WWE’s Vince McMahon resigns after sexual assault and trafficking lawsuit
Former employee files lawsuit accusing McMahon and another executive of sexual assault, trafficking and emotional abuse. Vince McMahon has resigned from wrestling giant TKO Group and the subsidiary World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) he founded after a lawsuit that accused him of sexual assault and trafficking. McMahon stepped down from his position as executive chairman of the board of directors at WWE’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings, according to a statement released late on Friday. Former employee Janel Grant sued the company, McMahon and former head of talent relations John Laurinaitis, alleging sexual assault, trafficking and emotional abuse. Grant filed the complaint on Thursday in a court in the US state of Connecticut, where WWE is based, accusing McMahon of coercing her into a “sexual relationship”, sharing sexually explicit photos and videos of her with male colleagues, and subjecting her to “increasingly depraved sexual demands” that included sexual encounters with Laurinaitis and others. McMahon’s statement said he was leaving the board “out of respect” for WWE and TKO Group. “I stand by my prior statement that Ms Grant’s lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth,” he said in the statement. “I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name.” On Thursday, Grant’s lawyer Ann Callis said in a statement that Grant hopes her lawsuit will prevent other women from being victimised. “The organisation is well aware of Mr McMahon’s history of depraved behavior, and it’s time that they take responsibility for the misconduct of its leadership,” she said. Grant is seeking unspecified monetary damages and to have the court void a $3m nondisclosure agreement, of which she alleges she received only $1m. Ongoing accusations In 2022, McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO amid an investigation into allegations that match those in Grant’s lawsuit. His daughter Stephanie McMahon was named interim CEO as the investigation continued amid widening allegations of misconduct and payments of millions of dollars to women formerly associated with WWE to keep quiet about affairs and alleged misconduct. After buying what was then the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from his father in 1982, McMahon turned the second-rate league into an entertainment giant. He used scripted matches, celebrity wrestlers and glitz to make the brand more acceptable to television audiences, and created the concept of pay-per-view matches for bigger events such as “WrestleMania” to build its revenue base. The organisation passed the billion-dollar mark in annual sales last year and on Tuesday Netflix sealed a 10-year, $5bn broadcast deal with WWE. TKO was formed after WWE merged last April with the company that runs the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to create the $21.4bn sports entertainment company. Adblock test (Why?)
Femicide in Kenya: What’s causing an epidemic of violence against women?
The murders of two Kenyan women this month are spotlighting a worrying regularity in gender-based violence in the East African country, with activists calling for more government measures to protect women. Rita Waeni, a 20-year-old student was killed and dismembered in a shortlet apartment in the capital Nairobi on January 14. Days before, a popular Instagram figure, Starlet Wahu, 26, was found dead in an Airbnb room, bleeding out from a fatal stab wound inflicted by a man she met online. They are only two of at least four reported gender-based murders in Kenya since the start of the year, as the country faces an increasing number of killings and abuses meted on women, rights groups say. Amid social media outrage, women say they plan to assemble in protest on January 27 to demand more action from authorities. Here’s what happened in the recent cases, an overview of gender-based violence, and what activists are demanding: What do we know about the recent murders? CCTV footage captured Starlet Wahu, a social media influencer, walking with a male figure into a shortlet in a mid-class neighbourhood in Nairobi on the evening of January 3. The man left the premises the next morning with bloodied clothes and a possible leg injury, a guard told the police. Wahu was found lifeless, with stab wounds and bite marks. Police found HIV test kits and a bloodied knife in the room. A suspect, believed to be a serial offender, has been arrested. Several women have stepped up to accuse the same man of previous assaults. Nearly two weeks later, on January 14, the dismembered body of Rita Waeni, a fourth-year student of Nairobi’s agriculture university, was found in a bag dumped at a trash collection point in the central business district. Waeni had also entered a short-term rental with a man the day before, but eyewitnesses say only the man left the room, and that blood traces led them to the bag. Waeni’s family members said they received texts for a ransom, possibly after her murder. Local papers report that Waeni may have been lured by her murderer through the social app, Instagram. Three male suspects are in custody – one was arrested at the airport on his way out of Kenya. Kenyan media have also reported the murders of two other women in the last week. Police say Christine Aume was cooking in her detached kitchen in Homa Bay, western Kenya, when she was attacked and beheaded on January 17. On the same