ISIL recruits in the Balkans

Sarajevo, Bosnia - In the weeks leading up to her escape from ISIL-controlled territory in Syria, Noora, a Yazidi from Sinjar, was held captive in a three room-house to the northeast of Raqqa. Her captor was a young Bosnian woman who had travelled from the Balkans to join ISIL.

"She was really beautiful," Noora said, "a white woman."

"She had long blond hair down to her lower back. I had never seen anyone like that," added Noora, who was 25 at the time.

Noora, who managed to escape with the aid of a smuggler and one of her brothers, told Al Jazeera how, during the eight months and 12 days she spent in captivity, she met fighters and their wives from Afghanistan, Britain, Germany and Bosnia, among other places. 

Noora said that unlike the fighters, who she says stripped her of her belongings, "rings and necklaces", transported her through territory newly captured by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL), and sold her into captivity, the Bosnian woman treated her captives "fairly".

"She gave us enough food. She was good to us," recalled Noora, from Dohuk in northern Iraq, one month after she escaped. 

Noora's name has been changed to protect her identity and the identity of her family who remain in ISIL-controlled territory. Fourteen close family members, including her parents and two brothers, remain in ISIL captivity or are unaccounted for.

Sarajevo, the captial of Bosnia, is surrounded by steep hills from where during the siege of Sarajevo, Serbian forces to attacked the city and its civilian population. [Benas Gerdziunas/Al Jazeera]

A recent report published by the Soufan Group, an organisation that provides intelligence services to governments and multinationals, entitled Foreign Fighters, estimates that there are between 200 and 400 Bosnian nationals in Syria and Iraq.

While the number thought to have travelled to ISIL-controlled territory from the Balkans as a whole is relatively small - estimated to be around 900 by the same report - that figure is high enough to have raised concern among the region's security forces.

In June last year, ISIL released a 20-minute recruitment video, "Honour is in Jihad," aimed at encouraging potential Balkan recruits to come to Iraq and Syria.

In the video, a fighter identified as Abu Jihad al Bosni vows to, "bring our people out from the darkness and into the light". Fighters from Bosnia, Albania, and Kosovo also feature in the footage.

Imam Ahmed Hrustanovic performs Fajr, the dawn prayer in Srebrenica, but no one else attended [Benas Gerdziunas/Al Jazeera]

Vulnerable recruits

"In the beginning, when we heard reports of Bosnians travelling to Syria, we were both confused, and concerned," Ahmed Hrustanovic, an imam in Srebrenica, told Al Jazeera on a recent evening, after prayers.

"In our history, Bosniak history, we never went to another country to fight. We have only ever tried to make own country free and secure. But now, everything is changing."

Mirnes Kovac, a Balkans political analyst based in Sarajevo, believes that the crimes committed by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have been among the motivators for Bosnians travelling to Syria to join ISIL.

"There is no crime in Syria that has been committed by ISIL that the regime of Bashar al-Assad did not proceed with an even worse crime," Kovac said.

"When the international community is not responding in ways it needs to, we have a platform that radicals misuse [to recruit]."

The vulnerability of potential recruits, he added, is increased in Bosnia, where, "you have a post-conflict, transitional society which has economic issues and high levels of unemployment".

Incompetent institutions?

Some observers are concerned that state institutions here have yet to develop the competency to fully stem the flow of recruits.

"[Balkan security institutions] have made efforts to slow recruitment, but it's not at all enough," Erwan Fouere, an associate senior research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies, said.

"The problem is that the institutions of state [in the region] are weak, parliaments are not functioning as they should. They don't lend themselves, as they should, to supervisory roles to prevent [the] movement of people to Iraq and Syria."

"If you add to that the very adverse economic situation in which potential recruits live, it does offer a breeding ground for [ISIL recruitment], even, though there isn't necessarily a tradition of radicalism in the region," Fouere concluded.

"In our history, Bosniak history, we never went to another country to fight. Never... But now, everything is changing," said Imam Ahmed Hrustanovic [Benas Gerdziunas/Al Jazeera]

Hrustanovic believes it is the shared responsibility of state security forces, leaders of the religious community, and members of the public to stop the flow of vulnerable Bosnian nationals to join ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

"But I think the government and security services, should be doing more," he added.

