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RTÉ News
4 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Russian strikes on Zaporizhzhia kill 16, injure at least 35
At least 16 people were killed in multiple overnight strikes by Russia on the frontline region of Zaporizhzhia in southwestern Ukraine. regional Ukrainian military and Zaporizhzhia's governor said 35 people were also injured when a correctional facility was struck. Zaporizhzhia governor Ivan Fedorov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said that the correctional facility's buildings were destroyed, and nearby private homes were also damaged. Russian forces have regularly attacked Zaporizhzhia, using drones, missiles and aerial bombs, since the start of the war began in February 2022. Russia unilaterally declared early in the war its annexation of parts of Zaporizhzhia and areas in and around three other Ukrainian regions. Ukraine and its Western allies called the move an illegal land grab. Mr Fedorov said that Russian forces launched eight strikes on the Zaporizhzhia district, reportedly using high-explosive aerial bombs. A missile strike on the city of Kamyanske killed two people, wounded five and damaged a hospital, Sergiy Lysak, head of the regional military administration said on Telegram. Another person was killed and several wounded in an attack on the region's Synelnykivsky district, he said. In a separate attack on Velykomykhaylivska, last night, a "75-year-old woman was killed. A 68-year-old man was wounded. A private house was damaged," he posted on Telegram. In southern Russia, a Ukrainian drone attack killed one person, the region's acting governor said. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strikes, but thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. Ukraine has been trying to repel Russia's summer offensive, which has made fresh advances into areas largely spared since the start of the offensive in 2022. Over the weekend, the Russian army said its forces had "liberated the settlement of Maliyevka" in Dnipropetrovsk, weeks after it seized the first village in the region.
The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Inside brutal ‘baby farms' where kidnapped girls as young as 13 are raped until pregnant & tots sold to desperate Brits
CAGED inside filthy, cramped buildings in Nigeria, pregnant teenagers cradle their swollen stomachs, knowing their babies will be ripped from their arms the moment they're born. The girls - watched closely by Advertisement 20 Police officers rescued 23 pregnant girls and four infants from a baby factory Credit: Al Jazeera 20 Inside the hospital room the mothers gave birth in Credit: Al Jazeera 20 In 2018, the Moonlight Maternity Clinic was raided by paramilitary operatives for allegedly engaging in baby trafficking Credit: Getty Their journey to motherhood is nothing short of horrific - with some girls fed just one meal a day, given poor medical care, and sexually abused by their captors while heavily pregnant. And their trauma will only intensify once their babies are born, as the defenceless infants are flogged to desperate infertile couples - allegedly including Brits - and child trafficking rings. Advertisement Newborns from Just this month, a family court in Leeds heard the case of a 'very young' baby who was brought in from Nigeria by a woman who was not their biological mother, and has now been put up for adoption. The case follows that of another baby But, while they may never know their real mothers, they are perhaps among the lucky ones. Those babies not purchased by international or domestic couples, who claim them as their own, are used as child labour. Others are trafficked to Western nations as sex slaves. Advertisement And for a few, their fate is even worse - with reports of infants being sacrificed in Experts tell The Sun that Nigeria's baby trafficking trade is 'lucrative', with an estimated 10 children sold each day - while their violated young mothers are left with empty arms. 'Infants are sold into black-market adoptions, domestic servitude, or trafficked into countries like the UK,' says Jared Navarre, Chairman of the Board of Project AK-47, a strategic humanitarian initiative that fights to free children enslaved and exploited globally. Inside romance scam target lonely singles on dating apps but what they don't know is if we die 'Some are moved on forged documents. 