Terrorism

Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter A social media trend showing individuals engaging in what has been described as “ sushi terrorism” has prompted widespread outrage and concern about food safety . The controversy is centred around a number of videos that have emerged on platforms such as Twitter and TikTok , in which individuals show themselves tampering with dishes at Kaitenzushi , conveyor belt sushi restaurants in Japan . In one video, which has been viewed more than 40 million times on Twitter, an individual can be seen licking the top of a communal soy sauce bottle before closing the lid and returning it to his table. The customer, who appears to be in his teens, is seen in the clip licking the entire rim of a teacup before placing it back on the stack of cups at the encouragement of … [Read more...] about Viral ‘sushi terrorism’ social media trend sparks outrage and disgust among diners

For QAnon it is “The Storm,” when mass violence will topple the elite cabal of pedophiles who they imagine to be running the government. White-power groups in the United States have long promised a catastrophic race war. And in Germany and Austria, neo-Nazis herald an imagined putsch on “Day X” — when the democratic order collapses and they take over. All are examples of “accelerationist” ideologies, which promise a moment when the institutions of government, society and the economy will be wiped out in a wave of catastrophic violence, clearing the way for a utopia that will supposedly follow. Accelerationism has long been a feature of white-power groups and other far-right militias. But now, experts say, accelerationist thinking is proliferating in ways that could threaten not just public safety, but the stability of democracy itself. “In many ways we can see how Jan. 6 was a kind of loosely formed coalition around this idea of accelerationism,” said Cynthia Miller-Idriss, … [Read more...] about From Doomsday Preppers to Doomsday Plotters

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email One London council has, with great fanfare, just announced plans to make 75 per cent of its streets “traffic free”. It says this will result in a “cleaner and greener borough” in a glossy PDF brochure extolling the plan’s virtues. The trouble is, despite Hackney (which is Labour-run) loudly trumpeting its deep and abiding commitment to diversity and inclusion , the impact on disabled people goes unmentioned. I have been covering schemes like this, and their dire impact on disabled people, for the last couple of years. They are a nationwide problem. So-called “school streets” have appeared (and sometimes disappeared) in the London boroughs of Islington, Tower Hamlets and Redbridge. Scotland got the ball rolling in 2015. York, meanwhile, closed its city centre off to disabled people , claiming advice from the police. Terrorism, … [Read more...] about Banning cars from city centres isn’t the ‘win’ you think it is

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan issued a wave of subpoenas on Friday attacking federal law enforcement's strategy in handling threats at school board meetings. The subpoenas—which are directed at Attorney General Merrick Garland , FBI Director Christopher Wray and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona —mark the first from House GOP Judiciary members who have long-promised to investigate the alleged "weaponization" of the federal government under the administration of President Joe Biden . Friday's allegations from Jordan are aimed at a memo from Garland issued in October 2021 , which directed the FBI to partner with local law enforcement in identifying potential threats to local school board meetings. According to a press release from the Judiciary Committee, several whistleblowers disclosed shortly after Garland's memo that "the FBI's Counterterrorism and Criminal Divisions created a specific threat tag for school board-related threats and even … [Read more...] about White House snaps back at Jim Jordan’s first round of subpoenas

A recent spate of attacks on electrical substations in North Carolina and other states has underscored the continued vulnerability of the nation’s electrical grid, according to experts who warn that the power system has become a prime target for right-wing extremists. Over the last three months, at least nine substations have been attacked in North Carolina , Washington State and Oregon , cutting power to tens of thousands of people. After those attacks, federal regulators ordered a review of security standards for the electrical system. The F.B.I. on Friday said that it was offering two $25,000 rewards for information that leads to the conviction of those responsible for shooting and damaging two substations in Moore County, N.C. on Dec. 3 and for shooting at another substation in Randolph County, N.C., on Jan. 17. The Moore County attack caused 45,000 people to lose power , some for five days. Concerned about the sabotage, legislators in North Carolina , South … [Read more...] about Attacks on Electrical Substations Raise Alarm

