41 year old Javad Foroughi, who is accused of being a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a "terrorist" , won the gold medal in the 10-metre air pistol event on Tokyo Olympics.

Accused global terrorist won gold in Tokyo Olympics

  "How can a terrorist win gold at the Olympics? It's absurd and ridiculous.". 

By Edward Era Barbacena

Tokyo - . The contested medal is the one won by the Iranian Javad Foroughi, who triumphed at the Olympics in shooting with the 10-meter pistol. 

The Tokyo Olympics were shaken by the controversy surrounding the awarding of a gold medal to " a terrorist ". The contested prize is the one won by the 41-year-old Iranian athlete Javad Foroughi , who triumphed last Saturday in the 10-meter air pistol final shooting, dedicating his sporting success, as reported by Alarabya , to Ayatollah Khamenei. However, this victory is strongly contested by shooters from other countries and by humanitarian NGOs because they accuse Foroughi of belonging to a terrorist organization.

Iran's netizens are sharing these two images and saying: On the right is the IRGC paramilitary Basij member who shot protesters from a rooftop in Tehran during the 2009 uprising, On the left is Javad Foroughi. 

The 41-year-old, who served in Syria as a nurse between 2013 and 2015, is in fact accused of being a member of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), that is, of a military formation in Tehran inserted by the US, in 2019, precisely in the list of terrorist groups. Consequently, Pasdaran Foroughi - protesters argue - should not even have participated in the Olympics, as the aims and bloodthirsty activities of the aforementioned Iranian militia are incompatible with the values ​​of sport.

To start the controversy regarding the participation and victory of the 41-year-old was, reconstructs the Corriere dello Sport , the South Korean shooter Jin Jong-oh, winner of silver in Beijing 2008 and gold in London 2012 but eliminated in the qualifiers for Tokyo 2020, who complained:

South Korean shooter Jin Jong-oh has called Iranian gold medalist Javad Foroughi "a terrorist" and questioned why he was allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympics. Foroughi is a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps labelled a terrorist organisation by the US in 2019. 

South Korean shooter Jin Jong-oh has lashed out at the International Olympic Committee labelling gold medal winner Javad Foroughi, who is a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a "terrorist"

 "How can a terrorist win gold at the Olympics? It's absurd and ridiculous."

In comments reported by the Korea Times, the six-times Olympic medallist added it was “pure nonsense” to allow Javad Foroughi to compete in the Tokyo Games given his membership in a militia of the IRGC, which was labelled a terrorist organisation by the US in 2019.

The campaign group United for Navid, set up after the execution of the Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari after he protested against the regime, has also urged the IOC ethics commission to launch an immediate investigation. It also warned that the IOC was “complicit in promoting terrorism and crimes against humanity” if it failed to act.

The human rights NGO United for Navid, created in memory of the fighting champion Navid Afkari, executed by the authorities of the Islamic country for having protested against the republic, contributed to strengthening the disputes about the medal won by the Iranian athlete. 

The representatives of the association in question addressed the following harsh words to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), regarding the decision of this institution to admit the " terrorist " Foroughi to the five circles tournament and to have him awarded:

"We consider the awarding of the Olympic gold medal to Javad Foroughi to be a catastrophenot only for Iranian sport but also for the international community, and above all for the reputation of the IOC. Foroughi has long been a member of a terrorist organization. 41-year-old Foroughi is a current and longtime member of a terrorist organization. The Revolutionary Guards have a history of violence and killing not only of Iranian people and demonstrators, but also of innocent people in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon."

The IOC immediately reacted to the accusations launched by the United for Navid activists by inviting them to demonstrate the actual belonging to the pasdaran of the Iranian shooter indicted, with Mark Adams, spokesman of the same committee, who addressed the former stating precisely: " If they have the proof , we are here ". However, it is precisely the Tehran press that claims, from the homepage of the Javan website , the shooter's membership of the Guardians of the Revolution, celebrating Foroughi's triumph with phrases such as " an unexpected medal ... won by a guard nurse who is at the same time defender of health and of the sanctuary ".

