Free Republic

Sold to an ISIS leader and held captive for a month, Amsha Alyas tells the story of her escape. DUHOK, Iraq — When the young woman who had been taken as war treasure by an Islamic State leader returned to her family after a harrowing escape, it was as if she had risen from the dead. ... “We knew thousands of women had been sold.” His daughter, Amsha Ali Alyas, a 19-year-old with a voice as soft as her features, wasn't actually sold but rather hand-picked by an ISIS leader who was so enamored with her that he was willing...

NEW YORK -- A woman was convicted Wednesday of using her Chinatown storefront to orchestrate human-smuggling schemes, including a treacherous voyage in 1993 that ended in the deaths of 10 Chinese immigrants. Cheng, known as "Big Sister Ping," was accused of amassing a multimillion-dollar fortune by smuggling thousands of immigrants who endured perilous journeys aboard dilapidated cargo ships such as the Golden Venture, which ran aground in June 1993 near the borough of Queens. Ten immigrants died trying to swim to shore.