| | | | | | | Hello. Former Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been released from jail on parole, nearly 11 years after murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Correspondent Daniel De Simone looks at the reactions from Ms Steenkamp's loved ones. We also have the latest about North Korea and its connections to Russia. In a powerful picture story from the Philippines, Linda Pressly reports on an unlikely duo trying to preserve evidence of the killing of thousands of people during the country's so-called war on drugs. Finally, scroll to the end to meet Cecil, a dog who has a taste for money - specifically, banknotes. |
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| | | | Top of the agenda | | 'We are the ones serving a life sentence' | | | | Reeva Steenkamp's mother (left) said her husband (right), who died last year, suffered from a "broken heart" caused by their daughter's death. Credit: Reuters |
| | Paralympian medallist Oscar Pistorius has been released from prison on parole, having served half of his more than 13-year sentence for murdering his girlfriend, law graduate and model Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day 2013. Until his sentence expires in 2029, he will be subject to conditions that, if violated, would return him to jail. Ms Steenkamp's mother June said she welcomed the conditions imposed by the parole board, adding that those decisions had "affirmed Barry and my belief in the South African justice system", referring to her late husband. But, she added: "There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back. We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence." | | • | What's next for Pistorius: Family and friends of Ms Steenkamp tell Daniel De Simone they fear the renewed spotlight on the former athlete will cause them further misery. | | • | 'She had a beautiful heart and ambition': Kerry Smith and Reeva Steenkamp had planned to open a law firm to help abused women. This is how Ms Smith remembered her friend in a 2014 interview. | | • | Listen: On BBC Sounds, The Documentary Podcast reviewed the trial of Pistorius, which gripped the attention of South Africa and the wider world. |
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| | | | | | | | AT THE SCENE | London, Ontario | | Canada's grief at Muslim family's murder | | Nearly 70 people are giving victim impact statements ahead of the sentencing of Nathaniel Veltman, the man convicted of murdering four members of the Afzaal family. It's an unprecedented number in Canadian court proceedings. Veltman ran down the family in his truck, in June 2021. | | | | The killings were met with widespread mourning in the Ontario city, with officials and the grieving public often referring to the Afzaals as "Our London Family". They also sparked renewed calls to combat Islamophobia in Canada. On Thursday, a packed courtroom began hearing from the family's relatives, who took turns delivering statements about how the murders affected them. "Standing here," said Talat Afzaal's daughter Ayesha Shaukat, who held back tears as she addressed Veltman directly, "I tell you that you took something incredibly precious from us." |
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| | | | Beyond the headlines | | The silent witnesses of Duterte's drug war | | | | Dr Raquel Fortun is one of two forensic pathologists in the country of more than 100 million people. Credit: BBC/Tim Mansel |
| | A priest and a forensic pathologist have joined forces to bring justice to the thousands of families who have lost loved ones to former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s ruthless “war on drugs”. They hope analysing the remains of those who died might serve one day as evidence in a judicial inquiry. | | | | |
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| | | | Something different | | Little luxuries | | The affordable pick-me-ups driving consumer spending. | | |
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| | | | And finally... | | It's not just people who have expensive taste, dogs do too. Cecil, a goldendoodle from Pennsylvania, chewed through $4,000 in cash left in an envelope on the kitchen counter. Luckily, Cecil wasn't hurt by the meal and the Laws family, who describe their pet as a "goofy guy", retrieved most of their money. But I'll warn you, their recovery methods were not for the faint-hearted. |
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