Ex-soldier pleads guilty in IS plot

Ex-soldier pleads guilty in IS plot

CHICAGO

A former Illinois National Guard soldier pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group.

Hasan Edmonds, 23, of Aurora, Ill., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

The pleas in Chicago federal court came one week after his cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 30, of Aurora, pleaded guilty to similar charges.

UN officials blast intolerance, hatred

UNITED NATIONS

Two senior U.N. officials said Monday they are “sickened by blatant manifestations of hatred and intolerance” by public figures and others, particularly against Muslims, in response to recent extremist attacks.

Adama Dieng, the special adviser on the prevention of genocide, and Jennifer Welsh, the special adviser on the responsibility to protect civilians, said any “advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence” is prohibited by international human-rights law and laws in many countries.

Dieng and Welsh strongly condemned extremist attacks but underlined that linking such attacks to Muslims has resulted in discrimination and targeting.

Nigerian Shiites: Troops kill hundreds

KADUNA, Nigeria

Soldiers killed hundreds of Shiite Muslims over the weekend after their group opened fire on the convoy of Nigeria’s army chief, the Shia Islamic Movement and military reports said Monday. Other reports put the number of dead at about 20.

Shiite leader Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenah Ibrahim, are in military custody, Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state told The Associated Press. The movement had reported earlier that Zakzaky’s wife was among the dead from the military raids in northern Zaria town, along with two of their sons and Zakzaky’s deputy.

Wife finds suspect in husband’s pajamas

DELTONA, Fla.

Deputies say a wife thought her husband was having an affair when she found a 22-year-old woman wearing his pajamas. Turns out the woman was just hiding from the law.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Monday that Eryn Rice slipped into the couple’s Deltona home Sunday after escaping from a deputy who’d arrested her in a shoplifting. They said she washed her clothes, showered and took a nap.

The Orlando Sentinel reports when the 73-year-old woman first saw Rice, she thought her husband was cheating on her. The husband was playing golf; when he returned, he swore he’d never seen her before.

Not knowing she was on the run, the couple drove Rice home. Later, they contacted authorities, who arrested Rice.

Seattle allows drivers to unionize

SEATTLE

Seattle on Monday became the first city in the nation to allow drivers of ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft to unionize over pay and working conditions.

The city council voted 8-0 in favor of the legislation, which is seen as a test case for the changing 21st-century workforce. The companies strongly oppose it and are expected to challenge it in court.

The measure requires companies that hire or contract with drivers of taxis, for-hire transportation companies and app-based ride-hailing services to bargain with their drivers, if a majority show they want to be represented.

Associated Press