'Others are smuggled in under the radar and are never registered, and never found.' Advertisement He adds: 'These 20 A 19-year-old who had been lured into the home was forced to sell her baby Credit: Al Jazeera 20 Police rescue 10 pregnant mothers from a baby factory in Ogun Credit: Tv24 News 20 Cops raided the 'farm' and arrested its female owner Credit: youtube/Tv24 News As for the fate of the babies' mothers - some, who didn't die in childbirth the first time, are impregnated, again and again, with their newborns callously torn from them each time. Advertisement When their depraved captors consider them no longer useful, the 'luckier' girls are freed - reportedly, with blindfolds on, so they can't locate the factories they were held at. Infants are sold into black-market adoptions, domestic servitude, or trafficked into countries like the UK Jared Navarre, Chairman of the Board of Project AK-47 Those less fortunate are never seen again. 'They're raped systematically and impregnated as part of the business model,' says Jared. 'They're not patients. They're inventory.' 20 Women being taken to hospital after being freed by police from a baby farm in Lagos Credit: Reuters Advertisement 20 A ward abandoned at Nigeria's Moonlight Maternity Clinic, raided by paramilitary operatives for allegedly engaging in baby trafficking business Credit: AFP 20 Jared Navarre is the Chairman of the Board of Project AK-47 Last week, it was reported that a woman living in West Yorkshire had flown to Nigeria before returning to Gatwick Airport with a 'very young' baby girl that she hadn't birthed. The woman, who was arrested, claimed she was the The Leeds court heard that the baby had suffered "significant emotional and psychological harm" after her 'parents' lied and handed the authorities fake documents. Advertisement A judge ordered that the girl - who, tragically, may never know the identities of her real parents - be placed for adoption. Police said there was no active investigation at present. They're raped systematically and impregnated as part of the business model Jared Navarre, Chairman of the Board of Project AK-47, A specialist social worker, who visited the medical centre where the mother alleged she had given birth, told the court the practice of "baby farming" is well known in West Africa. At least 200 illegal "baby factories" have been shut down by the Nigerian authorities in the last five years, she said. Promised 'easy money' 20 women were lured by promises of work before being kidnapped and hauled to baby farms Credit: Reuters 20 The slave-masters get rich by selling babies Credit: Reuters Advertisement But such concerns aren't entirely new: in 2012, a High Court judge raised fears about 'desperate childless parents' becoming involved in baby-selling scams in Africa. Disguised as maternity clinics and orphanages, 'baby factories' plague south-eastern Nigeria - which has the dark reputation of being a major African country in human trafficking. Fuelled by poverty, heavy social pressure on women to bear children, and a stigma around teen pregnancy, these heinous sites have been described as 'puppy mills for people'. They have even inspired the recent Netflix series, Baby Farm. The girls at these 'factories' - some, just 14 - have either been recruited while pregnant with false promises of 'easy money', or have been kidnapped, raped and impregnated. Advertisement 'Some come in already pregnant. Most don't,' says Jared. Forced to sell their babies 20 Pregnant women are crammed into tiny buildings Credit: Al Jazeera 20 Women give birth bare hospital rooms Credit: Al Jazeera One survivor - who was already pregnant - told But when she got there, the girl said the woman demanded to buy her unborn baby. Advertisement I was really afraid and I was scared A 19-year-old survivor told Al Jazeera 'I was really afraid and I was scared,' said the 19-year-old, who was held captive. She added that some imprisoned teens tried to kill themselves, while others staged escape attempts. 'I was among the ones who tried to escape, but there was no way,' she said. Human trafficking expert Joanna Ewart-James says some pregnant girls are 'coerced' into going to 'factories' through poverty, 'seeing no financial option other than to sell their baby'. 'Many young women are afraid to tell their families they are pregnant,' Joanna, co-founder of the US-based non-profit organisation, 'And without access to abortion and antenatal care, some are drawn to baby-sellers who keep them hidden - and captive - until the baby is born.' Advertisement She adds of the infants involved: "The commodification - the buying and selling - of children and newborn babies is horrific because of their inability to defend themselves.' Abortion is illegal in Nigeria - where up to one million people each year are thought to be trafficked. Pregnancies can only be terminated to save the life of the mother. Another survivor, then 16, wasn't pregnant when a woman, known as 'Aunty Kiki', lured her from an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp to the Nigerian state of Enugu. It doesn't matter whether you are six weeks or six months pregnant. If any of the men wants you, you can't say no A survivor told Al Jazeera Promised a job as a housemaid, with a monthly salary, the teen was transported to a compound guarded by gunmen, where a man allegedly ordered her to strip then raped her. 