Tag: terrorism

Telegram Is Removed from App Store Days After Russia Charges Founder Pavel Durov with Aiding Terrorism

This past weekend, Russia’s main domestic security agency, the FSB, announced that Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been charged with aiding terrorism and put on an international wanted list.

CBS News reported:

“The charges against Durov, who was born and began his career in Russia but later moved abroad, came as the Russian authorities restrict Telegram, one of the most popular messaging apps in the country – […] Soon after the charges were announced, Telegram’s official account on X posted an image of Durov making an obscene gesture with his middle finger. There was no other immediate comment from Durov or Telegram.”

Here is what you get tonight when you look up Telegram on the App Store:
When you type in a search for Telegram you get WhatsApp, Instagram, and Truth Social but not Telegram.

Apple removed the app from its App Store globally.

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Trafalgar Square Gets Diversity Barriers…

London’s most iconic public space has been turned into a fortified zone. 

Heavy steel and concrete barriers now ring Trafalgar Square, hemming in Nelson’s Column and the open plaza that once defined the heart of the capital. Critics are calling them exactly what they are: diversity barriers. The temporary metal structures clearly exist for one purpose only—to stop vehicles being driven into crowds.

Footage circulating this week shows the bright yellow and concrete-style anti-ram units lining the approaches to the square. Tourists and locals navigate filter gaps between the devices while Nelson looks down on a landscape redesigned for a threat the authorities refuse to name.

These are not temporary crowd-control fences for a one-off event. They form part of a growing pattern across Britain.

Just days earlier, similar devices appeared at a family beach event in Nottingham’s Market Square. Fifteen Husson H-Stop units blocked the entrances there, designed to tip a three-and-a-half-tonne truck travelling at 30 mph.

Councillors described them as an “additional safety measure” following advice from a multi-agency group that included counter-terrorism officers. Organiser James Mellors admitted they “don’t look very pretty” but insisted the high-footfall area required them.

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MI5 directors who plotted IRGC ‘terror’ ban exposed in leaked emails

Leaked emails reviewed by The Grayzone show both a current and former MI5 director secretly lobbied for the British government’s move to label the IRGC a terrorist entity as well as the UK’s adoption of the draconian National Security Act.

The correspondence reviewed here offers extraordinary insight into how the MI5 influences Downing Street and manipulates public perceptions of dubious or non-existent threats.

On July 13, the government of former Prime Minister Keir Starmer officially listed the IRGC as a terrorist organization, citing supposed kidnapping and assassination plots by the Iranian military branch. Now, merely publishing Iranian-supplied casualty figures could be categorized as “terrorism,” potentially landing British citizens in prison for up to 14 years.

Leaked correspondence reviewed by The Grayzone reveals that when first proposed in 2023, the push to proscribe the Iranian military branch was coordinated among the former heads of British intelligence agency MI5. Those plotting the designation included the MI5’s current Director General Ken McCallum and previous Director General Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller – who was privately credited with the passage of Britain’s draconian National Security Act.

The spymasters appeared to view Labour’s then-Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper as a key ally in constricting civil liberties and convincing government officials to formally designate the IRGC a terrorist entity.

In private discussions, McCallum acknowledged the “direct operational benefit” of proscribing the IRGC was likely to be “modest.” The MI5 chief nonetheless considered it “sensible to contemplate” such powers, and potentially extending them to include a ban on supposedly state-affiliated factions such as the now-defunct Russian private military company Wagner.

McCallum’s behind-the-scenes lobbying of Cooper and Starmer was the culmination of a wider effort by veteran MI5 officials who’d sought to “help the opposition to be ready to govern” once they took office in July 2024. 

Starmer and his shadow cabinet proved highly receptive to clandestine approaches from McCallum and his veteran MI5 forebears. Meanwhile, McCallum deployed scaremongering about the supposed threat of China, Iran and Russia – frequently coordinated with Manningham-Buller – to justify ratcheting up budgets and powers for the spy agency, whose ultimate targets appear to be domestic dissidents.

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REVEALED: Trump Administration Using Alien Removal Court for First Time in History to Deport ISIS Terrorist Who Plotted Election Day Terror Attack

It has been revealed that the Trump Administration, in the first-ever application to the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, is seeking to deport an ISIS-aligned terrorist whose sons were arrested for planning a mass casualty attack on election day.

According to an unclassified Justice Department document, “Nazira Haji Zada is the subject of an FBI national security investigation and is being investigated for crimes related to international terrorism.”

Her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, were arrested by the FBI after they “conspired to relocate their female and juvenile male family members, including NAZIRA, to ISIS controlled territory in Afghanistan, while they would remain in the U.S. to conduct an attack on behalf of ISIS.”

