 people, according to Palestinian authorities, and threatening a return to full-scale war after talks to release the remaining hostages held in the enclave stalled out. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the attacks after Hamas failed to release the hostages or accept U.S. proposals for extending a fragile cease-fire that had held for two months, his office said.
Washington Post: Syria and Lebanon agree to halt violence following border clashes
Syria and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire late Monday after Syrian forces loyal to the new government in Damascus clashed with the Lebanese military on the countries’ shared border, as simmering tensions over key smuggling routes — long used by Hezbollah militants — erupted overnight, igniting a potential new flash point in a region roiled by war.
Defense Post: Lebanon Says Seven Killed in Clashes on Syria Border
The Lebanese health ministry on Monday said at least seven people were killed and 52 wounded in clashes on the border with Syria that erupted the previous night. Clashes broke out late Sunday at the Syrian-Lebanese border, with the new authorities in Damascus accusing the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah of abducting three soldiers into Lebanon and killing them. A Lebanese security source told AFP that Syrian forces fired shells into Lebanon after the three security personnel were killed in the Lebanese village of Qasr by local gunmen involved in smuggling.
Deutsche Welle: EU pledges billions to Syria, but sanctions are a barrier
The foreign minister of Syria's new interim government stood side by side with the EU's foreign affairs chief as officials from dozens of countries crammed together for a family photo at an international donor drive in Brussels on Monday. Asaad Al-Shibani's front-and-center spot showed how Syrian authorities' efforts to shed their extremist image are paying off in the European Union. In the early days after the ouster of former dictator Bashar Assad, the EU wouldn't even pick up the phone to the Islamist rebels who toppled him.
JNS: Israel strikes artillery threat in southern Syria
The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday attacked artillery positions in southern Syria, near the border with the Jewish state, the army said. “An Air Force aircraft, under the direction of the 210th Divison, recently attacked artillery in the Khan Arnabah area in southern Syria that posed a threat to the State of Israel,” according to Tuesday’s IDF statement.
UN News: Funding shortages risk undermining a ‘watershed moment’ for Syria
Fourteen years of war have left Syria’s people in desperate need – but international support is dwindling, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Monday, calling for urgent investment in the country’s recovery. In a video message to the conference Standing with Syria: Meeting the Needs for a Successful Transition, organized by the European Union in Brussels, he underlined the gravity of the situation. “This is a watershed moment,” said the UN chief, stressing that the future of Syria depends on ensuring access to food, shelter, healthcare and sustainable livelihoods.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday explicitly linked the actions of Yemen’s Houthi rebels to the group’s main benefactor, Iran, warning Tehran it would “suffer the consequences” for further attacks by the group. The comments by Trump on his Truth Social website escalate his administration’s new campaign of airstrikes targeting the rebels, which killed at least 53 people this weekend alone. U.S. officials said the strikes were carried out against more than 40 targets and more airstrikes were planned in the coming days. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of military operations.
Iranian authorities have escalated their crackdown on women’s rights defenders, journalists, singers and other activists demanding equality or who defy compulsory veiling using arbitrary detention, unjust prosecution, flogging, and even the death penalty in a bid to quash Iran’s women’s rights movement, Amnesty International said today. Since International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March, the Iranian authorities have arbitrarily arrested at least five women’s rights activists. These arrests come amid an intensified crackdown that has included summoning women’s rights activists and journalists for interrogation, and arresting women singers for performing without the mandatory hijab while shutting down their social media accounts. In the lead up to IWD, the authorities flogged a male singer 74 times for performing a protest song against Iran’s discriminatory compulsory veiling laws and, in February 2025, sentenced a women’s rights activist to death.
UN News: Iran protests: Human Rights Council probe condemns online, app-based repression
In their latest and final report, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran alleged ongoing serious rights violations by the Iranian authorities stemming from massive protests after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022.