'The compound had two flats of three bedrooms each filled with young girls, some of them pregnant,' the teen - who would go on to suffer daily abuse - told Al Jazeera. Advertisement Within weeks of being caged at the compound, the girl was pregnant. Yet she was still raped. 'It doesn't matter whether you are six weeks or six months pregnant,' said another girl who was impregnated at the compound. 'If any of the men wants you, you can't say no.' The two girls from the compound both delivered baby boys, who were snatched from them. The infants were sold to unknown customers, for unknown sums - though they likely drew a heftier price because they were male. Traditionally, in Nigeria, boys inherit land. Advertisement 'Cryptic pregnancy doctors' 20 A hospital bed in a cryptic pregnancy clinic in Nigeria Credit: BBC 20 Women outside the cryptic pregnancy clinic Credit: BBC 20 A bed in a cryptic pregnancy Credit: BBC Lori Cohen, CEO of children's rights organisation Protect All Children from Trafficking So-called 'cryptic pregnancy doctors' in Nigeria prey on this pressure to conceive. Their cruel scams - which 'guarantee' couples a pregnancy - operate alongside 'baby factories'. Advertisement In such scams, Nigerian couples longing to be parents fork out hundreds of pounds on 'miracle' fertility treatment - including injections that reportedly cause the woman's stomach to bloat. The 'doctors' administering the treatment promise the woman that she is pregnant - news she has, often, waited years to hear - despite medical scans and tests proving otherwise. As the 'birth' nears, the couple is told they must pay for an expensive drug to induce labour. But this is not always available imminently - because the 'drug' is, in fact, a trafficked baby. While waiting for this 'drug', women have reported being up to 15 months 'pregnant'. Advertisement Ify Obinabo, Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs & Social Welfare, told a BBC Africa Eye Anybody that tells you [that] you will have a child through cryptic pregnancy is a liar… you are going to be given another person's child, a trafficked child. Ify Obinabo, Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs & Social Welfare 'Anybody that tells you [that] you will have a child through cryptic pregnancy is a liar… you are going to be given another person's child, a trafficked child.' One Nigerian-trained diagnostic sonographer, who dubs herself 'The Celebrity Sonographer', recently told of how a woman ended up with 'three cryptic babies'. Taking to Facebook, the sonographer, based in London, explained that the devastated woman had been convinced that she'd carried and given birth to her children. However, DNA tests had refuted this. Advertisement For each birth, the woman had reportedly been called up by a hospital in Nigeria - which has reportedly since closed down - and told it was 'time for her to deliver'. 'She was not allowed to come with anyone,' wrote the sonographer. 'Once she arrives, they will make her sleep and when she wakes up, her baby will be by her side and that was how she gave birth to the three.' She added: 'It dawned on me that they had probably made her sleep to give her other people's children.' Some experts claim that 'local corruption' in Nigeria helps 'baby factories' to thrive. Advertisement 'They operate because they're profitable, protected, and low-risk for the people running them,' says Jared. 'Local corruption shields them. International demand fuels them.' There's no meaningful consequence for either Jared He adds: 'There's no meaningful consequence for either.' Nigerian cops have previously cracked down on such 'factories' through raids and arrests, with 22 pregnant women, aged between 20 and 25, rescued from one site in 2023. In 2021, four pregnant girls were saved from a 'factory' in Anambra, while, in 2019, police in the nation's biggest city, Lagos, freed 19 women and girls as well as four babies. Most of the survivors in Lagos - brought there from the states of Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Abia and Imo - had been kidnapped and impregnated by their captors. Advertisement 'The young women were mostly abducted by the suspects for the purpose of getting them pregnant and selling the babies to potential buyers,' Lagos police spokesman Bala Elkana told Reuters at the time, adding that the victims had been 'tricked' with employment offers. 