Nigeria vs Qatar ended in a 4-0 win, in a Group D U-20 World Cup match currently going on in Poland The Flying Eagles dominated the match from the blast of the whistle scoring two first half goals and two in the second to get maximum points to top the group.
Mohammed Waad’s free kick in the eighth minute was the best chance in the opening 10 minutes of the match as the ball went just wide.
But in the 12th minute, Nigeria got their noses in front courtesy of a sublime move down the left from Ikouwem Utin. Maxwell Effiom was on had to volley home Utin’s cross which the goalkeeper got a hand to it to give Nigeria a 1-0 lead against the Middle East nation.
Utin was involved again in the second as he cut back a low cross for Henry Offia who sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to make it 2-0 in the 24th minute.
And that was how it stood at half time as the Nigerian team went into the break the happier side of the two.
Paul Aibogun’s boys were not done yet as Tom Dele-Bashiru made it 3-0 in the 68th minute to put the lead beyond Qatari side. And Aliu Salwaudeen completed the rout in the 74th minute to hand the Flying Eagles a comfortable 4-0 win in Group that also have Ukraine and the United States.
Nigeria’s next game will be against the American side on Monday, May 27, while Ukraine will slug it out against Qatar.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced her resignation, finally bowing to intense political pressure over the failure to deliver her signature policy — Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.
May said Friday she would quit as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7, but would stay on as Prime Minister until a successor is chosen.
May was forced into making the announcement after losing the support of her Cabinet, many of whom were fed up with the ongoing turmoil over Brexit.
The last straw for Cabinet ministers appears to have been the latest version of May’s Brexit plan, which she unveiled on Tuesday. In an attempt to win over opposition lawmakers, May offered the House of Commons the chance to vote on a second referendum — a concession that was bitterly opposed by some senior members of her government.
Her fate was sealed by the leadership of the 1922 Committee — which represents the interests of rank-and-file lawmakers in May’s Conservative Party — who threatened to change party rules to allow a vote of no-confidence. May survived an earlier confidence vote in December last year, and under current rules was immune to challenge for another year.
May’s announcement will set off a frantic race to succeed her. One leading candidate is Boris Johnson, the buffoonish but wily former Foreign Secretary who commands significant support among grassroots members of the party.
Johnson has bitterly opposed the withdrawal deal that May negotiated with the EU, and resigned from her Cabinet over it. But it’s unclear whether her successor would have any luck reopening the deal, which Brussels has insisted is locked down. May’s successor as prime minister will face the same deadlocked House of Commons, which has repeatedly rejected May’s plan but failed to vote in favor of any kind of alternative.
That may raise the prospect of a new Conservative leader calling a general election in an attempt to break the impasse.
May’s decision to step down is an inglorious end for a prime minister who was ushered into office on the back of the Brexit vote, promising to deliver on the results of the referendum.
But the deal that resulted from a tortuous set of negotiations with the EU was rejected three times by the House of Commons.
On Tuesday, in an attempt to repackage the plan, May rolled it up into a wider set of legislation dealing with Britain’s departure. As well as the offer of a second referendum, it also contained pledges on workers’ rights, environmental provisions, as well as a temporary customs relationship with the European Union.
But her “new Brexit deal” was greeted with significant opposition from across the political spectrum. Hardline Conservatives who had supported May’s last deal, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MPs who prop up May’s minority government in Parliament and supporters of a second referendum alike all rejected it.
Following the death of Chris Attohs wife, Bettie, investigations have revealed that she was still married to a drug lord.
According to Greenbelt Police Department, Bettie was still legally married to 47-year-old Kedrick Jenifer, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for importing large amounts of cocaine into Baltimore from Texas.
The report also says Kendrick ran a drug trafficking organization that distributed at least 450kg of cocaine in Baltimore and Woodbridge, Virginia. Prior to her marriage to Chris Attoh, Bettie had not divorced Kendrick.
However, Kendrick had filed for divorce in April 2019 while it also reported that Bettie filed a divorce suit six days after. This latest investigation is coming a few days after the news of Bettie’s murder broke the Internet.
Ex-husband
Pulse Ghana reports that Jenifer had left the office in the 6300 block of Ivy Lane and was walking to her car when a man armed with a handgun approached her and when she tried to run away, the man followed her and fired multiple shots at her.
