Controversial counter-terrorism report
William Shawcross was appointed to review the Prevent counter-terrorism strategy in January 2021. Last week he concluded that Prevent concentrated too much on the far right and not enough on Islamist extremism. But he only attended six of the thousands of review panels examining the more extreme cases. A more intensive support, known as Channel, is needed for the small proportion of individuals seen as being at greatest risk. Between April 2021 and March 2022 almost 1,500 assessments for Channel took place. But Shawcross’s attendance at such a small number of these raises questions over how thorough his research was. Britain’s former top counter-terrorism officer, Neil Basu, said parts of the government-backed report appeared to be inspired by right-wing ideology and were ‘insulting’ to professionals fighting to tackle extremism.
Russia: soldiers’ deaths, Wagner
More Russian soldiers are dying this month than at any time since the invasion. 824 Russian losses a day is over four times the rate reported in June and July. The Ukrainian military claims 137,780 Russian military deaths since the invasion began. The UK's MoD said recent increases could be due to lack of trained personnel and resources. See Pray for God to comfort Russian and Ukrainian families who are mourning the loss of a loved one. Also Wagner’s boss said his mercenary group is facing difficulties and will soon decrease in size as his political influence in the Kremlin wanes. The recruitment of prisoners to Wagner ranks has stopped, therefore the number of its units will decrease. Several prominent human rights groups have said the ministry of defence has now taken over Wagner’s role of recruiting inmates - effectively depriving the group of its main source of manpower.
Russian ships with nuclear weapons
Russia has deployed vessels armed with tactical nuclear weapons in the Baltic Sea for the first time in three decades, according to a Norwegian intelligence report. Warships regularly went to sea with nuclear weapons during the Soviet era, but this is the first time the Russian Federation has deployed them. Norway’s report comes as Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine reaches the one-year mark. The report said this deployment of vessels implies Russia will continue to pose a threat to Norway and NATO. Norway said that a localised war could possibly escalate into a wider conflict with direct military involvement by Russia, the USA, NATO, and Norway. Russia has called its war in Ukraine a special military operation, and accuses NATO of interfering.
Turkey: 113 arrest warrants
Turkey has issued 113 arrest warrants in connection with the construction of buildings that collapsed in recent earthquakes. Twelve people are in custody, with more arrests expected, but the action is seen by many as an attempt to divert overall blame for the disaster. For years, experts warned that many new buildings in Turkey were unsafe due to endemic corruption and government policies that allowed so-called amnesties for contractors who swerved building regulations, in order to encourage a construction boom - including in earthquake-prone regions. With elections looming Erdogan’s future is on the line after spending 20 years in power. He has admitted shortcomings but, during one visit to a disaster zone, he appeared to blame fate, saying, ‘Such things have always happened. It is part of destiny's plan’. Modern construction techniques should mean that buildings can withstand quakes of this magnitude, and regulations following previous Turkey disasters were supposed to ensure these protections were built in. See also
