The mother of Reeva Steenkamp has said Oscar Pistorius is “not remorseful or rehabilitated” ahead of a parole hearing that will decide if he will be freed from prison after he shot and killed his girlfriend in 2013.
June Steenkamp said she was feeling “very stressed” ahead of the parole hearing which will determine if Pistorius is allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence on licence at his uncle’s home in South African capital city, Pretoria.
Speaking to Sky News she said it was going to be a “very difficult” day for her and her family and will be “hard to be in the same room” as the former Paralympic athlete.
When asked if she believed Pistorius was remorseful, Ms Steenkamp replied “no, never” before adding: “He’s not remorseful or rehabilitated.”
Pistorius, 36, has served half of his 13-year sentence and attended a meeting with Reeva Steenkamp’s father as part of South Africa’s restorative justice programme last year.
A decision on his parole is expected to be announced in days or weeks, after the board has determined whether the “purpose of imprisonment has been served”, a spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services said.
“I have completed all possible programmes which were presented, and I have indeed qualified in terms of the Dept of Correctional Services guidelines for release on parole,” he said, in a statement published at the time by the News24 website.
A spokesman for the prison services at the time said that while Pistorius met with Ms Steenkamp’s father, he will continue to serve his sentence as normal, and that participating in the victim-offender dialogue process does not equate to the end of a sentence or automatic parole.
The three-minute video of five young female Israeli soldiers being taken by Hamas from their base on 7 October is harrowing and extremely upsetting to watch.
The soldiers are Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa and Naama Levy.
They all worked at the Nahal Oz observation base, monitoring activity on the Gaza border.
The video, which has been edited in places, was filmed around 9am on the Saturday.
It starts with the five soldiers, unarmed and helpless, standing facing the wall as their hands are tied behind their backs.
Some of them have bloody faces, they all look shocked and frightened.
“You dogs, we will step on you,” one Hamas fighter can be heard saying.
“I have friends in Palestine,” one of the girls pleads. She’s ordered to stay quiet.
They are made to sit down and threatened with being shot.
At this point, another of the soldiers asks to call her friend in Gaza, presumably in a desperate attempt to convince the attackers not to harm them.
There appear to be more than 10 Hamas fighters, all heavily armed and with bullet proof vests on.
Some have green Hamas bandanas around their heads. They appear relaxed, at one point stopping to pray.
It exposes the complete failure of Israel to foresee and prevent the attacks.
Finally, the video cuts to the female soldiers being hurried out of the building and put into one of their own khaki army jeeps.
One is carried, another hops on an injured leg.
There is the sound of heavy gunfire as Israeli forces battle Hamas nearby.
Many Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting there that day.
The video was put together from body cameras worn by the Hamas attackers that day and released by The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, to put pressure on the Israeli government.
The video, the group said, “is a damning testament to the nation’s failure to bring home the hostages”.
The families have asked the video be broadcast “until somebody wakes up”.
Liri Albag, who is 18, is described by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum as having a “heart of gold”.
Her life “revolves around music and the arts”, they added.
Karina Ariev
Karina Ariev is 19 and “loves the field of cosmetics, makeup and beauty”. Her ambition, the group says, is to make a career in this industry.
Her mother told reporters in October she spoke to them on the morning of the attack, saying she “screamed and said she loves us very much”.
“She told us to continue our lives,” she added.
Agam Berger
Agam Berger, 19, volunteers with people who have special needs and with children who have learning difficulties.
Her father told the Associated Press in March one of his three daughters has not gone to school since 7 October, while one of his young daughters has stopped eating.
His wife, an engineer, does not go to work and he tries to avoid the news to save himself the daily roller coaster.
Daniela Gilboa
Daniela Gilboa is 19.
Her mother, Orly Gilboa told Reuters the girls “suffer there every minute, every second”.
“So please, please do whatever you can to bring them home,” she added.
Naama Levy
Naama Levy, 19, is described by her family as strong, according to the Times of Israel.
She’s a triathlete, used to working hard in training and pushing past obstacles – which are traits her family hopes are helping her withstand captivity.
She’s also the great-granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, the paper adds, and took part in the Hands of Peace project in the US, which worked for peace between Israel and the Palestinians until it shut in March.
