Two rioters held for bear spraying Capitol officer who later died – National & International News – TUE 16Mar2021

Two held for bear spraying Capitol officer. Ex-Marine faces Iran spying accusations. China’s beef demands fuel Brazil rainforest destruction. Biblical fragments, world’s oldest basket found in Israeli cave.

NATIONAL NEWS

Two held for bear spraying Capitol officer

The Justice Department has arrested two Capitol rioters- Julian Elie Khater, 32, of PA and George Pierre Tanios, 39, of WV- for a chemical assault on three Capitol Police officer during the riot. One of the officers they sprayed was Brian Sicknick, who later died.

At present, it’s unclear whether the bear spray, a more potent version of pepper spray, contributed to Sicknick’s death. Inhaling bear spray can cause nerve inflammation and respiratory distress. But, 10 weeks after the assault, the coroner has yet to release a definitive cause of death for Officer Sicknick. Early reports had it that Sicknick was struck on the head with a fire extinguisher during the melee, but those reports now appear to be incorrect. Accounts differ, but it seems fairly certain that Sicknick suffered a stroke at some point.

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Ex-Marine faces Iran spying accusations

Former US Marine and Iraq war veteran Amir Hekmati was released from Iran in 2016 after five years of imprisonment and torture. On his return to the US, Hekmati was declared eligible for a $20 million payout from a special US government fund to compensate victims of international terrorism. He never received any money and the reason why has only just come to light.

Shortly after his 2011 arrest in Iran, the FBI had opened an investigation of Hekmati. They suspected that he had traveled to Iran to sell classified US intel, rather than to visit his grandmother as he claimed. Although Hekmati was never brought up on any criminal charges in the US, the fund’s administrators concluded that Hekmati had lied about his purpose for visiting Iran and was therefore not entitled to the payout.

Hekmati denies the spying allegations and has filed a legal challenge to the decision by the fund’s administrators. Hekmati’s attorney Scott Gilbert says “the U.S. government should put up or shut up. If the government believes they have a case, indict Amir. Try Amir. But you, the U.S. government, won’t do that because you can’t do that. You don’t have sufficient factual evidence to do that”.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

China’s beef demands fueling Brazilian rainforest destruction

In recent years, clearance of the Brazilian rainforest has accelerated to meet agricultural and pastoral demands. The rampant destruction has raised alarm among experts, who consider the Amazonian rain forest, of which Brazil claims a substantial proportion, to be the lungs of the planet.

Aside from lucrative soybean cultivation, a lot of the clearance has been undertaken to open more grazing land for cattle. Brazilian beef is in high demand worldwide, but recently, Brazilian officials have ramped up clearance to meet soaring demand from China. In 2020, Brazil supplied 43% of China’s meat imports. That year, beef exports to the country shot up by 76% last year compared with 2019. And the total is expected to climb even higher this year.

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Ancient Biblical writings, world’s oldest basket found in Israeli cave

Fragments of an ancient Biblical scroll are among the treasures recently unearthed in an Israeli cave system. A team had mounted an expedition to protect the caves from rampant antiquities looting.

The Cave of Horrors, so named due to the 40 skeletons found there in the 1960s, appears to have provided refuge to people in the inhospitable Judean desert for millennia. The rich cultural heritage has also made it and neighboring caves rich targets for looters supplying the antiquities market.

The fragments are from the books of Zechariah and Nahum, two of the Books of the Twelve Minor Prophets. The expedition also discovered rare coins minted during a period of Israeli revolt against Roman rule in the 2nd century AD. These are likely contemporary with the deposition of the scrolls.

But the archaeologist also unearthed remarkably preserved remnants of Israel’s deep antiquity. These include a 6000-year-old mummified child and an intact 10,000-year-old basket. The basket is believed to be the oldest ever found anywhere.

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