Connect with us

Published

on

Shamima Begum, the Bethnal Green schoolgirl who fled to Syria and joined IS, has told Sky News she was groomed by friends and older men she met online before joining the terror group.

Speaking from a prison camp in Syria, Begum said she wanted to go on trial in the UK and invited British officials to question her in prison.

And she said that when she left the UK in 2015 she “didn’t hate Britain”, but hated her life as she felt “very constricted”.

In a wide-ranging interview, Begum spoke about her experiences with Islamic State and life in Syria.

Shamima Begum
Image:
Begum, now 22, said she wanted to go on trial in the UK

“Can I keep my mask on?” Shamima Begum asks before the interview starts. “I’m looking ugly today.”

Begum now speaks with a soft American twang and little trace of her east London upbringing.

She wears yoga leggings, a pink sweatshirt, black baseball cap and a small handbag across her chest.

More on Islamic State

In almost any other context, she would be utterly unremarkable, but this is a prison camp in northeast Syria and Begum, now free of her strict black Islamic State dress, remains a captive of her notorious past.

She left home in London aged 15 for the promise of paradise, instead she found “hell, hell on Earth”.

Begum rejects accusations that she carried out atrocities as part of IS as “all completely false”.

“I’m willing to fight them in a court of law but I’m not being given a chance.”

She wants to do that in Britain but expects to go to prison even though the only crime she admits to committing is travelling to Syria itself.

Begum now believes she was groomed for “weeks and weeks and maybe even months and months. It wasn’t just a decision I made very quickly, it was a decision I thought about for a while.”

“I didn’t hate Britain, I hated my life really,” she said. “I felt very constricted, and I felt I couldn’t live the life that I wanted in the UK as a British woman.”

Shamima Begum
Image:
She told Sky’s Alistair Bunkall: ‘I didn’t hate Britain, I hated my life really. I felt very constricted.’

There is a childlike shyness to her, still. She rarely makes eye contact as we talk, often looking downwards and away; she interlinks her hands down by her waist, unconsciously closing her body a little as she answers my questions.

Perhaps she is a good actress, turning it on for the camera, but my instinct is that she is every bit as young and naive as you might expect of her 22 years. Naive, but not necessarily innocent.

Begum and I walk around al Roj camp together – mud and sand streets lined by white tents provided by the UN.

Begum is worried about recent fires, scared that her high profile will make her a target for inmates wanting to make a name for themselves.

“For a long time it [the camp] wasn’t violent but for some reason it’s become more scary to live here.

“Maybe the women have got tired of waiting for something,” she reasons.

We talk about her family – she misses them but doesn’t currently speak to them: “I don’t think they failed me, in a way I failed them. When the time is right, I want to reconcile.”

shamima begum
Image:
Begum said: ‘It’s hard to think about a future when everyone tells you that you’re not going to go back’

I ask her about her future: “It’s hard to think about a future when everyone tells you that you’re not going to go back.”

And she brings up her Dutch husband, the father of her three dead children, who fought for Islamic State and recently spoke about their “beautiful life” together.

Are they still officially married? “Yes.”

Does she sympathise with him? “No.”

Does she miss him? “No.”

Begum tells me that she rarely watches television but does have a stack of books in her tent, her favourites are by the Afghan author Khalid Hosseini. “I re-read the Kite Runner but I don’t know why people keep giving me books about war.”

By herself, she eats dried noodles, but is “having friends round to her tent for supper tomorrow night”. She won’t cook herself, instead she will buy it in from another woman on camp.

“I have hopes and dreams, things I want to do, to see,” she says, but won’t expand when I push her.

One of her friends, a Dutch prisoner called Hafedda Haddouch, tells me Begum often hides away in her tent for weeks. But Begum insists she’s not suicidal, when I ask her.

Shamima Begum
Image:
Begum and Bunkall walked around al Roj camp together – mud and sand streets lined by white tents provided by the UN

The small group of women are clearly Shamima’s support. They giggle and pose for photos, as vain as you would expect of anyone that age.

For some, Begum is a cause célèbre, unfairly imprisoned without trial and an example of a heartless Conservative government. For others, she is a terrorist, who still poses a threat to national security and should never be allowed back into the country of her birth.

Such is the visceral hatred of many in that quarter, you wonder whether a return to the UK would be wise at all for Begum.

Bangladesh, the country with which the UK claims she held dual-nationality, has rejected any association with her.

“There is no Plan B,” is her answer when I ask what she will do if the British government doesn’t reverse its position and reinstate her citizenship.

Shamima Begum IS bride
Image:
Shamima Begum was 15 when she fled to Syria

Have any British officials or lawyers visited her in prison? “Never” she claims.

