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Australian Man is Accused of Being ISIS Group Propagandist Who Shared 10,000 Files Online

Australian Police | Reuters
Australian Police | Reuters
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Australian Man is Accused of Being ISIS Group Propagandist Who Shared 10,000 Files Online

Australian Police | Reuters
Australian Police | Reuters

A man in the Australian city of Melbourne is accused of pledging allegiance to the ISIS group and spreading thousands of pieces of extremist propaganda online over a period of years, the authorities said on Wednesday.

He was the seventh man to be arrested in Victoria state since May over allegations of possessing or distributing ISIS content online. Australia's federal police didn't link the latest arrest to the other six and wouldn't say if they believed the man's case was connected, The Associated Press said.

The 65-year-old Australian citizen, whose name hasn't been released, was due to appear in a Melbourne court later on Wednesday. He's charged with being a member of a terrorist organization and with transmitting violent extremist material in an encrypted messaging app the authorities didn't name.

The maximum penalty for the offenses is 10 years in prison.

The authorities said the man had sent 10,000 files containing extremist content between 2015 and 2020, including material relating to executions, torture and ISIS propaganda. The federal police allege that he also shared information about avoiding detection from law enforcement and instructional guides on planning and conducting mass casualty attacks, a statement Wednesday said.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Paula Hudson told reporters in Canberra that the scale and distribution of the materials by the man “placed him as a principal distributor of ISIS propaganda within the group.”

“The material glorified acts of violence and terrorism, spreading hateful ideology that is designed to radicalize others,” Hudson said.

An investigation into the man began when border officials examined the man's luggage as he departed Australia for a six-month trip to Egypt in 2020, the authorities said. He wasn't known to have traveled abroad since 2020 and wasn't linked to any attack or plot, Hudson said.

Earlier this month, a 30-year-old Melbourne man was arrested and charged with possessing violent extremist content as he attempted to depart Australia for the Middle East, authorities said. The federal police allege he was part of an online group chat with five other Victoria state men arrested in May, who all face charges relating to possessing extremist material, including ISIS propaganda.

The ISIS group is a scattered and considerably weaker group since a 2019 United States-led military intervention drove it out of territory it had seized in Iraq and Syria, but its cells remain active and it has inspired a number of independent attacks, including in western countries. In Australia, a mass shooting at a Hanukkah event in 2025, in which two men are accused of killing 15 Jewish people, was motivated by the shooters' ISIS affiliations, the authorities allege.

It's thought 200 Australians traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the ISIS group between 2012 and 2019, according to a website for the country's national security agencies. Dozens more “assisted” ISIS by supporting those overseas or by planning or carrying out terrorist attacks in Australia, the website says.

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World

Netanyahu’s Somalia Map Revives Fears of Partition

From the Somali capital, Mogadishu (Reuters)
From the Somali capital, Mogadishu (Reuters)
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Netanyahu’s Somalia Map Revives Fears of Partition

From the Somali capital, Mogadishu (Reuters)
From the Somali capital, Mogadishu (Reuters)

A map unveiled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sparked outrage in Somalia, which accused him of undermining its sovereignty and territorial integrity by depicting Puntland and Somaliland as separate states.

The map has reignited fears of partition in a country already grappling with deep divisions. Puntland remains at odds with the federal government, while Israel recognized the breakaway region of Somaliland several months ago.

Somalia rejects the map

Somalia's federal government "categorically rejected" what it called a "misleading map" displayed during Netanyahu's news conference on Sunday, saying it portrayed the country as fragmented.

It condemned the move as "a flagrant violation of Somalia's sovereignty, territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders."

In a statement issued by the Information Ministry on Wednesday evening, the government reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to national sovereignty and the unity of its territory and people.

It stressed that Somaliland and Puntland remain "integral and inseparable parts of the unified, sovereign Somali state."

The government warned that any attempt by foreign officials or outside parties to redraw Somalia's political map, misrepresent its borders or undermine its territorial unity would constitute a direct violation of international law and diplomatic norms.

It urged the international community and its partners to respect Somalia's independence and territorial integrity, pledging to uphold its constitutional duty to defend the country's sovereignty and national unity.

Netanyahu displayed the map, titled "Geopolitical Alliances in the Middle East," during an Israeli national security briefing on Oct. 18. It placed Puntland and Somaliland in geopolitical categories linked to Israel.

For Mogadishu, the controversy goes beyond the map itself.

Abdulwali Jama Barre, an African affairs expert and co-founder of the Somali Academy of Leadership and Global Affairs, said the government's response underscored its determination to preserve Somalia's unity and reject any treatment of its regions as independent states.

But Barre drew a distinction between the map's depiction and formal recognition of independence.

"Showing Somali territories under separate geopolitical classifications does not, in itself, mean the map formally declared them independent states," he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

"However, the Somali government viewed the depiction as fragmenting the country's political map and undermining its internationally recognized borders."

Barre said the dispute carried particular weight given Somaliland's contested political status, its ties with Israel and fears in Mogadishu that foreign involvement could weaken Somalia's unity.