Members of Mexico's softball team appeared to have left official uniforms and gear behind in Tokyo. 

 

Mexico’s softball team under fire for dumping Olympic uniform in trash can

By Edward Era Barbacena

The Mexican Olympic Committee expressed disappointment that its softball team appeared to have left the Olympic Games this week with bedding from the Olympic Village rather than with the players' official uniforms and apparel, which were reportedly found in the trash.

Mexico’s softball team angered fans and fellow athletes this week after a photo that went viral on social media showed their uniform in a trash can at Tokyo’s Olympic Village.

"It's regrettable that they left behind the uniforms in such an inappropriate place as the garbage in favor of some bedspreads from the Olympic Village," committee president Carlos Padilla told ESPN.

The country's softball team, with a roster of 14 American players and one born in Mexico, finished fourth with a 3-2 loss to Canada in Tuesday's bronze-medal game. The Tokyo Olympics were Mexico's first foray into Olympic softball.

In condemning the action, the country's softball federation said in a statement Thursday that it would investigate the matter, and that players found responsible will no longer represent Mexico.

Welterweight boxer Brianda Tamara Cruz, who is representing Mexico in Tokyo, took to social media to post pictures of gear allegedly found in the trash at the Olympic Village, which the committee considers an "affront to the [national] identity" because the uniforms include the Mexican flag on the chest.

"This uniform represents years of effort, sacrifice and tears," Cruz's tweet read in Spanish. "All of us who are Mexican athletes yearn to wear it with dignity, and today sadly the Mexican softball team left it in the Olympic Village's trash."

Sources told ESPN Mexico that around 10 additional sets of equipment were found in the garbage, including apparel from the opening ceremony, sneakers and even suitcases.

Rolando Guerrero, the president of Mexico's softball federation and its former head coach, blamed insufficient luggage space for his players' actions and added that some even left behind expensive fielding gloves.

"If it was in the trash and people were sniffing around, they had to make room in their luggage because for a softball team it's not the same packing 33 bats, catchers' equipment, game gear, three uniforms and workout clothes as it is to pack a pair of gloves," Guerrero said. "It's much easier to pack a pair of gloves, all due respect. We won't be going after anyone or responding, or rebutting anything on social media. It was simply a matter of too much cargo."

Mario Garcia, the Mexico Olympic Committee's secretary general, told ESPN Mexico that more could have been done to help the team avoid issues with cargo. The official gear, he said, could have been shipped separately, as was done with the apparel for the opening ceremony.

However, he said, the team also could have eliminated excessive cargo or packed uniforms in carry-on luggage. Garcia added that the team could face further discipline from the committee or even legal sanctions.

Several players responded on Instagram Thursday night, saying they had "no intention of disrespecting our country or our flag."

Source: ESPN

 

Alexis Saborit, Man Accused of Beheading America Thayer, Has History of Domestic Abuse

Minnesota woman beheaded, boyfriend dumps her body on the pavement and took her head

Graphic video of the beheading was circulating on social media.

By  Edward Era Barbacena

MINNEAPOLIS — A 42-year-old Shakopee man is charged with beheading his girlfriend in Shakopee.

Alexis Saborit was charged Friday in Scott County with one felony count of second-degree murder with intent in connection with a woman’s death earlier this week.

Alexis Saborit Charged With Beheading Girlfriend In Shakopee

Shakopee police officers responded at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Spencer Street on the report of a stabbing incident. A 55-year-old woman, identified as America Mafalda Thayer of Shakopee, was found on the sidewalk near the intersection and pronounced dead at the scene.

Police later confirmed that the woman had been beheaded. Saborit was arrested soon after and taken to Scott County Jail, where he remains in custody.