day, police found a woman murdered and dumped by a road in Kiambu County, central Kenya. How many women have been murdered? Activists in Kenya say the country is experiencing increasing rates of femicide, which is defined as the intentional murder of women or girls primarily because of their gender, and usually by their partners or other persons they know like family members. The Kenyan government doesn’t collect figures on women murders. However, Femicide Count Kenya, which monitors killings reported in local news, recorded 58 deaths it labelled as femicides between January and October 2022. In 2023, the organisation said it recorded at least 152 killings – the highest in the past five years. Some 500 Kenyan women were murdered between 2017 and 2024, according to another estimate by investigative platforms Africa Uncensored and Africa Data Hub. 2 weeks into 2024, headlines tell of women killed by men close to them. The cases only scratch the surface, countless deaths go unrecognized. This Friday, with @AfUncensored & @Africa_DataHub, we launch “#SilencingWomen“: a database of femicide cases since 2016. #EndFemicideKE pic.twitter.com/kalubrYM0t — VybeCast (@VybeCast) January 16, 2024 Abuse cases are rife. News reports document women being beaten, stabbed and raped. Nonprofit Usikimye, which runs a helpline for female survivors of violence, says it receives more than 150 calls daily, including from people who refer to a third party suffering abuse. A 2022 national survey also found that about a third of Kenyan females – some nine million women – have experienced some form of physical violence. Although many of the deaths occurred in private spaces, women in Nairobi say there’s a general atmosphere of fear in the city, and that they are finding safety in measures like travelling in groups because they have little faith in the authorities. “We as Kenyan women are not being listened to,” said Inyika Odero, an activist and model who helped organise a virtual protest and discussion on Sunday after authorities refused her a protest permit. “What else can we do apart from travel in groups and try to get home before it’s dark which is almost impossible because people have jobs and take public transportation?” Odero said. “We are not allowed to have tasers or pepper spray, that’s illegal.” Why is femicide on the rise? Kenya, like many African countries, has adopted treaties that address gender-based violence, including the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. National laws like the Sexual Offences Act also criminalise violence against women. In addition, the Kenyan police have a specialised gender desk. But activists say government policies are scarcely effective. “We have seen no government-sponsored national campaigns addressing GBV [gender-based violence] or its consequences,” said Shyleen Bonareri, director of Nairobi-based Young Women’s Leadership Institute (YWLI). “The justice system remains sluggish and ineffective in prosecuting the perpetrators and corruption continues to cause gaps in the implementation of these ambitious laws,” she told Al Jazeera. Instead, many women say, there’s a deep-seated “misogynistic” culture that sees women as objects to be “owned” and that focuses on shaming them for being victims, rather than their male perpetrators. Even as shock and outrage grew over the killings of Wahu and Waeni on social media, activists point out how some Kenyans, notably men, have chosen to blame the women, questioning everything from why they were meeting up and entering shortlets with the men. Idk if the media was careless in reporting
Tuvalu’s pro-Taiwan leader loses seat in closely watched election
Tuvalu is one of only 12 remaining diplomatic allies of Taipei amid growing US-China rivalry in the Pacific. Tuvalu’s pro-Taiwan leader has lost his seat in closely watched elections in the tiny Pacific island nation. Prime Minister Kausea Natano failed to return to his seat on the main atoll of Funafuti, election results showed on Saturday, dealing a potential blow to Taipei’s efforts to hold onto its dwindling number of diplomatic allies. Tuvalu, home to just 11,200 people, is one of only 12 states that formally recognise Taiwan, and Natano had pledged to maintain ties with the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its territory. Taipei lost one of four remaining Pacific Islands allies last month after Nauru switched recognition to Beijing, following switches by Solomon Islands and Kiribati in 2019. China refuses to recognise countries that have formal relations with Taiwan, which it has pledged to “reunify” with the Chinese mainland by force if necessary. Natano’s rival, Seve Paeniu, who was returned to his seat, said he would seek the support of lawmakers to become prime minister after pledging during the election campaign to review the country’s ties with Taipei. Lawmakers are expected to meet next week to vote for a new prime minister. The election comes as small Pacific island nations such as Tuvalu are at the centre of a competition for regional influence between China and the United States and its Western allies. In November, Natano signed a far-reaching deal with Australia that gives Canberra a say in Tuvalu’s defence ties with other countries in exchange for security guarantees and a pathway to residency in Australia for Tuvalu citizens threatened by climate change. Enele Sopoaga, another potential contender for the leadership who retained his seat, has argued the deal should be scrapped because it infringes on Tuvalu’s sovereignty. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Saturday congratulated Tuvalu on the “successful election”. “We look forward to working with the new Government,” Wong said. “Australia and Tuvalu are longstanding friends, sharing an interest in building a stronger, more resilient and more peaceful Pacific.” Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 703
