Thursday, December 19, 2024

Six In The Morning Thursday 19 December 2024

 

Dominique Pelicot sentenced to 20 years in French mass rape trial

A French court sentenced Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in prison on Thursday for drugging his now ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot for a decade and recruiting strangers online to rape her. His 50 co-defendents were also convicted by the court, receiving jail terms of between three and 15 years. 

A court on Thursday sentenced a French man to 20 years jail for committing and orchestrating the mass rapes of his now former wife Gisèle Pelicot with dozens of strangers, but her children expressed disappointment at what they saw as overly lenient sentences for the other men convicted.

The convictions of all 51 defendants and their sentencing brought to a close a three-month trial that has horrified France, resonated across the world and turned Gisele Pelicot into an icon of female courage.

Dominique Pelicot, who had already confessed to the crimes, was earlier found guilty by the court in the southern city of Avignon. His 50 co-defendants were also convicted by the court, with no acquittals.



Dmitry Medvedev says editors of the Times are ‘legitimate military targets’

Former Russian president’s Telegram post follows paper’s editorial about assassination of a Russian general


Dmitry Medvedev says editors of the Times are ‘legitimate military targets’

Former Russian president’s Telegram post follows paper’s editorial about assassination of a Russian general

The Russian security council deputy head, Dmitry Medvedev, has described the editors of the Times newspaper in Britain as “legitimate military targets” in response to the newspaper’s coverage of the assassination of a Russian general.

Medvedev’s vitriolic comments on Wednesday followed a Times editorial in which the newspaper described the assassination of Lt Gen Igor Kirillov as “a legitimate act of defence” by Ukraine, which has claimed responsibility for the killing.

Kirillov, head of the military’s chemical, biological and radiological weapons unit, was killed along with his assistant when a device attached to an escooter exploded as the two men left a building in a residential area in south-east Moscow on Tuesday morning. Kirillov is the most senior Russian military official to be killed in an assassination away from the frontlines since the start of the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine nearly three years ago.

Israel accused of 'acts of genocide' over Gaza water access

A Human Rights Watch report says that restrictions on access to clean water in Gaza amount to genocidal acts by Israel, which in turn has dismissed the report as "lies."

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Israel has committed "acts of genocide" during its military campaign in the Gaza Strip by damaging water infrastructure and cutting off supplies of clean water to civilians.

"Since October 2023, Israeli authorities have deliberately obstructed Palestinians' access to the adequate amount of water required for survival in the Gaza Strip," it said in a new report published on Thursday.

The report, drawn up over nearly a year, is based on interviews with dozens of Gazans, medics and aid workers, staff at water and sanitation facilities, as well as satellite imagery, photographs, videos and data analysis.

In Nigeria’s crude capital, a plan to win the war against oil theft

Through improved security measures, including gunboats, authorities in Rivers State hope to stop criminals and improve production.

At dawn, the dense creeks and swamps of the Niger Delta are enveloped in an eerie silence, which is interrupted only by the intermittent chirping of Herons, a rare water bird found in this part of Nigeria.

Suddenly, in a flash, the water bubbles and convulses, announcing the galloping approach of speedboats.

The boats usually carry heavily armed militiamen, often clad in work overalls, suggesting they are technicians, said Tonye Francis, who lives in the oil-producing Ogu-Bolo community in Rivers State that’s been in the shadow of an oil conflict for years.

Man admits running secret Chinese 'police station' in NYC

Kelly Ng

BBC News

An American citizen has pleaded guilty to helping run what has been described as the first known secret police station in the US on behalf of the Chinese government.


Prosecutors say Chen Jinping and his co-defendent Lu Jianwang opened and operated the station in Manhattan's Chinatown neighbourhood in early 2022 on behalf of China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS).


At least 100 such stations have been reported worldwide across 53 countries, with rights groups accusing China of using the outposts to threaten and monitor Chinese nationals abroad.




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