'Orphanage trafficking' 20 Nigerian couples longing to be parents fork out hundreds of pounds on 'miracle' fertility treatment Credit: Reuters 20 A nurse with one of the babies in a legitimate Nigerian hospital Credit: Getty A year earlier, more than 160 children had been rescued from a 'baby factory' and two unregistered orphanages in the same city, which is known for its beach resorts and nightlife. Horrifically, some of the infants had been sexually abused, an official told the BBC in 2018. Advertisement They were later placed in government-approved homes. According to Joanna, so-called 'orphanage trafficking' is ongoing in parts of Africa, with British volunteers becoming unknowing participants in such exploitation. 'Used to attract donations from abroad, poor parents in countries like Uganda or Cambodia are convinced that their child will be given an education,' she tells us. 'Instead, they are placed in an orphanage to attract money from well-meaning volunteers travelling in their gap year.' Meanwhile, in southern Nigeria, some women drug and 'rent' their young children out to street beggars, according to a 2018 trafficking report by the U.S. Department of State. Advertisement They do this to increase the beggar's profits, with passersby feeling pity for the child. But, in at least one case, an infant died from a drug overdose. Even for the children who survive trafficking, the consequences are 'irreversible'. Referring to the infants sold by 'baby factory beasts', Irina Tsukerman, a New York-based human rights and national security lawyer, tells us: 'They are deprived of their identities, disconnected from their biological families, and placed into lives constructed on deception. 'Their legal status may remain ambiguous. Advertisement 'Their access to education, healthcare, and social protection may be compromised. 'The psychological harm of being trafficked as a commodity is compounded by the systemic erasure of their origins.' She adds: 'For the mothers who survive these 'factories', the loss is equally profound. They [mothers] are left to contend with the trauma of forced pregnancy, the disappearance of their child, and the social isolation that often follows Irina Tsukerman 'They are left to contend with the trauma of forced pregnancy, the disappearance of their child, and the social isolation that often follows.' While Nigerian police continue to raid 'factories' - with suspects facing a reported 10 years behind bars - the UK government has restricted adoptions from Nigeria in recent years. Advertisement Border Force officers are trained to identify and safeguard children who could be in danger. But experts insist more action must be taken against the buyers, and sellers, of 'factory' babies. 'As with other forms of human trafficking, forced harvesting of children only exists because of the underlying demand that makes this crime so profitable,' says Lori. 'Eliminating the demand for stolen babies by holding buyers accountable, in addition to these vile child brokers, is the surest way to shutter the doors of these criminal networks.' 20 Lori Cohen told The Sun rigid 'gender roles continue to shape the cultural norms' Advertisement 20 Joanna Ewart-James is the Co-Founder of Freedom United, a nonprofit that fights human trafficking
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Iraqi businessman granted asylum in UK ‘led billion-dollar oil smuggling plot to help fund Iran's terror state'
AN IRAQI businessman granted asylum in the UK has been accused of running a billion dollar oil smuggling plot to finance global terrorism and domestic tyranny by Iran. The Trump administration claims Salim Ahmed Said, 47, has been running a network of firms passing off Iranian oil as a product of Iraq to avoid sanctions for at least five years. Advertisement Trucks full of cash made from the scheme have allegedly been sent to Iran to finance the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iraqi Kurd Said became a British citizen after seeking refuge from the He owns a £27 million hotel in Kensington, Said was placed under US sanctions on July 3 but UK authorities so far do not appear to have taken action against him. Advertisement Read More on UK News The US government said that some of the money from the plot had benefited the US Treasury documents state: 'Salim Ahmed Said runs a network of companies that have been selling Iranian oil falsely declared as Iraqi oil since at least 2020. 'Said's companies use ship-to-ship transfers and other obfuscation techniques to hide their activities. Advertisement Most read in The Sun Live Blog 'Said's companies and vessels blend Iranian oil with Iraqi oil, which is then sold to Western buyers, via Iraq or the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as purely Iraqi oil using forged documentation to avoid sanctions.' 1 Salim Ahmed Said has been accused of running a billion dollar oil smuggling plot to finance global terrorism Credit: Supplied