As the war enters its 703rd day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Saturday, January 27, 2024. Fighting Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Ilyushin-76 plane that crashed near the border with Ukraine was shot down by Ukrainian air defences, whether on purpose or by mistake. The death toll from Russian missile strikes on Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv earlier this week rose to 11, officials said. Putin said Russia’s future ruling class should be made up of army veterans, and not “weirdos” who “show their backsides”. The remarks appeared to slam a raunchy “almost naked” celebrity party held in Moscow last month that drew fierce public backlash. A court in Moscow on Friday extended the pre-trial detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by two months, following his arrest last year on espionage charges. A general view shows a building damaged by a Russian missile hit in central Kharkiv, Ukraine, January 17, 2024 [File: Yan Dobronosov/Reuters] Economy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the creation of a new economic body to assist businesses in wartime after several entrepreneurs voiced outrage at the arrest of a prominent banker. In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said the All-Ukraine Economic Platform would help businesses overcome the challenges posed by Russia’s invasion. Diplomacy US President Joe Biden criticised congressional Republicans for stalling military aid to Ukraine amid a lack of consensus on a separate deal to reinforce the US-Mexico border. The chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Turkey needed to cooperate better on holding Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine following the US government’s approval of a $23bn deal to sell F-16 warplanes to Ankara. The chief negotiator for Moldova’s Russian-backed separatist Transdniestria region announced that his team would no longer attend talks on the country’s future in areas under government control because he feared arrest. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel’s war on Gaza: List of key events, day 113
Top UN court orders Israel to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza; US and UK conduct new attacks on Houthi targets. Here’s how things stand on Saturday, January 27, 2024: Red Sea tensions The United States and the United Kingdom launched two air attacks that targeted the port of Ras Issa in Yemen’s Hodeidah province, reported Al Masirah, a Houthi-run satellite news channel. Yemen’s Houthi fighters have stepped up attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea. One of their hits sparked a fire on a fuel tanker but no injuries were reported. The US military said it destroyed a Houthi antiship missile in Yemen that was ready to launch towards the Red Sea. Cruise operator Carnival joined the growing list of companies flagging a potential hit to their operations due to Houthi attacks. ICJ ruling The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and do more to help civilians, although it stopped short of calling for a ceasefire as requested by the plaintiff, South Africa. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the ICJ ruling and said Israel will continue to defend itself and its citizens while adhering to international law. Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the ruling was an important development that contributed to isolating Israel and exposing its crimes in Gaza. More global reactions here. Diplomacy US President Joe Biden spoke with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani about Gaza. They agreed that efforts to secure the release of captives taken by Hamas were key to securing a longer pause in fighting, the White House said. Argentina’s President Javier Milei said he would travel to Israel in the “coming weeks”, one of his first overseas trips since the libertarian economist took office last month after pledging strong support for Israel during his campaign. The White House expressed hope about progress in talks to release captives held by Hamas in Gaza as Biden’s Middle East envoy Brett McGurk returned to Washington, DC from a trip to the region. German state broadcaster ARD said Israel was blocking two of its long-term Palestinian workers from leaving Gaza, where they fear for their lives, citing security concerns the broadcaster said did not make sense. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said it opened an investigation into several employees suspected of involvement in the October 7 attacks. Other developments Israeli protesters blocked humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza with crucial supplies of flour, food, tents and hygiene items, the UN said. Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) said “vital medical services have collapsed at Nasser Hospital” due to heavy fighting and bombardments around the key medical facility in Khan Younis. A 27-year-old Palestinian man, shot by Israeli forces northeast of Jenin, died of his injuries, according to the Palestinian media. Adblock test (Why?)
