Amish Girl KIDNAPPING

*Warning: AL JAZEERA AMERICA presentation*

A man accused of kidnapping two Amish sisters from their family's roadside vegetable stand pleaded guilty this morning to all 21 federal charges of child pornography and sexual exploitation of six girls.

Stephen Howells II, 39, admitted he victimized six children from December 2012 through August of last year, when he and his girlfriend, Nicole Vaisey, were charged with kidnapping the Amish sisters in St. Lawrence County.

Howells and Vaisey made child pornography of three girls on nine dates between September 2013 and August 2014, according to a federal grand jury indictment.

Howells alone was charged with making child pornography involving three children on six other dates between December 2012 and April 2014, the indictment said. He was also charged with having child pornography on five hard drives involving children under the age of 12.

Howells faces up to 30 years in prison.

He's expressed a willingness to testify on Vaisey's behalf at her trial, which is scheduled for June 22. Howells is willing to testify that Vaisey was acting under his control in a master-slave relationship, according to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Howells and Vaisey were arrested Aug. 15, two days after the Amish girls were kidnapped from their family's roadside stand.

The two Amish girls, ages 7 and 12, were abducted from their family's farm stand in the town of Heuvelton. They were returned home about 25 hours later, but in that time they were sexually abused, prosecutors have said.

Police arrested Howells and Vaisey and charged them in state court with two counts of first-degree kidnapping. Those charges are likely to be prosecuted after the federal case is finished, St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain has said.

Howells and Vaisey lived together in the town of Hermon, 16 miles from where the Amish girls were abducted. Howells, a father of three, worked as registered nurse at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg. Vaisey was a dog groomer. They had met online about a year and a half before.

The search for the girls and their abductors involved hundreds of volunteer firefighters, Department of Environmental Conservation police, sheriff's deputies, state police and FBI investigators.

 

Miss Zimbabwe EMILY KACHOTE gets NAKED

*Warning: AL JAZEERA AMERICA presentation*

Harare - Last year, Miss Zimbabwe quit after photographs of the beauty queen posing naked emerged on social media. This year's Miss Zimbabwe faces a similar scandal.

Organizers of the Miss Zimbabwe pageant said they are investigating 25-year-old Emily Kachote two weeks into her reign after photos that allegedly show her nude appeared on the Internet.

Kachote, who would represent Zimbabwe at the Miss World finals later this year, will be dethroned if the photos are authentic, pageant spokesman Tendai Chirau said this week.

The contestants signed contracts declaring they had never posed nude before the pageant and that, in the event of winning the crown, they would not pose naked during the yearlong tenure as Miss Zimbabwe.

Kachote told H Metro, a Zimbabwean tabloid newspaper, that she suspected "these pictures" would emerge but "it happened a long time ago."

She referred to a date with a man whose home she visited, saying: "We had some drinks and I had no control over everything that happened that night. I no longer have anything to do with the guy."

Some people in Zimbabwe sympathize with Kachote, saying those who leak nude photos in such cases deserve criticism.

"This is another form of abuse. Everyone is entitled to privacy and imagine the trauma she could be going through," Zimbabwe's Herald newspaper quoted musician Albert Nyathi as saying. "Women are abused a lot in Zimbabwe and it's high time it should stop."

 

Naked SEX SLAVE Bazzaar

*Warning: AL JAZEERA AMERICA presentation*

The United Nations says the Takfiri ISIL terrorist group has been offering Syrian and Iraqi girls for sale by putting them on show “stripped naked” in “slave bazaars.”

Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zainab Bangura made the harrowing revelation on Thursday while briefing journalists on her “scoping mission” to Syria, Iraq and some other countries in the region in April.

“Girls are literally being stripped naked and examined in slave bazaars” of the ISIL, Bangura said, adding that the girls were “categorized and shipped naked off to Dohuk (Province) or Mosul or other locations to be distributed among ISIL leadership” and militants.

Bangura visited Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan from April 16 to 29 and interviewed girls and women who had escaped ISIL captivity and survived sexual violence.

“Women and girls are at risk and under assault at every point of their lives,” Bangura said, stressing that they are in danger at “every step of the way… in the midst of active conflict, in areas under control of armed actors, at check-points and border crossings, and in detention facilities.”

 

The file photo shows a displaced Izadi girl living in an unfinished building outside the town of Dohuk, in Iraq’s Kuridistan region.

 

The UN special representative went on to say that the Takfiri group utilizes sexual violence as a “tactic” to humiliate and demoralize those who are against the ISIL and to punish and displace dissenters.

“ISIL have institutionalized sexual violence and the brutalization of women as a central aspect of their ideology and operations, using it as a tactic of terrorism to advance their key strategic objectives,” she said.

