Homeland Security News

Five men charged with terrorism-related offences over their alleged plan to leave Australia in a fishing boat and join Islamic State in Syria will be extradited from Cairns to Melbourne.

The five, who are all from Melbourne and include Islamic preacher Musa Cerantonio, were arrested near Cairns last Tuesday towing the seven-metre vessel en route to the tip of Cape York.

They allegedly planned to go by boat to Indonesia and then on to Syria.
 
The attorney general, George Brandis, confirmed on Sunday that each of the men had had their passports cancelled several months ago by the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop.

Read more: The Guardian (UK)

The Islamic State group has not gained significant ground since taking and losing control of Iraqi city Ramadi last year, thanks to better intelligence and equipment among local forces in Iraq and Syria, a senior US official said on Sunday.  The Islamic State group “is shrinking so they are very much on the defensive,” Brett McGurk, US President Barack Obama’s special envoy in the fight against the Islamic State group, told a news conference in Amman.

Read more: France 24

Americans who travel to North Korea despite ongoing warnings risk "unduly harsh sentences" for actions that would not be considered a crime in the United States, the U.S. State Department said in its latest travel warning on Monday.

Read more: Reuters

The latest issue of Al Qaeda’s online magazine Inspire released Saturday calls on would-be jihadis to undermine the American economy by targeting business leaders and entrepreneurs, according to analysts who monitor web chatter from the jihadist organization.

The newest edition obtained by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) features a cover with the headline “Professional Assassinations” and the subhead “Home Assassinations,” which the depiction of a hooded killer watching an upscale home from the outside. 

Read more: Fox News

The Nigerian army has arrested several suspected members of a militant group called the "Niger Delta Avengers", thought to be behind recent attacks on oil pipelines in the south.  The country's oil production has been severely disrupted by the attacks.

Read more: BBC News