Captured

Syrian coalition forces captured Ibraheem Musaibli, 28, an American citizen accused of fighting for the Islamic State. Musaibli, who grew up in Michigan, moved to Yemen and soon after to Syria. Officials confirmed that he sent multiple text messages to his family in the United States saying he planned to join the Islamic State. He tried at one point to leave the group, contacting the FBI through his family. The FBI said if he turned himself in he could return to the United States. Musaibli refused and disappeared again until his recent capture as he tried to escape from ISIS-controlled territory. He is only the second known male American ISIS member captured. The first, “John Doe,” had to be released due to lack of evidence.

Sentenced

An Indonesian district court sentenced Martinus Gulo, a Christian university student, to four years in jail for a Facebook post offensive to Muslims. Gulo, who told authorities he was angry at the insults to his own religion, had compared the prophet Muhammad to a pig in his post and said Muhammad permitted bestiality. He was arrested after the Islamic Defenders Front showed his post to the police. Gulo was convicted under Indonesia’s electronic information and transactions law, which makes disseminating hatred toward anyone based on their religion a crime.

Dismissed

A $500,000 lawsuit against Bill Gothard, founder of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, ended after plaintiffs’ attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case. The women who brought the lawsuit had said Gothard sexually abused, sexually harassed, and inappropriately touched them when they worked for the institute. “Plaintiffs’ right to re-file and maintain a second action against said Defendants within one year is expressly reserved,” according to the February court documents.

Died

Mary Ellis, one of the last surviving female World War II pilots, died at the age of 101. Ellis joined Britain’s Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) in 1941 after hearing a radio advertisement. As part of the ATA, Ellis delivered planes to the front lines, flying around 1,000 aircraft. This included 47 Wellington bombers and 400 Spitfires, her favorite plane to fly. Ellis told the media years later that people used to stand and watch her take off, surprised to see a female pilot flying warplanes. When the war ended, Ellis moved to the Isle of Wight, where she managed the local airport until 1970.

Died

Vasily Kovalyov, one of the few remaining survivors of Stalin’s most horrifying labor camps, died at age 89. Kovalyov was 20 in 1950 when officials arrested him because he owned an old sword he used to chop vegetables. They charged him with anti-Soviet sabotage and sent him to Norilsk, a prison in the Russian Arctic. Kovalyov made an escape plan, was discovered, and was transferred into the Kolyma, a series of the harshest labor camps in Stalin’s regime. In 1954, Kovalyov and two other prisoners made another escape attempt, but were found and brought back to the camp. Kovalyov was released in 1957 during the era of Khrushchev’s amnesty. He stayed in the area, working as a heating engineer until his death.