The Bosnian State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) told Al Jazeera in a written statement that it is cooperating with the Bosnia and Herzegovina prosecutor's office to take, "legal measures and actions against persons and organisations that may be linked to the latest developments in Syria and Iraq".

Intelligence gathered, it added, is, "continuously exchanged with national and international law enforcement agencies".

Late last month, Bosnian police arrested 11 individuals suspected of, "terrorism, financing terrorist activities, and recruiting Islamic State fighters".

"It would be easier for us [to spot vulnerable people], because we are a small community. That is very hard to see in bigger cities," said Imam Damir Pestalic [Benas Gerdziunas/Al Jazeera]

However, Damir Pestalic, an imam in Srebrenica, believes the responsibility lies with government and security forces to do more. "The problem of people who are going to Syria [from here], is the problem of the Bosnian government."

Figures from the Soufan Group report suggest that the number of foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria has more than doubled in the past 18 months.

Statistics show a similar pattern for those specifically from the Balkans. Authors of the Soufan Group report contend that this increase "is evidence that efforts to contain the flow of foreign recruits to extremist groups in Syria and Iraq have had limited impact".

The first step in stopping this ideology must be for us to familiarise ourselves with it," Kovac told Al Jazeera. "We need to understand the context it spreads in, how people are recruited to it and what kinds of individuals recruiters are targeting."

"We need to understand, how we can tackle it and protect those people, predominantly young and underprivileged, who are exposed to the ideology."

Al Jazeera America to shut down in April

Al Jazeera America, which went on the air in 2013 -- and is partly funded by the ruling family of Qatar -- announced Wednesday it is shutting down at the end of April, citing the "economic landscape of the media environment."

The network said in a statement that "Al Jazeera America will cease operation by April 30, 2016," explaining that "while Al Jazeera America built a loyal audience across the U.S. and increasingly was recognized as an important new voice in television news, the economic landscape of the media environment has driven its strategic decision to wind down its operations and conclude its service."

Ray Suarez, a Washington, D.C.-based host at the channel, said in an email to Fox News Latino: “We put a good product on the air, with strong content from around the world that you can't see anywhere else. But ... being good isn't enough on its own in 2016.”

Al Anstey, Al Jazeera America’s chief executive, reportedly wrote in a memo to staffers. “I know the closure of AJAM will be a massive disappointment for everyone here who has worked tirelessly for our long-term future. The decision that has been made is in no way because AJAM has done anything but a great job.”

Al Jazeera's prime-time ratings recently ranged from 20,000 to 30,000 viewers, according to Nielsen data. Upon taking over the network in May 2015, Anstey downplayed the network's ratings woes, saying it would “take time to build viewership.”

The network also said it will be ramping up its digital offerings in the U.S. as it shuts down its news channel.

Methodist Church blacklists 5 Israeli banks

The pension fund for the United Methodist Church has blocked five Israeli banks from its investment portfolio in what it describes as a broad review meant to weed out companies that profit from abuse of human rights.

The fund, called the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits, excluded Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, First International Bank of Israel, Israel Discount Bank, and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, according to the pension board's website.

The Israeli bank stock the board sold off was worth a few million dollars in a fund with $20 billion in assets. The fund also sold holdings worth about $5,000 in the Israeli real estate and construction company Shikun & Binui, and barred the company from the pension group's investment portfolio.

The pension board identified Israel and the Palestinian territories among more than a dozen "high risk" countries or regions with "a prolonged and systematic pattern of human rights abuses." Other countries on the list include Saudi Arabia, the Central African Republic and North Korea.

A spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry declined to comment.

The Methodist church has about 13 million members worldwide and is the largest mainline Protestant group in the United States.

The pension board had initiated the review in 2014 with a focus on protecting human rights and easing climate change. A total of 39 companies around the world were excluded from the fund's investments over human rights concerns and nine more were blocked over worries about their alleged contribution to global warming. The fund remains invested in 18 Israeli companies, according to board spokeswoman Colette Nies.

