ROME (AP) — An Italian appeals court Friday upheld life sentences for a Pakistani couple convicted of murdering their 18-year-old daughter in a so-called honor killing after she refused an arranged marriage. The case shocked many Ital ians and became a symbol of the brutal mistreatment of immigrant women who rebel against inflexible family rules.
The appeals court in the northern city of Bologna said that Saman Abbas, whose body was found at a farmhouse in 2022, 18 months after she disappeared, was killed with the participation of the whole family.
The court upheld a life sentence for both the teenager’s father, Shabbir Abbas, and her mother, Nazia Shaheen. It also sentenced to life in prison two cousins who had been previously cleared by a lower court.
Saman’s uncle, Danish Hasnain, was also sentenced to 22 years in prison for his involvement in the murder. He had been previously given a 14-year sentence.
The court case, in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, became t he most high-profile of several criminal investigations in Italy in recent years dealing with the slaying or mistreatment of immigrant women or girls who rebelled against their family 's insistence that they marry someone chosen for them.
So-called honor killings are common in Pakistan, where family members and relatives sometimes kill women who don’t follow local traditions and culture or decide to marry someone of their own choice.
Saman Abbas’ body was dug up in November 2022 in an abandoned farmhouse near the fields where her father worked in northern Italy. Italian prosecutors contend the woman was murdered by her family on May 1, 2021. A few days later, her parents flew from Milan to Pakistan.
Saman Abbas’ father was later arrested in Pakistan and extradited to Italy for prosecution. Her mother was convicted in absentia but was arrested in May last year after three years on the run.
Abbas’ uncle, two cousins, her father and her mother went on trial first in February 2023. All the defendants have denied wrongdoing.
Saman Abbas had emigrated as a teenager from Pakistan to the farm town of Novellara in Italy’s northern region of Emilia-Romagna. She quickly embraced Western ways, including shedding her headscarf and dating a young man of her choice. In one social media post, she and her Pakistani boyfriend were shown kissing on a street in the regional capital, Bologna.
According to Italian investigators, that kiss enraged Abbas’ parents, who wanted her to marry a cousin in Pakistan.
The young woman was last seen alive on April 30, 2021 a few hundred meters (yards) away from where her body was discovered in surveillance camera video as she walked with her parents on the watermelon farm where her father worked.
Abbas had reportedly told her boyfriend that she feared for her life because of her refusal to marry an older man in her homeland.
An autopsy revealed a broken neck bone, possibly caused by strangulation.
In 2019, Italy made coercing an Italian citizen or resident into marriage, even abroad, a crime covered under domestic violence laws.
Following Abbas’ disappearance, Italy’s union of Islamic communities issued a religious ruling rejecting forced marriages.
FILE - Nomanoulaq Nomanoulaq arrives at a hearing of the trial for the alleged murder of his cousin, Pakistani-born Saman Abbas at Reggio Emilia's courthouse in northern Italy, Feb. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
ST. LOUIS, MO. (AP) — At least four people died and others were hurt after severe storms including a possible tornado swept through St. Louis.
The storms Friday afternoon tore roofs off some buildings, ripped bricks off of siding and downed trees and power lines as residents were urged to take cover.
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer confirmed the deaths.
At Centennial Christian Church, City of St. Louis Fire Department Battalion Chief William Pollihan told The Associated Press that three people had to be rescued after part of the church crumbled. One of those people died.
National Weather Service radar indicated that a tornado touched down between 2:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. in Clayton, Missouri, in the St. Louis area. It received reports of damages, mostly downed trees, weather service meteorologist Marshall Pfahler said.
The apparent tornado touched down in the area of Forest Park, home to the St. Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 World’s Fair and Olympic Games the same year, Pfahler said.
Police were urging no travel and said on social media that first responders were being called to storm damaged areas.
“If you do not have to travel, PLEASE STAY HOME,” the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said in the post.
The St. Louis Zoo posted a message on X, the messaging platform formerly known as Twitter, that it would remain closed for the rest of the day because of the weather. The post included no information on damages, a zoo spokesperson didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
“We can’t definitively say whether or not it was a tornado -- it likely was,” Pfahler said.
Radar also confirmed a tornado above Venice, Illinois, about 2:50 p.m. CDT. It could be accompanied by golf ball-size hail, the National Weather Service in St. Louis said. Venice is northeast of St. Louis, just across the Mississippi River.
The weather service described the tornado as “extremely dangerous” and moving east at 50 mph. The tornado is part of a severe weather system that spawned tornadoes in Wisconsin, downed trees, left thousands without power in the Great Lakes region and brought a punishing heat wave to Texas.
Weather forecasters warned that severe storms with hail and even hurricane-force winds could hobble parts of Appalachia and the Midwest on Friday. Tornadoes were also a risk there.
The National Weather Service said residents in Kentucky, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, parts of Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas and Ohio should brace for intense storms that could include baseball-sized hail.
The weather service's Storm Prediction Center said that “strong, potentially long-track tornadoes and very large hail” could be expected. The threat for damaging winds in excess of 75 mph will increase into this evening as storms grow into larger clusters.
