World News
US woman led all-female Islamic State unit, charged with planning attacks
A woman who once lived in Kansas has been arrested after federal prosecutors accused her of joining the Islamic State group and leading an all-female battalion of AK-47 militants.
Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, has been charged with providing material support to a terrorist group, U.S. Attorneys in Alexandria, Virginia, announced Saturday.
The criminal complaint was filed under seal in 2019 but was made public Saturday after Fluke-Ekren was brought back to the U.S. on Friday to face charges. Her alleged involvement with the Islamic State had not been made public until Saturday’s announcement.
Prosecutors said Fluke-Ekren wanted to recruit agents to attack a U.S. college campus and discussed a terrorist attack on a shopping mall. According to an FBI affidavit, she told a witness, “she believes any attack that doesn’t kill a large number of people is a waste of resources.”
The affidavit by FBI special agent David Robbins also claimed that Fluke-Ekren became the leader of an Islamic State force known as “Khatiba Nusaybah” in the Syrian city of Raqqa in late 2016. The all-female unit was trained to use AK-47 rifles, grenades and suicide belts.
In all, the affidavit cites the opinions of six different witnesses, some of whom have been charged with terrorism offences and others who are being held in prison camps for former Islamic State members.
A detention memo filed Friday by 1st Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh noted that Fluke-Ekren even trained children how to use an assault rifle, and that at least one witness saw one of Fluke-Ekren’s children, about 5 or 6 years old, take a with a machine at home in Syria with guns.
“For many years, Fluke-Ekren has been a fanatical follower of ISIS’s radical terrorist ideology, having traveled to Syria to engage in or support violent jihad. Fluke-Ekren has translated her extremist beliefs into action, serving as the designated leader of ISIS military battalions and organizers, directly training women and children to use AK-47 assault rifles, grenades and suicide belts in support of ISIS murder targets,” Parek wrote.
Fluke-Ekren moved to Egypt in 2008 and traveled frequently between Egypt and the United States for the next three years, according to court documents. She has not been to the United States since 2011.
Prosecutors believe she moved to Syria around 2012. Prosecutors said her husband was killed in early 2016 in an attempted terrorist attack in the Syrian city of Ter Abyad. Later that year, prosecutors said she was married to a Bangladeshi ISIS member who specialized in drone research, but he died in late 2016 or early 2017.
Four months after the man’s death, she remarried a prominent Islamic State leader in charge of the Islamic State group’s defense of Raqqa.
Complete News Source : Hindustan Times
Music
Lady Gaga pens note after earning two Grammy nominations, shares pic with Bruno Mars: ‘I’m so grateful for these’
Die With A Smile is nominated in two categories: Song of the Year and Best Pop/Duo Group Performance. So far, she has won 13 Grammys.
Pop icon Lady Gaga is extremely grateful for receiving two Grammy Award nominations. She scored two nominations at the 2025 Grammy Awards for her Bruno Mars duet Die With A Smile. (Also Read | Grammy Awards 2025 nominations: Check out full list here)
Taking to Instagram, Lady Gaga wrote, “I’m so grateful for these 2 GRAMMY NOMINATIONS! Because of our amazing fans, we are so blessed to be nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Duo recording for Die With A Smile!! @recordingacademy We love y’all! Monsters and Hooligans did that!”
Reacting to the nominations, Gaga not only penned a gratitude note but also shared a picture with her collaborator Bruno Mars. Die With A Smile is nominated in two categories: Song of the Year and Best Pop/Duo Group Performance. Gaga has now received 38 nominations total and 13 Grammy wins.
Beyonce received the most nominations. This time she leads the pack with 11 nominations for her genre-blending album Cowboy Carter, which is set to compete in major categories including Record, Song, and Album of the Year, according to Variety.
Beyonce, who already holds the record for the most Grammy wins by any artist, has secured nominations in pop, rap, country, and Americana categories. Other major contenders include Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, and Post Malone, each with seven nominations.
Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Taylor Swift follow closely with six nominations each.
Here are the nominees for the big four categories:
Album of the Year
1. Andre 3000 – New Blue Sun
2. Beyonce – Cowboy Carter
3. Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft
4. Chappell Roan – The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
5. Charli XCX – Brat
6. Jacob Collier – Djesse Vol. 4
7. Sabrina Carpenter – Short N’ Sweet
8. Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department
Record of the Year
1. The Beatles – “Now and Then”
2. Beyonce – “Texas Hold ‘Em”
3. Billie Eilish – “Birds of a Feather”
4. Chappell Roan – “Good Luck, Babe!”
5. Charli XCX – “360”
6. Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
7. Sabrina Carpenter – “Espresso”
8. Taylor Swift – “Fortnight (ft. Post Malone)”
Song of the Year
1. Beyonce – “Texas Hold ‘Em”
2. Billie Eilish – “Birds of a Feather”
3. Bruno Mars & Lady Gaga – “Die with a Smile”
4. Chappell Roan – “Good Luck, Babe!”
5. Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
6. Sabrina Carpenter – “Please Please Please”
7. Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
8. Taylor Swift – “Fortnight (ft. Post Malone)”
Best New Artist
1. Benson Boone
2. Chappell Roan
3. Doechii
4. Khruangbin
5. Raye
6. Sabrina Carpenter
7. Shaboozey
8. Teddy Swims
The 67th Grammy Awards will take place on February 2, 2025, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, honouring music released between September 16, 2023, and August 30, 2024. (ANI)
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