As the world is just beginning to recover from the devastation of Covid-19, it is facing the possibility of a pandemic of a far more deadly pathogen. Bird flu — known more formally as avian influenza — has long hovered on the horizons of scientists’ fears. This pathogen, especially the H5N1 strain, hasn’t often infected humans, but when it has, 56 percent of those known to have contracted it have died. Its inability to spread easily, if at all, from one person to another has kept it from causing a pandemic. But things are changing . The virus, which has long caused outbreaks among poultry, is infecting more and more migratory birds, allowing it to spread more widely , even to various mammals, raising the risk that a new variant could spread to and among people. Alarmingly, it was recently reported that a mutant H5N1 strain was not only infecting minks at a fur farm in Spain but also most likely spreading among them, unprecedented among mammals. Even worse, the mink’s … [Read more...] about An Even Deadlier Pandemic Could Soon Be Here

The United States is stepping up efforts to persuade partner nations that have not joined Western sanctions on Russia to crack down on commercial activities in their countries that could be helping Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine , U.S. officials said. Those efforts include pointing out to foreign governments transactions that the United States suspects are helping Russia evade sanctions and threatening new American sanctions on people and companies that the United States believes are fueling Russia’s war machine, the officials said on Friday. The new push comes as the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches and as U.S. officials, recognizing the limited effect of layers of Western sanctions on Russia , seek new ways to increasingly damage the Russian economy and undermine President Vladimir V. Putin’s ability to support his forces. The sting from these sanctions is leading Russia to look for new economic pathways, said a senior U.S. official, who spoke on … [Read more...] about U.S. Presses Partners to Weed Out Illicit Trade With Russia

WASHINGTON — Bilal al-Sudani was no stranger to American counterterrorism officials. Before joining the Islamic State affiliate in Somalia, Mr. al-Sudani was subjected to punitive sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2012 for his involvement with Al Shabab, Al Qaeda’s branch in the East African country. But it wasn’t until American officials started digging deeper into the background of another Islamic State branch, the one in Afghanistan that had carried out the deadly bombing at Kabul’s international airport in August 2021, that analysts fully realized Mr. al-Sudani oversaw a sprawling ISIS financial and logistical network across Africa, Europe and Afghanistan. Mr. al-Sudani’s newly revealed role as the financier for the ISIS branch responsible for the death of 13 U.S. service members in Kabul rocketed him to the top ranks of U.S. counterterrorism kill-or-capture lists, senior American officials said. Last week, commandos from the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 killed him in an … [Read more...] about Ties to Kabul Bombing Put ISIS Leader in Somalia in U.S. Cross Hairs

By Eric Lipton JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The 387-foot-long warships tied up at the Jacksonville Navy base were acclaimed as some of the most modern in the United States fleet: nimble, superfast vessels designed to operate in coastal waters and hunt down enemy submarines, destroy anti-ship mines and repel attacks from small boats, like those often operated by Iran. But the Pentagon last year made a startling announcement: Eight of the 10 Freedom-class littoral combat ships now based in Jacksonville and another based in San Diego would be retired, even though they averaged only four years old and had been built to last 25 years. The decision came after the ships, built in Wisconsin by Fincantieri Marinette Marine in partnership with Lockheed Martin, suffered a series of humiliating breakdowns, including repeated engine failures and technical shortcomings in an anti-submarine system intended to counter China’s growing naval capacity. “We refused to put an additional dollar … [Read more...] about The Pentagon Saw a Warship Boondoggle. Congress Saw Jobs.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — For hours on Thursday, people around the country were gripped by television images of a homemade silver balloon careening through the skies near here, whooshing over fields and trees and yards with a 6-year-old boy believed inside. A search party was readied — on foot, on horseback, in helicopters loaded with infrared sensors — to scour the aircraft’s path of more than 60 miles, some terrified that the boy might have fallen from his accidental perch. In the early afternoon, the balloon landed near Denver International Airport, but the boy was not in it. At last, near dusk, he was found, hiding in a box in his family’s garage attic, fearful his father would be angry at him for touching the flying machine his father had built in their backyard. The boy’s journey, it turned out, had never begun. “Quite frankly, I couldn’t stand,” the boy’s father, Richard Heene, said of the moment his youngest son, Falcon, suddenly reappeared inside the family’s home in … [Read more...] about Balloon Ran Away, but Boy, 6, Never Left Home