Boko Haram: Terrorist Organization, Freedom Fighters or Religious Fanatics? An Analysis of Boko Haram Within Nigeria, an Australian Perspective and the Need for Counter Terrorism Responses that Involves Prescribing them as a Terrorist Organization.

The adoption of Sharia law and the creation of an Islamic government are prominent motivations for religious terrorism within the current climate. Throughout history, Nigeria has been exposed to ethno religious violence and political discontent and has recently seen an escalation in associated violence threatening its sovereignty, territorial integrity, peace and stability. This paper explores Boko Haram, a Nigerian Islamist sect, responsible for numerous attacks in northern and central Nigeria on infrastructure and people. The origins and ideological motivations of this group are examined and compared to the current wave of religious terrorism in relation to tactics, leadership and objectives. Parallels and relationships are drawn between Boko Haram and other proscribed terrorist organizations such as al-Qa’ida, al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Somalian al Shabaab. This paper defines Boko Haram as a terrorist organization, as opposed to religious fanatics or freedom fighters, other common views about this group. This paper takes an Australian legislative approach to defining terrorism and terrorist organizations and examines Boko Haram against a contemporary terrorist organization proscribed by the Australian Government, AQIM, to substantiate claims that this organization demonstrates features common among terrorist organizations. Future prospects of this group, including potential expansion and listing them as a terrorist organization by the Australian government for national security, are presented

Twitter influence and cumulative perceptions of extremist support: A case study of Geert Wilders

The advent of Social media has changed the manner in which perceptions about power and information can be influenced. Twitter is used as a fast‐paced vehicle to deliver short, succinct pieces of information, creating the perception of acceptance, popularity and authority. In the case of extremist groups, Twitter is one of several avenues to create the perception of endorsement of values that would otherwise gain less prominence through mainstream media. This study examines the use of Twitter in augmenting the status and reputation of anti‐Islam and anti‐immigration policy through the controlled release of social media information bursts. The paper demonstrates the use of new media by extremist groups using open source case study data from the associated Twitter traffic of Geert Wilders. The results indicate the pursuit of increased traction for controversial ideals that provoke and incite others towards extremism, violence, racism and Islamaphobia

Security and Safety Assurance for Aerospace Embedded Systems

International audienceThe paper starts with the list of basic principles that guided the development of the SEISES security and safety assurance framework. Then we present the SEISES structure and we provide some examples of assurance objectives and related assurance activities. We detail the convergence between safety and security assurance activities that we have identified. Finally, we introduce the three demonstrators and we summarize the main lessons learnt from these experimentations. We conclude the paper by summarizing the results of the SEISES project, by comparing these results with other approaches dealing with joint safety and security assurance and by listing promising directions for further research

Androgen signaling negatively controls group 2 innate lymphoid cells

Prevalence of asthma is higher in women than in men, but the mechanisms underlying this sex bias are unknown. Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are key regulators of type 2 inflammatory responses. Here, we show that ILC2 development is greatly influenced by male sex hormones. Male mice have reduced numbers of ILC2 progenitors (ILC2Ps) and mature ILC2s in peripheral tissues compared with females. In consequence, males exhibit reduced susceptibility to allergic airway inflammation in response to environmental allergens and less severe IL-33-driven lung inflammation, correlating with an impaired expansion of lung ILC2s. Importantly, orchiectomy, but not ovariectomy, abolishes the sex differences in ILC2 development and restores IL-33-mediated lung inflammation. ILC2Ps express the androgen receptor (AR), and AR signaling inhibits their differentiation into mature ILC2s. Finally, we show that hematopoietic AR expression limits IL-33-driven lung inflammation through a cell-intrinsic inhibition of ILC2 expansion. Thus, androgens play a crucial protective role in type 2 airway inflammation by negatively regulating ILC2 homeostasis, thereby limiting their capacity to expand locally in response to IL-33