https://english.almayadeen.net/news/miscellaneous/disney-employee-160-persons-arrested-for-human-trafficking-i

Disney employee, 160 persons arrested for human trafficking in Florida

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd revealed in a press conference on Friday, September 9, that the Polk County Sheriff's Office and other authorities in the US state of Florida had arrested 160 individuals in a week-long human trafficking sting operation called Fall Haul 2.

Disney employee Guillermo Perez, several school instructors such as Cameron Burke and Math teacher Carlos Gonzalez, deputy police chief Jason DiPrima of Cartersville, Georgia, in addition to Lake Correctional Institution officer Keith Nieves, and 26 married men were among those charged. Some 86 people were allegedly selling sexual services while 65 were attempting to buy it, and they all had criminal records that included 419 felonies and 619 misdemeanors. Only 16 of them were from Polk County, with the majority coming from elsewhere in Florida and 15 from out of state.

DiPrima was arrested last Thursday after responding to an undercover detective's internet ad. The deputy police chief escaped a polygraph training course in an undercover Drug Enforcement Agency cruiser, handing out $180 and a pack of White Claw Hard Seltzer to the faux lady-of-the-night before deputies slammed the cuffs on him. He had resigned by the time Judd revealed the circumstances of his demise to reporters.

The Sheriff's Office claimed that it had discovered two human trafficking victims as well as five prospective victims throughout the investigation, implying that there were others within the throng who were unwilling to come forward. If a person arrested for prostitution in Florida identified themselves as a victim of human trafficking, their arrest may be overturned.

Human trafficking in the US

Slavery is still alive in the United States, seeping through the cracks and loopholes of US labor laws that barely ever hold authorities accountable, leaving room for human rights abuses, exploitation, rape, and harassment.

A December report by The Guardian exposed this harrowing reality.

In June 2021, a farmworker from Mexico, who demanded that he remain anonymous in fear of retaliation from the abusers, revealed that he was trafficked through a 'labor' network from Mexico to Georgia, USA.

The victims paid around $950 to the traffickers - money that they borrowed from their mothers - and took trips back and forth between Mexico and the US before the traffickers told them that it'd be finally safe to leave Mexico and work in the US.

11 Sep 12:23

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/miscellaneous/queens-handbag-etiquette-carries-secret-signals

Queen's 'handbag etiquette' carries secret signals

In an episode of Newsweek's The Royal Report podcast examining different methods of royal etiquette, Chief Royal Correspondent Jack Royston heard from author and royal commentator Kristen Meinzer about the subtle signals of the late Queen's "handbag code" saying "it's to send signals to her team."

One of the signals Meinzer described is that "supposedly if she's standing around at an event and mingling with people and talking, and she switches her handbag from one arm to the other, she's telling her staff she'd like someone to interrupt and end the conversation."

Another signal to act as a last resort to make a hard exit, according to Meinzer is "If… she moves her bag, not from one arm to the other and not to a table, but if she sets it on the floor—that's it. The conversation's over and a lady-in-waiting or someone else will come to the rescue."

The "handbag etiquette" is one of the many on the royal list, as explained by Royston, with the first point to consider when meeting the Queen is not to initiate a hug: "no physical contact at all unless she offers her hand for you to shake."

Former first lady Michelle Obama breached the royal hugging etiquette when she first visited Buckingham Palace in 2011 at a reception for G20 leaders and their spouses where Obama put her arm around the Queen, fueling headlines across the West accusing her of violating royal protocol.

Surprisingly, the Queen returned the gesture by placing her arm around Obama as well, as according to Royston, the monarch didn't seem to take the strict etiquette protocols too seriously.

"From her point of view, she's so dedicated to service that I don't think she would ever let any kind of royal rule or piece of royal etiquette get in the way of what is a diplomatic charm offensive on behalf of the British government."

13 Sep 12:28

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/miscellaneous/uk-authorities-shielded-prince-andrew-from-epstein-investiga

UK authorities shielded Prince Andrew from Epstein investigation

A new book written by terminated US lawyer Geoffrey Berman reveals that British authorities have protected Prince Andrew, who has been accused of sexual assault, from being investigated for his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In June 2020, Berman was fired as US attorney for the southern district of New York (SDNY), which prompted him to write his book, titled Holding the Line: Inside the Nation's Preeminent US Attorney's Office and its Battle with the Trump Justice Department.

Before participating in the mourning events of the late Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Andrew has rarely been seen in public, especially after Virginia Giuffre accused Andrew of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor.

