Connect with us

Published

on

Peru will allow the extradition to the US of the main suspect in the unsolved disappearance of student Natalee Holloway on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005.

Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch citizen, is charged with extortion and wire fraud concerning payments made to him by the Holloway family after their daughter’s disappearance.

Ms Holloway, who lived in Birmingham, Alabama, was 18 when she vanished while on a trip with classmates to Aruba.

She was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, who was then 18 years old.

He was detained and identified as a suspect weeks later, along with two Surinamese brothers.

Her disappearance sparked years of news coverage and true-crime podcasts.

Ms Holloway’s body was never found and no charges were filed in the case.

Read more world news:
Resident ‘triggers blast’ injuring emergency workers in Germany
‘Domino explosions’ in Milan despite van driver’s heroics
Two dead after shooting at Mercedes Benz plant

Years later, van der Sloot was arrested in Peru for the 2010 murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores, who was killed five years to the day after Holloway’s disappearance.

He pleaded guilty in 2012 and is serving 28 years in prison for the murder.

Prosecutors accused van der Sloot of killing Ms Flores, a business student from a prominent family, to rob her after learning she had won money at the casino where the two met.

They said he killed her with “ferocity” and “cruelty”, beating then strangling her in his hotel room.

But his extradition to the US stems from an alleged attempt to profit from his connection to the Holloway case.

Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee Holloway, speaks during the opening of the Natalee Holloway Resource Center (NHRC) at the National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, Tuesday, June 8, 2010. Holloway's daughter disappeared in Aruba in 2005, and today launched a resource center named for Natalee to assist the families of missing persons. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Image:
Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee Holloway, speaking in 2010. Pic: AP

US prosecutors say van der Sloot accepted $25,000 (£19,800) in cash from Ms Holloway’s family in exchange for a promise to lead them to her body in early 2010, just before he went to Peru.

In written evidence, an FBI agent said van der Sloot reached out to Ms Holloway’s mother and wanted to be paid to disclose the location and then receive another $225,000 (£179,000) when the remains were recovered.

During a recorded sting operation, van der Sloot pointed to a house where he said Ms Holloway was buried but in later emails admitted to lying about the location, the agent said.

The young woman’s mother, Beth Holloway, said she was blessed to have Natalee in her life for 18 years.

“She would be 36 years old now. It has been a very long and painful journey, but the persistence of many is going to pay off. Together, we are finally getting justice for Natalee,” she said.

Attorney Maximo Altez, who represents van der Sloot, said he would fight the decision once he is properly notified by the Peruvian government.

Van der Sloot married a Peruvian woman in July 2014 in a ceremony at a maximum-security prison.

Continue Reading

US

‘It’s a war’: Meet the volunteers leading the fight against Trump’s ICE raids

Published

on

By

'It's a war': Meet the volunteers leading the fight against Trump's ICE raids

It’s 5.30am, but the car park outside a laundrette in south central Los Angeles is already bustling.

A woman is setting up a stand selling tacos on the pavement and the sun is beginning to rise behind the palm trees.

A group of seven women and two men are gathered in a circle, most wearing khaki green t-shirts.

The leader, a man named Francisco “Chavo” Romero, begins by asking how everyone is feeling. “Angry,” a few of them respond. “Proud of the community for pushing back,” says another.

Ron, a high school history teacher, issues a rallying cry. “This is like Vietnam,” he says. “We’re taking losses, but in the end we’re going to win. It’s a war.”

Francisco “Chavo” Romero, Union del Barrio, a volunteer group, attempting to spot immigration officials
Image:
Francisco ‘Chavo’ Romero leads a volunteer group, attempting to warn people ahead of ICE raids

This is what the resistance against Donald Trump’s immigration policy looks like here. In the past month, immigration and customs enforcement agents – known as ICE – have intensified their raids on homes and workplaces across Los Angeles.

Since the beginning of June, nearly 2,800 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in the city, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The previous monthly high was just over 850 arrests in May this year.

Federal immigration agents toss tear gas at protesters during a raid in the agriculture area of Camarillo, Calif
Image:
Police use tear gas against protesters, angry at a recent immigration raid at a farm in Camarillo, California. Pic: AP

Videos have circulated online of people being tackled to the ground in the car park of DIY shops, in car washes and outside homes. The videos have prompted outrage, protests and a fightback.

“Chavo” and Ron belong to a group of organised volunteers called Union del Barrio. Every morning, a group of them meet, mostly in areas which have high immigrant populations.

The day I meet them, they’re in an area of LA which is heavily Latino. Armed with walkie talkies to communicate with each other, megaphones to warn the community and leaflets to raise awareness they set out in cars in different directions.

Ron, a high school history teacher, driving in LA trying to spot ICE officials
Image:
A volunteer from Union del Barrio shows Sky’s Martha Kelner how they try to stay one step ahead of ICE agents

They’re looking for cars used by ICE agents to monitor “targets”.

“That vehicle looks a little suspicious,” says Ron, pointing out a white SUV with blacked-out windows, “but there’s nobody in it”.

An elderly Latino man is standing on a street corner, cutting fruit to sell at his stall. “He’s the exact target that they’re looking for,” Ron says. “That’s what they’re doing now. The low-hanging fruit, the easy victim. And so that is proving to be more successful for their quotas.”