Straits Times: Pro-Kurdish party says Turkey vague on peace steps after PKK pledge
Turkey's pro-Kurdish party said that President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling alliance had offered no clear steps during closed-door talks on Monday meant to advance a peace process after Kurdish militants pledged to disarm. In an interview late on Monday, Gulistan Kilic Kocyigit, the DEM Party's deputy parliamentary group chair, said government officials outlined their stance in broad terms but remained vague on addressing the party's democratic demands. Her comments came after DEM, Turkey's third-largest party, met Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP) and separately its nationalist ally MHP on Monday.
BBC: 'Killed in front of our eyes': How the Pakistan train hijacking unfolded
Mehboob Hussain was riding the train home on Tuesday when the tracks under the front car exploded. In the depths of central Pakistan's Bolan Pass, a pocket of wilderness so remote that there is no internet or mobile network coverage, the nine-coach Jaffar Express ground to a halt. Then the bullets started flying. "I was a passenger on the train that was attacked," Mr Hussain told BBC Urdu. He, along with some 440 others, had been travelling from Quetta to Peshawar through the heart of the restive Balochistan province when a group of armed militants struck – they bombed the tracks, fired on the train and then stormed the carriages. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) quickly claimed responsibility for the siege, and threatened to kill many of those on board if Pakistani authorities did not release Baloch political prisoners within 48 hours.
Bloomberg: Pakistan’s Economy Is Back. But So Is Terrorism
Pakistan’s military — which, rather than the civilian government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, retains control over national security — was quick to blame the Afghan Taliban government in Kabul for allowing the BLA to operate from its soil. Relations between the two countries are at a familiar low. Certainly, the establishment is no longer gloating that the extremists it supported managed to outlast the US military. The Afghan Taliban’s takeover of Kabul has emboldened its fellow travelers. The Pakistani Taliban killed 558 people in 2024, almost twice as many as in the previous year. Baloch separatists murdered more than 500, up from 116 in 2023.
Reuters: India orders curfew after violence over tomb of 17th-century Muslim ruler
Authorities clamped indefinite curfew on parts of the Indian city of Nagpur after more than a dozen police officers were hurt in clashes sparked by a Hindu group's demand for the removal of the tomb of a 17th-century Mughal ruler, police said on Tuesday. Monday's violence in the central Indian city damaged many vehicles and injured several people, among them at least 15 police personnel, one of whom was in serious condition, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Deutsche Welle: Afghan women's rights activists in Pakistan fear deportation
Female activists who fled from Afghanistan to Pakistan say their lives are in danger once again as Islamabad intensifies its efforts to deport Afghan refugees.
Guardian: Life of British man, 79, imprisoned by Taliban is in serious danger, say family
The life of a 79-year-old British man imprisoned along with his wife by the Taliban is in serious danger, his family have warned. Peter Reynolds and his wife, Barbie, 75, who run a training business in Afghanistan, were detained last month when they travelled to their home in Bamiyan province. Their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, said her father’s health had “significantly deteriorated” after the couple were separated and moved to a high-security prison.
he U.N. Security Council told Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers Monday that peace and prosperity are “unattainable” until they reverse their bans on women and girls getting an education, being employed and speaking in public. The U.N.’s most powerful body also condemned ongoing terrorist activity in Afghanistan “in the strongest terms” and called for strengthened efforts to address the country’s dire economic and humanitarian situation.
Exclusive: Yemen's Houthis won't 'dial down' under US pressure or Iranian appeals
Yemen's Houthis will not "dial down" their action against Israeli shipping in the Red Sea in response to U.S. military pressure or appeals from the group's allies such as Iran, the Yemeni militant group's foreign minister said. Jamal Amer spoke to Reuters late on Monday after the U.S. launched a wave of strikes in areas of Yemen controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthis, who said last week they were resuming attacks on Red Sea shipping to support Palestinians in Gaza.
