A self-described gangster who spent up to $1500 a day on heroin has revealed how he quit drugs cold turkey while in prison after having an epiphany. Sydney-based rapper Spanian spoke candidly about his battle with addiction and crime in an interview published on his self-titled YouTube channel. The rapper, who has a following of 15,000 people on Instagram, said it was a 'gift from God' that he was able to give up the needle in 2007 at the age of 21. Spanian said he first got into buprenorphine - a treatment for heroin addicts similar to methadone - while serving time when he was younger. 'I was one of the first c***ts in Australia on the bupe [buprenorphine]. I was doing bupe in jail and loving life,' he said. 'I was high 24/7'. 'I used to chop $1500-a-day on gear [drugs]. I used to pride myself on that too,' he said. Sydney-based rapper Spanian spoke candidly about his battle with heroin on his self-titled documentary-style YouTube channel 'So I was loving my life, I … [Read more...] about Jailyard rapper who had a $1500-a-day heroin habit reveals how he managed to quit cold turkey behind bars – and says he hasn’t craved drugs in 12 years
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David Hasselhoff sold his Knight Rider car to a crying man – and now wants another he tells Virgin Radio’s Chris Evans
DAVID Hasselhoff had his very own version of K.I.T.T - the Knight Rider car - but sold it to a crying man for £150,000, he told Chris Evans today. Speaking on the Virgin Radio breakfast show on Monday, he explained the bizarre reason he no longer had the souped-up vehicle. The 67-year-old actor and singer said: "Well, I had one in my own garage. And a man called me from Turkey, and he was crying, 'I love you'. "But he couldn't speak any English and he wanted to buy my Knight Rider car. "So I sold it to him for like a hundred fifty thousand bucks for charity. And it's in Turkey." He added: "I'm about to buy another one because I miss that car. And the car goes on tour with me at times." David played high-tech crime fighter Michael Knight in TV show Knight Rider from 1982 to 1986. The drama's hero was assisted by a talking car called K.I.T.T - standing for Knight Industries Three Thousand. David lives in Calabasas in California but explained he is looking for a place near Bath to he … [Read more...] about David Hasselhoff sold his Knight Rider car to a crying man – and now wants another he tells Virgin Radio’s Chris Evans
They left Afghanistan a family of nine. They arrived in the UK a family of two
It was night-time and it was raining. That’s when the shooting started. Nine-year-old Wali Khan Norzai remembers holding his father’s hand in the mountainous, borderland darkness. Ahead lay Turkey, behind them Iran, further back their abandoned home in Afghanistan. Now suddenly, all around them, bullets. The group of 100 people scattered. When the dust settled and Wali Khan and his father, Said Ghullam Norzai, emerged from hiding, there was no sign of Wali Khan’s mother or his six siblings. In the year since, father and son have heard nothing from them. Norzai says if he had known that the journey would have meant losing seven members of his family, he would have stayed in Afghanistan and risked life under the Taliban. From Turkey, Norzai and Wali Khan’s journey to Britain was the sort of tragic odyssey that has become familiar over the past few years: a hazardous crossing of the Mediterranean, a long walk through European countries they had never heard of, and … [Read more...] about They left Afghanistan a family of nine. They arrived in the UK a family of two
‘Britain has accepted you’: what it’s like to be a resettled Syrian refugee
In February 2016, Manal Rwaeh was sitting in a Turkish language class in Antakya when her phone flashed with a call from a private number. Like the other Syrian refugees in the class, Rwaeh always kept her phone on her desk in case a call came with news that she had been offered a place in a resettlement scheme. “They said: ‘Britain has accepted you,’” said Rwaeh. “I went back to the class and I told the teacher: there’s no need to learn Turkish now!” When Rwaeh returned home that evening, she played a practical joke on her family, telling them they would be resettled in Hungary. “I chose a country that I know that they don’t like … and I told them: this is the country that has accepted us. They were shocked. Then I finally told them [the truth] and they started to jump on me and kiss me.” And so, last November, Rwaeh, 40, her husband Amjad Batous, 46, and their three sons – Ahmad, 17, Bilal, 14, and Ihab, 11 … [Read more...] about ‘Britain has accepted you’: what it’s like to be a resettled Syrian refugee
We want more Syrian refugees: council offers exceed official UK pledge of 20,000
Theresa May is under pressure to increase the number of Syrian refugees offered asylum in Britain as local authorities say they can take in more than the government’s offer of 20,000 spaces. Local councils have pledged enough homes to accommodate almost 22,000 Syrian refugees, according to a comprehensive Guardian tally. The government originally committed to providing places for 20,000 Syrians in September 2015, at the height of the European migration crisis. Councils have been overwhelmed by community support for the scheme to resettle Syrian refugees, with many local authorities increasing their pledges after campaigns from local charities and citizens’ groups. “The mission has been fulfilled,” said David Simmonds, chair of the asylum and refugee task group for the Local Government Association (LGA). “The response from councils around the country has been really positive. They have shown they are willing to provide homes to refugees.” This … [Read more...] about We want more Syrian refugees: council offers exceed official UK pledge of 20,000