Her opinion towards the media is conflicted – she blames past interviews and reporting “100%” for her current limbo, but also believes a high profile remains her only hope of release. There’s probably some truth in both those positions.

Almost a third of Shamima Begum’s life has now been lived in Syria. She is being held in prison, for an indeterminate amount of time, but hasn’t yet stood trial. That much is fact.

If she had been repatriated the day the caliphate fell, she might already be some considerable way through a guilty sentence, but the British government decided she was a risk to national security, a decision the Supreme Court upheld.

She has been disowned by the country she grew up in, cut off from the family she grew up with, and is now part of a prison population that is becoming an increasingly unsustainable burden on the Kurdish authorities who guard them.

Shamima Begum is the woman that nobody wants, and she knows it. When she closes her eyes at night she says she is haunted by “my children dying, the bombings, the constant running, my friends dying”.

Begum has already been judged, albeit only in court of public opinion, and for now, she is going nowhere.

The Shamima Begum interview was produced by Andrew Drury and Zein Ja’far and filmed by Jake Britton.

Continue Reading

UK

With Love, Meghan: What we learnt from Duchess of Sussex’s new Netflix series

Published

on

By

With Love, Meghan: What we learnt from Duchess of Sussex's new Netflix series

The Duchess of Sussex’s lifestyle series premiered this morning – in which she talks about her life in California, her time spent living in Argentina and her love of food.

With Love, Meghan – an eight-part series on Netflix – had been delayed from a January release due to the Los Angeles wildfires.

The episodes, which last about 30 minutes each, feature a host of celebrity friends along with a few cameos from her husband, Prince Harry.

From her first jobs growing up to what she was like on the Suits set, here are some things we learnt about the duchess.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and  Mindy Kaling.
Pic: Netflix
Image:
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Mindy Kaling.
Pic: Netflix

‘I’m Sussex now’

One of Meghan’s guests is The Office star Mindy Kaling, who she bonds with over their lives as toddlers’ mums while putting together a tea party in the garden.

As they put sandwiches together for the tea, Meghan talks about her love of Jack In The Box – a classic US fast-food chain, to which Kaling responds: “I don’t think anyone in the world knows that Meghan Markle has eaten Jack In The Box and loves it.”

The duchess laughs and says: “It’s funny, you keep saying Meghan Markle, you know, I’m Sussex now.

“You have kids, and you go, ‘now I share my name with my children’… I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me, but it just means so much to go ‘this is our family name, our little family name’.”

Similarities with Archie

During episode four, the duchess goes on a hike with her friend Delfina Blaquier, who is married to Argentinian polo star Nacho Figueras, and together they have a picnic with homemade focaccia bread.

The duchess reveals how she passed time during her childhood – and the similar traits her son, Archie, has: “As a kid, I was taking a bag of tea from the drawer in my house, putting it in a mason jar or probably an empty jar that once held spaghetti sauce and putting it in the sun, and sitting there… waiting for it to change colour.

“Funny enough, which Archie does now.”

Days before the show aired, in an interview with People magazine, the duchess said Archie had told her: “Mama, don’t work too hard” during filming.

She added the five-year-old helped with the clapperboard while visiting the set with his sister Lilibet and Harry.

Delfina Figueras and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Pic: Netflix
Image:
Delfina Figueras and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Pic: Netflix

Life in Argentina

The two friends met through their husbands – “The moment we met, we bonded over our love of the outdoors and being in nature. We always hike together whenever she’s in town. And sometimes we let our husbands join us,” Meghan says.

Reflecting on when they first met, Meghan says: “What’s so funny is, I remember when we first met, and you were like: ‘Wait a minute, you speak Argentinian Spanish?’ But it’s such a pretty language because it sounds so musical.”

Her friend says: “When you started speaking Spanish and I recognised the Argentinian, I was blown away, because I didn’t know that…”

“That I’d lived there,” Meghan responds.

She adds: “When I lived in Argentina, I think the reason I loved it so much is because it reminded me of California in a lot of ways. Where you have the mountains and you have this joy of life and the joy of being outside.

“I was only there for a few months interning at the US Embassy, but I loved it.”

First jobs in doughnut and yoghurt shops – and some more childhood memories

In episode five, as Meghan hosts long-time friends, former Suits co-star Abigail Spencer and Kelly McKee Zajfen, she says that her first job was at Humphrey Yogart, a frozen yoghurt shop in Los Angeles playfully named after actor Humphrey Bogart.

That came after she told chef Roy Choi in episode three, as she presented him with doughnuts she prepared for him, that she once had a job at a doughnut shop.

“Doughnuts in general just remind me of my childhood,” she said.

