Latest News
Victims lose €3.5m in child abuse extortion scam
Police in France and Belgium say they have arrested 19 members of gangs who sent people fake court summonses that accused them of viewing images of children being sexually abused.
People who received the messages were threatened with prosecution and tricked into paying thousands of dollars in supposed fines. Police say the scam had been going for more than two years, with at least €3.5m extorted.
At least one victim killed himself. The man had been stung by the scam on two occasions, first being made to pay €5,978, then another €7,480.
Colonel Thomas Andreu, head of one of the special French police units, said the sums extracted from victims were often larger, in some cases as much as €200,000. “We thought that the fraud was being run by one central structure,” said Col Andreu. “However, it turned out to be several little teams which were not linked.”
Eighteen people were arrested in France on Monday and one in Belgium. All were aged between 20 and 50. All but three suspects were ordered to appear in court on fraud charges.
The Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation after the scam began at the start of 2021. By June of the following year it had received 400 complaints relating to it. Authorities are still trying to understand how many people were affected and believe that six others who were targeted may also have killed themselves.
Commissioner Christophe Durand of the French anti-cybercrime unit said the “victims had suffered real distress”.
The scammers spent some of the money they extorted in France, though the majority of it was sent to the Ivory Coast and other African countries.
(BBC)
After months of threats and pressure tactics, the United States has bombed Venezuela and toppled its president, Nicolas Maduro, who was seized and taken to New York, where he will be put on trial.
Maduro arrived on Saturday evening at a military base in the US after his “capture” by US forces in Caracas.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has slammed the “kidnapping” of Maduro and said that he is “the only president of Venezuela”.
US President Donald Trump says the “,US will run Venezuela and tap its vast oil reserves, but he gave few details on how the US will do this.
The United Nations Security Council is due to meet today (Monday) on the matter, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying the US actions set “a dangerous precedent”.
(Aljazeera)
Latest News
President Trump says the US has ‘captured’ Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and flown them out of the country
President Donald Trump says the United States has ‘captured’ Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and flown them out of the country after “large-scale” strikes.
Earlier, Venezuela’s government accused the US of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states, as it rejected “military aggression” by Washington. The government of President Maduro had declared a national emergency following the series of attacks.
The attacks came after months of tension with the US, which has accused Venezuelan President Maduro of being involved in drug trafficking. Maduro has denied the accusations.
On Thursday, Maduro indicated he was open to negotiating a deal with the US to combat drug trafficking. The US has carried out more than 20 air strikes in the sea near Venezuela since September, as it slapped sanctions and upped military pressure on Caracas.
(Aljazeera)
The United States Coast Guard has said it has suspended its search for survivors days after the US military said it struck two more boats in the eastern Pacific amid its ongoing military campaign in waters in and around Venezuela.
In a statement shared on its website on Friday, the Coast Guard said the three-day search had been focused on water “approximately 400 nautical miles [about 740km] southwest of the Mexico/Guatemala border” and had continued for more than 65 hours, but that no sightings of survivors had been reported.
(Aljazeera)
Venezuela’s Maduro arrives in New York after ‘capture’
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Teachers’ unions ‘ready to bring govt. to its knees’
Education Ministry drops idea of extending school hours
SLRC to disburse Rs 2420 mn in relief funds to 28,000 families
Elephant deaths spiral as law enforcement fails on ground – Wildlife DG
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