American Journalist, Jackie Bensen, who worked for NBC4 also confirmed the incident in her tweet. Police from the Greenbelt Police Department reportedly said the man fled in a vehicle after shooting her.
Multiple media reports stated that Jenifer was found suffering from gunshot wounds and was declared dead at the scene. In 2018, Chris Attoh tied the knot with Bettie Jenifer after breaking up with his first wife and colleague, DamiloIa Adegbite.
Photos from the Murder Scene of Bettie Jenifer Released – Chris Attoh’s Wife.
Nigerian actor, Adebayo Salami, popularly known as ‘Oga Bello,’ has said that his biggest fear was that he does not want his 104-year-old mother to bury him, PUNCH Metro reports.
In essence, the 67-year-old Yoruba actor said he wanted his mother to die before him so that could give her a befitting burial. He said he was fulfilled at 67 and gave God the thanks and praises.
However, he said: “but one of those things I still pray to God for is that I don’ want to die before my mother. I want to be the one to bury her by His grace. I also want good health and long life. Apart from all this, I am satisfied. I am still relevant in my industry. I am contented financially and my children are doing well.”
According to the actor, people in his family always lived long, saying that “My mother is 104 years old, while my father died in 2004 at the age of 102. We live long in my family. However, you cannot compare how they lived in the past with how we live now. I am still very young, though I don’t want to get too old before I die.”
Reacting to being called ‘old school’, Oga Bello told the PUNCH that “Young actors, who think I am outdated, are making a big mistake. If we didn’t pave the way for them, they would not be where they are today. Also, they shouldn’t forget they will grow old someday too. A young person cannot act the role of an old man.“I have played the role of a lover boy in the past and I graduated into other roles.
I just came back from a location a few days ago and I was given a role that suited my age. These young ones have not even met the standards we set. I don’t want to be stagnant in life. Even when I was young, I didn’t enjoy as I do now.”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Mongolia has donated 577,000 doses of measles vaccine, syringes and safety kits worth 500,000 U.S. dollars to Mongolia, the country’s Health Ministry said Tuesday.
The doses would reach children aged 5-18 in Bayan-Ulgii, Zavkhan, Khovd, Uvs and Govi-Altai provinces in the west and Bayankhongor province in the southwest from May 15 to 25, Mongolian Health Minister Davaajantsan Sarangerel said in a statement, adding it would cover those aged 10-18 in other provinces and the capital city of Ulan Bator.
Mongolia was declared free of measles by the World Health Organization in 2016. But the Asian country reported in March the first case of measles since then.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease transmitted by respiratory droplets and direct contact. The disease can be prevented by immunization. Common complications include fever, dry cough, runny nose, sore throat and inflamed eyes.
There is no specific treatment for measles, and most people recover within two to three weeks.
High blood pressure is a common health issue. Here, we discuss the importance of monitoring blood pressure even at home.
High blood pressure (hypertension) is a common health issue. It occurs when there is excessive pressure in the body’s blood vessels. While this condition is mainly associated with older people, it can strike a person at any age.
Why is it important to monitor blood pressure?
One cannot overstate the importance of monitoring one’s blood pressure for those who have received a hypertension diagnosis. Most likely this monitoring will be done at home, and it is important to choose a monitor that is both accurate, and which suits one’s lifestyle.
1. Reminds you to adhere to your treatment plan
Research has shown that home monitoring of blood pressure is a very effective practice.Not only does it allow for more frequent measurements of blood pressure, but it also acts as a good reminder for those with hypertension to adhere to their treatment plans.
2. Negates the effects of misleading high measurements in healthcare settings
As well, it can negate the effect of “white coat hypertension,” where some people may produce a misleadingly high blood pressure measurement, due perhaps to the anxiety of being in a doctor’s office or other healthcare settings.
3. More accurate readings of overall blood pressure
Finally, blood pressure varies considerably throughout the day, and the more frequent measurements produced by home-monitoring will produce a more accurate reading of a person’s overall blood pressure.
Overall, home or self- monitoring of blood pressure has been shown to lower both systolic (top) and diastolic (bottom) blood pressure. There is no question that it is a critical help to reducing hypertension.
