Afghan man suspected of raping and killing girl, 13, in Austria arrested in UK

Published

3 years ago

September 13, 2021

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An Afghan man suspected of raping and killing a 13-year-old girl in Austria has been arrested in the UK and faces extradition.

Rasuili Zubaidullah, 22, entered the UK on a boat of refugees and claimed asylum using a fake name, only weeks after the girl was found dead in Vienna.

He was housed at a hotel in Whitechapel, east London, for two weeks until Austrian police tipped off authorities in the UK.

Officers from the National Extradition Unit arrested him on 29 July, and he now faces extradition from the UK.

Zubaidullah is accused of raping and killing a 13-year-old girl, whose body was found rolled up in a carpet in Vienna on 26 June.

The girl, who is known only by her first name Leonie, was drugged, gang-raped, and then suffocated.

Austrian police launched a manhunt for a group of Afghan refugees they believe are responsible, and have arrested three other men.

Zubaidullah is thought to have provided Border Force officials in Kent with a fake name when he arrived in the UK on 18 July.

After his arrest, he appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court via video link from Wandsworth prison on 3 September.

He is scheduled to appear in court on 1 October and will face a full extradition hearing in January.

Sky News has contacted the National Extradition Unit for comment.

World

Israeli tank shells hit tent camp in Rafah killing at least 25, say Gaza health officials

Published

10 hours ago

June 22, 2024

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Israeli tank shells hit tent camp in Rafah killing at least 25, say Gaza health officials

At least 25 Palestinians have been killed, and 50 injured, after Israeli tanks are said to have fired on tents sheltering displaced families in Rafah, according to health officials and emergency workers in Gaza.

Witnesses said the latest attack in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, took place in Mawasi, western Rafah, a rural area on the Mediterranean coast that has become filled with makeshift tents.

One resident told Reuters: “Two tanks climbed a hilltop overseeing Mawasi and they sent balls of fire that hit the tents of the poor people displaced in the area.”

Witnesses whose relatives died in the attack near a Red Cross field hospital told The Associated Press that Israeli forces fired a second volley that killed people when they came out of their tents.

The locations of the attacks, provided by Civil Defence first responders, appear to be just outside an Israeli-designated safe zone on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said the nearby hospital was flooded with casualties after the attack.

Hasan al Najjar, whose two sons were killed in the shelling, said: “We had a strike. My two sons left after they heard the women and children screaming.

“They went to save the women and that’s when they struck the second missile, and my sons were martyred.

“They struck the place twice.”

Mona Ashour, who lost her husband, said: “We were inside our tent when a sound bomb exploded near the Red Cross tents.

“My husband went outside at the first explosion.

“Then, a second bomb went off, even closer to the Red Cross door, and people began to gather.

“I tried to communicate with my husband but was unable to.

“We fled as we were in our clothes, barefoot. I tried to communicate with him but could not.”

The Israeli military said it was looking into the strikes at the reported coordinates.

It has previously bombed locations in the vicinity of the “humanitarian zone” in Muwasi.

The attack comes less than a month after an Israeli bombing caused a deadly fire that tore through a refugee camp in southern Gaza – drawing widespread international outrage.

Israel continues to push ahead with its military operation into Rafah where over a million Palestinians initially sought refuge from fighting elsewhere in Gaza.

However, most have now fled after Israel attacked the city in an effort, they said, to drive out Hamas.

Residents have said that Israel appears to be trying to complete its capture of the city and tanks have been forcing their way into western and northern parts.

Eastern, southern and central areas of Rafah have already been captured.

The United Nations has said no place in Gaza is safe and humanitarian conditions are dire as huge numbers of families shelter in tents and cramped apartments without adequate food, water or medical supplies.

Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 37,400 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Israel launched the war after Hamas’s October 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people and abducted about 250.

World

Jay Slater: ‘Living nightmare’ hunt for missing British teenager on Tenerife continues

Published

11 hours ago

June 22, 2024

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Jay Slater: 'Living nightmare' hunt for missing British teenager on Tenerife continues

Helicopters, rescue dogs and drones have continued to scour the holiday island of Tenerife for a missing British teenager as concerned family and friends endure a “living nightmare”.

The hunt for 19-year-old Jay Slater from Oswaldtwistle, near Blackburn in Lancashire, is now in its fifth day.

Lancashire Constabulary said that while the case “falls outside the jurisdiction of UK policing”, it has offered to support Spanish police “if they need any additional resources”.

The force added: “They have confirmed that at this time they are satisfied that they have the resources they need, but that offer remains open and they will contact us should that position change.”

The apprentice bricklayer was holidaying with friends on Tenerife before he disappeared on Monday.

He was last heard from when he called a friend to say he was setting off on an 11-hour walk to get home, after he missed his bus.

Ofelia Medina Hernandez, who was the last person to see Mr Slater, told Sky News: “I saw the boy in the morning, at around 8am.

“He asked twice what time the bus came.

“I told him ‘at 10 o’clock’.

“He came back and asked me again, and I told him again – at 10 o’clock.

“After that, he walked off and I didn’t see him anymore.

“Later, I went in my car, and I saw him – he was walking fast.

“But I didn’t see him again after that.”

Her account came as new photographs showed the property where he was last seen in the northwestern mountain village of Masca after attending the NRG music festival.

‘We are drained beyond words’

In a post on the Facebook page Jay Slater Missing, the administrator of the group Rachel Louise Harg said family and friends were “drained beyond words”.

She said: “There isn’t an update for anyone unfortunately.

“Struggling to find words at this time but all I can say is we are looking still and everyone is doing all they can.

“We are drained beyond words – I just can’t say no more, I wish I could.

“I wish this would end now, this living nightmare.

“Searches are ongoing and we remain positive.

“Thanks to you all supporting and helping we can’t thank you any more, much love.”

Focus on unusual details will only grow

Shingi Mararike

North of England correspondent

@ShingiMararike

In the mountains on the outskirts of northern Tenerife, a narrow road winds upwards, with a dramatic view of the sea below.

Beneath the beauty of the scenery, parts of the area where British teenager Jay Slater was last located are barren and remote.

One of the properties on the route through the national park is Casa Abuela Tina, the villa Jay travelled to with two men in the early hours of Monday, before he disappeared.

Just yards away from the villa’s front door you can see the bus stop that would have taken Jay back to Los Cristianos – the part of the island he was staying in near a bustling strip full of British tourists.

The teenager was agonisingly close to being able to make his way home – and as search teams comb the mountains, that fact will surely be on their minds.

Why did Jay decide to try the 11-hour walk, and why did he go to the villa with two strangers in the first place?

As the search continues, a focus on highly unusual details of this story will only grow.

Searchers check river at bottom of ravine

On Friday, search and rescue personnel joined officers from the island’s Guardia Civil near Masca to comb an area of overgrown terrain.

Teams also paid close attention to a river called Barranco Madre del Agua at the bottom of a ravine, where emergency workers carefully picked their way through fallen dead palm trees.

Mr Slater’s friend Lucy Law, who attended the music festival with him, said he called her at about 8.30am on Monday and told her he was “lost in the mountains, he wasn’t aware of his surroundings, he desperately needed a drink and his phone was on 1%”.

Meanwhile, members of the local community rallied together at a church service in his home town to express their hope of his safe return.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.”