Suspected slavery victims rescued
BOGOTA • Hundreds of suspected victims of modern slavery have been rescued in a major crackdown on human traffickers in 13 countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America, Interpol said yesterday.
About 350 possible victims of sexual exploitation and forced labour were discovered and 22 people were arrested last month in an Interpol-led swoop in nations such as Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Jamaica and Venezuela, the global police organisation said.
Men, women and children were discovered working in nightclubs, farms, mines, factories and open-air markets, having been lured across borders by traffickers targeting desperate and vulnerable people with promises of a better life, Interpol said.
REUTERS
UK, US to study giant glacier in Antarctica
OSLO • Britain and the US have launched a US$25 million (S$33 million) project to study the risks of a collapse of a giant glacier in Antarctica that is already shrinking and nudging up global sea levels.
The five-year research project, involving 100 scientists, will be the two nations' biggest joint scientific project in Antarctica since the 1940s.
Ice is thawing from Greenland to Antarctica and man-made global warming is accelerating the trend.
The scientists will be studying the Thwaites Glacier, which is roughly the size of Florida or Britain, in West Antarctica, the UK Natural Environment Research Council and US National Science Foundation said in a joint statement yesterday.
REUTERS
Russians protest against Telegram ban
MOSCOW • Thousands rallied yesterday in Moscow in support of Internet freedom after the Russian authorities tried to block access to the popular messaging app Telegram in the latest onslaught against dissent under President Vladimir Putin.
In an usually strong turnout, at least 8,000 people including top opposition leader Alexei Navalny gathered in the centre of the Russian capital, many holding placards and shooting paper airplanes, the Telegram symbol.
Last month, a court ruled to block Telegram in Russia after it refused to give state security services access to private conversations that are normally encrypted.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
