UK woman jailed for sending cash to jihadist husband in Syria

A British woman who tried to send 20,000 euros ($25,000) to her husband fighting with Islamic State (IS) group in Syria was on Thursday jailed for 28 months and seven days.


Amal El-Wahabi, 28, became the first person in Britain to be convicted of funding the jihadists following a trial in August, which heard how she persuaded a friend to smuggle the cash in her underwear.

The friend, Nawal Msaad, was found not guilty. She had been stopped in January at London's Heathrow Airport, where she was trying to board a flight to Istanbul, with the bank notes concealed in a condom.

Sentencing El-Wahabi at England's Old Bailey central criminal court in London, judge Nicholas Hilliard said her drug dealer husband Aine Davis had clearly gone to Syria to fight with IS.

“I am also satisfied that you knew he was engaged in violence with guns for extremist religious and ideological reasons and knew the money you were sending was destined for that purpose,” he said.

He said Davis had posted a profile picture on his WhatsApp social media account showing him brandishing an automatic weapon, and also sent El-Wahabi other similar photos.

The judge accepted that the jihadist had the idea to transfer the cash and El-Wahabi had agreed because she was “infatuated” with her husband, with whom she has two children under five.

But he rejected calls to give her a suspended sentence.

“You even contemplated taking your children to Turkey to be nearer their father, when it should have been obvious to you it was in their interests they should be as far away from him as possible,” the judge said.

“He had no true regard for you. Any interest he had in you was only engaged when there was some advantage to him.”

Native Girl, 16, nearly died after attack, ended up in Assiniboine River

A 20-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy have been charged with attempted murder after Rinelle Harper was twice attacked and "left for dead" during a violent assault that took place on the banks of the Assiniboine River in Winnipeg, police say.

Police allege Justin Hudson and the teen, whose identity is protected by law, then went on to attack a woman in a similar way, a short time after Harper was attacked, leaving her unconscious.

Rinelle Harper, 16, nearly died after a vicious attack in which she ended up in the frigid waters of the Assiniboine River. (Handout)

Hudson and the teen have been charged with attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault, and sexual assault with a weapon.

Police thanked the public for the tips received after a plea was made to find the perpetrators of the assaults. The response "was tremendous" with calls coming in soon after the press release was issued, police said, adding the information helped lead to the arrests of the suspects and link the two attacks.

Hudson and the other suspect were arrested Tuesday.

Supt. Danny Smyth also thanked the Harper family for trusting police enough to take the unusual step of allowing a sex assault victim to be publicly identified. 

Harper's uncle, Bruce Harper, said he is relieved about the arrests, but added the community must stay alert.

"I feel relieved knowing that these two predators are off the street. There are other predators who are still out there. It would be prudent for the community to always keep vigilant," he said.

Justin Hudson, 20, is one of two people charged with attempted murder after Rinelle Harper was twice attacked and "left for dead." Police allege Hudson and a 17-year-old then went on to attack another woman in a similar way later that night. (Facebook )

​Louise Spence, the girl's great aunt, said family and friends have stayed at Rinelle's bedside in the intensive care unit praying for her recovery.

"We thought we were going to lose her at first. It's amazing. It's a miracle. It's a miracle she survived," she said. "Through faith, we prayed for her. A lot of people came to pray for her."

Spence, who recently lost her own daughter, said seeing Rinelle in the hospital was another blow.

"It was hard for me to see her," she said. "When she was in ICU, it was hard. I don't want to lose another loved one."

Rinelle's relatives describe her as a soft-hearted teen who likes to go out with friends.

Police said the girl was out with friends in Winnipeg's South Broadway area on Friday when she became separated from the group.

Two males struck up a conversation with her, and the three of them went for a walk. Once under the Midtown Bridge, the pair allegedly "turned on her," Smyth said, adding Rinelle was attacked early Saturday, just after 12 a.m.

After she was "violently assaulted," Smyth said the girl ended up in the frigid river.