According to Berman, SDNY prosecutors were adamant about speaking to Andrew about his relationship with Epstein and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who has recently been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Andrew “stated publicly that he would co-operate with the investigation, and we intended to give him a chance to make good on his word”, according to Berman. However, this was far from reality.

Berman's team tried to contact Andrew and his connections in November 2019: Two New York prosecutors "spent about two weeks just trying to find out who his lawyers were”, to no avail. The justice and state departments were not helpful, and neither were his lawyers when they finally got to them.

In a comment to reporters in January 2020, Berman said that the prince provided "zero cooperation" - which, coincidentally, triggered the lawyers to contact again. However, no interview went through.

Losing his bid to organize an investigation, SDNY then used an M-LAT, or "mutual legal assistance treaty" request, which he said had also worked before, but in the case of Prince Andrew, it did not bear fruit.

“But that was not what happened with Prince Andrew,” he writes. “We got absolutely nowhere. Were they protecting him? I presume someone was.”

Upon being accused of 'publicity,' the SDNY asserted that they weren't interested in a written statement from Andrew: “That’s not how we do investigations, even for British royals”.

As for the SDNY's motive for firing Berman, the latter wrote in his book that the US attorney general at the time, William Barr, saw Epstein's case as a useful pawn in the political game with London.

“Barr told me that the public rift over Prince Andrew’s refusal to sit for an interview was useful in this other case,” Berman writes. “It inflicted PR damage, was my impression, and made it more palatable for the administration to hold firm.”

Berman says this approach “seemed questionable to me, but it did not affect our approach with Prince Andrew. I still wanted to interview him but it had nothing to do with Barr’s agenda.”

Last year, Virginia Giuffre filed a lawsuit against the British royal figure, accusing him of sexually abusing her when she was 17 through a trafficking scandal involving Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew, however, repeatedly denied any involvement in the accusation.

In February, he came to terms with the abuse and agreed to testify.

However, in the settlement that was reached later, the prince said that he regretted his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who supposedly "killed himself" in prison, in 2019.

14 Sep 08:39

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/miscellaneous/lebanese-woman-holds-up-bank-retrieves-deposit-to-treat-ill

Lebanese woman holds up bank, retrieves deposit to treat ill sister

Lebanese woman Sali Hafiz was able to retrieve around 13,000$ of her trapped deposits after briefly holding up a branch of BLOM bank in Beirut on Wednesday morning.

As the Lebanese economy is facing a deep crisis since 2020, banks have imposed limited withdrawals of hard currency for most depositors, leaving more than 75% of the population struggling to make ends meet and afford even the most basic goods.

Hafiz stated that she needed her savings withdrawn in order to treat her cancer-stricken sister.

On a live stream on her Facebook page during the event, Sali said, "I came today to claim the deposits for my sister who is dying in the hospital."

"I came to claim my rights," she said.

On a similar event on the same day, Lebanese man Rami Charafeddine barged into MED bank in Aley and retrieved nearly 30,000$ of his deposit before turning himself in to the security forces that escorted him to the local police station.

It is noteworthy that as public frustration with bank policies increases, more citizens are hailing such actions as heroic and rightful on social media, which was clearly seen in the case of Bassam Al-Sheikh Hussein, a Lebanese man that took a bank hostage in order to retrieve a small part of his savings to pay for his father's surgery.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/miscellaneous/british-royal-guard-collapses-near-the-queens-coffin-on-live

British Royal Guard collapses near the Queen's coffin on Livestream

Livestream footage of the Lying-in-state ceremony of British Monarch Queen Elizabeth II was cut-off for almost an hour after one of the royal guards collapsed meters away from her coffin.

The ceremony held in Westminster hall on Thursday included a crowd of mourners that witnessed the guard swaying for a brief moment before fainting, after-which paramedics rushed in to attend to the guard's aid, according to British local media outlets.

Although no official details have been released on what caused the incident, it's noteworthy that the British Royal Guards on duty for the ceremony must remain still for a long period of time as thousands of mourners visit the Queen's coffin to pay respect for the late Monarch, which can cause a number of issues directly related to the collapse, including poor blood circulation and dizziness.

The longest-reigning British Monarch will Lie-in-State in Westminster Hall for four days prior to the state funeral to allow the public to pay their respects, and on the morning of Monday 19th September, the Lying-in-State will end and the Coffin will be taken in Procession from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey, where the State Funeral Service will take place, as stated by the official website of the British Royal Family.

15 Sep 10:24

>>Collapse of the old guard?