Criminal Complaint Details

According to the criminal complaint, multiple witnesses told police they saw a male suspect attacking a woman inside a car and later taking her body out of the vehicle at the intersection. The suspect then left on foot down an alley.

A black sheath for a “machete-style knife” was located by officers in the grass a few feet from the crime scene. A black machete was later discovered by a dog in a garden near the intersection.

Additional evidence was discovered in a recycling bin near the crime scene, including clothing and another knife, police said.

America Mafalda Thayer, 55, had been abused by the suspect, colleagues saidCredit: Facebook

The victim, Shakopee resident America Mafalda Thayer, was an employee of MyPillow, according to Fox-9 Minneapolis. Alexis Saborit, 42, also of Shakopee, was reportedly in an abusive long-term relationship with her, and he was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder, according to the Shakopee Police Department.

Graphic video of the beheading was circulating on social media.

Aerial footage of the scene showed a tarp set up by investigators. (credit: CBS)

According to police, the suspect and victim have had a long-term romantic relationship that police are familiar with; the incident is not believed to be a random act. The complaint said some of the officers at the crime scene were familiar with the victim and knew her to have a boyfriend, identified as Saborit. He also matched the description of the suspect from witnesses.

In a search, officers said they found Saborit walking in the area of Shenandoah Parkway and Highway 101, which is about 1.5 miles east of the crime scene. He was arrested in a nearby parking lot.

In a post-Miranda interview with police, Saborit said that he and the victim were on their way to his court appearance together prior to the incident. Police said he told them that he attacked her when she said she wanted to end their relationship.

“The Shakopee Police Department also wants to express its appreciation to the agencies who responded to assist on the incident. The department would also like to extend its condolences to the family of the victim,” police said in a release.

Saborit has a criminal history, including a 2017 conviction for domestic assault out of Carver County. He also had a conviction in 2018 for interfering with a police officer.

Saborit was convicted in 2017 of domestic assault in Carver County, according to CBS-4 Minnesota.

Shakopee Police Chief Jeff Tate told ABC-5 he was "incredibly disappointed" that cellphone video of the attack was posted on social media.

The killing comes just days after the Minneapolis City Council voted 11-1 to put a measure on the November election ballot to disband the Minneapolis Police Department in favor of a public safety department.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of George Floyd last year.

If convicted, Saborit faces up to 40 years in prison.

 

Dr. Faisal Khan, acting director of the St. Louis County Department of Health

A professional Asian Doctor humiliated and called with racial slurs by a majority of white crowds for pushing with mask mandates

Khan said the unmasked crowd jeered at him, jostled him around, called him racial slurs, and mocked his accent.

By Edward Era Barbacena

Faisal Khan, a public health doctor in Missouri's St. Louis County, spoke at a council meeting on Tuesday about the importance of enforcing a mask mandate in the area, where more than half of the population is unvaccinated, during a surge of infections from the Delta variant.

But Khan said the unmasked crowd jeered at him, jostled him around, called him racial slurs, and mocked his accent.

Khan, who is the acting director for the St. Louis County Department of Health, said that as he walked out of the meeting, he was shoulder-checked and jostled by some people in the crowd.

Once he was outside the chambers, he said he was surrounded by a hostile group, some of whom called him a "fat brown cunt" and a "brown bastard."

"After being physically assaulted, called racist slurs, and surrounded by an angry mob, I expressed my displeasure by using my middle finger toward an individual who had physically threatened me and called me racist slurs," Khan said in a letter to the council chairperson, Rita Days, on Wednesday.

Khan told BuzzFeed News on Thursday that while he regrets losing his composure momentarily, he had just about had it.

"I was shaking from the whole experience," Khan said. "I've never experienced anything like that in the more than 25 years that I've been in public health service."

His pleas to enforce the mask mandate were not successful.

The St. Louis County Council voted 5–2 to rescind the county mandate on Tuesday, a day after it was introduced, saying that it didn't comply with state laws about public health orders.