CBC has learned the 17-year-old male accused in the attack on Rinelle Harper posted pictures of himself on Facebook wearing a black North Face jacket. Winnipeg police had earlier said the night Harper was attacked, she was wearing a dark North Face jacket. (Facebook)

Soaking wet and wearing few clothes, she managed to crawl out of the river a little upstream from where the assault happened. She was then attacked a second time, beaten with a weapon, and "left for dead," police said.

Not long after, a 23-year-old woman was attacked by two males in the area of Portage Avenue and Sherbrook Street, in the city's West End.

The males struck up a conversation with the woman before attacking her with a weapon. She was forced into a back lane where she was sexually assaulted by both men, police said. They left her there unconscious, Smyth said.

Rinelle was found by a passerby on the Assiniboine Riverwalk at 7 a.m. Saturday. She was rushed to hospital in critical condition and is currently listed in stable condition.

Police said the 23-year-old woman was able to get to a nearby residence after being attacked, and contacted police.

CBC has learned the 17-year-old suspect posted pictures of himself on Facebook that were taken between the time Rinelle and the woman were attacked. 

In the photo, he is wearing a black North Face jacket. Police had earlier said Rinelle was wearing a dark North Face jacket the night she was attacked.

Family members told CBC News that the girl is from the Garden Hill First Nation in northern Manitoba, but she has been living in Winnipeg with family while attending Southeast Collegiate, a high school for aboriginal students that is owned and operated by nine northern Manitoba First Nations.

Arizona - U.S Senator Flakes son charged with killing 21 dogs

PHOENIX - The son and daughter-in-law of U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake both pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges alleging that they allowed 21 dogs to die at a Gilbert kennel in June.

Austin and Logan Flake were charged in October on allegations that dogs in Green Acre Dog Boarding died overnight on June 20, likely from suffocation, without anyone contacting emergency services.

Owners Jesse Todd and Malesia Maurine Hughes said a dog had chewed through the power cord of the room’s air conditioner after the caretakers left the facility that night. Investigators with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said in July that there was no evidence of a chewed-up electrical wire.

The couple was vacationing in Florida at the time, according to authorities, and their daughter Logan Flake and son-in-law Austin Flake were left in charge to watch the dogs.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced in October that all four suspects had been indicted by a grand jury. The next court date for the Flakes, who face charges of 21 felony counts and seven misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals, will be January 2.

The Hughes' were charged with 22 felony counts and seven misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. They also face one felony count of fraudulent schemes and artifices, which Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said relates to them allegedly misrepresenting their facilities to dog owners.

Iran ( Inmates pay twice the amount for prison food )

High prices and black market at Rajai Shahr Prison

Posted on: 13th November, 2014

• Print
• Email

• Rate The News
• Rate this post

• Random News

• Editor: Human
• Translator:
• Source:

Rajai-Shahr Prison in Karaj, Tehran, Iran

HRANA News Agency – Prisoners of various wards in Rajai Shahr prison have complained about goods high prices and black markets by prison’s shop and they say prison officials do not handle their complain.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), each of wards in Rajai Shahr prison, in Karaj, included 3 Halls, has a shop in its yard.

Considering prison’s poor quality foods, prisoners have to buy their needs from prison stores. It is a while that prisoners of Rajai Shahr prison complain about the prison stores’ high prices, but they say that the prison governor has not done anything regarding our complaint.

These expensive prices sometimes are up to twice than the actual price of the goods outside the prison.

Rajai Shahr prisoners also, say that the shop officials sell some of the goods at once to some of the prisoners to launch a black market inside the wards.

A prisoner from Rjai Shahr prison of Karaj, in a contact with HRANA’s reporter said: “Most prices of the goods in prison stores are twice up than normal. We were announced today that as tomato is the prisoners’ main order, its price is 6 thousands Tomans per kilo, while out of the prison it is 3 thousands Toman. All kind of fruits are 1500 Toman more expensive than its price out of prison”.

