Washington, United States | AFP | More than 180 women have reported being sexually assaulted when they were customers of Massage Envy, the largest chain of massage spas in the United States, according to a BuzzFeed News investigation. The report published over the weekend comes amid a wave of sexual assault …
Read More »Thirty women rescued from sex trafficking in Mexico
Mexico City, Mexico | AFP | Thirty women trafficked for sex — most from Colombia and Venezuela — were rescued in two raids in Mexico, police said Saturday. The biggest operation took place in Toluca, capital of Mexico state, the most populous and one of the most dangerous states in …
Read More »White S.Africa farmers in new protest over murders
Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | Hundreds of white South African farmers on Saturday took to the streets of Pretoria, demanding government action over a wave of murders targeting their communities in rural areas. The march is the latest protest staged over the murder of at least 72 white farmers …
Read More »Mayor murdered in Mexico’s violent Veracruz state
Coatzacoalcos, Mexico | AFP | A municipal mayor in Mexico’s violent eastern state of Veracruz was killed Friday, local authorities said, just four days after a mayor-elect was murdered in the same state. Victor Manuel Espinoza — mayor of Ixhuatlan de Madero, located some 270 kilometers (168 miles) northeast of …
Read More »500 trafficking victims rescued in west Africa: Interpol
Cotonou, Benin | AFP | Forty people are facing prosecution after police raids in west and central Africa rescued nearly 500 victims of human trafficking, Interpol said on Thursday. Raids were carried out in Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal as part of a German foreign ministry funded initiative targeting …
Read More »Chinese oil giant and Chad deny Africa bribery scheme after US probe
Shanghai, China | AFP | Top Chinese oil company CEFC China Energy on Tuesday denied any involvement in an alleged multi-million dollar bribery scandal that US investigators say helped the giant win business advantages in Africa. US officials announced Monday that they had arrested Hong Kong’s former home affairs secretary and …
Read More »US arrests two Chinese oil company reps in Africa bribery scheme
Washington, United States | AFP | US authorities have arrested Hong Kong’s former home affairs secretary and the ex-foreign minister of Senegal for leading a multimillion dollar bribery scheme in Africa on behalf of a top Chinese energy company, with some deals arranged in the halls of the United Nations. …
Read More »Colombian military seizes more than two tonnes of cocaine
Bogota, Colombia | AFP | Colombian authorities have seized more than two tonnes of cocaine belonging to a splinter group from the now-disarmed FARC guerrilla organization, the military said Saturday. A coordinated operation of air and ground troops destroyed a coca laboratory in the restive border municipality of Tumaco, the …
Read More »US hate crimes rose during fierce 2016 election, FBI stats show
Washington, United States | AFP | Hate crimes across the United States accelerated in 2016 as the divisive election battle that saw Donald Trump elected president progressed, FBI statistics showed Monday. Hate crimes — acts motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender — rose overall for the …
Read More »US Senate candidate accused of sexual contact with minor in 1979: report
Washington, United States | AFP | The Republican candidate for a vacant US Senate seat initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was practicing law, the victim, now a grown woman, said in an explosive report Thursday. Candidate Roy Moore of Alabama was facing calls to step …
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