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Bail Ruling Allows Pistorius To Travel To Compete Again

The South African paralympian, accused of killing his girlfriend, has no immediate plans to travel abroad, his lawyer says.

EYEWITNESS NEWS, MAIL & GUARDIAN, NEWS 24 (South Africa)

Worldcrunch

PRETORIA - A South African judge Thursday relaxed he bail conditions for Oscar Pistorius, who is accused of killing his girlfriend less than a year after making history as the first double-leg amputee to ever run in the Olympics.

The decision by the North Gauteng High Court will allow the famous Paralympian to travel overseas to compete in track events while he awaits trial on premeditated murder, according to South African Eyewitness News.

Pistorius' lawyer Barry Roux said the the “Blade-runner” has no immediate plans to travel outside the country, or compete.

Arrested on February 14 for the murder of South African model Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius admits to shooting his girlfriend, but says he'd mistaken her for an intruder in the middle of the night.

He was released on bail of $108,000 last month with stringent terms including: surrendering his passport, weekly drug and alcohol testing and a blanket ban on speaking to people at his property where Steenkamp’s death took place, reports the Mail & Guardian.

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Pistorius wins the 400m T44 Final in 2012. Photo by David Jones

Judge Bert Bam said: “I can find no reason why Pistorius should not be allowed to travel overseas to compete if invited to do so.” South Africa’s News24 writes that Bam ruled that Pistorius will have to hand his passport to his lawyer and should he decide to travel, must provide an itinerary to the National Prosecuting Authority.

The judge also revoked conditions relating to the track star's presence at his home and reporting to a police station in the capital twice a week.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Ukrainians In Occupied Territories Are Being Forced To Get Russian Passports

Reports have emerged of children, retirees, and workers being forced by the Russian military and occupying administration to obtain Russian Federation passports, or face prison, beating or loss of public benefits.

Image of a hand holding a red Russian passport.

Russian passport

Iryna Gamaliy

It's referred to as: "forced passportization." Reports are accumulating of police and local authorities in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine requiring that locals obtain Russian passports. Now new evidence has emerged that Ukrainians are indeed being coerced into changing their citizenship, or risk retribution from occupying authorities.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

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Ever since late September, when President Vladimir Putin announced Russia hadd unilaterally annexed four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine (Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson), Moscow has been seeking ways to legitimize the unrecognized annexation. The spreading of Russian passports is seen as an attempt to demonstrate that there is support among the Ukrainian population to be part of Russia.

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