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Middle East

A gigantic Iranian bodybuilder, weightlifter, and powerlifter has taken the Internet by storm, stealing his fellow sportsmen’s thunder with his jaw-dropping muscular bulk and self-effacing and patriotic attitude. Sajjad Qaribi, 24, from the Iranian city of Bushehr, is as monumental in the southern Iranian city as is its nuclear plant. The unassuming youth, who brandishes 154 kilograms of pure muscle and 22-inch biceps, has been born in Ahvaz, another southern city. He can hoist as much as 175 kilograms and also represents the country in bodybuilding competitions. He has earned a 82,000-strong following on Instagram. He has a twin brother of a regular build and has been boasting a taut physique — though not as daunting as his current size — since 18. He identifies himself as “I, Sajjad Qaribi, am a soldier for my country and Iran’s pure soil.” Recently, he took on his Saudi detractors, writing, “Some Saudis try, time and again, to insult me and my family on their pages. This indicates their fear and weakness.” “You are yet to observe the Iranians’ might. We, Iranians, do not brag. We show our power on the battlefield. I am just a soldier for Iran and will remain [standing] for Iran. I have been born in this country and will die here… [What matters to me is] only Iran and nothing else.”

Amnesty International has slammed as a “criminal offense” the ransacking of a mosque by extremist Buddhists in Myanmar, saying the new act of violence against Muslim…