A video shared on Twitter showed the crowd break out in cheers after the council's vote - the same savage crowd that insulted Khan.

The incident is indicative of the anger, confusion, and chaos over the renewed push for mask-wearing across the country in light of the highly infectious Delta variant that now makes up more than 80% of cases in the US.

The anger and abuse directed at Khan are also similar to experiences faced by many public health officials in the US as they continue to fight not only a deadly virus, but also an ongoing political and cultural war over masks and vaccinations.

"It is truly unfortunate that the worst public health crisis in 100 years has been politicized from the onset at the national level and on the state and local level across the country," Khan said. "That is the worst possible damage to public health infrastructure in the US."

Khan bemoaned the loss of at least 250 public health officials who have left or have been forced out of their jobs after being vilified while struggling with the mental, physical, and emotional toll of the pandemic.

"I'm just profoundly sad at the state we find ourselves in as public health officials," Khan said. "We have only one job — to serve people and safeguard their health. We should not be dragged into political theater."

Khan said that he was invited to the county council meeting on Tuesday evening to explain the public health rationale behind implementing a mask mandate that had been announced just a day earlier by St. Louis County executive Sam Page and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones.

But the county council disagreed with the executive branch on the mechanism by which the mandate had been rolled out without their permission, Khan said.

A political rally held before Tuesday's council meeting had stoked the crowd into a frenzy with anti-mask speeches and slogans, so Khan said that when he stepped up to the lectern, the anger in the crowd was palpable. He said he could hear the jeers and taunts behind him.

Khan accused one of the Republican council members, Tim Fitch, of questioning him with "xenophobic dogwhistles" that were designed to paint him as "a foreigner, a migrant, and a non-licensed brown physician who was not trained in the US."

Khan, a US citizen since 2013, clarified that while he was not licensed to practice clinical medicine in the US, he was a public health professional by training and had worked as an epidemiologist in numerous countries, including Australia, Vietnam, Pakistan, South Africa, China, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and the US.

After Fitch's line of questioning, Khan said he could hear people in the crowd calling him a "quack," "a jerk," and "not a real doctor."

Some people mocked his accent by impersonating Apu, the racist caricature from The Simpsons, he said.

"I'm saddened not by the racist and vile personal abuse directed at me after I left the meeting or the physical jostling, but by the fact that Tuesday's meeting was a superspreader event," Khan said. "That was the first thing that struck me as I looked across the sea of unmasked faces."

Khan said he does not expect an apology or a response to his letter to the council chairwoman outlining his experience and calling for an investigation into what happened.

Days told BuzzFeed News on Friday that she was going to look into the situation and ask the local police department if Khan had filed a report on his allegations of physical assault.

"What has happened to Dr. Khan is truly regretful," Days said, adding that as a Black woman in Missouri she did not condone racism.

However, Days said she did not think Tuesday's council meeting was out of order. She said that while the crowd was "energetic" and not in favor of masks, only a couple of people behind Khan made comments during his speech and they immediately quieted down when told to.

She added that Khan showing his middle finger to the crowd while walking away was "unprofessional."

Days also did not believe that Fitch's line of questioning was inappropriate. She said that he was trying to make sure everybody knew that Khan was authorized and licensed in Missouri to issue health orders.

Days said the she was against enforcing the mask mandate because it went against a recent state law that said any kind of order on public health issues had to come before the county council.

She also said that it would be impossible to legally enforce a mask mandate and that she didn't want the local police to spend their time "trying to run down people who aren't wearing masks."

Days said she would wait until Khan's "media campaign" was over before potentially having a one-to-one conversation with him about his letter.

A spokesperson for Fitch said he was "tied up on his regular day job until at least 2 p.m. St. Louis time."

Khan has not received any threats after his appearance at the meeting, but he said he had asked for and received an additional security detail.

"This has been a scary and jarring experience for me and my family," he said.

