IRANIAN PARA-CYCLIST DIES AFTER CRASH AT RIO PARALYMPICS

An Iranian para-cyclist died Saturday after a crash during a race at the Rio Paralympics. 

Bahman Golbarnezhad, 48, was involved in a crash in a mountainous part of his race's course. He received treatment at the side of the road and was on his way to the Paralympics' athlete hospital when he went into cardiac arrest, the International Paralympic Committee said. He was rushed to a Rio hospital where he died soon after arriving. 

“This is truly heartbreaking news and the thoughts and condolences of the whole Paralympic Movement are with Bahman’s family, friends, and teammates as well as the whole of the National Paralympic Committee of Iran," IPC President Philip Craven said in a statement. 

The Iranian flag was lowered to half mast in the Paralympic Village and there will be a moment of silence during closing ceremonies on Sunday. 

The International Paralympic Committee also said it would launch an investigation into the circumstances of the crash. 

Golbarnezhad also competed in the 2012 Paralympics in London. 

Golbarnezhad's death was the first during competition at any Olympics Games since 1960, when Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen died during the 100km team time trial in Rome, BBC reported. 

The race Saturday took place on circuits also used in the Rio Olympics. 

RUSSIAN HACKERS LEAK CONFIDENTIAL MEDICAL FILES OF RIO OLYMPIC ATHLETES.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said Tuesday it had been the victim of an attack by Russian hackers who accessed athlete data related to the Rio Olympic Games.

A "Russian cyber espionage group operator by the name of Tsar Team (APT28)" gained access to WADA's Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS), the agency said. They got in via an International Olympic Committee account for the Rio games.

Tsar Team, which has also been named Fancy Bear by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, is widely believed to be behind the Democratic Party hacks in June. 

The information the group seized includes confidential medical data, for example Therapeutic Use Exemptions that permit athletes to use certain prohibited drugs if they have an illness or condition that requires that medicine.

The hackers have released some information into the public domain and have said more will follow.

The investigation into the breach is ongoing, but WADA believes spear phishing was the technique of choice and that other ADAMS data is unaffected.

Athletes affected include Serena Williams and Simone Biles. Medical reports listing drugs they were cleared to use are posted on the website of the hackers.

"WADA deeply regrets this situation and is very conscious of the threat that it represents to athletes whose confidential information has been divulged through this criminal act," said Olivier Niggli, the director general of WADA.

"WADA condemns these ongoing cyber-attacks that are being carried out in an attempt to undermine WADA and the global anti-doping system," he added. "WADA has been informed by law enforcement authorities that these attacks are originating out of Russia. 

"Let it be known that these criminal acts are greatly compromising the effort by the global anti-doping community to re-establish trust in Russia further to the outcomes of the Agency's independent McLaren Investigation Report."

Travis T. Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said the "cyber-bullying of innocent athletes... is cowardly and despicable."

ADAMS was also targeted in August, WADA noted on Tuesday, when hackers obtained the password of Yuliya Stepanova, the WADA whistleblower who helped expose systemic Russian doping.

Drake Buys His Neighbor's House, So Now They Can't Complain About The Noise...

“I’ll buy the neighbors house if they complain about the noise," claimed Drake on "Where Ya At" in 2015. 

In 2016, he followed through. According to Trulia, Drake purchased the $2.85 million home next to his mansion in Calabasas to create a sprawling compound. 

The ranch-style home has five bedrooms and a guest room to help Drake accommodate his really big team. It boasts several fireplaces for when turtleneck season finally comes to Los Angeles. 

The man who gets to touch Rihanna purchased his first home on the block in 2012 for $7.7 million. Kanye West, who Drake alleges has a smaller pool than him, lives a few doors down should Drizzy need to borrow a cup of sugar or make a joint album. 

Heartbreaking Picture Of Newborn Baby Saying Goodbye To His Twin.

A newborn baby hugging his severely sick twin for the first time since they were born.

The tiny twins, Hawk and Mason captured the nation with their adorable eyes and smiles – but their story ends in sadness.

Earlier this week, Hawk Buchmeyer passed away from a rare condition called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH).

His parents, Brandy Guettler and Tommy Buchmeyer, knew his condition was life-threatening but urged people to pray for their little baby.

But on Wednesday, the family were forced to announce that their ‘sweet little man was called home to be with Jesus.’

They added: ‘He went very peacefully and we know he’s no longer suffering. Please give us some time to grieve and try to start the healing process.’

The picture of the two boys hugging went viral after the parents posted the photo so friends and family could see how the twins were doing, as they were far from their home in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Speaking to WPEC about the picture last week, Brandy said although Hawk was undergoing treatment for a rare birth defect, it was actually Mason who needed comfort from his brother.

Brandy said: ‘He was actually getting really fussy. And the nurse said, “Why don’t you try laying him down next to Hawk?” I said, “Can you do that?”

‘So we laid him there and all of a sudden as soon as he felt Hawk, he reached his arm out and grabbed him and just started to smile. The two of them knew they were there for each other.’

The family now hope the picture will raise awareness about the fatal condition which claimed the life of their baby.

'IRANIANS ARE NOT MUSLIMS', Says Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti.

Saudi Arabia's top cleric has declared that Iran's leaders are not Muslims and regard Sunni Muslims as their enemy.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh was responding to Iran's supreme leader, who denounced Saudi Arabia's handling of the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Grand Mufti said the claims of the Iranian Ayatollah were "not surprising" and accused Iran's leaders of being Zoroastrians, an ancient pre-Islamic Iranian religion.

Saudi Arabia's population is nearly 90 per cent Sunni and has long been at odds with the 95 per cent Shia Iran - two denominations that have been in conflict since the 7th century.

In remarks published on Wednesday, Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al ash-Sheikh said: "We must understand these are not Muslims.

"They are the son of the Magi and their hostility towards Muslims is an old one, especially with the People of the Tradition [Sunnis]."

Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the Saudis on Monday of "murdering" pilgrims caught up in the stampede during last year's Hajj.

Man Exchanges Two Siblings For Bags Of Rice.

An unidentified middle-aged man, Wednesday, abducted two siblings, who were returning from extra-moral class in Satellite area of Lagos. Thereafter, he exchanged them for two bags of rice in a shop at 63, Marwa Road, near Chemist Bus Stop. The children are aged eight and 13.

It was gathered that at the shop, the abductor told the sales girl that he would like to take two bags of rice to the mother of the children, whom he claimed owned a restaurant close-by, to ascertain whether the rice was the brand she needed.

The owner of the shop, Mrs Silverline, explained that “he (the abductor) told my sales girl that the mother of the children needed Indian rice, but my sales girl told him that what we had was Brazilian rice and that it was good.

“Thereafter, he made a phone call to someone he claimed was the mother of the children and at the end said he would like to take the bags of rice to the woman. But my girl insisted on following him to collect the money for the bags (N40,000) should the woman agree to buy them.

“The stranger said he would ride on a motorcycle with the bags of rice, while my girl followed with the children on foot. But on reaching the purported restaurant, the owner said she never saw any one with bags of rice, neither did she admit knowing the children.

“They walked to Ijegun end of Satellite without any sight of the abductor. When we asked the children about him, they said that the abductor was not their father.”

An eyewitness, Ifeoma John, said that immediately the abductor left with the bags of rice, a man who claimed to be the biological father of the children, arrived, alleging that his children could have been hypnotised by the abductor.

He contacted policemen from Satellite Division, who took everyone involved to the station, from where the children were released to their parents.