He also said: “The other problem we have is that some of the prisoners coordinate the prison shop and prison shop sells some items at once to those prisoners. This will cause the black market inside the wards. For example, last month there were sewing scissors with a price of 6 thousands Tomans, but the scissors were not sold in the store and now its price is 70 thousands Tomans on the black market sales”.

This prisoner also added: “The quality of prison food is very low and a number of cockroaches and even rats have been found in food. That’s why prisoners do not tend to eat prison’s food. There is no choice but to buy from wards stores, and that causes financial abuse of prisoners. Prisoners’ representative has talked to prison governor about it, but he does not respond effectively to our complaint.”

Iran ( Woman arrested for activities in cyberspace )

Nahid Gorji is still under detention

Posted on: 11th November, 2014

• Print
• Email

• Rate The News
• 5.00/5 (100.00%) 1vote

• Random News

• Editor: Human
• Translator:
• Source:

HRANA News Agency – Nahid Gorji, a citizen of Mashhad, has been arrested because of her activities in cyberspace and she is still in uncertain condition in prison and the investigator has refused lawyers for his case.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Nahid Gorji who was arrested by security forces one month ago is still in uncertain condition under detention.

The family of this Mashhadi citizen has introduced a lawyer to pursue her case, but “Heidari”, the investigator who handles the case has announced that in these circumstances he does not accept lawyers in security cases.

An informed source told HRANA’s reporter: “The authorities have set a bail of 400 million Thomans for Nahid Gorji and her family is not able to deposit the amount of this bail”.

He also added: “Ms Gorji is now in the custody of security agencies and although they had promised to transfer her to Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad, but, they have not done it yet.”

That is to say, on 11th October, Nahid Gorji was arrested due to activities in cyberspace in her house in Mashhad by the Security Forces.

Pakistan brothers kill mother, sisters on adultery suspicions

Two Pakistani brothers were arrested Tuesday for killing their mother and two teenage step-sisters after accusing them of adultery, police said.


The brothers, in their early thirties, were detained after their father reported the incident in the eastern city of Lahore.

“Shaban Ahmed, father of the accused, reported the incident to the police saying his sons have killed his wife, Sughra 50 years old, and his daughters Muqadas, 18, and Amina, 16,” local police official Mohammad Ayub told AFP.

Last year 869 women died in so-called “honour killings” according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

The statistics highlight the violence suffered by many women in conservative Muslim Pakistan, where they are frequently treated as second-class citizens.

Many Pakistani women have no say in who they marry and disobeying the wishes of relatives is believed to bring shame on the whole family.

FBI Investigating Chinese Info Pirates in Postal Service Hack-In

WASHINGTON – The FBI is investigating Chinese government hackers for allegedly hacking into the U.S. Postal Service computers, putting the data of 800,000 employees at risk, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The investigation came to light just as President Barack Obama is visiting Beijing to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum.

Officials close to the investigation cited by the newspaper blamed China for the Postal Service hack-in, which the FBI discovered in mid-September.

However, the Chinese government has always denied accusations of cyber-spying, one of the issues that is tarnishing the relations between the two countries.

The cyber-intrusion was carried out by “a sophisticated actor that appears not to be interested in identity theft or credit card fraud,” USPS spokesman David Partenheimer said.

“It is an unfortunate fact of life these days that every organization connected to the Internet is a constant target for cyber intrusion activity,” the U.S. postmaster general, Patrick Donahoe, said in a statement.

“The United States Postal Service is no different. Fortunately, we have seen no evidence of malicious use of the compromised data and we are taking steps to help our employees protect against any potential misuse of their data,” he added.

Nevertheless, the USPS believes that the cyberthieves were unable to access the most important data, including names, birthdates, Social Security numbers and personal information about employees.

Credit card information on customers or data about purchases that have been made online from the Postal Service are safe, the agency said.

Shoring up the system to prevent new hack-attacks was carried out this past weekend and resulted in involuntary interruptions of the system.

FBI spokesman Joshua Campbell asked the public and postal employees to report to the federal agency’s online complaints department any suspicions or information they may have about who may be responsible.