Rabat, Morocco | AFP | Moroccan authorities said Sunday they had seized nearly 541 kilos (1,200 pounds) of cocaine in a container from Latin America which arrived in Casablanca. Six people including a Brazilian suspected of being the “mastermind of a criminal network” were arrested, according to the Central Bureau …
Read More »Human trafficking at all time high says top British Catholic
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Britain’s most senior Catholic said Friday that there have “never been so many victims of human trafficking” at a Vatican conference aimed at tackling the problem. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and president of the Santa Marta anti-trafficking group, said: “We estimate there are …
Read More »Police arrest 8 in Mali for gang rape and paedophilia
Bamako, Mali | AFP | Police in Mali said Thursday they had arrested eight people in connection with two gang rapes and a separate case of paedophilia, as campaigners urged the adoption of laws penalising gender-based violence. Reports of the gang-rape of a young woman have circulated since the weekend …
Read More »Leading ivory trade investigator Esmond Martin murdered in Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A world-renowned ivory investigator whose detailed reports contributed to the fight against elephant poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, was killed at his home in Kenya, police said Monday. Esmond Martin, 75, died after being stabbed at his house in the Nairobi suburb of Langata …
Read More »State of Emergency endorsed by cross section of Jamaicans – PM
Kingston, Jamaica | JIS NEWS | The Prime Minister the Most Hon. Andrew Holness says the decision to declare a State of Public Emergency in St. James wasn’t unilateral, but one that was endorsed by a wide cross section of the society. He made the remarks as he addressed the …
Read More »Nine dead in Mexico shooting: official
Monterrey, Mexico | AFP | Authorities investigating the slaying of nine men at a house in Monterrey, Mexico said Sunday small local drug-trafficking groups appeared to be involved but not major drug cartels. The men were watching a football match on television on Saturday when armed attackers burst into the …
Read More »Bomb attacks target police in northern Colombia
Bogota, Colombia | AFP | A rash of bombings hit police stations in northern Colombia over the weekend, killing seven police and injuring dozens more in what authorities said appeared to be the work of drug gangs. The attacks began early Saturday in the city of Barranquilla, where five police officers …
Read More »Five killed in bomb attack at Colombia police station
Bogota, Colombia | AFP | At least five police officers were killed and 41 others wounded Saturday when alleged drug traffickers detonated a bomb at a station in the northern city of Barranquilla, hours after a car explosion ripped through a security post near the border in neighboring Ecuador. There …
Read More »Fourteen killed in Brazil nightclub shootout
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | At least 14 people were killed in an early Saturday shootout at a nightclub in Fortaleza, in northeastern Brazil, officials said. “We can confirm 14 deaths,” Andre Costa, security secretary for the state of Ceara — of which Fortaleza is the capital — …
Read More »Spanish tourists ‘raped, robbed’ in southern Senegal
Ziguinchor, Senegal | AFP | A group of Spanish tourists were robbed and raped in Senegal’s restive Casamance region by armed men, a security source and state media said on Friday. The tourists’ vehicle was stopped near the village of Karonge, around 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the regional capital …
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