But he said the experience has not deterred him from continuing to serve the public. He said that he was inspired by the commitment of Anthony Fauci, who, as the public face of the country's scientific response to the pandemic, has been subjected to threats against his life and his family.

Khan asked people to think of the CDC's recent revised mask policy in terms of a "battlefield strategy" where public health officials have to constantly adjust their tactics and approaches to counter the enemy's new weapons, i.e., the virus strains.

However, Khan said that "populist point-scoring tactics" that played out during Tuesday's meeting could potentially lead to "more disease, more infections, more misery, and more death."

"We've ended up looking like those people whose house is on fire," he said, "and we're standing in front of it arguing about which particular fire hydrant should we connect our fire hose to."

 

Military  deployed to enforce lockdown in Sydney

By Edward Barbacena

Australia has deployed hundreds of soldiers to Sydney to help enforce a Covid lockdown.

A Delta outbreak which began in June has produced nearly 3,000 infections and led to nine deaths.

Australian Defence Force soldiers will undergo training on the weekend before beginning unarmed patrols on Monday.

But many have questioned whether the military intervention is necessary, calling it heavy-handed.

The lockdown - in place until at least 28 August - bars people from leaving their home except for essential exercise, shopping, caregiving and other reasons.

Despite five weeks of lockdown, infections in the nation's largest city continue to spread. Officials recorded 170 new cases on Friday.

Soldiers will join police in virus hotspots to ensure people are following the rules, which include a 10km (6.2 miles) travel limit.

State Police Minister David Elliott said it would help because a small minority of Sydneysiders thought "the rules didn't apply to them".

Information provided by health officials indicates the virus is mainly spreading through permitted movement.

The Australian Lawyers Alliance, a civil rights group, called the deployment a "concerning use" of the army in a liberal democracy.

The outbreak has largely affected critical workers and large family groups in the city's poorer and ethnically diverse west and south-west suburbs. About two million people live there.

Critics say those areas have already faced "targeted" policing measures. They point out restrictions there are harsher than for the rest of Sydney.

"Our people are one of the poorest demographics, and as it is, they already feel picked on and marginalised," said Steve Christou, one local mayor.

"They can't afford to pay the mortgage, the rent, the food or work. Now to throw out the army to enforce lockdown on the streets is going to be a huge issue to these people," he told SBS.

Others have called for the government to increase its vaccine drive and support services for the affected communities.

Australia's rate of vaccination - 17% of the adult population - remains one of the lowest among OECD nations.

Source: BBC

 

Daiki Hashimoto of Japan holds the national flag after ending his exercises in the men's artistic gymnastics individual all-around final at the Tokyo Olympics on July 28, 2021, at Ariake Gymnastics Centre in the capital. He won gold. (Kyodo) 

Olympic gymnastics champ Daiki Hashimoto breaks  silence  to scoring criticism

As Japan celebrates Daiki Hashimoto's victory, Chinese nationalists  question results and accuse judges of favoritism by allegedly inflating Hashimoto's score.

By Edward Era Barbacena

Tokyo-Japanese gymnast Daiki Hashimoto has broken his silence to critics on social media claiming he got an unfairly high score for his gold medal-winning performance at the Tokyo Olympics.

"I'm sorry my performance led to controversial judging on a stage like the Tokyo Olympics," he wrote in an Instagram post late Thursday night. "I hope more people will praise the athletes who have worked hard to represent their country and not resort to what appears to be defamation."

Chaos on the men's gymnastics race settled after Chinese gymnast Xiao Ruoteng, who lost to Japan's Daiki Hashimoto due to alleged "panel favoritism," asked fans to be rational and not to attack other athletes.

Critics on social media took aim at Hashimoto's performance in the men's all-around final on Wednesday, in particular his score of 14.7 on the vault despite stepping off the mat on the landing. His combined score of 88.465 meant China's Xiao Ruoteng had to settle for silver.

"A gold medal which is stolen from the other country, the Olympic spirit is a (expletive)!!!!!" one Twitter user wrote.