“I once had a job at a little donut shop called Little Orbit Donuts. They made tiny, tiny, little mini donuts.”

She said she often helped them sell at craft venues, adding that doughnuts generally were a big part of her childhood.

“Growing up, driving down Highland to get to school, there was always a Yum Yum Donuts right there.”

“Highland and Melrose,” Choi clarifies.

“Exactly… is it still there?”

When Choi says it is, she responds: “Oh my god. I should go back in.”

In another episode, Kaling asks whether Meghan began cooking at home or picked it up later. Meghan replies: “I was a latch-key kid so I grew up with a lot of fast food and also a lot of TV tray dinners.

“It feels like such a different time but that was so normal with the microwavable kids meals.”

Meghan also recalls her “many years” as a Girl Scout, telling Delfina Blaquier: “I started as a Daisy, which is when you’re five or six, and I sold a lot of cookies, and my mum was my troop leader.

“To get kids out in nature, that in and of itself is worth its weight in gold. And it just breeds curiosity, and you never forget that stuff you learned.”

Life in Montecito house

Branden Aroyan and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Pic: Netflix
Image:
Branden Aroyan and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Pic: Netflix

The lifestyle show, which was filmed in a California farmhouse rather than in her Montecito house, features her describing her every day life – including how it is a “daily” task to pick fruit when it’s in season at her home.

Episode one Hello Honey! features Meghan’s friend Daniel Martin as she prepares a “thoughtful guest basket”.

It begins with her harvesting honey from bees, saying: “The biggest thing is keeping a low tone – talk in our bee voice.”

With the help of a beekeeper, she talks about “trying to stay in the calm of it because it’s beautiful to be this connected”.

Harry is the king of eggs

When asked by Kaling about how best to season eggs, the duchess says: “I have a family, a husband, who no matter what meal is put in front of him before he tastes it puts salt on, so I try to under salt.”

Harry himself, it is later revealed, is something of an egg connoisseur.

Speaking to two close friends in a later episode, she says “H” is a “great cook” and makes “the best scrambled eggs”.

She further praises him by saying he generally makes “a really good breakfast”.

Bacon was the subject of discussions on more than one occasion during the series, with Meghan saying that whenever she cooks it the kitchen “becomes full of husband and three dogs”.

“It’s not my perfume that’s bringing them all in,” she jokes.

What the duchess was like during Suits

Meghan’s days of playing paralegal Rachel Zane in popular drama Suits came to an end in 2018, the year she married Harry.

But she has clearly remained close with co-star Abigail Spencer, who played Dana Scott.

In episode five, as the pair sat in Meghan’s garden alongside Kelly McKee Zajfen, Spencer reflected on what Meghan was like during the Suits days.

She said Meghan was “the head of morale on the show,” to which Meghan thanked her and added: “I liked to plan fun for everyone.”

Heart-warming moments of Meghan with beloved beagle

The whole series ends with a tribute to Meghan’s late dog, Guy, who featured prominently in several episodes.

One morning, the duchess is seen making bone-shaped peanut butter biscuits for the rescue beagle, who died shortly after filming wrapped, saying you can make them with leftover bacon from breakfast.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Guy. Pic: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
Image:
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Guy. Pic: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

She admitted there was “never” any leftovers in her house because “we eat a lot of it” – another reference to the Sussexes love of bacon.

“I would do anything for Guy, and he knows it,” she then says. “He can have whatever he wants ’cause he is whatever kind of guy you need him to be depending on the day. My sweet guy, my silly guy, my saucy little guy. Always my spoiled guy.”

Later, as she hands him a peanut butter cookie, she adds: “They provide us with unconditional love, so they get unconditional peanut butter dog biscuits. Why not?”

The Sussexes also have two other dogs – another rescue beagle named Mia and a black Labrador called Pula, who is seen trying to steal some of Meghan and her guests’ food at various points during the series.

Meghan’s ‘next chapter’

In the eighth and final episode, called Feels Like Home, Meghan prepares for Prince Harry to make an appearance.

She is putting together a brunch for family and friends to celebrate the “next chapter” in her life.

Sharing details of how she envisages the so-called “next chapter”, Meghan, wearing a blue maxi dress and putting the finishing touches to a spread of food outdoors, says: “Of course, my husband will be here, my mum will be here, my best friend since college, my community having a brunch in the sunshine with the people that I love, celebrating this next chapter of my life.”

Continue Reading

UK

Luis Piovesana: Family ‘devastated’ after body found in search for brother of judo Olympian

Published

on

By

Luis Piovesana: Family 'devastated' after body found in search for brother of judo Olympian

A judo Olympian has said her family is “devastated” after the discovery of body in the search for her missing brother.