Tips for self-measuring blood pressure
Do not smoke or drink caffeine 30 minutes before you plan to take your blood pressure.
Rest quietly for five minutes before starting.
Sit with your feet flat on the floor, with your back and arm supported. Keep your arm at heart level.
Apply the blood pressure cuff on a bare arm.
Measure it twice in the morning and twice in the evening for seven days before your doctor’s appointment (or after a change in medication).
Keep your readings in a log.
Try not to speak while taking your measurement.
How to choose a home blood pressure monitor
Arm-cuff vs. wrist-cuff models
When choosing a monitor, the first choice you should consider is whether you want an arm-cuff or wrist-cuff model. In the arm-cuff model, the measuring cuff goes around the arm, and in the wrist-cuff model, the measuring cuff goes around the wrist. Operationally, the difference is that arm-cuff monitors are more accurate, while wrist-cuff monitors are more portable and comfortable.
Once you have decided on an arm-cuff or wrist-cuff monitor, you should determine your budget, and then look at different models for fit and ease-of-use.
You should also consider features such as irregular-heartbeat detector, risk-category indicator, multiple user memories, multiple cuffs, memory download capability, large-digit display, and data averaging function should be considered in one’s buying decision.
Losing weight may be daunting, but there’s always a chance to find new ways to shed pounds, whether you have a little or a lot to lose. We set out to find the most effective weight-loss tips experts could provide.
Here’s their advice:
1. Eat Breakfast
“To combat the urge to overindulge in the evening, make sure to eat a protein- and fiber-filled breakfast in the morning. Healthy choices for protein include eggs, yogurt, and nuts or nut butters. Pair protein with a high-fiber food like a high-fiber cereal or fruit.” — Ficek
2. Eat Slowly
“I have my clients learn how to choose foods they like, really taste each morsel going into their mouths, and chew deliberately. I advise them to chew slowly, swallow only when the food is all chewed up, and repeat. It takes time to know we’re full. Eating slowly allows us to not only enjoy our food more, but gives us better cues of satiety.” — Janet Zinn, licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist in private practice in New York City.
3. Don’t Skip Meals
“Ever get ‘hangry’ to the point of no return? When we skip a meal we’re more likely to overeat at the next one, and we’re also more inclined to make less-healthy choices. At a minimum try to eat three meals a day.” — Markowitz
4. You Bite It, You Write It!
“That’s my rule, and numerous studies have shown the effectiveness of food journaling for weight loss. One of my clients went out of town for one week. She stopped journaling and gained 13 pounds. I promise that keeping a food journal helps!” — Christine King, founder and CEO of health and wellness company YourBestFit in Boynton Beach, Florida.
5. Batch Cook and Prep
“Every Sunday I batch cook enough chicken for the week. I cut off the fat, bake it with seasoning, measure 3.5 ounces (oz), and put that much into a container with some mustard and frozen veggies, so I can grab one a day to bring to work. I also take the time to divvy up ¼ cup of oats, 1 tablespoon (tbsp) natural peanut butter, 1 tbsp ground flax, and a pinch each of protein powder and cinnamon to sweeten in individual containers. So when I’m a zombie in the morning, all I need to do is add water and microwave!” — Kyra Williams, a personal trainer in Boston.
6. Exercise Anything That Moves
“That’s my mantra — and I started this after I broke my back and was paralyzed from the waist down. Do it in bed, while seated, standing, or walking. Just move. People have a misconception that five minutes doesn’t make a difference, but every minute makes a difference.”
7. Keep a Daily Gratitude Journal
“Our eating habits are usually connected to our emotions — whether we realize it or not. When we’re stressed we tend to reach for sweets. I tell clients that by keeping a daily journal of things you’re grateful for, you’re better able to cope with the stress by acknowledging it rather than reaching for dessert.” — Lauren Manganiello, RD, nutrition counselor and fitness coach in New York City.
8. Cut Calories, Not Flavor
“By choosing options such as sharp cheddar over mild cheddar, you can use less, but you’ll still get a lot of flavor without feeling like you’re on a diet.” — Casper.
