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Romanian prosecutors are ramping up human trafficking cases, according to Andrew Tate

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According to Romania’s anti-organized crime section, the human trafficking allegations against controversial influencer Andrew Tate, his brother Tristan, and two associates have been increased.

They are now being probed for the more serious crime of “continued human trafficking.”

A seventh victim was added to the investigation, which began with six women.

Since April, the Tate brothers and their allies have been held under house arrest in Bucharest.

They were detained for the first time in December and are being probed for rape, human trafficking, and creating an organised crime ring.

They have consistently denied any wrongdoing.

The four suspects were summoned to the headquarters of Romania’s organised crime section on June 12 to be notified of the fresh allegations. Adult trafficking is punishable by up to ten years in jail in Romania.

Prosecutors also stated that a further criminal inquiry had been launched against a Romanian individual named Vlad Obuzic, who they claim was linked to the Tate brothers.

Mr Obuzic is accused of human trafficking and organising a criminal crime gang to sexually exploit seven women who were lured and blackmailed into producing pornographic content for social media platforms, with the suspects pocketing the majority of the profits.

“To ensure the victims’ loyalty and that they will only perform for the benefit of the members of the group, they were forced to tattoo the name or face of the group member exploiting them,” authorities stated in a statement.

Prosecutors in Romania are scheduled to publish an indictment detailing the official allegations lodged against the brothers and their allies later this month, kicking off the trial.

Mr Tate, 36, has millions of internet fans. His material is especially popular with young guys who are captivated to his hyper-macho appearance.

Mr Tate denied fueling a culture of sexism and defended his image in an interview with BBC News in early June.

He also ignored the testimony of specific women who have accused him of rape and exploitation in the present probe.

A few days later, a British lady claimed Mr Tate choked her till she passed out while they were having sex and then threatened her.

Mr Tate’s representative told the BBC that he was “saddened that a few opportunistic women with whom he allegedly spent time nearly a decade ago have decided to try and take advantage of his current situation.”

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News Trending

The United Nations Refugee Agency reports a global displacement of 110 million people

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Conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan, as well as the Afghanistan crisis, have pushed millions of people to migrate in search of safety.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of persons displaced worldwide has reached a record 110 million, with hostilities in Ukraine and Sudan causing millions to flee their homes.

The UNHCR stated in its annual Forced Displacement report on Wednesday that around 19 million people were forced to escape last year, the largest yearly increase on record, bringing the total to 108.4 million by the end of last year.

According to UN refugee director Filippo Grandi, the figure has subsequently climbed to at least 110 million, owing mostly to Sudan’s eight-week-old war.

“It’s quite an indictment of the state of our world to have to report that,” he remarked during a news conference in Geneva.

The total number includes both persons seeking protection within their own nations and those who have crossed borders. According to the data, refugees and asylum seekers accounted for around 37.5 percent of the total.

“Solutions to these movements are becoming increasingly difficult to even imagine, let alone put on the table,” he explained. “We live in a highly polarised world, where international tensions spill over into humanitarian issues.”

According to the organisation, prior to the Syrian crisis in 2011, there were around 40 million refugees and internally displaced persons, a figure that had been steady for roughly 20 years. However, the figure has climbed each year thereafter.

According to the research, 339,300 refugees were able to return home last year, while 114,300 were relocated in a third country – more than double the amount expected in 2021.

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News Trending War

A senior Russian officer has been killed in the Ukraine counteroffensive

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Major-General Sergei Goryachev, chief of staff of Russia’s 35th Army, was killed in a missile attack in the Zaporizhia area, according to reports.

According to a Russian-backed figure in Ukraine, a top Russian officer was killed in a Ukrainian missile strike during Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russian soldiers.

On Tuesday, Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in a part of the southern Zaporizhia region under Moscow’s control, said that Russian Major-General Sergei Goryachev, Chief of Staff of Russia’s 35th Army, was killed a day earlier on the Zaporizhia front, where Ukrainian forces have been retaking some territory.