“The FBI has developed information that NAZIRA is a supporter of ISIS, has formally pledged loyalty to ISIS, and supported TAWHEDI and ABDULLAH’s conspiracy. The FBI is further aware that NAZIRA, in collaboration with TAWHEDI, worked to indoctrinate her children with ISIS ideology and have them pledge loyalty to ISIS. NAZIRA worked with TAWHEDI to radicalize the family and to conceal their pro-ISIS teaching and planned family relocation to ISIS-controlled territory from her unsuspecting husband Abdul Haji Zada,” the memo reads.

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Russia accuses Telegram CEO Pavel Durov of aiding terrorism in its latest digital crackdown

Russian authorities said Wednesday they had charged Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, with aiding terrorism, the latest step by the Kremlin to bring the internet and digital communications under its control.

The charges against the Russian-born Durov, who lives abroad, came as authorities have sought to restrict the use of Telegram as part of a widespread crackdown on online freedom that followed Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The Federal Security Service, or FSB, said in a statement it had accused Telegram’s administration of failing to remove “numerous channels, chats and bots” allegedly used by “Ukrainian intelligence agencies, terrorist and extremist organizations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murder, and cyber fraud” in Russia, which resulted in “numerous human casualties.”

The FSB accused Ukrainian security services of using a popular dating chatbot on Telegram to lure and recruit Russians for “sabotage and terrorist activities,” and said 46 users of the chatbot, from 12 to 22 years old, have been detained in Russia over the past year for assaulting law enforcement officers, arson and other acts.

It also said it was adding the name of the 41-year-old billionaire to international wanted lists.

Durov had said earlier this year that Russian authorities opened a criminal investigation against him, and he accused them of fabricating pretexts to restrict access to Telegram as part of an attempt to “suppress the right to privacy and free speech.”

If convicted, he could face up to life in prison in Russia.

Telegram, which boasts of more than 1 billion users worldwide, did not respond to a request for comment. Its official website links to an account on X that on Wednesday posted am image of Durov raising a middle finger to the camera.

Telegram’s website says that the company is based in Dubai and that Durov, who holds dual citizenship in France and the United Arab Emirates, lives there, too.

Russia has sought to censor the internet
Under President Vladimir Putin, Russian authorities have engaged in multipronged efforts to rein in the internet, adopting restrictive laws and banning websites and platforms that don’t comply and focused on improving technology to monitor and manipulate online traffic.

Popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and X, have been banned in Russia; YouTube has been throttled; popular messaging apps, such as Signal and Viber, have been blocked, and the most popular ones — WhatsApp and Telegram — have been restricted.

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Bombshell Report Exposes Lefty NGOs Funding A Children’s Charity Tied To Terror Network

After years of pro-Hamas protests and riots, including efforts by radical-left revolutionaries to blockade highways, bridges, and other economic chokepoints, as well as unrest across Ivy League campuses, investigators are finally examining the financial infrastructure behind the Marxist movement that increasingly appears less about Palestine and more about toppling the US empire.

At the center of the investigation is a left-wing nonprofit that may have served as a bridge, connecting major progressive foundations and revolutionary-left activist networks to organizations linked to foreign terrorist groups.

This revelation appeared in a bombshell new report by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) and was first reported publicly by the New York Post.

NCRI claims that millions of dollars raised by the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) flowed through opaque funding channels to organizations with documented ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Notably, the PFLP is a Marxist-Leninist Palestinian militant and political organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. The U.S. has designated it a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997 and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist since 2001.

Last summer, a rioter was seen wearing Hamas and PFLP paraphernalia as he stood in front of a burning Waymo in Los Angeles, California.

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Berlin Pride Parade Terror Attack Suspect Identified as Previously Detained Islamist ‘Abdul B.’

The suspect in the terror attack, which struck the Berlin Pride Parade on Saturday evening, has been identified as 21-year-old ‘Abdul B.’, who was previously detained in Germany on terror offences, reportedly including the support of the so-called Islamic State.

UPDATE 13:40: German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Sunday morning that at least one person was killed and 29 people were injured, some seriously, in what he said is believed to have been an “Islamist terror attack” at the Berlin Pride Parade on Saturday evening. Dobrindt said the suspect was born in Germany but is of Lebanese descent, with his mother naturalised in the country in 2002. He also confirmed that the alleged terrorist had also attacked revellers with a bladed weapon, thought to be a machete. The manhunt continues.