The banks had been among several companies targeted by United Methodist Kairos Response, a coalition of church members who advocate for divestment from companies with business in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

"This is the first step toward an effort that helps send a clear message that we as a church are listening and that we are concerned about human rights violations," Susanne Hoder, a leader of United Methodist Kairos Response, said Tuesday. "We hope it will also be encouraging to people in the Jewish community who are working for justice."

A competing group, United Methodists for Constructive Peacemaking in Israel and Palestine, said in a statement that the pension board action should not be viewed as divestment from Israel, since the top Methodist legislative body rejected proposals in 2012 to divest from companies that produce equipment used by Israel in the territories. The same body, called General Conference, passed a resolution denouncing the Israeli occupation and expanding illegal Jewish settlements in the territories.

The pension board's decision came at a time when divestment is gaining momentum among liberal Protestants as a tool to pressure Israel over its policies toward Palestinians. Last year, the United Church of Christ voted to divest from companies with business in the Israeli-occupied territories. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) took a similar vote in 2014.

The next Methodist General Conference is scheduled for this May.

Japan gripped by fate of pop group SMAP

Their talent agency has said only that they are in negotiations over their future, but as the BBC's Mariko Oi explains, a split would be a huge shock for Japan.

The Take That or New Kids on the Block of Japan - but bigger

SMAP - which stands for sport, music, assemble, people - formed in 1988 when its six original members were in their teens.

Now in their 40s - and minus one member - they have appeared in movies and soap operas, have dozens of advertising deals and have become ambassadors for Japan abroad.

Masahiro Nakai, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Shingo Katori and Takuya Kimura have been a constant presence in the media landscape with Japanese fans calling them their idols.

They were the first boy band to not only have multiple hit songs but also parlay that success into comedy and acting with their weekly variety show SMAPxSMAP and numerous other appearances.

The group's leader, Masahiro Nakai, has been the main newscaster in Japan for several Olympic games. Arguably the most popular and internationally recognised member Takuya Kimura has been voted the sexiest man in Japan for 15 years in a row by one magazine.

Their popularity has even made them ambassadors for diplomatic relations between Japan, China and South Korea. In 2011, they were the first Japanese pop group to visit China in a decade, amid a row between the countries over disputed territory. Their Beijing concert was attended by 40,000 people.

The politics of talent management

Like many pop groups, there has been speculation before that SMAP could be about to split. One of its members, Katsuyuki Mori, left in 1996 - at the height of their popularity - to become a successful motorbike racer.

But the new rumours indicate there is politics at play at the talent agency that manages them.

The group's leader, Masahiro Nakai, has been the main newscaster in Japan for several Olympic games. Arguably the most popular and internationally recognised member Takuya Kimura has been voted the sexiest man in Japan for 15 years in a row by one magazine.

Their popularity has even made them ambassadors for diplomatic relations between Japan, China and South Korea. In 2011, they were the first Japanese pop group to visit China in a decade, amid a row between the countries over disputed territory. Their Beijing concert was attended by 40,000 people.

The politics of talent management

Like many pop groups, there has been speculation before that SMAP could be about to split. One of its members, Katsuyuki Mori, left in 1996 - at the height of their popularity - to become a successful motorbike racer.

But the new rumours indicate there is politics at play at the talent agency that manages them.

Johnny&Associates dominates the pop and entertainment industry. But reports say SMAP's manager, Michi Iijima, who masterminded their rise since the late 1980s, has fallen out with its founders and is leaving.

All but one of SMAP's members are reported to be considering following her out of the company, which would almost certainly be the end of the group as we know it. 

The agency has acknowledged the reports but only said: "It is a fact that negotiation and discussions are being held regarding the matter." 

On the other hand, they could be negotiating for more money in order to stay with the firm.

Woah, if true

Although Korean pop (Kpop) has now largely overtaken Jpop in terms of popularity in Asia and beyond, SMAP and others like it are seen as among the first to spark a boy band craze in Asia.

They had developed a huge fan base over their nearly three decades in the industry. 

For people in their 30s and younger in Japan, who have grown up with this band, news of a split would be shocking.

