BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese pop star turned Islamist militant who surrendered this month after 12 years on the run appeared in Beirut court Tuesday for the first time.
Fadel Shaker had been hiding out in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh since bloody street clashes erupted between Sunni Muslim militants and the Lebanese army in June 2013 in the coastal city of Sidon.
He was tried in absentia and sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2020 for providing support to a “terrorist group.”
As part of the deal that persuaded Shaker to turn himself in, the sentences he received while on the run would be dropped and he would be questioned in preparation to stand trial on new charges of committing crimes against the military. Tuesday’s court appearance was a preliminary questioning session.
During the 2013 shootout between followers of hard-line Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir and the Lebanese army, which killed at least 18 soldiers, Shaker appeared in a video uploaded to YouTube in which he called his enemies pigs and dogs, and taunted the military, saying “we have two rotting corpses that we snatched from you yesterday,” an apparent reference to slain soldiers.
Shaker became a pop star throughout the Arab world with a smash hit in 2002. Almost 10 years later, he fell under the influence of al-Assir and shocked fans by turning up next to the cleric at rallies and later saying that he was giving up singing to become closer to God.
In recent years, he had returned to periodically releasing music, including several singles this year. In July, Shaker and his son Mohammed released a new song that has garnered over 127 million views on YouTube.
Lebanese soldiers stand guard outside the Justice Palace where former pop star turned militant Fadel Shaker appeared in court after 12 years on the run, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
FILE — Lebanese pop idol Fadel Shaker delivers a sermon in support of Syrian rebel fighters and Syrian refugees after Friday prayers, in Beirut, Lebanon, Feb. 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)
PHOENIX (AP) — When Jennifer Rizzotti arrived at UConn as a player in 1992, the expectations around the school, as well as the women's basketball landscape, were much different than they are today.
Geno Auriemma was only in his eighth season coaching the Huskies. UConn hadn't yet hoisted a national championship trophy. There wasn't nearly the same pressure to win that the Huskies face now. And women's basketball as a whole hadn't seen the unprecedented growth in sponsorships and popularity it is experiencing now.
By the 1994-95 season, Rizzotti and fellow UConn standout Rebecca Lobo helped the Huskies go undefeated en route to their first national title. Everything about the program changed, and even as women's basketball has evolved and skyrocketed in exposure, the Huskies have remained the gold standard.
“There was no thought that we were going to be undefeated,” Rizzotti said. “We didn't have that internal pressure. We didn't have external pressure. That's the last time a UConn team could play that way. Think about that: 1995 is the last time a UConn team could play without that kind of pressure.”
The Huskies have since won 12 national titles, reached the Final Four 25 times and won 30 conference titles. They've been ranked 653 weeks in The Associated Press women's basketball poll, and Auriemma is the winningest coach in women's college basketball history.
As conversations around the Final Four in Phoenix center around how the women's game has grown, the Huskies, who are competing for the second straight national title, have been at the forefront.
“You could tell that everything was aligned for this program to reach that pinnacle," said Rizzotti, who is currently the president of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. “I don't think anything of us would have predicted that it would have gone on as it had.”
Rizzotti joined former UConn players Stefanie Dolson, currently with the WNBA's Washington Mystics, and Shea Ralph, now Vanderbilt's coach, on a panel Friday at “The AP Top 25 Fan Poll Experience,” which is being held at Arizona State’s First Amendment Forum in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Earlier Friday, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman, former Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) commissioner Rich Ensor and AP women’s poll founder Mel Greenberg spoke on a panel moderated by college basketball analyst Debbie Antonelli on the growth of women's basketball at the college and pro levels.
“I think women's basketball has never been more popular,” said Ackerman, who was the first president of the WNBA from 1996-2005. “I think schools that are succeeding are really seeing, feeling and believing in the (return on investment). And UConn's a case in point.”
Ackerman sees the investment that the schools in this year's Final Four — UConn, Texas, South Carolina, and UCLA — have made in their programs to reach back-to-back national semifinals as a reflection of the growing importance of pouring resources into women's hoops.
“And that's done a world of good,” she added. “Programs like South Carolina, UCLA, you see what they're doing for their campuses. The investment is paying off in terms of the brand and engagement with the community and school reputation.”
Even as women's sports are drawing record crowds and WNBA players are set to make more money than ever, Ensor sees much more room to capitalize on this current growth.
“It has been about breaking down barriers, and they still exist,” Ensor said. “We marvel at what's happened, but we still recognize there's a lot more that's to come.”
AP Top 25 Fan Poll Experience: https://apnews.com/https:/apnews.com/projects/arizona-state-fan-poll-experience/
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
FILE - Connecticut's Breanna Stewart, left, drives to the basket as Cincinnati's Maya Benham, right, defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
From left, Debbie Antonelli, Val Ackerman, Rich Ensor and Mel Greenberg sit on a panel during an event Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Val Ackerman, commissioner of the Big East Conference, listens during an event Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/John Locher)
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma reacts after his team defeated Notre Dame in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
