Six In The Morning Thursday May 28

Fifa scandal: Visa sponsorship threat compounds calls for Blatter to quit

English FA chairman Greg Dyke and Diego Maradona say embattled Fifa president must go, as Visa says it could reassess football sponsorship deals

Claire Phipps and Damien Gayle

Thursday 28 May 2015 09.16 BST

Visa – one of Fifa’s key sponsors – has threatened to reassess its relationship with football’s world governing body as Sepp Blatter faced increasing pressure not to seek re-election as its president.

Nine senior officials at the organisation, as well as five sports media and promotions executives, were charged by US prosecutors on Wednesday over bribes totalling more than $150m (£100m) over 24 years. It followed the arrest of senior officials at a Zurich hotel and the announcement of a separate Swiss investigation into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

The accusations of “rampant, systemic and deep-rooted” corruption have sent shockwaves through the football world, with many questioning whether Fifa can continue in its current form.

British schoolgirls 'will never leave Syria', senior female Isis commander claims as teenagers reportedly make contact with their families

Um Asmah says she met the teenagers at the Syrian border

HEATHER SAUL 

 

 

Thursday 28 May 2015

A female senior commander who defected from Isis has warned the three British schoolgirls who travelled to Syria in February will “never” be able to return back to the UK.

The woman, who called herself Um Asmah, is one of the most high-ranking commanders to speak out after leaving the group and was interviewed by Sky News just days after fleeing Isis.

The 22-year-old told the network she met the teenagers from the border as part of her role introducing new recruits to life in the group’s self-declared ‘caliphate’.

Shamima Begum, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase are now under-going a four month training programme in its stronghold of Raqqa to prepare for “special missions”.

Um Asmah shook her head when asked if the girls would ever return home and said: “I think they will die in Syria or Iraq.”

Art World Hunt: The Quest for Hitler's Lost Treasures

By Konstantin von Hammerstein

A Dutch detective and Berlin police spent months searching for art commissioned by Hitler that went missing after German reunification. Officials finally recovered the dubious works in raids last week -- here's how they did it.

Moss has money and a fake Picasso, but no first name -- he simply goes by "Moss." He's in his early sxities and lives near Dallas, Texas. According to a major American law firm, Moss has $250 million (€228 million) at his disposal at all times, but no one knows how he made his fortune.

The American collects objects with an unusual history -- and, if necessary, he is prepared to pay any price for them.

In January, Moss fell in love with two bronze horses created by one of Adolf Hitler's favorite artists, the sculptor Josef Thorak. They had disappeared for a long time, but now Moss had learned that an art dealer was selling the pair for $8 million. Not a problem for Moss.

UN report: Number of hungry people down by 200 million since 1990

The number of hungry people in the world declined by about 200 million over the last 25 years, according to the United Nations’ annual hunger report. The report marks the end of the monitoring period for the Millennium Development Goals.

By Jessica Mendoza, Staff Writer

Global hunger continues its gradual decline.

In the last 25 years, the number of hungry people in the world fell by about 200 million, with the most pronounced decreases found in developing countries, despite a population surge, according to the United Nations’ yearly hunger report, released Wednesday by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the World Food Program.

The report marks the end of the monitoring period for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a list of eight objectives established by the international community and the UN in 2000, and sets the stage for the way forward, post-2015. In the report, the FAO documents global progress towards eradicating hunger by looking at efforts that succeeded, as well as those that didn’t.

Nebraska abolishes death penalty after veto-override

• 9 hours ago
 
• From the sectionUS & Canada

The US state of Nebraska has abolished the death penalty after a veto-override was passed through its legislature.

The measure was backed by a coalition of conservatives who oppose execution as a form of punishment.

Nebraska joins 18 other states and the federal district of Washington, DC, in banning capital punishment, and is the first traditionally conservative state in four decades to do so.

The state has not executed an inmate since a 1997 electrocution.

The unicameral legislature passed the measure 30 to 19 - the exact number of votes needed to override Governor Pete Ricketts earlier veto.

India's heat wave drags on, with sprinkles of relief

By Mallika Kapur and Hilary Whiteman, CNN

Updated 0738 GMT (1438 HKT) May 28, 2015

Mallayia Baddula sits barefoot beneath the shelter of his hut in Perepally, a small village outside Hyderabad.

He's 76-years old and mourning the death of his son Venkatesham, who at half his age succumbed to the heat during the recent hot, dry spell.

"He had gone to get some medicine for me," Baddula told CNN. "I am informed that he died of sunstroke."

Venkatesham is one of the 70 people who have died in the district of Nalgonda, and one of the 340 deaths recorded in Telangana state.