But they also have older fans - women who would travel across Japan to all their concerts and give them expensive gifts, seeing them as the ideal sons.

Like other pop acts around the world, some have questioned SMAP's singing and acting skills.

But love them or hate them, many continued to follow their careers even once they had passed their peak in terms of boy band success.

El Chapo's Actress Obsession Led To Arrest

The boss of Mexico's feared Sinaloa cartel exchanged text messages with Kate del Castillo, famous for her role as a drug boss in a TV show, frequently after his escape from a maximum-security prison in July 2015.

It has been claimed that Guzman had initially contacted actresses and producers because he wanted to make a biopic of his life, but the leaked exchanges seem to suggest he was more interested in del Castillo, who used the name Beauty in the messages, than the project.   

"I'll take care of you. You'll see when you come," Guzman, who went by the name "Papa" in the messages, wrote last September. "You're so beautiful, my friend, in every aspect." 

Guzman eventually met del Castillo face to face in an undisclosed jungle clearing in October, along with actor and director Sean Penn.

The Hollywood star, however does not appear to have been a big draw for Guzman, who in one message asked del Castillo: "What's that actor's name?"  

He later asked his lawyer what movies Penn had starred in.

After the meeting, the actress wrote to Guzman: "I don't sleep much since I saw you. I'm very excited about our story ... It's all I think about."

He replied: "I'm more excited about you than the story."

Authorities raided his hideout in Durango state a few days after the meeting but Guzman grabbed his cook's daughter and used her "as a human shield," holding her in front of him as a helicopter hovered overhead, prompting soldiers to hold fire, a Mexican official said.

It is claimed he eventually made his way to the seaside city of Los Mochis in his native Sinaloa state, where he was captured on Friday in a deadly shoot-out with Mexican marines.

The anonymous official said Guzman went to Los Mochis in part because he was "very interested" in meeting 43-year-old del Castillo again, although a second meeting did not take place.

"This was an almost obsessive interest that turned into another incentive to go down to the city, where he wanted to meet with her," the official said.

When marines raided his Los Mochis hideout, Guzman fled through a tunnel during a gunfight between troops and his henchmen, but he was caught later after attempting a getaway in a stolen car.

An article on Guzman based upon his meeting with Penn later appeared in Rolling Stone magazine, where the drugs boss talked about his childhood, how he became involved in the drugs trade and became head of the Sinaloa cartel.

Guzman stressed he was not a violent person despite being blamed for countless murders.

He also rejected claims he was responsible for the high levels of drug addiction in the world - adding: "The day I don't exist, it's not going to decrease in any way at all."

Mexican authorities have released two mug shots of Guzman following his re-capture, reportedly shot at the time of his processing at the Altiplano maximum security prison.

Anonymous drives Nissan offline in dolphin hunting protest

The Japanese carmaker said it had suspended its global and Japanese sites early on Wednesday after they had been bombarded with traffic.

Hacktivists linked to the Anonymous collective have claimed responsibility. They tweeted the attack was "punishment" for Japan's killing of whales and dolphins. 

Nissan has said that it has no view on such hunting activities.

Over recent weeks, Anonymous has struck against the websites of the Japanese president and other government departments in protest against the animals' deaths.

This follows related cyber-attacks against Icelandic institutions in November as part of the same OpWhales campaign, which resulted in most of the country's government sites being made unavailable for about 13 hours.

Awareness campaign

One of the hackers claiming responsibility for the attacks explained why Nissan had been targeted.

They are a big corporation in Japan, and we have targeted big corporations to spread awareness about the killing [of dolphins] in the cove in Taiji because the Japanese news is censoring it," he said.

"As a note for Nissan, we are not out to harm your customer data or system data."

The attack coincides with the Detroit Auto Show, where Nissan unveiled a concept pickup van on Tuesday.

The company's US and European websites remain online.

"At Nissan, customer privacy and security is of utmost importance, and we take any potential threat to our information systems seriously," said a spokesman.

"Because of a potential distributed denial of service [DDoS] attack, we are temporarily suspending service on our websites to prevent further risks.

"Nissan continuously monitors and takes aggressive steps to ensure the protection of our information systems and all of our data."

