Europe
#JeSuisCharlie hypocrisy goes off the charts
Under the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie, an attack on free speech is being used to justify further attacks on free speech… in the paradoxical name of protecting free speech.
Tag: al-Qaeda
Watching the Shadows
US sentences Muslim cleric to life imprisonment
The US sentenced Egyptian-born cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri to life in prison for supporting terrorism. The European Court of Human Rights had earlier barred his extradition.
Greater Middle East
Jihadis declare open season on school children
The Taliban massacre of children at a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, was shortly followed by a deadly Qaeda attack on a schoolbus stopped at a Houthi rebel checkpoint in Yemen.
Oceania
ISIS in Sydney?
Internet and media slueths scramble to identify the faction behind the jihadist flag raised by the militant in the Sydney hostage crisis—which follows Austrailian air-strikes on ISIS.
Greater Middle East
Yemen: Saudis suspend aid as Houthi power grows
A failed US commando raid on al-Qaeda in Yemen comes as Saudi Arabia has suspended aid to the country in response to the growing power of Shi'ite Houthi militants.
Greater Middle East
New Syrian rebel coalition: tilt to Turkey
Syrian rebels announced formation of a new Revolutionary Command Council at a meeting in Turkey—dominated by conservative Islamists but excluding Nusra Front and ISIS.
Iraq
Global terrorism survey finds surging attacks
A study by UK-based Institute for Economics and Peace finds there were nearly 10,000 terrorist attacks in 2013, 44% more than the year before.
Greater Middle East
Peshmerga come to aid of Kobani: strings attached?
Peshmerga fighters have joined the battle for Kobani, with Turkish acquiescence. But will Ankara and the West wrest a political price for this aid from Syria's Kurdish resistance?
Central Asia
Uighur leaders to al-Qaeda: No, thanks
Uighur exile leaders were quick to disavow an article in al-Qaeda's media service portraying harsh oppression of Muslims in "East Turkistan," or Xinjiang.
Iraq
US air-strikes fueling growth of ISIS?
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that ISIS has recruited more than 6,000 new fighters since the US-led air-strikes began.
Greater Middle East
US expands Syria air-strikes; Israel downs fighter
As the US struck both ISIS and Nusra Front positions in Syria, Israel shot down a Syrian fighter plane it said had violated its airspace over the Golan Heights.
North Africa
AQIM renegades pledge fealty to ISIS
A new armed group calling itself the "Soldiers of the Caliphate in Algeria" has split from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and sworn loyalty to ISIS.