The original story continues as follows…

Tragedy struck the annual Christopher Street Day event in the German capital, one of the largest LGBTQ pride parades in Europe, with a white van being driven into a crowd in the Tiergarten area of the city at around 10 pm, leaving at least one dead and 29 injured.

Berlin Police identified “Abdul B.” as their main suspect, releasing a picture of the 21-year-old as they conduct a large-scale manhunt. The force said that there may be more suspects yet to be identified. A spokesman earlier revealed that the suspect was known to police as an “Islamist”.

It has been reported that the suspect may still be armed, with some witnesses claiming that he was carrying a machete as he fled the scene.

The Bild newspaper identified the suspect as “Abdul Ballut”, who they reported was born in Germany but came from a Lebanese family. The paper further reported that his apartment was located just a few hundred meters from the site of the terror attack on Saturday evening.

German paper of record Die Welt reported that Abdul was previously identified as a threat by police and had been in juvenile detention as recently as May for having attempted to incite or threaten a terror attack. He was also said to have claimed to have contacts with the ISIS terror network.

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UK Cities Roll Out More Diversity Barriers; Vehicle-Ramming Threat Now The Norm

A family summer beach event in the UK city of Nottingham now sits behind portable anti-ram steel barrier, the latest admission that open borders have turned public spaces into soft targets.

Local authorities across Britain are quietly installing more of what critics now call “diversity barriers” – heavy portable steel devices designed to stop vehicles being driven into crowds.

The annual artificial “Nottingham Beach” event opened this week behind a line of bright red Husson H-Stop units.

About 15 of the barriers now block the four main entrances. They tip upward on impact, changing a vehicle’s trajectory and generating enough friction to halt a three-and-a-half-tonne truck travelling at 30 mph.

Councillors and organisers insist the move is simply a precaution. The multi-agency safety group that approved them included counter-terrorism officers.

Councillor Neghat Khan, leader of Nottingham City Council, described them as an “additional safety measure” installed “following advice from the multi-agency events safety advisory group, which includes counter-terrorism colleagues.”

Event organiser James Mellors was more blunt: “I don’t think they look very pretty. But the Market Square is a very high footfall area. It’s not always about how things look, it’s about keeping people safe.”

A regular visitor, Amanda Hose Hawley, said she was “not surprised” and called the barriers “a sign of the climate we live in.”

The language is careful, the justification technical. Yet the reason these barriers exist is no mystery.

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FBI Calls Incendiary Attack On Manhattan Federal Building An “Anti-Government Attack”

For years, left-wing political violence in the US was often treated as isolated and/or a non-issue. The Trump administration is now calling it a domestic terrorism threat.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle described the incident outside 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan earlier today as an “anti-government attack on a federal facility.” 

Watch the suspected left-wing radical attack the federal building, which houses offices for agencies including DHS, ICE, USCIS, the FBI, and the Social Security Administration.

Suspect identified as Andrew Arrabaca …

Barnacle also said the suspect carried a sign reading “ICE Off Our Streets,” which suggests an association with left-wing groups.

Even The Atlantic had to recently admit there was a troubling rise in left-wing terror…

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DOJ seeks to invoke the Alien Terrorist Removal Court for first time since its creation

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has submitted an application to the Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC) to initiate the never-before-used legal process to deport foreign nationals deemed to be terrorists.

The application was submitted on Thursday, July 16th, and its contents remained sealed. The document’s cover sheet indicates that the information inside is classified. The person the application intends to process has not been publicly identified.

The ATRC was established in 1996 by Congress, which authorized the Chief Justice of the United States to designate five U.S. district court judges to review applications for illegal immigrant terrorists to be quickly removed from the country. However, until this week, the court has not received an application from the Attorney General in 30 years and has not conducted deportation proceedings.

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) was signed by former President Bill Clinton in 1996 in response to the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing. At the time, American extremist Timothy McVeigh, aided by Terry Nichols, detonated a makeshift bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

If an application is approved, the court will need to hold a public removal hearing where the government bears the burden of proving that the individual is an “alien terrorist.”

8 U.S. Code defines an alien terrorist as any non-citizen who has engaged or is reasonably likely to engage in any terrorist activity.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) defines terrorist activity as any unlawful act including:

  • Hijacking or sabotaging an aircraft, vessel or vehicle;
  • Seizing, detaining, or threatening to kill or injure another person to compel a third person or government to an action;
  • Assassination;
  • A violent act upon an internationally protected person;
  • Using biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons with intent to harm;
  • Material support to a certified Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) or to any individuals the actor reasonably should know has committed or plans to commit terrorist acts.

The DOJ’s filing may indicate an escalation in President Donald Trump’s administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

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