Drug Lord Guzman Was More Interested in Flirting With Actress Than Making a Movie

(MEXICO CITY) — Transcripts of over a month of text messages between drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo showed the capo was less interested in making a movie about his life than he was in flirting with the actress.

The transcripts published Wednesday by the newspaper Milenio — and confirmed as authentic by a federal official — showed that Guzman’s main concern was getting face-to-face get-togethers with Del Castillo, and that he didn’t even really know who Sean Penn was.

Penn has acknowledged that he tagged along for the Oct. 2 meeting at a mountain hideout originally set up by Del Castillo.

“What’s that actor’s name?” the account identified as Guzman’s writes in one message. He later asks his lawyers to tell him what movies Penn has appeared in. Even when Guzman dedicated a video statement as an “exclusive for” Del Castillo and Penn, the drug lord stumbles over Penn’s first name, pronouncing it “SAY-ahn.”

The federal official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he or she was not authorized to be quoted by name, said the dozens of texts were authentic. Many expressed admiration and a longing for the next meeting, more than concern about the purported movie project.

“I’ll tell you, I am more excited about you than the (movie) script,” Guzman wrote to Del Castillo. He identified her in his chat or text account as “ermoza,” a misspelling of the Spanish word for “beautiful.” ”I’ll take care of you,” he adds.

Another text from the drug lord reads: “How is the best and most intelligent woman in the world, who I admire a lot?” At one point, Guzman — who is reportedly married to former beauty queen Emma Coronel, and has had children with her and several other women — writes “My mother wants to meet you. I told her about you.”

“I want you with all my heart,” he wrote.

Del Castillo responds in kind. “Apart from our (movie) project, I am very excited about seeing you eye to eye, in person,” she wrote, adding later “we will embrace each other soon!”

Asked about the text messages at a public event on Wednesday, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong declined to say anything about them and said the Attorney General’s Office would comment on the matter soon.

Del Castillo’s representatives did not respond to email requests to comment on the texts. But on Wednesday evening via her Twitter account she thanked people for their support in recent days.

“Not surprisingly, many have chosen to make up items they think will make good stories and that aren’t truthful. I look forward to sharing my story with you,” she wrote.

In the messages, even Guzman recognizes that Mexican or U.S. intelligence officials were probably following or monitoring many of the people who knew him. The drug lord tells one of his lawyers in another chat, “the DEA has all her devices tapped, and at her house the DEA has cameras to see who visits her,” apparently referring to a women who was to meet with the actress.

In light of that, it is surprising that Guzman, who spent years evading capture, would have continued in such constant contact with the actress. While authorities narrowly missed capturing Guzman when they raided the hideout where the meeting took place in October, they finally got him on Friday.

Mexican federal officials have confirmed that the drug lord appears to have been infatuated with the actress. And when Mexican marines raided the house where he had been hiding Friday, they found injectable testosterone, a treatment sometimes used to boost the male libido. It was unclear, however, if the medication belonged to Guzman or one of his associates.

The explanation might simply have been infatuation — something that would not be out of character for Guzman.

“What’s new about this? That Guzman has a weakness for women? He has 18 children, he’s married to a woman 30 years younger than him,” said Alejandro Hope, a security analyst in Mexico City. “What’s new about that?”

Hope cautioned that having leaked the transcripts might give Guzman’s lawyers ammunition to argue the government had violated legal requirements to keep evidence in criminal cases confidential.

“They are giving El Chapo some magnificent grounds to appeal,” Hope said.

And there was another caveat: in one message, the account identified as Del Castillo’s mentions a U.S. lawyer who she said had offered to handle Guzman’s affairs — presumably related to the movie project.

But the lawyer mentioned in that exchange denied having ever had any discussions about such an arrangement with Guzman or any of his representatives.

In the end, whether it was his interest in the actress or the movie project, it appeared to be all about Guzman’s ego. Federal officials also said they had detected recent efforts to register “El Chapo Guzman” as a commercial trademark, possibly by the drug lord’s lawyers.

“It was an ego project, to make the movie or meet Kate del Castillo,” Hope noted.