Ahead of Friday night’s anticipated storm, Appalachian Power, which serves 1 million customers in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee, said Friday it requested 1,700 additional workers from neighboring utilities along with sending its own crews from unaffected areas to assist with service restoration.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, in a post on the social media platform X, put residents on notice.
“Kentucky, there is a dangerous weather system moving through our state with a significant round this afternoon through tonight. Strong winds, hail, flooding and tornadoes are possible starting at 2 p.m. CT in Western Kentucky and reaching Louisville around 5 p.m. ET,” he said.
Shelters were opening in the Paducah, Kentucky, area.
Faith Borden, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service Nashville office, said Friday that middle Tennessee could expect "all types of severe weather. Winds up to 70 mph. We’re talking seriously large hail up to 3 inches, which for us is big hail.”
Texas, meanwhile, faced searing heat. A heat advisory was issued for the San Antonio and Austin, with temperatures at a blistering 95 F (35 C) to 105 (40.5 C). Parts of the southern East Coast, from Virginia to Florida, battled with heat in the 90s.
The National Weather Service Office for Austin/San Antonio said Friday the humidity coming in over the weekend is expected to make temperatures hotter.
“There are concerns of heat exhaustion for people that aren’t taking proper precautions when they’re outdoors,” meteorologist Jason Runyen said. He advised those affected to take breaks and stay hydrated.
Overnight Thursday, storms accompanied by booming thunder, lightning displays and powerful winds swept through parts of Wisconsin, Illinois, northern Indiana and Michigan — leaving scores of trees down and thousands of homes without power.
Several tornadoes touched down Thursday in central Wisconsin. None of the twisters have received ratings yet, said Timm Uhlmann, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Green Bay.
“We’re still gathering reports,” Uhlmann said. “We’re assessing some of the damage and still getting video and pictures. The damage that we have is fairly widespread. There was a lot of large hail. In Eau Claire was one report of softball-sized hail.”
No injuries have been reported.
Surveys also were underway Friday of damage in Michigan to determine if any tornadoes touched down there, said Steven Freitag, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in White Lake Township, northwest of Detroit.
The storms were fueled by temperatures in the lower 80s that stretched from Illinois into Michigan and were activated by a cold front that pushed through, Freitag said.
By midday Friday, about 230,000 customers were without power in Michigan. An estimated 60,000 were without power in Indiana. Another 27,000 in total had no electricity in Illinois and Kentucky.
The threat of severe weather in Chicago delayed a Beyonce concert by about two hours Thursday at Soldier Field.
Associated Press writer Haya Panjwani in Washington and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this story.
Part of Centennial Christian Church in St. Louis, Missouri, collapsed on Friday, May 16, 2025 when severe storms, including a possible tornado, swept through the city. (AP Photo/Michael Phillis)
Part of Centennial Christian Church in St. Louis, Missouri, collapsed on Friday, May 16, 2025 when severe storms, including a possible tornado, swept through the city. (AP Photo/Michael Phillis)
Part of Centennial Christian Church in St. Louis, Missouri, collapsed on Friday, May 16, 2025 when severe storms, including a possible tornado, swept through the city. (AP Photo/Michael Phillis)
Cody Sparks, left, and Eric Combs with Lewis Tree Service work to clear a tree off of a power line near on 92nd Street near Caledonia, Mich. on Friday, May 16. 2025. (Neil Blake/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
Zeeland resident Maddie Pellegrini clears debris outside her family's home on 64th Avenue in Drenthe east of Zeeland, Mich. on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Isaac Ritchey/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
A snapped utility pole stands awkwardly off of 92nd Street near Caledonia, Mich. on Friday, May 16. 2025. (Neil Blake/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
A tree is uprooted from Thursday night's storm in Trail Creek, Ind., on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Donavan Barrier /La Porte County Herald-Dispatch via AP)
Downed trees are shown blocking Leo and Oakland Avenues in Trail Creek, Ind., on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Donavan Barrier /La Porte County Herald-Dispatch via AP)
A snapped tree is shown up against an apartment on Salem Court in Michigan City, Ind. on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Donavan Barrier /La Porte County Herald-Dispatch via AP)
Damage from Thursday's storm is shown along U.S. 20 in Michigan City, Ind., on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Donavan Barrier /La Porte County Herald-Dispatch via AP)
Trees lay in a playground in Dorr, Mich., after a severe storm ripped across Michigan the night before, on Friday, May 16. 2025. (Neil Blake /The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
A tree branch covers a bus in Dorr, Mich., after a severe storm ripped across Michigan the night before, on Friday, May 16. 2025. (Neil Blake /The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
A tree lays in a parking lot in Dorr, Mich., after a severe storm ripped across Michigan the night before, on Friday, May 16. 2025. (Neil Blake /The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
A tree lays on a house in Dorr, Mich., after a severe storm ripped across Michigan the night before, on Friday, May 16. 2025. (Neil Blake /The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
