DES ABEND NEWS

This weekend yet another mass shooting happened in the USA, with five people killed in a gay nightclub in Colorado. Credit: Indiatvnews.com. By: Sam Feierabend. The suspect has been named as Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, who was taken into custody and treated for injuries.  At least two firearms were found at the scene and the FBI is helping with the initial investigation to see if the gunman acted alone.  The shooting happened in Club Q, a gay nightclub in the heart of Colorado Springs and is evidently a targeted hate attack against the LGBTQIA+ community.  The attack was first reported to local police at around 11:45pm whilst the venue was hosting a Saturday night DJ and dancing evening, which was due to run until 2am. Many lives were saved by two witnesses, who confronted the attacker, fighting and restraining him until police arrived at the scene. Jared Polis, the governor of Colorado, commended those who stepped in as 'brave individuals who blocked the gunman.' It i...

A suicide bomber in Kabul killed at least 35 people at a tuition centre on Friday 30 September. Over 113 have been left wounded, with a majority of those targeted in the attack being female students.   Credit: Voa News. By: Derry Salter. The attack occured at the Kaaj Education Centre in the Dasht-e-Barchi area of the Afghan capital, Kabul. Many students were there sitting a practice exam when the suicide bomber struck.   The attacker entered the building after shooting at guards outside the centre, before entering a classroom and detonating the bomb. A wounded student claimed that the classroom was full of over 600 people.   Family members searched for their loved ones for hours through the damaged classrooms and rubble, with many also desperately searching nearby hospitals.   No terror group has claimed the attack yet, though it is suspected to be caused by Islamic State (IS) militants. The IS have frequently targeted Hazaras, a minority group, in t...

Violent crime has dominated Haiti for over a year since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. His successor acting President Ariel Henry has been criticised by his people for doing very little to combat Haiti’s criminal gangs. Between January to May this year, at least 780 people have been killed in the country.   Credit: BBC News. By: Derry Salter. On 29 April, gang members seized a Dominican diplomat, Carlos Guillén, whilst he was at the Dominican embassy in Port-au-Prince. The Dominican Republic urged Haiti to do everything possible to ensure the safe release of its diplomat. Luckily, the diplomat was freed only four days later.   The 400 Mawozo gang was thought to be behind the kidnapping and are infamous for demanding high ransoms after kidnapping foreigners. In October 2021, the gang abducted 16 US citizens who were part of the NGO Christian Aid Ministries and demanded a ransom of $1 million each. The east of the country’s capital, the Croix-d...

Hundreds of South-East Asians are being held captive and forced to work in scam networks by human traffickers. Despite the world knowing the truth behind these dark telecom scams, it’s been over a month and nothing has been done. Credit: BBC News. By: Derry Salter. The trafficking ring came to light in mid August after a video went viral of dozens of Vietnamese people fleeing a casino in Cambodia, even jumping into a river to attempt to swim away. The scam is simple: people from South-East Asia get contacted via social media with the offer of paid work and accommodation in luxurious countries. The destination list boasts the likes of Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos but the true destination is much different. On arrival, the victims’ passports are taken and the people are trafficked to work in offices running illegal telemarketing scams. The workers are subjected to isolation and threats of violence to keep them entrapped. Experts believe that those targeted are most often yo...

Andrew Tate believes rape victims are to blame, women are the sole property of men, and only dates women aged 18-19 to make an imprint on them. Yet this influencer has received millions of views and likes online, reaching fame for talking about hitting women, stopping them from going out, and choking any ‘dumb hoe.’ Credit: Essentially Sports. By: Derry Salter. Former reality-TV star-turned- influencer Andrew Tate was banned from Facebook and Instagram last weekend after the ‘King of Toxic Masculinity’ drew concerns over his attitudes towards women.  Interestingly, Tate’s close friends list boasts the likes of Brexiteer Nigel Farage, anti-Islam activist and former EDL leader Tommy Robinson and even former US President Donald Trump. The former kickboxer has millions of followers across his social media, but was recently banned from most of these sites for his worrying stance on women.   His money-making program for his followers, Hustler’s University, was quickly shut down. Day...

A Leeds University student and mother of two has been jailed for 34 years in Saudi Arabia over her critical tweets of the Saudi Regime. Credit: Leeds Live.   By: Derry Salter. Salma al-Shehab was arrested last year whilst holidaying in Saudi Arabia. Before her trip, she used social media to call for reforms in the country as well as the release of numerous activists. Human rights groups have said this harsh sentencing sheds light on Saudi Arabia’s claim that the country is improving women’s rights; some claim this is proof that the country is contradicting its promises.    A terrorism tribunal in the country convicted the PhD student of aiding dissidents and seeking to ‘disrupt public order’ by publishing ‘false rumours.’ This is the longest prison sentence ever handed out in the country for a peaceful activist.   In January 2021, Shehab tweeted and retweeted numerous messages calling for reforms in the Gulf state as well as the release of prominent activ...

