Friday, May 13, 2016

Six In The Morning Friday May 13

Leading Hezbollah commander and key Israel target killed in Syria
Mustafa Badreddine, dubbed the ‘untraceable ghost’, had fought against Israel for decades and was killed in an explosion in Damascus


Hezbollah has confirmed its military commander, Mustafa Badreddine, was killed in Syria this week in what it described as a “major explosion” at Damascus airport.
Media reports in Lebanon and Israel quickly suggested the blast had been caused by an Israeli airstrike, a suggestion to which Hezbollah gave weight, announcing it was investigating whether a “missile or artillery strike” had been responsible.
Badreddine was the most senior member of the organisation to have been killed since the death of his predecessor and brother-in-law, Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated by a joint Mossad/CIA operation in the Syrian capital in February 2008.




Russian doping scandal: Urine sample switches behind Sochi Winter Olympics success, claims former lab director

Grigory Rodchenkov admitted to his involvement in a state-sponsored doping programme which supplied performance-enhancing substances to at least 15 Russian medal winners


A former director of Russia’s anti-doping laboratory has revealed his role in an extraordinary state-sponsored doping programme prior to and during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Grigory Rodchenkov, whose explosive claims were published inThe New York Times, admitted to his involvement in a programme which supplied performance-enhancing substances to at least 15 Russian medal winners and covertly switched urine samples under the cover of night.
The former laboratory director claimed to have mixed cocktails of three banned substances (metenolone, trenbolone and oxandrolone) with alcohol and provided these to dozens of Russian athletes with the intention of helping them cheat.

Video: Tunisian police turn violent when caught extorting money


OBSERVERS






A video that went viral shows a policeman violently grabbing a young man by his throat in a police station in Carthage, Tunisia on Monday. Another officer yells, “Die, we don’t care!” This video is shocking, but it isn’t singular: it highlights recurrent police violence and a reigning culture of impunity in Tunisia. 

The video was published on the Facebook page “Tunisian Ministry of Interior Scandals”, which often reports on police violence in Tunisia. 

During the first 30 seconds, the video is shaky. The author of the video was clearly trying to conceal the fact that he was filming and also capture what was happening in front of him. Finally, you can make out a policeman wearing a white shirt who’s strangling a young Tunisian. 

The officer’s language is crude as he yells at the young man, who was caught trying to film an officer extorting money from someone. 

“I’m going to f*** your mom!” the officer shouts. 


How a student of elite institutions turned to terrorism, JIT reveals

IMTIAZ ALI

KARACHI: Saad Aziz, who was awarded death sentence by the military court for his involvement in the Safoora Goth bus carnage and murder of prominent human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud and other cases on Thursday, had told Joint Investigation Team (JIT) members that they were ‘inspired’ by the sectarian conflict in Yemen, it emerged on Thursday.
Saad told the JIT that before carrying out the massacre of Shia Ismaili community members in their community bus near Safoora Goth, they had watched a video in which Houthi rebels were allegedly seen killing ‘women and children’ in Yemen.
He said one militant, Abdullah Yusuf, had asked them to watch that video, according to contents of the JIT report reviewed by Dawn on Thursday.

Dying for gold: South Africa's biggest ever class action lawsuit gets go ahead

Updated 0849 GMT (1649 HKT) May 13, 2016


The most striking thing about Joseph Mothibedi is his voice -- it is raspy, a metallic whisper.
It's the sound of a man slowly dying.
His thin fingers trembling, Mothibedi leans over his simple hot plate and puts a tea kettle on the boil.
The 58-year-old former gold miner looks reduced in his old blue work shirt. It hangs off his bony shoulders as he spreads margarine on a slice of white bread for afternoon tea. He slowly sips it in his barren brick house near an old mine-dump.
"Just listen to my voice," he says, "I have problems with my lungs. I can't even walk fast or far. It is very hard for me."



Iran declines to take part in hajj over dispute with Saudis

Tensions between the longtime rivals soared after Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric on Jan. 2. The two countries also support opposing sides in Syria's civil war.


Iran will not send pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year for the annual hajj, an Iranian official said Thursday, the latest sign of tensions between the two Mideast powers after a disaster during the pilgrimage last year killed at least 2,426 people.
Saudi Arabia blamed Iranian officials for the decision and suggested it was politically motivated to publicly pressure the kingdom.
Iran says Saudi "incompetence" caused the crush and stampede in the area of Mina on Sept. 24 during the hajj, which all able-bodied Muslims are required to perform once in their life. Iran has said the disaster killed 464 of its pilgrims.







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