9. Get Enough Zzzzs
“Inadequate sleep is not only associated with a higher intake of calories, but is also correlated with a host of other behaviors that contribute to weight gain. For example, we’re less likely to exercise when we’re tired, we have lower impulse control — which can cause us to stray from standard healthy routines — and finally, being tired means we’re more likely to both select foods high in calories and low in nutrients and overestimate portion sizes. In short, adequate sleep keeps us sharp. When we’re well rested we’re less likely to seek an energy boost from high-calorie foods or caffeine!” — Jennifer Markowitz, RD, clinical dietitian at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
10. Weigh Yourself Once a Week
“Same day, same time, same amount of clothing. Remember that your weight isn’t a single number but a five-pound range. Work to move the range down, not the exact number.” — Lainey Younkin, RD, nutrition counselor and consultant in Boston.
11. Embrace Veggies
“When in doubt, eat a vegetable. They’re low-calorie, high-fiber, and full of nutrition. Snack on kale, lettuce, carrots, or green beans. And finally: Skip the butter and oil, but do add herbs or garlic for a great taste.” — Jamie Logie, personal trainer, nutritionist, health coach, and wellness blogger in Ontario, Canada.
12. Use Portion-Controlled Dishes
“We eat with our eyes first and we like to see a full plate. Using smaller plates, bowls, and cups will reduce the amount of food you can serve yourself, while at the same time allow you to fill your dish up and keep you from feeling deprived. For example, an observational study showed that people who used a 9-inch plate versus a 10- or 12-inch plate ate up to 22 percent less!” — Goodman.
13. Salt Craving? Skip the Chips
“When you need a salty fix, reach for popcorn, not chips. According to one study, those who munch on a cup of the air-popped treat are significantly more satisfied than their chip-loving friends. Popcorn is a whole grain, fiber-filled snack. A single serving of potato chips (for a typical 1-oz small bag) is a dense 149 calories, while the same amount of popcorn (air-popped) is only 31, meaning you can feel full and slim down with every delicious bite.” — Rene Ficek, RD, CDE, with Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating.
No transaction in luxury real estate stands alone; every home purchase happens in the middle of a network that yields new opportunities. High-net-worth clients are likely to purchase and sell multiple properties, and their wealth is typically shared among immediate and extended family. Real estate professionals have the opportunity to engage with all of these stakeholders when working with a client throughout the years.
Frank Aazami, Founder of the Private Client Group at Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty, has experienced this long-term network firsthand. “Everything that we’re working on today is from what we had seeded years ago,” he explains. “Ten years ago, we worked with a family that was still growing. Now, the parents are empty nesters. We’re finding them a condo, and helping their kids purchase their first homes.”
The best way to ensure the prosperity and longevity of your business is to build connections that last a lifetime — or several lifetimes. But what exactly goes into making those generational relationships? Here are Aazami’s top three suggestions.
1. Establish the full picture and address it with expertise
Real estate entails so much more than purchasing a home. “It’s all about the investment,” says Aazami. Clients want to know that their investments are protected, and professional assistance throughout the process can provide peace of mind and asset security.
Be purposeful in learning everything you need to know: about your clients’ desires, their portfolio, and the wider real estate landscape. “If someone is hiring me for a service, I want to make sure I do that service well; and I can’t do it unless I understand the entire scope of their finances, their timelines, their likes, their lifestyle. All of it,” says Aazami. “That’s how I built my business — by just asking a lot more questions. I became an advisor, not a real estate agent.”
2. Propose creative solutions
Aazami established his credibility early on by becoming a problem-solver. “It was an agent referral that got me into the business and kept me in business. I would find multiple ways to make a deal work.”
Aazami had a client who was considering building a dream house on a lot that he owned but was reluctant to start because of the time and costs involved. Aazami took a holistic look at the client’s assets, funds, and future aspirations. He found an investor who would be interested in buying the client’s property, and who already owned a spec home similar to the one his client hoped to build. The investor happily purchased the lot, paying the balance in cash, and the client bought the spec home — living in an ideal $2.5 million dollar property when his original budget had been $1.5 million.
“Real estate agents take a listing, and they talk about the size, the features, the selling price,” says Aazami. “For me, it’s more than that. It’s understanding a client’s entire portfolio, their assets, what they want, and what they can afford, and using all that information to create something unexpected and wonderful for them.”