Lubjana Piovesana, 28, appealed for help to find her younger sibling, Luis, 26, on Saturday. He had not been seen since the early hours of Friday morning.

A body was found in the River Frome near Napier Road in Eastville, Bristol, at around 6pm today, Avon and Somerset Police said.

Formal identification is yet to take place, the force added.

In a post on Instagram, Ms Piovesana wrote: “Hello everyone, Luis has been found.

“We are completely devastated but he has passed away.

“I am grateful for everyone’s support. And I am so sorry this happened.

“Luis was my little brother and loved by everyone. I wish he could have seen the love from everyone. He will be remembered by us all.”

The post was signed off with a dove emoji.

Pics: Avon & Somerset Police
Image:
Luis Piovesana did not have any money or his mobile phone with him when he went missing, police said. Pics: Avon & Somerset Police

Mr Piovesana was last seen at around 3am on Friday at the Eastgate retail park, which is less than a 10-minute walk away from where the body was found.

He had travelled there by taxi from a venue in Little Ann Street, St Jude’s, a 10-minute drive away.

More from Sky News:
Woman admits killing six-year-old son
Sick pay boost for 1.3m workers

The 26-year-old’s family spent the weekend searching for him, and asked people to check their sheds and gardens.

His partner, Laurin Bohler, said loved ones had travelled from Birmingham to help.

Mounted officers and police drones were also involved in the investigation.

Ms Piovesana competed for Team GB before switching to the Austrian team, and defeated British competitor Lucy Renshall in the women’s -63kg judo event at the Paris Olympics last year.

Continue Reading

UK

Sophie Evans: Man jailed for life for murdering son’s girlfriend after school run

Published

on

By

Sophie Evans: Man jailed for life for murdering son's girlfriend after school run

A man has been jailed for life for murdering his son’s girlfriend after she returned home from the school run.

Officers from Dyfed-Powys Police were called to an address on Bigyn Road in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, on 5 July last year.

Sophie Evans, 30, had sustained 72 separate injuries on the outside of the body, “all but three of them new injuries”.

Richard Jones, who is now 50, believed he was “being taken advantage of financially” by Ms Evans and his son, with whom she was in a relationship.

While the purpose of Jones’s visit was “purely normal”, he confronted her on that morning about his suspicions and Ms Evans’s reaction was such that Jones “lost [his] temper”.

He subjected Ms Evans to “gross violence” before ultimately strangling her and leaving the property to run errands, including ordering a new bank card and buying pastries from a bakery.

Richard Jones. Pic: Dyfed-Powys Police
Image:
Richard Jones. Pic: Dyfed-Powys Police

‘Last time on their school run’

During sentencing on Monday, the defendant kept his head bowed for most of the hearing.

He will have to serve at least 20 years behind bars before he can be considered for release by the parole board.

Swansea Crown Court heard Ms Evans was the mother of two young children.

Passing his sentence, Judge Geraint Walters said Ms Evans “had just taken her two children for the last time on their school run” prior to the attack.

“She wasn’t to know that when she parted company with them that morning,” he added.

The court heard the Jones believed he was being defrauded by Ms Evans and his son.

“There is clear evidence, that in the days leading up to this, that you had begun harbouring thoughts that Sophie Evans and your own son were in fact financially scamming you,” he said.

“What precisely brought about that view is difficult to determine.”

Judge Walters said Jones “lost [his] temper when [he] didn’t get the answer that [he] thought [he] deserved”.

He added that, having lost his temper, the defendant “subjected [Ms Evans] to gross violence over a period of time, before you ultimately extinguished her life by strangulation”.

The court was told in evidence that at the time of the attack, Ms Evans was wearing only a bath towel.

‘The rock of our family’

In a victim personal statement, Ms Evans’s sister Kerry Quinlan told the court she was “the rock of our family”.

She said Ms Evans was taken from them in a “senseless and cruel act”.

“Words cannot express fully how much of a loss this has been to her children,” she added.

“When they cry themselves to sleep wanting their mum, she isn’t there and never will be.”

Ms Quinlan added that Jones had “taken everything from us, all in the most despicable way possible”.

Read more from Sky News:
Human skeletal remains found near retail park
Police operation in centre of German city

Ms Evans’s partner at the time, and the defendant’s son, Jamie Davies, said in a victim personal statement, read on his behalf, that they had both “trusted” Jones, and that Ms Evans had even been planning the defendant’s 50th birthday.

“The thought of having to live my life without Sophie causes me extreme pain and heartache,” he added.

Prosecuting, Michael Jones KC said the offence was aggravated by the defendant’s previous convictions and the fact Ms Evans was murdered in her home.

In mitigation, David Elias KC said there was a “lack of premeditation”.

Continue Reading

Trending