Friday, November 24, 2017

Six in The Morning Friday November 24

Oscar Pistorius jail term for killing Reeva Steenkamp more than doubled


A South African court has increased Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius's jail sentence for killing his girlfriend to 13 years and five months.
Prosecutors had argued that the six-year term for murdering Reeva Steenkamp was "shockingly light".
A spokesman for Ms Steenkamp's family said the ruling "verified there was justice".
Pistorius claimed he shot dead Ms Steenkamp on Valentine's Day in 2013 after mistaking her for a burglar.
The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein has now given him the minimum 15 years prescribed for murder in South Africa, less time already served.
The lower court had justified the six-year sentence by citing mitigating circumstances such as rehabilitation and remorse.




'Facing disaster': children starve in siege of Syria's former breadbasket

With a political breakthrough unlikely at upcoming talks, people in eastern Ghouta face shortages of food, fuel and medicine

The sight of a woman weeping as she drags her malnourished children into a clinic is not rare in eastern Ghouta, which is under siege by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad.
But when one mother told Abdel Hamid, a doctor, that she had fed her four starving children newspaper cutouts softened with water to stop them from screaming into the night, even he was stunned.
“I could try to describe to you how terrible the conditions are in which we are living, but the reality would still be worse,” said Abdel Hamid, who did not give his full name.

Zimbabwe ex-President Robert Mugabe’s stolen fortune

During Mugabe's 37 years in office, the former president is believed to have amassed a huge fortune. The question everyone is asking is: Will impoverished Zimbabweans ever see the money again?
South Africa's tabloids are full of stories about the "immense riches" that Robert Mugabe and his family are alleged to have accumulated over the decades. His 93rd birthday celebrations in February this year are said to have cost more than 1.7 million euros ($2 million), where guests consumed vast quantities of champagne and caviar. Publisher Charles Onyango-Obbo shared a photo of Mugabe's birthday cake on Twitter
It is not known exactly how much the geriatric former head of state and his family are worth. Estimates put the figure at around 844 million euros. In addition to a 25-bedroom house in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, valued at 8.5 million euros, Mugabe owns a luxury villa in Hong Kong worth more than 4 million euros. It is allegedly one of his wife Grace's favorite properties. His most valuable property is Hamilton Palace in Sussex, England, worth more than 40 million euros.

Pakistan releases militant blamed for 2008 Mumbai attacks



Pakistani authorities acting on a court order released a US-wanted militant who allegedly founded a banned group linked to the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 168 people, his spokesman and officials said.

Hafiz Saeed, who has been designated a terrorist by the US Justice Department and has a $10 million bounty on his head, was released before dawn after the court this week ended his detention in the eastern city of Lahore.
The move outraged Indian authorities, but Saeed's spokesman Yahya Mujahid confirmed his release, calling it a "victory of truth."
"Hafiz Saeed was under house arrest on baseless allegations and jail officials came to his home last night and told him that he is now free," he said.

Meet Indonesia's Niqab Squad, the face-covering fan club



A bevy of black-robed niqabis are giggling girlishly as they glide around me, adjusting my abaya, a loose garment that covers me from head to foot.
It's mostly black, but is fringed with a strip of lime green material with black polka dots, a trademark of vivacious clothing designer Indadari Mindrayanti, who believes polka dots symbolise the sharing of happiness with others.
"All my clothes have polka-dot motifs," says Indadari. Not too many dots though, she explains, because the garments are not supposed to attract attention.



Syrians rebuild and rehabilitate under Turkey's watchful eye

By Arwa Damon, Gul Tuysuz and Brice Laine, CNN

The cigarette dangling from Khalil's lips gives him the air of teenage rebellion generally reserved for boys his age. But Khalil's rebellion is darker than most.
Khalil says he ran away from home to join ISIS a year and a half ago. Today, he sits in a rehabilitation center in Syria's Aleppo province for former extremist fighters. At the age of 14, he's the youngest in his class.
As a former child soldier, Khalil is classified as a "level 2" detainee -- an active ISIS fighter.
    He's shy and struggles to find words to express himself, looking away sheepishly as we ask him about what he was thinking the first time he carried a gun in battle.

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