Ceasefire talks have all but broken down since Israel and Hamas couldn’t agree a deal a few weeks ago.
Last night, in Tel Aviv, the Israeli war cabinet ordered the negotiating team to restart talks, reportedly with a fresh mandate.
Egyptian mediators are now said to be exploring options, although Cairo threatened to pull out of talks earlier in the week over a disagreement with Israel.
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Many of the people seriously injured on the London-Singapore flight that hit severe turbulence need operations on their spines, a Bangkok hospital has said.
A spokesperson for the Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, said six Britons are among 20 people still in intensive care after the Boeing 777 Singapore Airlines flight sharply descended 6,000ft (1,800 metres) after hitting the turbulence over the Andaman Sea.
Others in the ICU include six Malaysians, three Australians, two Singaporeans and one person each from Hong Kong, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
Some of the 211 passengers on board flight SQ321 described their “sheer terror” as the aircraft began shuddering, causing people to be “launched into the ceiling” while others laid paralysed on the floor.
Geoff Kitchen, 73, from Gloucestershire in the UK died from a suspected heart attack after the freak incident despite flight crew trying to revive him for 20 minutes.
One of the passengers, Josh Silverstone, told Sky News that there was an alert for the seatbelts to come on and then there was a “huge bang”.
“I remember waking up on the floor and just hearing people crying and I am looking around and seeing blood and the ceiling falling through,” he said.
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‘I remember waking up on the floor’
Mr Silverstone said there was an elderly lady in front of him who couldn’t move and couldn’t remember her name or why she was on the flight, while cabin crew members, who had their own injuries, were lying on the floor with passengers making sure they were okay.
The Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital said it had provided medical care to a total of 104 people after the flight was diverted to Thailand.
It remains unclear what exactly caused the turbulence, but data from Flightradar24, said “the flight encountered a rapid change in vertical rate, consistent with a sudden turbulence event”.
At 3.03pm local time, the flight changed course and began its diversion to Bangkok and around 20 minutes later declared an emergency.
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Moment plane hits turbulence mapped
Tim Atkinson, an aviation consultant and pilot, told the Sky News Daily podcast he believes “it’s fairly clear” the Singapore Airlines flight “encountered atmospheric turbulence”.
He noted that the area – called the Intertropical Convergence Zone – where the Boeing 777 plunged 6,000 feet is “renowned among pilots, and I dare say passengers, for turbulence”.
Nine people – including a child – have been killed and another 50 injured after a stage collapsed during a presidential campaign rally in Mexico.
Video footage of the collapse posted on social media showed people screaming, running away and climbing out from under metal polls at the event for presidential candidate Jorge Alvarez Maynez in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.
Mr Maynez, who represents the centrist Citizens’ Movement party, said he was taken to hospital in the city of San Pedro Garza Garcia for treatment but is “okay” and suspending campaign activities.
“The only important thing at this point is to care for the victims of the accident,” he wrote on social media.
Footage shared online showed Mr Maynez waving to the crowd as supporters chanted his name, before he looked up to see a giant screen and metal structure toppling towards him.
He ran to the back of the stage to avoid the falling structure.
The city’s mayor Miguel Trevino said “there are people reported trapped”.
Governor Samuel Garcia confirmed on social media that eight adults and a child had died.
He said “strong winds blew down a stage at a campaign” and warned residents to stay indoors amid thunderstorms in the area – citing the weather as contributing to the incident.
“I ask God for a lot of strength for the families of the deceased and injured. We are with you,” he added.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who can’t run in the 2 June election, said he “sends a hug to family members, friends of the victims and political supporters”. Mexican presidents cannot seek re-election and serve only one six-year term.
Condolences poured in from across Mexico, including from other presidential candidates.
Mr Maynez is polling in third place, trailing behind ruling party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum and second-place Xochitl Galvez, who represents a broad opposition coalition.
Ms Galvez offered condolences for the families of the victims in a post on social media, while expressing solidarity with her competitor Mr Maynez.
The presidential campaign has so far been plagued by the killings of about two dozen candidates for local offices, but it has not been marred by rally accidents.