  On 8 August, former US President Donald Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, was searched by the FBI after the US Department of Justice suspected Trump of breaking the Espionage Act. Credit: Steve Helber. By: Derry Salter. The search warrant details how the FBI gathered evidence on 8 August to investigate whether Trump took government records from the White House to his home whilst in power; this improper handling is a serious offence with all US Presidents having to abide by the law of transferring all documents and emails to the National Archives.   Earlier this year, the National Archives claimed they retrieved 15 boxes of documents from Mar-a-Lago, which the former President should have handed over. These documents included classified information, which saw the National Archives take action and call for the justice department to undertake an investigation.   The search a fortnight ago recovered twenty boxes of material and the FBI took 11 sets of classified f...

A new docuseries Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons , which aired on Hulu on July 14, looks into the misconduct of the fashion brand, delving into horror stories of sex, power, and money. Credit: The New Yorker. By: Derry Salter. The multibillion-dollar lingerie company first became a phenomenon in the 80s and has carried on its reign for nearly four decades. It’s known for its glitz, glamour, and gorgeous models. Behind the beauty lies harassment allegations, bullying and undesirable connections as well as misogyny, transphobia and body shaming. Controversies first came apparent in 2019, when some models began rebelling against the brand on social media and it has only been downhill from there. Most interestingly the docuseries sheds light on Lex Wexner, former billionaire CEO who stepped down last year, and his close ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Wexner enabled Epstein’s access to both wealth and women, by giving him power over his finances and private life, e...

Earlier last week, NFL player DeShaun Watson was given a mere six-game ban after multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. This isn't the first and won't be the last time sportsmen get off scot free when it comes to sexual assault. Credit: The New York Times. By: Derry Salter. The Cleveland Browns quarterback has been accused by 24 women in Texas; despite this shockingly high number of accusers, the NFL’s personal conduct policy saw it fit to only charge him with a six-game ban. Watson allegedly assaulted numerous massage therapists during treatment sessions across 2020 and 2021 and has since settled 23 of the 24 lawsuits. A Texas court decided not to pursue criminal charges against the quarterback, but the NFL undertook an inquiry into whether Watson violated the sport’s personal conduct policy. Watson continues to claim innocence.   The NFL already wish to appeal the decision, with hopes that Watson would be suspended for just a year. However, the National Football Leagu...

  A fter over two decades campaigning, as of 28 July in a law-changing move, broadcasters are finally allowed to film inside Crown Court sentence hearings in England and Wales. Credit: Gov.uk. By: Derry Salter. Sentencing hearings are not new to journalists, however, they are most frequently misunderstood due to the simplification of details in daily news reports. This is a momentous turn for crime journalism as members of the public will now get a deeper understanding into the reasoning behind sentences. Journalists across England and Wales have celebrated the change to the law, hoping that it will increase transparency and justice. The new rule allows BBC News, ITN, Sky News and PA Media to film in courts under a similar system to their current set-up at the Court of Appeal. This footage will then be broadcast both on TV and online, allowing other news outlets to access their footage. Sky News are hosting a YouTube channel dedicated solely to the hearings. Journalists must ga...

Freedom of the press is essential for maintaining a democracy, but to uphold such freedoms, journalist’s safety must be ensured. Across the world, journalists continue to risk their lives to expose inequalities, injustice and hold people accountable for their actions. However, this job comes with increasing levels of danger and even death. Between 2006 and 2020, over 1,200 journalists were killed merely for doing their job. Credit: The Independent. By: Derry Salter. These murders are an extreme form of censorship, allowing oppressors to escape from justice. In 2021 alone, the International Press Institute totalled 45 journalists killed. The US Press Freedom Tracker documented 593 assaults in total against journalists the year prior. Human rights laws still apply to journalists with the intention to protect them; journalists are perceived as civilians in conflict zones, so a deliberate attack on them is a violation of international law. However, those committing the crimes are rarel...

Online child sexual abuse is at an all time high, with new legislation holding tech firms across the UK accountable for their role in tackling such abuse. Similar moves have been restricted in the past due to privacy concerns, however, the need for protection is at an all time high. Credit: Sky News. By: Derry Salter. On Wednesday 6 July, Home Secretary Priti Patel published an amendment to the drafted Online Safety Bills which will force tech companies to roll out new technology to identify child sexual abuse material on their platforms. The amendment promises both privacy and security to tackle the crime, by requiring tech companies to identify child sexual abuse material posted or sent privately on their platforms. Such legislation is essential at a time like this with offences labelled ‘Sexual Communication with a Child’ increasing 80% over the past four years. Patel inculpated large tech firms: 'We must all work to ensure criminals are not allowed to run rampant online a...

US President Joe Biden kicked off Fourth of July celebrations with hope and calls to 'celebrate the goodness of our nation.' By the end of the celebratory weekend, 220 were dead. With the death toll increasing day by day, the world is calling on Biden to bring in harsher and stricter gun laws. Credit: BBC News. By: Derry Salter. On the day of American independence, a gunman opened fire on a crowd of parade spectators in Chicago; seven died, leaving dozens injured. According to Gun Violence Archive, shootings were reported in nearly ever US state across the weekend, with 570 left wounded. Only five states did not report a shooting from July 1 to July 4. Acts labelled ‘mass shootings’ are classified where four or more people are killed or wounded by gunshots; in the space of four days, there were 11 mass shootings. These shocking attacks continue to ring out across the US; children attending celebrations are coming home orphans. The Fourth of July weekend horror is not ne...