The Sundarbans dilemma: Islands swallowed by water, and nowhere else to go
Sundarbans, India – Panchanan Dolui, who lives on Mousuni Island in the Indian Sundarbans, has shifted homes three times due to floods and river erosion. Each time, he moves farther from the receding edge of the island to avoid displacement. He has watched the river eat away vast tracts of land. “Where do we go? There is nowhere to go,” he laments. Located in West Bengal state in eastern India and neighbouring Bangladesh, the Sundarbans forest system is a cluster of low-lying islands and represents the largest mangrove ecosystem in the world. It is home to several endangered species and acts as a natural barrier against cyclones, storm surges and other environmental hazards. The forests are also natural agents of carbon capture and sequestration. But things are changing fast. Four cyclones that hit the eastern coast of India from 2019 to 2021 – Fani, Amphan, Bulbul and Yaas – point to the increasingly unpredictable weather in the Sundarbans caused by climate change and rising sea levels. Now, the Sundarbans are increasingly “not safe for human habitation”, says Kalyan Rudra, chairperson of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board. The spate of recent cyclones has compounded climate-induced displacement that the people of the Sundarbans have confronted in previous decades. Lohachara was one of the first inhabited islands to disappear under the sea in 1996, forcing residents to relocate to neighbouring islands, often without documents or property deeds. In the face of limited options for making a living and without sufficient development in the region, migration has become a coping strategy for many residents. There have been several waves of migration within the Sundarbans, often on the same island, to avoid flooding from embankment breaches, tidal bores and storm surges. Since Cyclone Aila in 2009, distress migration driven by economic vulnerability has resulted in men taking up work as informal migrant workers across India. Women-headed households in the Sundarbans are more common than in any other area of India because of distress migration. But these households are often marked by debt burdens, a high number of dependents and limited livelihood options. Meanwhile, increasing land salinity due to severe cyclonic storms and tidal wave action, which carries seawater from the Bay of Bengal into the Sundarbans delta, impedes soil productivity. Increased salinity forces farming changes Salinity-resistant paddy farming is an important form of climate change adaptation in the area, and it has become increasingly popular over the past decade. Increased salinity, however, has also led to brackish water shrimp farming on a commercial scale, causing land degradation. The health of women who perform the poorly paid labour of prawn seed collection, which involves standing up to six hours in saltwater, is adversely affected. Increasing salinity is a leading cause of reproductive health problems among rural women in the Sundarbans, including pelvic inflammation and urinary tract infections. Increasing salinity has also led to a severely degraded mangrove ecosystem, affecting biodiversity and causing a loss of forest reserves that sustain local communities. The ire of tigers The pressure on forest resources also amplifies man-animal conflict in the area. The Sundarbans are home to tiger widows, women whose husbands went into the Sundarbans reserve for fishing or honey collection and were killed by tigers. There is no official recognition of such deaths because entry into the forest became illegal for its dwellers once the area was declared a tiger reserve in 1973 and came under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Pradip Chatterjee, former president of the Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum or the South Bengal Fishers’ Union, calls these tiger deaths “be-aini mrityu”, or illegal deaths, marked by the erasure of the person’s existence. He notes that the local police station refuses to make entries of the tiger deaths because of their “illegal” nature, hampering the process of applying for compensation – a bureaucratic labyrinth that requires the deceased’s kin to produce a police report and death certificate. Recently, the Calcutta High Court acknowledged tiger deaths in a landmark decision, ordering the West Bengal Forest Department to pay full compensation to two tiger widows. How the marginalised are sidelined Continuing climate disasters not only slow down the recovery but also exacerbate pre-existing vulnerabilities of caste and gender. For example, government relief after disasters is often selective and contingent on existing land holdings, such as after Cyclone Amphan. “Our two-room house collapsed and trees had fallen on them. We couldn’t enter our house any more,” former Sundarbans resident Neela Ghosh said. “But relief workers went to those houses that were unaffected and where the owners don’t live. We are sitting