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Germany

Kickboxing World Champion On Trial For Savage Beating Of Oktoberfest Waiter

Besim Kabashi, the Kosovo-born, Munich-based world heavyweight kickboxing champion, is alleged to have let loose a flurry of punches and kicks on a waiter who'd told him to leave a table under an Oktoberfest tent. Kabashi says he was too drunk to

Besim Kabashi, heavy and superheavyweight kickboxing world champion
Besim Kabashi, heavy and superheavyweight kickboxing world champion
Christian Rost

SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEINTUNG/Worldcrunch

MUNICH - Besim Kabashi claims to be "the hardest puncher in Germany." And Sebastian A., a waiter, is unlikely to argue with that, having served as punching bag for the world's heavy and superheavyweight kickboxing champion.

In 2010, the 29-year-old was on serving duty in an Oktoberfest tent in Munich when the fighter let loose. Kabashi allegedly didn't stop until the waiter lay on the ground severely bruised, with eye lacerations and an umbilical hernia. Since Tuesday, the 35-year-old fighter has been on trial in local court in Munich for the attack.

He was very sorry for what happened, but he couldn't remember any of it, said the Kosovo-born Kabashi, charged with grievous bodily harm. According to the prosecution, on September 27, 2010, Kabashi and some friends visited two beer tents before settling in the reserved section of the Augustiner tent.

Sebastian A. went along with this although the men didn't have reservations, but did state that after one beer they would have to move on. However, after drinking up, the group asked for another round. By his own account, Kabashi had already had three beers at this point.

The waiter insisted that the table had to be freed, while at the same time Kabashi and his friends had embarked on very insistent attempts to befriend some women at the next table -- to the annoyance of the women.

Instead of leaving the table, the prosecution stated, Kabashi became angry. In quick succession, he allegedly delivered 15 punches to the waiter's face, and then pushed him against a stair landing so he could deliver some kicks. It took four men from security to get Kabashi under control.

His claim that he couldn't remember anything was rejected by a medical expert as "untypical."

Experts also stated that Kabashi was not very drunk. At his weight (100 kg), four beers worked out to a relatively tame blood-alcohol level of 1.4.

Kabashi has much to lose from the incident. At the next court session in early December, the prosecution is expected to ask for a prison sentence. And if there's one thing the sporting world doesn't like, it's a conviction for violent offense.

Read the original article in German

Photo - LoveGreenPhotos

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

They Tracked Down Ukraine's Missing Children In Russia, But Can't Get Them Home

An investigation by Russian independent news outlet Vazhnyye IstoriiImportant Stories found nearly 2,500 orphaned children who may have been forcibly deported from Ukraine and are being raised as Russians. There is no mechanism set up for their return.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented with drawings by a young girl

President Volodymr Zelenskyy Opens Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights as part of the effort to return children illegally taken by Russia during the invasion of Ukraine

Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya

MOSCOW — Russia has a state database on orphans and children left without parental care, which publishes profiles of children available for adoption. Russian independent news outlet Vazhnyye Istorii/Important Stories found that children deported from Ukraine appeared in the database.

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The number of Ukrainian children openly sought for foster care by Russian authorities may be almost 2,500. The system does not facilitate searching for Ukrainian relatives of these children, nor does Russia provide the children with an opportunity to remain in Ukraine.

"Brushes, paints, an album — everything you need. I like it very much," says the boy as he examines the school kit donated by the volunteers. He has a cap on his head with "Together with Russia" written on it. He is 9-year-old Alexander Chizhkov, referred to in the TV report as a "forced migrant." Russian authorities removed him along with other orphaned children from Donetsk.

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