Ruoteng's fans are  furious over Daiki Hashimoto's Gold medal in Men's overall Gymnastics. Chinese claim that the decision was totally unfair and Japanese cheated and openly stole the Gold Medal disgracing the spirit of Gymnastics.

Others praised the Japanese gymnast, who at 19 years old became the youngest-ever Olympic champion in the event. "Daiki Hashimoto is a generational talent," another Twitter user posted.

Hashimoto said judging can be a hard pill to swallow for athletes but that is part of the game.

"We have to accept difficult results sometimes, like I did on the rings. The scores are not subjective but rather based on the objective assessment of the judges. All of the athletes know that," he wrote.

"My score on the vault may look off, but the FIG (International Gymnastics Federation) has issued official results, and the point deduction is there."

The criticism led the FIG, the world's governing body of gymnastics, to issue Thursday a rare statement confirming that the judging was "fair and accurate."

The Chinese gymnast has also posted an online message, saying he hopes everyone will "not excessively attack athletes" as they are "all awesome and making efforts for their goals."

The incident added to a growing list of athletes at the Tokyo Olympics to be attacked online including American star gymnast Simone Biles, who has withdrawn from all of her events so far to address mental health issues.

Another Japanese gymnast, Mai Murakami, said she was also targeted on social medial following her fifth-place finish in the women's all-around final on Thursday.

"I didn't want to, but I saw some hurtful comments and it made me really sad. It's unfortunate," she said teary-eyed.

 

Aimee Matzen, 44, finds herself in the Covid-19 intensive care unit at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge.

Louisiana woman regrets for not being vaccinated as she suffers from difficulty of breathing due to Covid-19 infection

Since masks and the vaccine have been weaponized and spoliticized, public health ads should feature Aimee Matzen along with other American's who survived Covid-19 to promote the vaccine.

By Edward Era Barbacena

Yet another American hospitalized with coronavirus is voicing regret for not getting vaccinated.

Sitting in her hospital room in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Aimee Matzen struggled to breathe as she described how exhausting it is to have Covid-19.

Aimee Matzen, an intensive care patient at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, was interviewed by CNN.

"What does it feel like to have COVID?" CNN correspondent Miguel Marquez ask.

"Exhausting. Extremely frustrating. Tiring," she said while she struggled to breathe. "And the fact that I am here now, I am furious with myself."

"Why?" Marquez ask.

"Because I was not vaccinated," she replied.

Matzen, 44, finds herself in the Covid-19 intensive care unit at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge. She is receiving oxygen treatments and hopes she stays well enough to avoid getting hooked up to a ventilator.

"I don't want anyone else winding up like me. Especially because the vaccine is so easy to get now," she said. "I have this feeling ... if I was vaccinated, I wouldn't be hospitalized."

Louisiana stands among those hardest hit by the most recent rise in cases, driven in large part by the Delta variant.

The state has the highest 7-day average of new cases per-capita in the country, at 77 cases reported per 100,000 residents each day over the past week, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

Louisiana's vaccination rate is among the lowest in the country, with just 37% of residents fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's the fifth lowest in the country, and Louisiana is one of six states that has less than 38% of residents fully vaccinated.

The state's largest healthcare system, Ochsner, has seen a 700% increase in Covid-19 patients over the last month and a 75% increase in the last week, officials said during a news conference on Wednesday.

And the vast majority of those patients -- 88%, according to Ochsner Health CEO Warner Thomas -- are unvaccinated.

"This is absolutely disproportionately hitting folks that are unvaccinated," Thomas said. "Those are the folks that in a very high majority we're seeing coming to the hospital."

Matzen told CNN she was not opposed to getting vaccinated -- she just hadn't gotten around to it. Every time she planned to get inoculated, "something would come up," she said.

"I have this feeling ... if I was vaccinated, I wouldn't be hospitalized," Matzen said.

Source: CNN