International
The Islamic State, responsible for at least 15 attacks in Russia since 2015
The attacks on Russian soil by the Islamic State (IS) are not something new. The jihadist group began to claim actions in Russia in 2015, some of them without victims and others with several deaths, such as the one that occurred in the Urals in 2017 when the explosion of a residential building left 39 dead.
According to the figures collected by EFE, both from its own information and from databases such as the United States Department of State, the IS has claimed or been responsible for at least 15 attacks in Russia between 2015 and 2019, the last year in which a Daesh action was registered until this Friday in Moscow.
The one in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall concert hall is the deadliest counted since then, but IS actions in Russia have gone from the murder of police, the killing of faithful in a church, an explosion in a supermarket, shootings or a lone wolf stabbing pedestrians.
2015
December 19. In the first attack claimed by IS on Russian soil, a man shot 11 tourists and killed one of them while visiting the city of Naryn-Kala de Derbent, in the Republic of Dagestan.
2016
-August -17. Two men attacked a policeman with weapons and axes at a traffic control post in the Moscow suburb of Balashija, and were killed by the agents. A policeman was seriously injured. The attack was claimed by the IS.
-October 23rd. Two men shoot a policeman who was inspecting his car in Nizhny Novgorod, who returned the fire and killed the two attackers. The IS claimed the attack stating that they were two “soldiers of the Islamic State.”
December -17th. Two alleged IS militants stabbed a policeman in Grozni, Chechnya, and used his weapon and a stolen car to kill three police officers. Although the IS did not claim the action, the U.S. State Department claims that they were recruited by a Daesh commander in Syria and videos were published in which they swore allegiance to the group.
2017
-March 24th. A group of alleged IS affiliates attacked a Russian National Guard post in Grozny, which resulted in the death of six soldiers and six attackers. He didn’t claim it, but the US attributed the attack to him.
-April 4th. Two Russian policemen die in a shooting in the southern city of Astrajan, in an action later claimed by IS.
– August 19. A 19-year-old from the Siberian city of Surgut wanders the streets with a knife and injures seven people, before being killed by the police. The attack, claimed by ISIS, occurred the day after similar ones that occurred in Finland and Germany, where several people were stanched.
-December 27. Explosion occurred in a supermarket of the Perekriostok chain in St. Petersburg, with about twenty injured. The pump, which had a power equivalent to 200 grams of trilite, did not cause serious damage to the building. EI became responsible for the attack.
2018
-February 8. An armed man shoots indiscriminately outside a church in the town of Kizliar against a crowd of people who were celebrating the Russian festival of the Másletnisa, similar to Carnival. Five people die and five others are injured. Claimed the same day by the IS.
-May. ISIS claims three attacks, one in Neftekamsk, another in Nizhny Novgorod and a third in Dagestan. They claim that they attacked police and a Sufi sanctuary, with no reported deaths.
December 31st. An explosion in a residential building in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk, in the Urals, causes 39 deaths. At the time of the tragedy it was believed that the building collapsed due to a gas explosion, but days later the IS claimed its authorship stating that it had killed 39 Russian “crusaders”.
2019
April 8th. There is an explosion in Kolomna, near Moscow, which was later claimed by IS. Supposedly there were no victims.
– July 1. A man kills a policeman with a knife at a checkpoint in the Chechen district of Achkhoy-Martonovsky. The policeman killed the attacker. The IS is attributed to the attack.
International
U.S. warns China over Taiwan during high-level defense talks in Kuala Lumpur
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth expressed concerns over China’s growing military activity near Taiwan during a meeting on Friday with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun in Kuala Lumpur.
“It was a constructive and positive meeting,” Hegseth wrote on X. “I emphasized the importance of maintaining a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and raised U.S. concerns about China’s actions around Taiwan,” the self-governed island that Beijing claims and does not rule out invading.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea. According to Trump, Taiwan was not discussed during their talks.
“The United States does not seek conflict and will continue to firmly defend its interests, ensuring it maintains the capability to do so in the region,” Hegseth added in his message.
Friday’s encounter followed a September 9 video call between Hegseth and Dong. Their previously planned meeting at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore was canceled due to Dong’s absence from the event.
Trump’s sit-down with Xi — their first since 2019 — resulted in some trade agreements but avoided addressing the issue of Taiwan, a long-standing source of tension between the world’s two largest powers.
Trump has taken a more ambiguous stance on Taiwan’s future compared with former President Joe Biden, who repeatedly stated that Washington would support Taipei if China launched an invasion. The Republican president has also criticized Taiwan for “stealing” the U.S. semiconductor industry.
International
U.S. considering airstrikes on military sites in Venezuela, reports say
The United States may soon carry out airstrikes on military facilities inside Venezuela as part of an escalating offensive against Nicolás Maduro’s regime, according to reports Friday from the Miami Herald and The Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the Trump administration.
Airstrikes could take place “within days or even hours,” the Herald reported. The Journal noted that while the option is under serious consideration, President Donald Trump has not yet made a final decision on authorizing strikes on Venezuelan soil.
Potential targets allegedly include military-controlled ports and airports used in drug trafficking operations, such as naval installations and airstrips, officials told the Journal.
The Herald also quoted a source saying that “Maduro’s time is running out”, suggesting that more than one Venezuelan general may be ready to detain and hand him over. However, officials declined to confirm whether the Venezuelan leader would be among the military targets.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to block the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, following nearly two months of airstrikes against vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean. Those operations have destroyed 15 boats and left 61 people dead and three survivors since September 1.
“We are finally waging a war against the cartels — a war like they’ve never seen before — and we are going to win that battle. We are already winning at sea,” Trump told U.S. troops during a speech in Japan.
The reports on possible airstrikes come on the same day the United Nations accused the U.S. of violating international law with its maritime operations, saying those killed at sea may have been victims of extrajudicial executions.
International
Pope Leo XIV revives Global Compact on Education to confront cultural crisis
Pope Leo XIV announced on Friday that he will revive and update the Global Compact on Education, an initiative launched by the late Pope Francis aimed at deeply transforming global culture through education.
The announcement was made during an audience in St. Peter’s Square, held on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Educational World, which this week gathers more than 20,000 participants from 124 countries in Rome.
During his address, the pontiff — who is of U.S. origin and Peruvian nationality — emphasized the importance of restoring the value of educators and reinforcing the principles that support the pact.
“We must be careful: damaging the social and cultural role of educators means mortgaging our own future,” he warned before thousands in attendance. “A crisis in the transmission of knowledge leads to a crisis of hope.”
The Global Compact on Education, launched by Pope Francis, seeks an integral and long-term cultural transformation. It is structured around five pillars: dignity and human rights; fraternity and cooperation; technology and integral ecology; education for peace and citizenship; and culture and religions. To date, the initiative has been joined by over 553 schools and nearly 410,000 students, according to Catholic Schools data.
Pope Leo XIV also expressed concern over the widespread inner fragility affecting both students and teachers — many of whom feel overwhelmed by bureaucratic burdens.
He additionally addressed the role of artificial intelligence in education, warning that it may worsen emotional isolation among learners: “It can further isolate students who are already isolated, giving them the illusion that they do not need others — or worse, the feeling that they are unworthy of them,” he said.
U.S. warns China over Taiwan during high-level defense talks in Kuala Lumpur
U.S. considering airstrikes on military sites in Venezuela, reports say
Pope Leo XIV revives Global Compact on Education to confront cultural crisis
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