outside our broken home and receiving very meagre funds.” As erosion across the Sundarbans continues, officials struggle to agree upon areas suitable for the relocation of the most vulnerable residents. West Bengal recorded the longest stretch of shoreline erosion in India at 63 percent with 99sq km (38sq miles) of land lost due to coastal erosion from 1990 to 2016. This has a direct effect on the landless, marginal residents of the Sundarbans, who reside closest to the riverbanks. In a telephone interview, a Forest Department official says prime land was already occupied in the Sundarbans and people located on the edge – usually the most marginalised and vulnerable – would only be relocated to another edge. The remaining public land is not fit for habitation or agriculture, meaning the only area that could be converted into habitable or agricultural land was forest, the official added. So, in responding to people forced from their homes because of erosion, government policy will have to walk a fine line in not claiming more forest land for relocation. Decisions around where to relocate residents are made more difficult by the fact that erosion has made some islands, including Sagar Island, to which planned relocation has been taking place, unsafe for human habitation, according to Rudra. However, there are some areas of the Sundarbans where sediment build-up is taking place, which presents possibilities. “We can identify such areas which are less vulnerable and
Who is Julia Sebutinde? The judge against all ICJ rulings in Israel’s case
The United Nations’ top court ordered Israel on Friday to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in its military offensive in Gaza, but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire. South Africa alleged that Israel’s campaign in Gaza amounted to genocide in the case and had asked the court to order Israel to halt the operation. In the anticipated decision, made by a panel of 17 judges, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered six so-called provisional measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza. Those measures were approved by an overwhelming majority of the judges. An Israeli judge voted in favour of two of the six. But Uganda’s Judge, Julia Sebuntinde, was the only judge who voted against all of them. Here is what we know about her, and why she voted the way she did: First African woman to sit on the ICJ Born in February 1956, Sebutinde is a Ugandan judge serving her second term at the ICJ. She has been a judge at the court since March 2021. She is the first African woman to sit on the international court. According to the Institute for African Women in Law, Sebutinde comes from a modest family and she was born during a period when Uganda was actively fighting for independence from the British Colonial office. Sebutinde attended Lake Victoria Primary School in Entebbe, Uganda. After finishing primary school, she went to Gayaza High School. She later pursued her degree at Makerere University and received a bachelor of laws degree in 1977, at the age of 21. Later, as part of her education in 1990, at the age of 34, she went to Scotland where she earned a master of laws degree with distinction from the University of Edinburgh. In 2009, the same university honoured her with a doctorate of laws, recognising her contributions to legal and judicial service. Before being elected to the ICJ, Sebutinde was a judge of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. She was appointed to that position in 2007. Sierra Leone’s case: Charles Taylor over war crimes Throughout her professional career, Sebutinde has been no stranger to controversies. In February 2011, Sebutinde was one of three presiding judges in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes committed in Sierra Leone. During that time, the Special Court found Taylor guilty on 11 accounts, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, terrorism, murder, rape and the use of child soldiers, resulting in a 50-year prison sentence. On February 8, London barrister Courtenay Griffiths, who represented Taylor, walked out of proceedings after judges refused to accept a written summary of the ex-Liberian president’s defence at the end of his trial. On February 28, a disciplinary hearing to censure Griffiths was indefinitely adjourned because Sebutinde declined to be present, withdrawing “on principle”. This decision came after her earlier dissent from the order requiring Griffiths to apologise or face disciplinary action. ICJ case in Palestine Fast forward to 2024, Sebutinde once again captured headlines, this time for being the only judge who voted against all measures sought by South Africa in its genocide case against Israel. In a dissenting opinion, Sebutinde stated the following: “In my respectful dissenting opinion the dispute between the State of Israel and the people of Palestine is essentially and historically a political one.” “It is not a legal dispute susceptible to judicial