The Russian Defence Ministry had no immediate confirmation of Goryachev’s death.

Goryachev, 52, was a renowned soldier. According to Reuters, he served in the Second Chechen War, commanded a tank brigade, controlled a Russian military facility in Tajikistan, and led Russian soldiers in Moldova’s breakaway pro-Russian province of Transdniestria.

If true, Goryachev’s killing represents the first Russian senior commander killed in Ukraine in almost a year. “Voenkor Z,” a Russian combat journalist and military blogger, broke the news of his death first.

“The army has lost one of its brightest and most effective military commanders, who combined the highest professionalism with personal courage,” Rogov said on his official Telegram channel. “Our heartfelt condolences to the deceased’s family and friends!”

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with 18 famous Russian military bloggers and war journalists in an effort to boost his narrative about the conflict’s favourable development in Ukraine.

The meeting, in which Putin stated that Ukraine had suffered “catastrophic” losses in its counteroffensive, comes amid “widespread discontent in the Russian information space” following drone attacks on Russian territory and border incursions by pro-Ukrainian but Russian armed groups, according to a leading war monitor on Wednesday.

The Washington, DC-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted in a daily briefing paper on the Ukraine war that Russian “milbloggers” who have been more critical of Putin’s war operations were not invited to the conversation.

“Putin is likely setting information conditions to prevent potential lines of attack against the Kremlin in the event of Russian failure” in Ukraine, the ISW said, adding that the Russian president may be aware “that committed pro-war figures” and the influence of military blogging are “his key constituency as he calls on the Russian public to prepare for a protracted war in Ukraine”.

“Putin’s engagement with these milbloggers may suggest that the Kremlin will increasingly rely on the wider ultranationalist community to maintain support for the war effort,” the ISW said.

According to the ISW, Russian claims of Major-General Goryachev’s death in the Zaporizhia area show that “some Russian senior military commander officials continue to operate close to the front line and remain vulnerable to accurate Ukrainian strikes.”

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In 2022, RNLI lifeboat personnel will have rescued the lives of 108 migrants

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According to the RNLI, lifeboats were sent 290 times last year to rescue migrants in the English Channel.

For the first time, the organisation has made public information about its work on migrant crossings.

The RNLI, which has been chastised for providing a “taxi service” for migrants, reported saving 108 lives in the Channel between France and the Kent coast.

Its CEO stated that he made no apologies for saving lives at sea.

In 2022, lifeboats manned by volunteer crews were launched more than 9,000 times off the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The charity’s annual report for 2022 shows a 3.5% rise in net revenue, part of which came from larger donations, but expenditures also increased.

Some of the funds have gone towards the development of a new gadget known as “sea stairs,” a floating platform that allows workers to rescue people from the ocean more rapidly.

Mr. Ling called the floating platform a “game changer.”

He said that a standard rescue of a sinking small boat would take roughly one minute per person, but the sea stairs allowed 20 people to be rescued in 90 seconds.

The arrival of 616 migrants on tiny boats on Monday brings the total number of migrants crossing in 2023 to 8,380.

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News Trending

French HR murders: Man on trial for killing three female job managers

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A man named Gabriel Fortin, aged 48, is currently standing trial in France for the alleged murder of three women whom he believed were responsible for ruining his career. Fortin was arrested in 2021 in Valence, a city in southern France. The victims include two human resources managers who were involved in his dismissal years ago, as well as a benefits director at a job center. Fortin is also accused of attempting to murder another manager.

The first killing took place on January 26, 2021, in the Alsace region of eastern France, where Estelle Luce, a human resources manager, was shot in the head in her company’s parking lot. Later that evening, another HR manager, Bertrand Meichel, was shot at his home by someone pretending to be a pizza delivery person. Fortunately, Meichel survived the attack. Two days later, in Valence, a masked man entered a local job center, pulled out a gun from a plastic bag, and killed the benefits director, Patricia Pasquion. Shortly after, the same individual shot and killed another HR manager, Géraldine Caclin, at an environmental services company near Valence.

