London schoolgirl who travelled to Syria to join IS 'feared dead'

One of three schoolgirls who left east London last year to join so-called Islamic State (IS) is believed to have been killed in a Russian air strike in Syria, her family solicitor has said.

Kadiza Sultana was 16 when she left Bethnal Green along with two friends.

Her family's lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, told News they heard a report of her death in Raqqa a few weeks ago.

But he said they had not been able to independently confirm it because of the nature of information from Syria.

Mr Akunjee said the teenager had grown disillusioned and wanted to leave IS and return to the UK - but had decided not to risk being captured and facing a "brutal" punishment from the terror group.

He told the programme the family were "obviously devastated".

Mr Akunjee added: "There's nothing worse than finding out your sibling or family member's been killed and by all accounts she was a young girl with a very promising future - and it's a great loss to us all really.

"Every effort was made from the very beginning to try and avoid this fateful news and despite all efforts it's unfortunate that we find ourselves with the loss of a young life."

Kadiza Sultana and schoolfriends Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, both 15 at the time, flew from Gatwick to Turkey on 17 February 2015 after telling their parents they were going out for the day.

The Bethnal Green Academy pupils later entered Syria and were thought to be living in Raqqa, a stronghold for the so-called Islamic State.

They had been studying for their GCSEs at the school in Tower Hamlets, east London - where they have been described as "straight-A students".

Mr Akunjee said of Kadiza Sultana: "She had expressed a desire to come back. The problem with that was the risk factors around leaving are quite terminal also, in that if ISIS [IS] were able to detect and capture you then their punishment is quite brutal for trying to leave.

"In the week where she was thinking of these issues a young Austrian girl had been caught trying to leave ISIS territory and was by all reports beaten to death publicly, so - given that that was circulated in the region as well as outside - I think Kadiza took that as a bad omen and decided not to take the risk."

Asked why she had wanted to leave, Mr Akunjee added: "I think she found out pretty quickly that the propaganda doesn't match up with the reality."

A fourth girl from the school is believed to have travelled to Syria in December 2014.

Last year, a solicitor for the families said two of the girls had got married, without identifying which ones.

The Bethnal Green schoolgirls were among more than 800 Britons who are believed to have left the UK to join IS or other militant groups in Syria and Iraq,

Thailand blasts: Explosions target tourist towns.

A series of coordinated blasts across Thailand has targeted tourist towns leaving four dead and many injured, with reports of more explosions.

In the popular resort town of Hua Hin four bombs exploded over the past 24 hours. Several blasts also hit the island of Phuket on Friday.

No group has said it carried out the attacks, but suspicion is likely to fall on separatist insurgents.

The timing is sensitive as Thais mark a long weekend for the queen's birthday.

Police on Friday ruled out international terrorism and said that any links to the southern insurgency were unclear.

10-year-old outsmarts Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking in an IQ test from India.

This 10-year-old British-Indian boy has beaten Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking in an IQ test.

Dhruv Talati secured 162, highest possible score in Mensa's Cattell III B Paper, while Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking scored 160. Mensa, oldest and largest high IQ society in the world, has only eight percent members who are under 16. The test Dhruv attempted has 150 questions and assesses comprehension through passages of texts.

Resident of Barkingside in Ilford, London, Dhruv goes to Fullwood Primary School in London, did not find the test tough. "The test was not that difficult, but the time made it a challenge", said the whizz kid.

The 10-year-old also plays tennis and cricket and at the age of 5 was selected to play and train at LTA's Compete Tennis, one of the 19 High Performance Centre's for Tennis in the UK.

Dhruv dreams of being a robotics expert and a cricketer. His mother is a teacher and his father is an investment banking consultant who are ready to make every effort to encourage Dhruv's talent.

The 10-year-old scored the maximum possible score for under under-18s.