BBC: Fresh US strikes in Yemen with 53 now dead, Houthis say
Yemen's Houthi rebels say there have been fresh US strikes against them, with the number of dead rising to 53, including five children. Targets in the Al Jaouf and Hudaydah areas were hit early on Monday, according to the rebel group, while the US Central Command said its forces had continued operations. The US launched what it called a "decisive and powerful" wave of air strikes on Houthi targets on Saturday as part of efforts to stop Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Washington says some key Houthi figures are among the dead, but the group has not confirmed this.
Deutsche Welle: Trump admin vows 'unrelenting' strikes on Houthis in Yemen
The United States will continue to strike Yemen's Houthi rebels until they end attacks on international shipping, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday. "I want to be very clear, this campaign is about freedom of navigation and restoring deterrence," Hegseth said in an interview for the Fox Business broadcaster. "The minute the Houthis say, 'We'll stop shooting at your ships, we'll stop shooting at your drones,' this campaign will end. But until then, it will be unrelenting," he added. US President Donald Trump, posting on social media, also vowed to "use overwhelming lethal force" to end the Houthi attacks.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that U.S. airstrikes in Yemen on the Iran-backed Houthi rebels are targeting the group's ability to strike global shipping and attack the U.S. military, and are "doing the world a favor." "We're doing the entire world a favor by getting rid of these guys and their ability to strike global shipping. That's the mission here, and it will continue until that's carried out," Rubio said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."
Jerusalem Post: US airstrike eliminates Houthi leader's security chief in Yemen
Several Houthi leaders involved in its drone program were killed during a US strike on Houthi targets in Yemen, the Pentagon announced in a press conference Monday. Overnight, US Central Command (CENTCOM) continued to carry out strikes on the Iran-backed terror group. The US agency announced via X overnight that attacks would continue. The Houthis claimed 53 people have been killed as a result of the strikes, which began on Saturday.
President Donald Trump is to hold talks on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he looks to get buy-in on a U.S. ceasefire proposal he hopes can create a pathway to ending Russia’s devastating war on Ukraine. The White House is expressing optimism that peace is within reach even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains skeptical that Putin is doing much beyond paying lip service to Trump as Russian forces continue to pound his country.
Reuters: Russian jailed for life in Finland for Ukraine war crimes
A Russian man was jailed for life by a Finnish court on Friday for war crimes committed in 2014 in eastern Ukraine, where his paramilitary group was found to have killed an injured soldier. The trial of Yan Petrovsky, also known as Voislav Torden, was a rare case of foreign prosecutors addressing war crimes from the anti-Kyiv insurgency that Moscow backed in eastern Ukraine, long before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Washington Post: At least 18 killed in airstrike on market in northern Mali, separatist group says
At least 18 people have been killed in an airstrike in northern Mali, a separatist group said. The army said it had mounted an attack targeting armed militants. The Collective for the Defence of the Rights of the Azawad People, which is part of a Tuareg separatist coalition, said Monday the Malian army bombed a market 50 km (30 miles) north of Lerneb, in the Timbuktu region.
Reuters: Somalia appoints new defence minister in cabinet reshuffle
Somalia's Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre replaced his defence minister with the Minister of Commerce and Industry Jibril Abdirashid Hajion Monday as part of a broader cabinet reshuffle. The appointments included new ministers of ports, trade, transport and sport, the office of the Prime Minister said in a statement. It gave no further details.
Bloomberg: Suspected Pirates Hijack Yemeni-Flagged Vessel Off Somalia Coast
Suspected pirates boarded a Yemeni-flagged dhow off the eastern coast of Somalia, the second such attack in a month. “Up to seven hijackers remain on board,” the European Union Naval Force, or EU Navfor, said in a statement. “The dhow has a crew of eight Somali nationals.” EU Navfor’s Operation Atalanta mission, which counters maritime threats in the absence of a Somali navy, said it was monitoring the event and coordinating with the Yemeni coast guard.
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Fact:
On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers.
Get the latest news on extremism and counter-extremism delivered to your inbox.