Affluent clients may not be in the market for a new confidant, but they do need someone with whom they can be comfortable sharing deeply personal information. Real estate agents for high-net-worth-clients need to be tactful in striking this balance, cultivating trust without crossing boundaries.
“Your perspective about every topic matters,” Aazami cautions. “Keep it as professional as possible, tailored to what you’re hired to do. Clients will be watching you along the way — everything you say, everything you do — especially now online, where all of it is transparent.”
Privacy and discretion are always critical with clients, and this is no less true for agents that navigate the relationship between parents and children. When it comes to partnering with a family long-term, Aazami is respectful of his client’s wishes regarding how much information they want to share with their children at any given point in their real estate journey. “We keep discussions as private as possible,” he says.
But as properties are gifted from one generation to the next, or passed along through a will, knowing the whole family is helpful. If you are the parents’ trusted advisor, it’s more likely the children will trust you too.
“This is something I just experienced recently. The family’s children were never in any of the meetings, but they saw me in and out with their parents. Then, later on, they came to me when it was time to talk about how money gets dispersed, where properties go, who’s in charge.” This well-deserved trust forms the foundations for long-term partnerships.
As a knowledgeable, present problem-solver, you can ensure that your partnerships with your clients are perennial. When they or their loved ones need an expert they can count on, they’ll naturally turn to you.
The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to call the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to order.
The student expressed sadness over Oshiomhole’s alleged plan to impose his candidates as principal officers of the 9th National Assembly.
NANS staged a protest at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja on Thursday asking the party to immediately convey a National Executive Council, NEC, meeting and issue a stern warning to the party National Chairman
NANS came out with various placards with inscriptions such as “No to open balloting at 9th Senate and Reps election”, “Asiwaju Tinubu, as a democrat, allow each candidate to ride on his/ her credibility”, “Adams Oshiomhole, you are derailing our hard-earned democracy” among others.
The students also took a copy of the protest letter to Lagos House in Asokoro, for onward delivery to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
NANS Senate President, Gambo Mohammed, who addressed newsmen during the protest, said that federal character principle suggests that no part of the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria should be marginalized especially with regards to principal positions of the National Assembly.
Presenting an eight-paragraph protest letter to a representative of APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Mohammed said that students are interested in politics because human beings are political animals.
The letter reads in part: “The leadership of the Senate NANS, acting closely with the Coalition of Youths Organization, having met and thoroughly examined the underlying dynamics in the election of the 9th National Assembly, and arising from a critical stakeholders meeting where it deliberated on matters arising at the National Assembly, have resolved that our lives begin to end the day we keep mute on the things that matter to us.
“History has it that the imposition of candidates was a key factor that destroyed the PDP, thus NANS Senate hereby cautions the leadership of APC to tread carefully on the imposition of sponsored candidates as this negatively impact their ratings and public image, while threatening the coherence of the 9th National Assembly.
“Having zoned the Senate presidency to the North East, in clear accordance with the preamble of the APC constitution, the best practice is to allow all inherently qualified members thereto to participate in the election. NANS Senate is well aware of the inherent imposition which holds sway at party levels, but is of the position that party politics imposition is not superior to what is constitutionally established.
“While NANS Senate is of the opinion that the leadership of the National Assembly at all time should be a matter with no bearing on party imposition, it concedes that our experience as a people has been that the majority party holds the trump card in these matters as stated earlier.
“This reiteration is to drive home the point that Nigerians are looking up to the APC to set the right template for emulation by other arms and tiers of government.”
John Walker Lindh, the so-called “American Taliban” whose capture in Afghanistan riveted a country in the early days after the September 11 attacks, has been released from prison, authorities said.
After serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence, Lindh, the first US-born detainee in the war on terror, on Thursday walked out of a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, the Bureau of Prisons confirmed, and will join the small, but growing, group of Americans convicted of terror-related charges attempting to re-enter into society.
Lindh will live in Virginia subject to the direction of his probation officer, his lawyer, Bill Cummings, tells CNN. But some are already calling for an investigation into his time in prison — where he is said in two US government reports to have made pro-ISIS and other extremist statements — that could send him back into detention.
Reports of Lindh’s maintained radicalization, detailed in two 2017 official counterterrorism assessments, are also driving questions about the efforts of the US government to rehabilitate former sympathizers like him, who are expected to complete prison sentences in waves in the coming years.
