Source: BBC
Security & Justice
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Gaps in Coastal Radar Enabled Israeli Raid in Batroun, Army Commander Says
Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, detailed to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati how Israeli forces likely exploited gaps in the country's coastal radar system during the recent raid carried out in Batroun. The briefing comes as Lebanese officials seek answers on how Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 unit carried out the landing undetected.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Friday 25 August 2023 15:46:03
Bray Wyatt: WWE Champion Dies Aged 36
Three-time WWE world champion Bray Wyatt has died at the age of 36.
The wrestler had been dealing with an undisclosed health issue that had kept him out of the ring since February, but his death was characterised as sudden by his family.
The news was announced by WWE content officer Triple H, who posted on social media that Wyatt, real name Windham Rotunda, had "unexpectedly passed".
Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, was among those paying tribute to the star.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Johnson said he was "heartbroken" and had "always had tremendous respect and love" for the wrestler.
"Loved his presence, promos, in ring work and connection with @WWE universe," he wrote. "Very unique, cool and rare character, which is hard to create in our crazy world of pro wrestling."
WWE commentator Mick Foley added: "I thought so highly of Bray Wyatt... He was a true visionary; one of the most compelling presences that wrestling has ever seen."
Wyatt came from a family of wrestlers, including his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan, his father Mike Rotunda and his younger brother Bo Dallas.
Rotunda was a famous wrestling legend in his own right, known as IRS due to his gimmick as being a tax collector from Washington DC who harassed wrestlers and fans as "tax cheats".
Born in Brooksville, Florida on 23 May, 1987, Wyatt was a state wrestling champion in high school and earned a football scholarship to Troy University.
However, he left his course before graduating to become a professional wrestler, making his professional debut in 2009.
He fought under several names including Husky Harris, Alex Rotunda, Duke Rotundo and The Fiend.
As Bray Wyatt, he portrayed the villainous leader of a cult faction named The Wyatt family with Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman, and the late Luke Harper (aka Brodie Lee).
After being released from WWE in 2021, he made a long-awaited comeback at the pay-per-view Extreme Rules event last October, where he debuted a new version of his character.
He had recently missed several months due to illness but was close to returning to the WWE before his death, according to Wrestling News.
Last year, Wyatt broke character to discuss how he overcame his mental health struggles, commenting: "I lost my career. I lost my self-confidence. I lost two people who were very, very close to me. I lost my way.
"And I got to a point where I thought that everything that I've ever done here or otherwise, it was all meaningless. Nothing I've ever did has ever mattered to anyone. And I was wrong."
He continued: "Once I was done feeling sorry for myself, I decided to go out in the world again and see… people everywhere that would say, 'Thank you, Bray, man. When you coming back home?'
"And then every once in a while there would be someone I would meet that would be truly remarkable."
Triple H, real name Paul Levesque, said he had been informed of Rotunda's death by his father.
"Just received a call from WWE Hall of Famer Mike Rotunda who informed us of the tragic news that our WWE family member for life Windham Rotunda - also known as Bray Wyatt - unexpectedly passed earlier today," he wrote.
"Our thoughts are with his family and we ask that everyone respect their privacy at this time."
Wrestling reporter Sean Ross Sapp later said that the 36-year-old had died of a heart attack, after a brush with Covid that exacerbated existing heart conditions.
"There was a lot of positive progress towards a return and his recovery," he said.
"Unfortunately today he suffered a heart attack and passed away."
Wyatt is survived by his fiancee and former WWE ring announcer Joseann Offerman, their two children, Wyatt's two children from a previous marriage, brother Bo Dallas (Taylor Rotunda), and sister Mika.