settlement by the Court,” she added. She also said that South Africa didn’t demonstrate that the acts allegedly committed by Israel were “committed with the necessary genocidal intent, and that as a result, they are capable of falling within the scope of the Genocide Convention”. Experts argued that Sebutinde failed to conduct a thorough assessment of the situation. “I think what the dissenting opinion gets wrong is that genocide is not a political dispute, it’s a legal matter. Both South Africa and Israel signed the Genocide Convention in 1948 and accept the jurisdiction over breaches of the Genocide Convention and failure to prevent genocide,” Mark Kersten, assistant professor at the University of the Fraser Valley focusing on human rights law, told Al Jazeera. “You cannot simply say this is something for history, this is something for politics. Of course, history and politics play a role,” he added. The ambassador of Uganda to the United Nations also expressed a different opinion. “Justice Sebutinde ruling at the International Court of Justice does not represent the Government of Uganda’s position on the situation in Palestine,” he said in a statement on Twitter. Justice Sebutinde ruling at the International Court of Justice does not represent the Government of Uganda’s position on the situation in Palestine. She has previously voted against Uganda’s case on DRC. Uganda’s support for the plight of the Palestinian people has been expressed… — Adonia Ayebare (@adoniaayebare) January 26, 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Russia’s Putin says ‘obvious’ Ukraine shot down plane over Belgorod
Moscow and Kyiv trade blame after Ilyushin Il-76 plane crashed, reportedly killing 65 Ukrainian POWs said to be on board. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Ukrainian air defences shot down the Russian military plane that crashed near its border with Ukraine this week. In his first comments about Wednesday’s crash, Putin said that the results of Moscow’s investigation would be published in two to three days, but preliminary results suggested that the missiles that hit the plane were either American or French. Putin also accused Ukraine of knowing that the Ilyushin Il-76 plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war. “I don’t know if they did it on purpose or by mistake, but it is obvious that they did it,” Putin said in televised comments on Friday. “In any case, what happened is a crime. Either through negligence or on purpose, but in any case, it is a crime.” The Russian defence ministry said six Russian crew members and three Russian soldiers were also on board the flight to undertake the latest prisoner swap with Ukraine. Ukraine has not confirmed nor denied whether it shot down the plane and has challenged Moscow’s account of who was on board and what occurred. Kyiv has refuted Moscow’s claim that it was warned that a plane carrying Ukrainian POWs would be flying over Russia’s Belgorod region at that time. It also said there were discrepancies in a list of names published by Russian media of the 65 Ukrainians who were reportedly on board. However, Putin said the plane could not have been brought down by Russian “friendly fire” since its air defence systems have safeguards in place to prevent them from attacking their aircraft. “There are ‘friend or foe’ systems there, and no matter how much the operator presses the button, our air defence systems would not work,” he said. Trading blame On Thursday, Ukraine called for an international investigation into the blast. “Regarding an international investigation, I believe that we will do our part to make it happen. But I am convinced that … the Russians will make loud statements but will not allow anyone in,” Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament commissioner for human rights, told national television, adding he would send letters to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. “They will not hand over any materials for analysis and will simply blame Ukraine,” he added. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also called for an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss the downed plane on Thursday. At the session, Moscow and Kyiv both sought to pin the blame on the other. “All of the information that we have today shows that we are dealing with a premeditated, thought-through crime,” said Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, adding that Ukraine’s leaders “knew the route very well, knew about the way the soldiers were going to be transported to the place of exchange”. He accused Kyiv of sacrificing its own troops “to Western geopolitical interests”. Ukraine’s Deputy Ambassador Khrystyna Hayovyshyn in turn rejected the accusation, saying that “Ukraine was not informed about the number of vehicles, roads and means of transportation of the captives”. “This alone may constitute intentional actions by Russia to endanger the lives and safety of the prisoners,” she said. Adblock test (Why?)