Raised in the suburbs north of San Francisco, Lindh took an interest in Islam at a young age, converting to the religion at 16 and moving to the Middle East to learn Arabic after finishing high school.
In 2000, according to documentation of his interrogations, Lindh went to Pakistan and trained with a radical Islamic group there before moving to Afghanistan and joining the Taliban.
Because he was not native to Afghanistan and did not speak the local languages, Lindh told investigators that he joined the “Arab group,” or al Qaeda, studying maps and explosives, fighting on a front line, and at one point, meeting with Osama bin Laden.
When US troops first encountered Lindh in November 2001, just weeks after the September 11 attacks, he was bedraggled and injured.
A CNN camera filmed as Lindh, a daze cast over his dirty face, told American forces how he had wound up at a detention camp in northern Afghanistan and survived a Taliban uprising there that killed hundreds of prisoners and a CIA officer, Johnny Michael Spann.
Lindh admitted to participating in the revolt near Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, but prosecutors did not say that he had a role in Spann’s death.
Initially charged with a raft of serious offenses, including conspiracy to kill US nationals, Lindh, in 2002, struck a deal reportedly offered by prosecutors in part to prevent details of the apparent mistreatment of Lindh at the hand of US forces by his defense. Lindh pleaded guilty to fighting alongside the Taliban.
At a sentencing hearing in Virginia that year, he sniffled and nearly broke down as he addressed the court in a 14-minute speech.
“Had I realized then what I know now about the Taliban, I would never have joined them,” Lindh said. “I never understood jihad to mean anti-Americanism or terrorism.”
That contrition has been contested by a pair of official reports, from the National Counterterrorism Center and the federal Bureau of Prisons, that were first published by Foreign Policy in 2017.
According to the NCTC report, as of May 2016, Lindh “continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts.” In March 2016, the report says, he “told a television news producer that he would continue to spread violent extremist Islam upon his release.”
Lindh had made “pro ISIS statements to various reporters,” the Bureau of Prisons report also stated.
In an email to his father included in the BOP report, Lindh said that he was “not interested in renouncing my beliefs or issuing condemnations.”
The two assessments do not provide details for the statements, and the BOP and the NCTC declined to comment to CNN on the reports.
On Wednesday, a local NBC News station in Los Angeles released excerpts from correspondence a producer there had with Lindh from behind bars, where Lindh said in 2015 he thought ISIS was doing a “spectacular job.”
“The Islamic State is clearly very sincere and serious about fulfilling the long-neglected religious obligation of establishing a caliphate through armed struggle, which is the only correct method,” Lindh told the producer, according to the report.
Lindh denied a request by CNN to be interviewed in prison and his lawyers declined to comment on the counterterrorism assessments.
Prison term
In prison, Lindh was known to be deeply religious — he recited the entire Quran from memory each week, and regularly gave a call to prayer for the other Muslims in his unit, according to a narrative written by an inmate who served with him.
Lindh went by the name Yayha, the inmate wrote in the anonymous essay, which was published by CAGE, a group started by someone released without charges after being detained in Guantanamo that advocates for those arrested or prosecuted in the war on terror. The human rights group Amnesty International cut ties with CAGE because of some of its statements and relationships with terror suspects.
“His whole life revolves around reading, writing, praying, and working out in his cell. His Muslim brothers know he is busy so they don’t hesitate to cook for him in order make sure he eats well,” the inmate wrote.
Lindh discussed his values in his own essay, published by CAGE in 2014 and titled “Memorising the Qur’an: A Practical Guide for Prisoners.”
“Free time is a great gift from Allah and few people enjoy more of it than prisoners,” Lindh wrote. “The best way we can express our gratitude to Allah for this gift is through the study, recitation, memorisation, contemplation, and implementation of His Noble Book.”
On Monday, Johnny Spann, the father of the CIA officer killed in the Taliban uprising that Lindh participated in, petitioned the Virginia judge overseeing Lindh’s case to investigate the extremist comments he allegedly made while in prison.
“You need to find out for sure, is this guy still the same al Qaeda member we put in jail? If he is still the al Qaeda member we put in jail then we need to throw the plea agreement away and do something else,” Spann told CNN in an interview.