Elaborating on the motives of the Takfiri group for advancing sexual violence, the UN official further said that ISIL uses the tactic to extract information for intelligence purposes and to dismantle social, familial and community structures.

Giving an example of the brutalities of the ISIL group against the girls and women, she noted that a certain girl was forced to marry Takfiri terrorists 20 times and was forced to undergo surgery to regain her virginity after each marriage.

 

Iraqi Izadi women who fled the ISIL terror group in the Iraqi town of Sinjar (file photo)

 

Bangura called on the UN Security Council to take measures to counter such crimes, expressing concerns about the children born of rape. She also said that such children create “a generation of stateless children” who could provide fertile ground for future extremism.

The ISIL militants have been accused of committing gross human rights violations and war crimes in Syria and Iraq, including rape, summary executions, mass kidnappings, and massacres.

 

GWAR fires ANTI-SEXISM member in a SEXIST way

*THE SYNDICATE DOES NOT EXIST*

Last year, slime-spewing metal monsters Gwar announced that Kim Dylla would be their new "head bitch in charge." Playing the character Vulvatron, she was outspoken against sexism and helped maintain the band's fierce live show. Now, however, she's no longer a member of Gwar. 

The band announced they were no longer working with Dylla in a statement. They explained that they had no ill will toward Dylla, and that they still planned to keep using the character of Vulvatron with someone else filling the role. 

"Kim did a great job, but we wanted to go a different direction with the Vulvatron character," Brent Purgason (a.k.a. Pustulus Maximus) said in the statement. "You will absolutely see more of Vulvatron in the future, just not portrayed by Kim. There is no ill will, no acrimony, and no drama. We respect Kim's talent without question, it just isn't what we needed in the character." 

Stay tuned for more information on the future of Vulvatron and Gwar. 

Yesterday, Gwar announced plans to release a book chronicling their history. More information on Let There Be Gwar is available here. 

Sweden Underground: JAY-JAY

*THE SYNDICATE DOES NOT EXIST*

Swedish trip-hop troubadour Jay-Jay Johanson is gearing up to release his latest studio album Opium this summer, and Exclaim! has got your first listen to the new single "NDE." 
  
According to a press release, the new record blends the smooth, caressing vocals we've come to expect from Johanson with "jacked up, heady rhythms that lift and carry the songs." Tackling contending themes of men his age like love, solitude, fatherhood and immaturity, the new set of songs poses questions rather than presenting impossible answers. 
  
"NDE" is no different, exploring the idea of near-death experiences, although Johanson manages to make the titular events sound more soothing than scary. Gentle beats mix with the calming refrain of: "It's frightening, but it's so delightful" — putting the listener at ease, despite the dark subject matter. 
  
Opium arrives in North America on June 16 through Le Plan, but you can listen to "NDE" in the player below, right now. 
  

New Rock Heroes: TEENAGE TIME KILLERS

*THE SYNDICATE DOES NOT EXIST*

Corrosion of Conformity member Reed Mullin's Teenage Time Killers have been hanging onto punk-and-metal minded material for a while now, but the project finally issues its long-gestating Greatest Hits Vol. 1 this summer. Before it arrives in full, though, you can hear the supergroup bash through a Misfits-styled preview called "Barrio." 

As you'll hear down below, the song surges with sugar-dripping pop-punk melodies, but its verse subverts itself with the occasional creep chord change. Alkaline Trio leader Matt Skiba apparently twisted his hair into a greasy devilock before he hopped on the mic, as his yowly lines come across like early days Danzig. 

Bad Religion's Brian Baker also appears on the ghoulish fist-pumper. Fun fact: Baker had been tapped to play in Danzig's post-Misfits project Samhain, but bailed before the band began playing shows. 

As previously reported, Greatest Hits Vol. 1 also features performances from Dave Grohl, Lamb of God's Randy Blythe, Dead Kennedy's Jello Biafra, Sunn O)))'s Greg Anderson and more. It hits stores July 31 through Rise Records. 

On-Air BREAST exam!

BEATING THE BIG C: Doctor Chris shows viewers the brest check [ITV]

Plucky volunteer Caroline stripped off and allowed the doc to cop a good feel, in a bid to prompt women to check their breasts for lumps.

Presenter Amanda Holden looked on as the TV mddc explained how to chef for bumps and abnormalities before moving from Caroline to male volunteer Matt.

Viewers reacted to the section with a flood of positive tweets after the show.

SELF HELP: Doctor Chris demonstrates the breast check [ITV]

One viewer wrote: "The #BreastCheck was so informative, I had no idea I had to check up to my collar bone or under my arm!! @itvthismorning."

Another wrote: "Vital information on @itvthismorning about detecting breast cancer in men or women. #BreastCheck."