Displaced people in Khan Younis told to move further south
NewsFeed “You must immediately move“ Israel tells hundreds of people in Khan Younis, including those already displaced, to move further south as the military continues to expand its offensive in the area. Published On 26 Jan 202426 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Filipinos in Hong Kong were promised a new life in Poland. It never came
This is the second article in a two-part series about the alleged exploitation of Filipino migrant workers. You can read part one here. Hong Kong, China – It only took a few minutes of searching online for Divina*, a domestic worker in Hong Kong, to find a recruiter offering the tempting opportunity to work in Poland. Before long, Divina found herself attending a two-hour orientation session on the 17th floor of a building in the city’s bustling Mong Kok district. There, she listened as agents listed opportunities in workplaces ranging from hotels to a chicken processing plant and a car parts factory. “So you would really be convinced that [they] had many contacts in Poland,” she told Al Jazeera. Divina paid the recruiters 10,000 Hong Kong dollars ($1,279) to initiate her application to work in Europe. But more than 14 months later, Divina is still waiting for her application to be finalised and has all but given up hope of ever reaching Poland. Divina is one of at least dozens of domestic workers in Hong Kong who feel cheated after paying thousands of dollars in fees for jobs in Poland that haven’t materialised. Labour advocates in the financial hub say that the victims of an international network of recruiters and agencies have lost at least 600,000 Hong Kong dollars ($76,785) – but that is likely to only be the tip of the iceberg. Al Jazeera spoke with five Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong and read written statements from 20 others who claim to have been deceived by online recruiters and at least two agencies in Hong Kong that worked with a Poland-based agency. Many said they were unable to support their families for months after taking out loans to cover the recruitment fees. Labour advocates in Hong Kong say domestic workers have been targeted by an international network of recruiters and agencies that has cost them at least 600,000 Hong Kong dollars [Dan Archer/Al Jazeera] Such cases are far from unique in Hong Kong, which has become a “hotbed for illegal recruitment schemes” due to its 340,000-strong population of foreign domestic workers and the growing demand for migrant workers from Asia to Eastern Europe, according to David Bishop, a university professor and co-founder of the migration-focused social enterprise Migrasia. Bishop said his team has identified a large number of agencies that engage in third-country recruitment strategies prohibited by Philippine labour authorities. “These agencies target Filipino workers in Asia with the alleged intention of placing them in jobs in Europe,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that recruiters play on the despair of people hoping to find work opportunities. A few weeks after her application, Divina was informed that a Warsaw-based agency would be solely responsible for handling her application. The partner agency in Hong Kong that she dealt with directly told her it was no longer involved. Ultimately, the Polish agency claimed it had not received her payment. Divina, who is legally required to live with her employer in Hong Kong and often works 16-hour shifts without overtime, was at a loss for what to do next. “I keep praying, I keep begging [to get back] all our hard-earned money,” she said, adding that while she hopes to get a refund, she still dreams of going to Poland. Recruitment agents have sold Poland to domestic workers as a country that offers higher salaries – sometimes more than double – better working conditions, and the opportunity to live together with their families in Europe. After the Philippines, Hong Kong was the top source of visa applications by Filipinos hoping to work in Poland from 2021 to November 2023. Polish authorities in Hong Kong processed 2,980 visas for Filipino workers over the period, according to a spokesman for Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Searching for answers Maria*, another Filipina migrant worker who applied for a job in Poland with the Mong Kok-based agency, has also been left searching for answers. “I don’t know where my 10,000 Hong Kong dollars went,” she told Al Jazeera, referring to the first cash instalment she made in May 2022. Maria said she was told her full application would cost 30,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$3,839) – more than six times the monthly minimum wage of a domestic worker in Hong Kong. “I thought that because we were using an actual agency in Hong Kong, we would be more protected,” she said. Maria cannot understand why she remains in the city, while another worker she knows who applied with the same agency at the same time was offered a job and successfully reached the Eastern European country. In WhatsApp messages seen by Al Jazeera, Maria asked the Hong Kong agency for proof that her money had indeed been sent to Poland, but was told that was “confidential [information] between companies”. In November 2022, the agency – which currently holds a licence to operate in the city – sent a letter to applicants, claiming that “all the problems” were “from the Poland side”. When Al Jazeera accompanied Maria on two visits to her agency in Mong Kok last month, the office was closed each time. A person who answered a number posted on the door questioned why Maria had decided to go there in person, insisting queries be sent over WhatsApp. Despite repeated efforts, Maria has been unable to meet with anyone from the agency in person. Philippine authorities have received dozens of complaints against the Poland-based agency CIS Group Manpower [Dan Archer/Al Jazeera] The Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong had recorded 24 formal complaints against a Poland-based agency, CIS Group Manpower, as of the end of November – 18 of which named Son Employment as its Hong Kong partner. “Almost all stated they have paid significant amounts [ranging from] 10,000 to 30,000 Hong Kong dollars to the recruiter, only ending up not being able to leave for Poland,” Raly Tejada, who served as Consul General until last month, told Al Jazeera. The owner of the CIS Group Manpower, Imran