Police identified Gabriel Fortin as the suspect based on the license plate of the car used by the gunman when leaving the job center. Investigations revealed that Fortin had a history of resentment and grudges towards the victims. In 2009, Caclin had been involved in his dismissal from a company, and he had registered with the Valence job center afterward. Although Pasquion had no direct involvement with him, investigators believe he held animosity towards the center’s staff.

Police spent over two years analyzing Fortin’s computer data, finding substantial evidence of his lasting bitterness and indications that he had been monitoring the movements of his eventual victims. Fortin, an unemployed engineer at the time of his arrest, has remained silent and refused to cooperate with investigators since then.

Gabriel Fortin appeared in court in Valence on Tuesday, where he faced charges of three murders and one count of attempted murder. Prior to the trial, the sister of Patricia Pasquion expressed her outrage, describing Fortin’s actions as cowardly and emphasizing his refusal to communicate during the attacks.

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News Trending War

Ursula von der Leyen: EU’s ‘general’ nears endgame of turbulent first term

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For years, the European Union (EU) has faced criticism for lacking a single voice on the world stage. However, many in Brussels now see Ursula von der Leyen, the first female President of the European Commission, as someone who can fill that role. Von der Leyen has been involved in various high-profile meetings, such as visiting Kyiv and attending an EU summit with Ukraine’s president, meeting Joe Biden at the White House to address tensions over green subsidies, and joining French President Emmanuel Macron to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping amid deteriorating EU-China relations.

During her tenure as the head of the European Commission, which shapes and enforces policies for 450 million Europeans, von der Leyen has faced significant challenges. She took office in 2019 with a focus on addressing the climate emergency but soon had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine, which marked the largest war on European soil since World War II. Despite these crises, von der Leyen has been praised for her leadership, with one EU official noting that the EU now has a central command and a leader for crisis management.

Von der Leyen follows a disciplined routine, starting her day early and living in her office at the Berlaymont, the commission’s headquarters, to avoid traffic. Her living space is a modest room on the 13th floor, originally designed as a restroom, for which she pays €18,000 in rent deducted from her salary and housing allowance. Known for her work ethic, the 64-year-old former medical doctor spends much of her time at her desk and avoids social events. She leads a frugal lifestyle, abstaining from alcohol and maintaining a vegetarian diet.

Von der Leyen rarely gives interviews and prefers to deliver carefully scripted video messages in English, French, and German. She is known for her punctuality and efficiency, with meetings starting and ending on time. While her predecessor, Jean-Claude Juncker, was known for his wit and spontaneity, von der Leyen prefers to stick to prepared remarks.

Overall, von der Leyen’s leadership has been marked by her ability to navigate crises and provide a more unified voice for the EU on the global stage.

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Crime News Trending

Police in Nottingham have discovered the bodies of three persons

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According to police, a suspect has been apprehended for murder after at least three persons were discovered dead in Nottingham.

Officers said in a statement on Tuesday that a 31-year-old man was detained in the city on suspicion of murder after a van attempted to run over three others.

Initially, two persons were discovered dead in the city core. Police were summoned to another incident near where a van attempted to run over three persons shortly after 4 a.m. local time (03:00 GMT). They are receiving medical attention in a hospital.

Another man was discovered dead in a different road close outside the city core.

“This is a horrific and tragic incident that has taken three lives,” Chief Constable Kate Meynell said in a statement.

“We believe these three incidents are connected, and we have a suspect in custody.” “This investigation is still in its early stages, and a team of detectives is working to determine exactly what happened,” she continued.

“At this time, a number of roads in the city will remain closed as this investigation progresses,” she added.

According to Al Jazeera’s Nadim Baba, reporting from London, the local tram network has ceased all operations, however other modes of transportation remain operational.

“The police have not given us any more details about any motives of the suspect,” he added.

“Awful news for our city to wake up to today,” Nottingham politician Alex Norris tweeted. “Our community’s thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected.”

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News Trending War

‘Massive’ Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine

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At least six people were killed and more than 30 were injured in a Russian missile strike on the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine.

