Aylo Holdings S.A.R.L., the company that operates Pornhub and other adult websites, acknowledged in federal court that it had profited for years from pornographic content that depicted sex trafficking victims, but pleaded not guilty to a charge of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions involving sex trafficking proceeds, Erin Nolan reports for the New York Times. Through an agreement with prosecutors, the company agreed to pay damages to women who said they were forced to appear in pornographic videos that … Read the rest
Investigators in Prague are working to establish a motive for a deadly gun rampage that killed 14 people and wounded 25 others at Charles University in the center of the city, Andrew Higgins and Jenny Gross reports for the New York Times. The gunman also fatally shot himself when the police surrounded him on the rooftop of the building. No foreign nationals were killed in the attack, but one person from the Netherlands and two people from the United … Read the rest
President Joe Biden is pardoning thousands of people who were convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia and granting clemency to 11 people serving what the White House called “disproportionately long” sentences for nonviolent drug offenses, Zeke Miller reports for the Associated Press. The pardon builds on his categorical pardon issued just before the 2022 midterm elections that made thousands convicted of simple possession on federal lands eligible for … Read the rest
Rising numbers of women in England are experiencing domestic abuse at Christmas, with Refuge, the leading support service in England, saying that calls and contacts to the national domestic abuse helpline in 2023 were still far higher than pre-pandemic, with 171,490 calls in the year ending March 2023, Rachel Hall reports for The Guardian. The charity is warning that Christmas, when there are always more incidents of domestic abuse, presents specific challenges such as social isolation and increased costs … Read the rest
As migration from South America to the US-Mexico border once again surges, advocates warn that sexual violence is likewise expected to rise, particularly among women and girls, Alícia Fàbregas reports for Al Jazeera. In 2023, the humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) treated 397 cases of sexual violence in the Darién Gap, a sliver of land connecting Colombia to Panama and major migration route. In one week alone, the group saw 59 cases. Those numbers, reported last month, mark … Read the rest
In the past week, there were almost 200 swatting incidents on Jewish organizations, and several children were arrested for planning attacks on synagogues, exemplifying the ongoing surge in antisemitism in North America, Mack Lamoureux reports for Vice. The Secure Community Network, an organization that works with Jewish communities to provide security, said in a press release it has “tracked staggering 199 (and counting) swatting incidents and false bomb threats targeting Jewish facilities.” This includes “93 in California, 62 in … Read the rest