(Gemini Audio)

• The Riyadh Roundtable convened global and regional stakeholders to address the misuse of emerging technologies in terrorist financing, with a focus on FATF Recommendation 15 and supervisory frameworks for virtual asset service providers. Participants emphasized the need for AI, blockchain analytics, and rights-compliant digital tools to strengthen counter-terrorism ecosystems and pledged continued international cooperation and typology research.
• National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are vital in safeguarding democratic oversight and human rights amid expanding counter-terrorism measures. Despite institutional constraints, NHRIs must be empowered to promote transparency and accountability, and to resist the normalization of rights-restrictive security policies, according to a report by OSCE ODIHR.
• UNDP, UNODC, and the EU launched a regional initiative to counter online violent extremism in Asia by strengthening legal frameworks, civil society engagement, and institutional capacity. The program promotes inclusive digital ecosystems and emphasizes human rights protection while implementing preventive strategies.
• Dr. Levi West’s keynote for the ÖIIP explored terrorism’s evolving role as both a tactic of asymmetrical warfare and a catalyst for systemic disruption in global security. Drawing historical parallels, the talk underscored terrorism’s capacity to destabilize governance and called for a reassessment of prevailing security paradigms.
• A study published in the journal Terrorism and Political Violence analyzes how misogyny and gendered narratives drive far-right extremism in the UK and Australia, serving as transnational motivators for violent radicalization. It identifies shared ideological frameworks and communication channels that facilitate cross-border recruitment and offers insights for P/CVE practitioners on gendered drivers of extremism.