Entesar Al-Hammadi, the Yemeni model kidnapped by the Houthis

 AL-MUKALLA: The Iran-backed Houthi militia has kidnapped Entesar Al-Hammadi, a popular Yemeni model and actress, along with two other fashionistas in the capital Sanaa, residents and local media said. 

The abduction is the latest in a string of attacks by the rebels on dissidents and liberal women in areas under Houthi control. The incident led to an angry response at home and abroad, as human rights groups and activists called for Al-Hammadi’s release.

Al-Hammadi was born to a Yemeni father and an Ethiopian mother, and pursued her ambition to become a supermodel despite growing up in a conservative country. When she was a child, Al-Hammadi wore her mother’s clothes around the house and imitated famous models she watched on TV, saying that her parents “told me my dream of becoming a model was pie in the sky. I said that it was my dream and I would keep pursuing it,” she told Balqees TV in an interview last year.

Living in Sanaa, Al-Hammadi, who planned to enroll at a college next year, found fame when a friend, who was a professional photographer, published photos of her on social media wearing traditional Yemeni outfits, all with her in a hijab. The acclaim the images received prompted her to pose for images without a hijab, drawing criticism from conservative observers.

“I did not care about anything, since I love this profession,” she told the interviewer when asked about the criticism.

Since then she has continued to model, and also featured in two drama series on local TV. Al-Hammadi has also spoken out about her experience of racism on account of her dark skin, but has voiced her ambition to further her career, and model on international catwalks. “It would great if I was given an opportunity outside Yemen,” she said.

Iran Calls Natanz Atomic Site Blackout 'Nuclear Terrorism'

 Iran on Monday accused Israel of orchestrating an attack on its main nuclear facility that destroyed a number of centrifuges and caused an electricity blackout, at a time when Washington and Tehran are seeking to resume talks over a deal that constrains the Islamic Republic’s potential to produce a nuclear weapon.

Iran said Sunday that its Natanz nuclear facility had been attacked but didn’t provide details of the damage. On Monday, the head of Iran’s nuclear agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, said that parts of the enrichment facility were operating on emergency electricity. He also said all damaged centrifuges were IR-1s, the first generation of Iranian centrifuges and a workhorse of Tehran’s enrichment program.

Yemenis on terrorism watch list caught crossing US border illegally, CBP says

 

Cold case - Missing Florida mom Michelle Parker

 There is still no trace of Florida mom Michelle Parker.

A little over nine years ago, Nov. 17, 2011, the Orlando woman appeared on “The People’s Court” fighting with her ex over a lost engagement ring. Earlier that year, Dale Wayne Smith had asked for the ring back after their split; Parker threw it at him and it disappeared over a balcony.

Nigeria prison break- 1,800 inmates escape WTF?

 WARRI, Nigeria: Militants armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades launched a series of coordinated attacks overnight in southeastern Nigeria, targeting a prison where more than 1,800 inmates then managed to escape, authorities said Monday.

The attacks began around 2 a.m. in the town of Owerri in Imo state and lasted for about two hours, according to local resident Uche Okafor. Gunmen also assaulted various other police and military buildings, authorities said.
“Efforts are in top gear to re-arrest the fleeing detainees,” said Nigeria prison spokesman Francis Enobore, adding that 35 other inmates stayed behind during the prison break.
The coordinated attacks come less than two weeks after another wave of violence in southeastern Nigeria, when at least a dozen security officers were killed during attacks on four police stations, military checkpoints and prison vehicles.

Houthi security chief accused of rape and torture in Yemen dies from COVID-19

 RIYADH: A Houthi security official in Yemen who had been sanctioned for torture, sexual violence, and cruel treatment of women has died from COVID-19.

Sultan Zabin, director of the militia’s shadowy Criminal Investigation Department in Sanaa, was sanctioned by the US Treasury late last year and the UN Security Council earlier this year.

Houthi-run Saba News Agency said the official died “from an incurable disease.” Al Arabiya reported that he died from COVID-19.
A Security Council resolution in February said Zabin was directly or through his authority responsible for using multiple places of detention including police stations, prisons and detention centers for human rights abuses.
The US Treasury sanctioned Zabin in December along with several other officials from the Iran-backed group.
Zabin had “direct involvement in acts of rape, physical abuse, and arbitrary arrest and detention of women as part of a policy to inhibit or otherwise prevent political activities by women who have opposed the policies of the Houthis,” the Treasury said.

Missing- ABBY LYNN PATTERSON

 The Charlotte Division of the FBI and the Lumberton Police Department in North Carolina are seeking assistance from the public to locate Abby Lynn Patterson.

 

Patterson was last seen on Tuesday, September 5, 2017, around 11:30 a.m. She left her home on East 9th Street in Lumberton, North Carolina, and was seen getting into a brown Buick. Patterson has not been seen since and has not had any contact with family or friends.