Spann has protested Lindh’s early release to lawmakers, including Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, who said last month that he raised the issue with the White House.
In a tweet, Shelby wrote that President Donald Trump agreed that Lindh should serve his full sentence. Lindh’s early release this week appears to be the result of time taken off of his sentence for good behavior.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on this story, and legal experts question what power the President could have to prevent Lindh’s release outside of a wider regulation change, which would likely invite a backlash.
Feds not prepared, experts say
After he leaves prison, Lindh’s actions will be closely watched as part of a sweeping set of conditions imposed on his three years of supervised release by Judge T.S. Ellis, who oversees his case in Virginia.
Under the conditions, Lindh is not allowed to possess any “internet capable device” without permission from the probation office, and any approved device would be “monitored continuously.”
Lindh is not allowed to have any online communications in any language other than English unless otherwise approved, cannot communicate with a known extremist, and cannot possess or view “material that reflects extremist or terroristic views.”
The strict impositions are likely to be mirrored in dozens of cases like Lindh’s. As of last week, there were 421 inmates with a history of, or nexus to, international terrorism, in the federal prison system, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
Some 60 to 100 of those prisoners are expected to be released in the next five years, said Mitch Silber, the former director of Intelligence Analysis at the NYPD, who now runs a nonprofit that works to rehabilitate radicalized individuals.
Counterterrorism experts have said that the federal government has not done enough to prepare for the coming trend of releases.
“Right now there is no program to rehabilitate and reintegrate them, give them the type of skills that will make it less likely they will recidivise to some type of criminality,” Silber said.
Mary McCord, the former acting assistant attorney general for National Security at the Justice Department, said officials at the Justice Department had only begun to consider the impending releases during her tenure, which ended in 2017.
“At the time I left not nearly enough had been done and we were nervous about it,” McCord said in an interview.
The Justice Department referred CNN to the BOP for comment, which said in a statement that it has policies to monitor communications of inmates with known or suspected ties to domestic and foreign terrorism and that they share information with law enforcement as appropriate.
The BOP also says it encourages all inmates, including those linked to terrorism, to participate in programs “that assist offenders in developing the skills necessary for a successful reintegration into society.”
“Based on a series of focused interviews conducted by BOP staff, the BOP has found that many inmates have turned away from radicalized ideology in prison based on self-study, or due to participation in programming or sentence length,” BOP said.
Silber, who founded his non-profit Parallel Networks with a former American al Qaeda sympathizer convicted of conspiring to solicit murder, said that prisons could adapt already existing re-entry programs for gang offenders to fit extremists.
He also noted that a dialogue about the origins of an extremist’s turn to radicalization can be helpful in determining how to move away from an ideology.
In the absence of that, or in the case of a return to criminal behavior, federal investigators could open a new investigation into a released prisoner.
“Ultimately the hammer that the federal government has over (Lindh) is that if he does behave in a way that looks like he is turning toward terrorism, they can open up a new investigation on him and essentially we can begin the process again,” Silber said.
Terms of release
In emails Lindh wrote from behind bars referenced in the BOP report, he expressed interest in moving post-release to Ireland, where he is a citizen, as well as Puerto Rico.
Lindh said that he had gained Irish citizenship in 2013 “as a result of having an Irish grandparent” and wanted to petition the country to take him in by explaining the “unique circumstances that make my survival in the US practically impossible.”
“Essentially I am seeking asylum from one country where I am a citizen in another country where I am also a citizen,” Lindh wrote in an email to CAGE, who he had asked to help him with his attempt to relocate to Ireland. A person familiar with Lindh’s status confirmed he is an Irish citizen.
It appears likely that Lindh’s plan to move to Ireland may be prevented at least for now by the terms of his supervised release, which say that he cannot hold a passport and can’t leave the United States “without the express permission of this Court.”
Prisoners leaving detention under terms of supervised release are required to send a release plan to the probation office of the district in the country where they want to go, who will investigate the case and decide whether or not to allow the residency.
CAGE’s Outreach Director Moazzam Begg, who has spoken with Frank Lindh about his son’s case, told CNN that it would make sense for Lindh to move back with his father in northern California.
“His father has always been a great supporter of him and has believed in his son’s cause,” Begg said.