Man selling fruit on a street in LA
Image:
This man, selling fruit on a street corner in LA, is a potential target of immigration agents

In the end, it turns out to be a quiet morning in this part of LA, no brewing immigration operations. But elsewhere in the city, dawn raids are happening.

ICE agents are under pressure from the White House to boost their deportation numbers in line with Donald Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

In June, tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at protestors demonstrating against immigration raids

Maria’s husband Javier was one of those arrested in LA. He came to the United States from Mexico when he was 19 and is now 58.

The couple have three grown-up children and two grandchildren. But Javier’s work permit expired two years ago, according to Maria and so he was living here illegally.

Maria whose husband Javier was one of those arrested in Los Angeles
Image:
Maria’s husband Javier was arrested after his work permit expired

She shows me a video taken last month when Javier was at work at a car wash in Pomona, an area of LA. He is being handcuffed and arrested by armed and masked ICE agents, forced into a car. He is now being held at a detention centre two hours away.

“I know they’re doing their job,” she says, “but it’s like, ‘you don’t have to do it like that.’ Getting them and, you know, forcing people and pushing them down on the ground. They’re not animals.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

US troops accused of ‘political stunt’ after park raid

Maria wipes away tears as she explains the impact of his absence for the past four weeks. “It’s been so hard without him,” she says. “You feel alone when you get used to somebody and he’s not there any more. We’ve never been apart for as long as this.”

The family have a lawyer and is appealing for him to remain in the US, but Maria fears he will be sent back to Mexico or even a third country.

Maria's husband Javier was one of those arrested in Los Angeles.
Image:
Maria fears her husband, who has lived in the US for nearly 40 years, will be sent back to Mexico

“I don’t know what to say to my grandkids because the oldest one, who is five was very attached to his papas, as he calls him. And he’s asking me, ‘When is papa coming home?’ and I don’t know what to say. He’s not a criminal.”

The fear in immigrant communities can be measured by the empty restaurant booths and streets that are far quieter than usual.

A sign asking people to report sightings of ICE officials in LA
Image:
People in LA are being asked to report sightings of ICE officials so others can be warned

I meet Soledad at the Mexican restaurant she owns in Hollywood. When I arrive, she’s watching the local news on the TV as yet another raid unfolds at a nearby farm.

She’s shaking her head as ICE agents face off with protesters and military helicopters hover overhead. “I am scared. I am very scared,” she says.

All of her eight employees are undocumented, and four of them are too scared to come into work, she says, in case they get arrested. The process to get papers, she says, is too long and too expensive.

Read more from Sky News:
Farmer first to die during ICE raids
Trump warns comic over citizenship

Soledad, who owns a Mexican restaurant in Hollywood
Image:
Soledad, who owns a Mexican restaurant, plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive

“They call me and tell me they are too afraid to come in because immigration is around,” she says.

“I have to work double shifts to be able to make up for their hours, and yes, I am very desperate, and sometimes I cry… We have no sales, and no money to pay their wages.”

There is just one woman eating fajitas at a booth, where there would usually be a lunchtime rush. People are chilled by the raids.

Follow The World
Follow The World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

Soledad says she plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive.

“I’ve told them, get inside the fridge, hide behind the stove, climb up where we have a space to store boxes, do not run because they will hunt you down.”

The White House says they’re protecting the country from criminals. ICE agents have been shot at while carrying out operations, their work becoming more dangerous by the day.

The tension here is ratcheting up. Deportation numbers are rising too. But the order from Donald Trump is to arrest even more people living here illegally.

Continue Reading

US

Q&A: Should there be an age limit on the presidency?

Published

on

By

Q&A: Should there be an age limit on the presidency?

👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈

Mark Stone and Martha Kelner answer your listener questions.

If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

Continue Reading

US

Two dead after multiple people were injured in shooting at church in Kentucky

Published

on

By

Two dead after multiple people were injured in shooting at church in Kentucky

Two people are dead after multiple people were injured in shootings in Kentucky, the state’s governor has said.

Andy Beshear said the suspect had also been killed following the shooting at Richmond Road Baptist Church in Lexington.

A state trooper was earlier shot at Blue Grass Airport in Fayette County on Sunday morning, the Lexington Herald-Leader local newspaper reports.

Mr Beshear has said a state trooper “from the initial stop” and people who were injured in the church shooting are “being treated at a nearby hospital”.

The extent of the injuries is not immediately known.

State troopers and the Lexington Police Department had caught up with the suspect at the church following the shooting in Fayette County, according to Sky News’ US partner network NBC News.

Read more US news
Trump threatens to revoke comedian’s citizenship
Farmer becomes first person to die during ICE raids
Trump imposes 30% tariff on EU imports

Mr Beshear said: “Please pray for everyone affected by these senseless acts of violence, and let’s give thanks for the swift response by the Lexington Police Department and Kentucky State Police.”

The Blue Grass Airport posted on X at 1pm local time (6pm UK time) that a law enforcement investigation was impacting a portion of an airport road, but that all flights and operations were now proceeding normally.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the latest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Continue Reading

Trending