The deeper concern, he said, is that foreign powers could increasingly treat Somali regions as entities separate from the federal state.

That risk would grow if symbolic gestures were followed by concrete steps or new formal arrangements amid the country's existing political disputes, he added.

Deep divisions

Somaliland's strategic location adds another dimension to the dispute.

The breakaway region stretches along 740 kilometers of the Gulf of Aden coastline, occupying a key position at the junction of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea in the Horn of Africa. It is also home to the strategically important Port of Berbera.

Since breaking away from Somalia in 1991, Somaliland had failed to secure international recognition until Israel recognized it, a decision Mogadishu firmly rejects, with Arab countries backing its position.

The map controversy comes as tensions between Somalia's federal government and Puntland remain unresolved.

In May, Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni declared that he no longer recognized Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as Somalia's legitimate president, accusing him of illegally abusing his presidential powers.

Deni called for an urgent gathering of Somalia's political parties to agree on an inclusive electoral process.

The dispute is part of a broader rift between Puntland and Mogadishu. Over the past year, the regional administration has repeatedly challenged Mohamud's positions and refused dialogue with him.

Deni has also joined the opposition Somali Future Council, which is demanding the government's departure.

At the time, Somalia's federal Interior Minister Ali Yusuf Ali, known as Hosh, sharply criticized Deni, calling him "an obstacle to the state, the country's unity and its development."

Barre warned that such internal divisions must be addressed through constitutional and political dialogue to prevent disputes between Mogadishu and regional administrations, particularly Puntland, from becoming an arena for foreign competition.

He urged Mogadishu to pursue diplomatic action on several fronts, beginning with a formal protest to Israel and a request for clarification about the map and the circumstances in which it was presented.

Somalia should also raise the matter with the United Nations, African Union, Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation, seeking assurances of respect for its sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said.

At home, Barre stressed the need for renewed dialogue between the federal government and regional administrations, especially Puntland, to resolve their differences within an agreed constitutional framework.

World

Trump: Iran is Trying to Drive Up Oil Prices Before Midterm Elections

21 October 2026, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump speaks to the press at the White House before departing for South Carolina. Photo: Matt Kaminsky/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
21 October 2026, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump speaks to the press at the White House before departing for South Carolina. Photo: Matt Kaminsky/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Trump: Iran is Trying to Drive Up Oil Prices Before Midterm Elections

21 October 2026, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump speaks to the press at the White House before departing for South Carolina. Photo: Matt Kaminsky/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
21 October 2026, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump speaks to the press at the White House before departing for South Carolina. Photo: Matt Kaminsky/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Iran was doing all it could ⁠to drive up ⁠the price of oil before ⁠the US midterm elections.

"They are even making up fake hits, mines, and everything else," he said ⁠in ⁠a Truth Social post.

Iran's state television reported on Thursday that seven oil tankers were either struck by attacks or hit naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, possibly the largest single-day number of vessels damaged in the waterway since the Iran war started on Feb. 28.

Quoting a statement by the Revolutionary Guard's navy, the Iranian report said four of the tankers were transferring oil when they were targeted and caught fire. Three more were damaged and immobilized after hitting naval mines. The report didn't provide details about possible casualties or the tankers' flags.

Oil prices climbed about 2% to a five-month high on Thursday.

Brent futures rose $2.42, or 2.2%, to $111.24 a barrel at 10:45 a.m. EDT (1445 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.14, or 1.2%, to $98.29.

That drove Brent into technically overbought territory for a third time in a week and set for its highest close since May 18.

World

French Justice Minister: 217 People Jailed Over Riots

France's Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin leaves after attending the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on October 22, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
France's Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin leaves after attending the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on October 22, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
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French Justice Minister: 217 People Jailed Over Riots

France's Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin leaves after attending the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on October 22, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
France's Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin leaves after attending the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on October 22, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

French courts have jailed 217 people after convicting them in fast-track trials linked to last weekend's rioting, the justice minister said Thursday, hailing the judiciary's "extremely firm" response.

Speaking outside the Fleury-Merogis prison on the outskirts of Paris, Gerald Darmanin said 2,700 people had been detained since Saturday.

More than 1,000 of them had appeared in court, he said, of whom "217 people have been imprisoned... and this figure is continuing to rise a lot."

Darmanin told reporters that of the 217 sent to jail "half had no criminal record", adding that "in general these are men aged between 18 to 25."

"This shows that prosecutors and judges are imprisoning people who, until now, were not known to the judiciary and are first offenders. It shows that the decisions of the judiciary are being applied in an extremely firm way," AFP quoted him as saying.

Darmanin has vowed to oversee expedited trials to rapidly clear the backlog of cases and to serve as a deterrent. New protests over grievances including the rising cost of living are planned this weekend.

But he has faced criticism from some lawyers who have accused the judiciary of lurching into repression.

France, like many European countries, faces problems with prison overcrowding but Darmanin said the solution was not "to imprison fewer people, but to create more space in prison."

As of September 1, there were 90,020 inmates in French prisons, well above the capacity of 63,348 places and a new record, according to ministry statistics.