According to Serhiy Lisak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, where Kryvyi Rih is located, a multistory residential building was among the civilian infrastructure targeted in the early morning attack on Tuesday.

“A five-story building was demolished. Three of its occupants perished, according to preliminary accounts. “25 people were injured,” Lisak claimed early Tuesday morning on the Telegram chat service. “A massive missile attack on Kryvyi Rih,” he announced.

Oleksandr Vilkul, the city’s mayor, subsequently upped the death toll to six, despite previously warning that people were likely buried beneath the wreckage of buildings damaged in the attack.

“Unfortunately, six people have already died. “The rescue operation is still ongoing,” Vilkul wrote on the Telegram chat service.

Ukraine’s senior military command claimed air forces destroyed ten of the fourteen cruise missiles fired by Russia on Ukraine on Tuesday, as well as one of four Iranian-made drones.

It was unclear how many missiles targeted Kryvyi Rih or where the drones hit their objectives.

A drone struck civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov.

“According to preliminary reports, a utility company in the Kyivskyi district and a warehouse in the Saltivskyi district were both damaged.” “As a result of the explosion on the latter, a fire broke out,” he explained.

The current round of airstrikes comes as Ukraine claims to have retaken numerous villages and made significant progress in its counteroffensive against Russian soldiers.

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News Sports Trending

Kylian Mbappe notifies PSG that he will not be extending his contract: Media

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According to reports, Paris Saint-Germain was hoping Mbappe would trigger a contract extension.

According to French sports weekly L’Equipe and foreign media outlets, French football sensation Kylian Mbappe has informed Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) that he will leave the Ligue 1 winners when his contract expires next year.

According to reports, Mbappe stunned the PSG hierarchy by declining the option of a 12-month contract extension, which he presented in a formal letter, and follows Lionel Messi’s recent announcement of his departure from PSG to Major League Soccer (MLS) side Inter Miami in the United States.

According to press sources, PSG will have to decide whether to sell the 24-year-old attacker, who scored a hat-trick for France against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final, or let him depart for nothing when his current contract expires in June 2024.

According to reports in France, PSG is hoping to extend Mbappe’s contract.

Mbappe’s departure would be the most significant for PSG, as he is a national symbol in France and largely regarded as one of the few players capable of dethroning Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as football’s biggest stars.

Mbappe wanted to help PSG win its first Champions League trophy, but the club experienced yet another setback in Europe’s premier competition, which Manchester City won by defeating Inter Milan 1-0 in the final on Saturday.

Mbappe has five French league titles with PSG and was France’s World Cup winner in 2018.

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News Trending War

Radio New Zealand apologises for broadcasting “pro-Kremlin garbage.”

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The leader of Radio New Zealand has apologised for airing “pro-Kremlin garbage.”

A journalist has been placed on leave after it was revealed that many web pieces regarding the Ukrainian war had been changed to benefit Russia.

Since personnel were notified on Friday, roughly 250 stories have been forensically investigated, according to CEO Paul Thompson.

Sixteen articles have been edited, with hundreds more to be reviewed.

“It’s quite frustrating. I’m devastated. It’s excruciating. “It’s shocking,” he said on RNZ’s Nine to Noon. “We need to figure out how this happened.”

Mr Thompson indicated that the organization’s editing practises will be subjected to an external examination.

The journalist in issue claims to have spent years editing news agency text for the RNZ website.

According to a statement by the state-owned RNZ, the 16 pieces had been reprinted with corrections and editor’s comments when flaws were discovered.

Mr Thompson apologised to the audience, readers, workers, and the Ukrainian community.

“It’s very disappointing that this pro-Kremlin garbage has ended up in our stories,” Mr Thompson said on Nine to Noon. “It’s inexcusable.”

The edited articles claimed that Russia unlawfully acquired Crimea following a vote, while Ukraine and the international community do not acknowledge Russia’s possession of Ukraine’s southern peninsula.

The United Nations has endorsed a resolution highlighting the referendum’s illegitimacy.

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