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Olympian and former world champ shot dead at 42

<p>South African police have found the body of former Olympian and high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he was reported missing. </p> <p>Local authorities say that they found the body of the 42-year-old in a field near a cemetery in the city of Pretoria with fatal gunshot wounds, and are treating his death as murder. </p> <p>South African news Netwerk24 reported that a source claims Freitag was allegedly executed, as one of the gunshot wounds was allegedly located in the back of his head.</p> <p>Freitag's sister, Chrissie Lewis, had appealed for help on social media to find her brother, who went missing in the early hours of June 17th after leaving his mother's house.</p> <p>Lewis said he had struggled with drug addiction after his athletics career ended.</p> <p>He was then not seen again until his body was discovered. </p> <p>Freitag won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, representing South Africa in high jump.</p> <p>He was among a select group of athletes to win world titles at youth, junior and senior level, as World Athletics called Freitag “a prodigious athlete”. </p> <p>He won the high jump at the 1999 Youth World Championships in Poland, the Junior World Champs in Chile in 2000 and the Senior's in France in 2003.</p> <p>In 2003, he cleared 2.35m at the Stade de France in Paris to win the gold medal at the IAAF World Championships.</p> <p>He retired from sport in 2013 and was said to have in recent times been sleeping on the streets or friends' couches, having been unable to hold down a full-time job.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Hahn Lionel/ABACA/Shutterstock Editorial </em></p>

Caring

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Adaptations of Brian Jacques ‘Redwall’ series announced

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The beloved </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Redwall</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> series by Brian Jacques is being adapted into a feature film and animated series following a new rights deal between Netflix and Penguin Random House Children.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The books will be adapted for the first time as a film, which will draw on the titular novel in the series and will be written by Patrick McHale (</span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Over The Garden Wall</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">).</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">...i - am that is... <a href="https://t.co/Aau3o8bKHu">pic.twitter.com/Aau3o8bKHu</a></p> — Patrick McHale (@Patrick_McHale) <a href="https://twitter.com/Patrick_McHale/status/1359608617935265813?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The television series will be based on the second book, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Martin the Warrior</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and will be the first television adaptation of the books since the series that ran from 1999 until 2002.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We couldn’t be more delighted to announce this deal,” Ben Horlson, Fiction Publisher at Penguin Random House Children told </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://variety.com/2021/film/news/netflix-redwall-movie-tv-show-brian-jacques-1234904865/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Variety</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">magazine. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“These perennially popular stories have been etched onto the hearts of millions of readers, and we are thrilled to partner with Netflix to bring those beloved characters on screen for families worldwide to enjoy.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jacques' </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Redwall</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> series follows anthropomorphic animals - including mice, rabbits, badgers, and moles - that live in the Redwall abbey and the surrounding Mossflower Woods as they defend themselves against bands of foxes, rats, and weasels.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Variety</span></em></p>

Books

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Monaco twins star in adorable royal Christmas card photo

<p>It seems like it was only yesterday that Monaco’s Prince Albert and Princess Charlene welcomed twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella into the world, but in a brand-new photo, they look so grown up!</p> <p>The three-year-olds were the stars of the royal family’s Christmas card snap, posing in front of a lush tree in coordinating outfits.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media"> <div style="padding: 8px;"> <div style="background: #F8F8F8; line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 40.229885057471265% 0; text-align: center; width: 100%;"> <div style="background: url(data:image/png; base64,ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaacwaaaascamaaaapwqozaaaabgdbtueaalgpc/xhbqaaaafzukdcak7ohokaaaamuexurczmzpf399fx1+bm5mzy9amaaadisurbvdjlvzxbesmgces5/p8/t9furvcrmu73jwlzosgsiizurcjo/ad+eqjjb4hv8bft+idpqocx1wjosbfhh2xssxeiyn3uli/6mnree07uiwjev8ueowds88ly97kqytlijkktuybbruayvh5wohixmpi5we58ek028czwyuqdlkpg1bkb4nnm+veanfhqn1k4+gpt6ugqcvu2h2ovuif/gwufyy8owepdyzsa3avcqpvovvzzz2vtnn2wu8qzvjddeto90gsy9mvlqtgysy231mxry6i2ggqjrty0l8fxcxfcbbhwrsyyaaaaaelftksuqmcc); display: block; height: 44px; margin: 0 auto -44px; position: relative; top: -22px; width: 44px;"></div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BcpZlqjBraL/" target="_blank">A post shared by HSH Princess Charlene (@hshprincesscharlene)</a> on Dec 13, 2017 at 7:07am PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>The royal tots celebrated their third birthday just days ago on December 10 with not one but two parties, which Albert described to <a href="http://people.com/royals/find-out-what-prince-alberts-royal-twins-got-for-their-3rd-birthday-hint-not-a-princess-toy/" target="_blank"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">People</span></em></strong></a> as “great fun”.</p> <p>But what do you buy for a three-year-old prince and princess for their big day? According to Albert, Jacques “got a little Hot Wheels. The truck and launcher. You know with the rubber band? So he can have them do the looping. I don’t know who’s given him these, because I only gave him a few and he’s got at least 25 different little Hot Wheels cars‎ now.”</p> <p>Gabriella, on the other hand, received “a Barbie doll and the Barbie Dream Horse”. When asked if it was a princess Barbie doll, Albert winked, saying, “No just a Barbie. Let’s not overdo the princess thing, okay?”</p> <p><em>Image credit: Princely Family of Monaco/Facebook.</em></p>

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