Headline

EU Law To Identify Online S*xual Abuse Of Children Under Fire

Published

3 years ago

June 22, 2023

Parliamentarians from European countries have voiced their concerns over the European Commission’s plans for a so-called “chat control’’ law.

EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson presented the proposed Regulation to Prevent and Combat Child S*xual Abuse in May 2022.

It is designed to curb the spread of material showing the s*xual abuse of children.

The law would make it compulsory for social media platforms to scan private encrypted chats on social media platforms for certain identifiers.

This might flag child grooming or the sharing of child s*xual abuse material (CSAM) and to report any suspicious activity.

Under current law, this monitoring of online activity is voluntary.

Critics call this chat control.

They saw it as an attempt to scan all communication on the net, including encrypted messages, and they fear mass surveillance.

The 30 signatories to the document criticising the proposed law stated that although combatting s*xualised violence against children is a high priority for them.

They believed the proposal formulated by the commission would lead to serious breaches of privacy.

They argued the law would oblige providers to introduce software to check the content of communications, undermine end-to-end encryption and result in the scanning of personal cloud storage.

On the website of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe a much larger body that was not part of the EU but which counted EU states among its members.

Every member has the opportunity to sign a petition posted there, based on an initiative by Konstantin Kuhle, deputy leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) parliamentary group in Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag.

Members of the Council of Europe from Austria, Slovenia, Denmark, Ukraine, France and Switzerland were among the signatories of the document criticising the proposed chat control law.

From Germany, as well as FDP politicians, Green Party members of parliament Julian Pahlke and Max Lucks, and Norbert Kleinwächter of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) are among the signatories.

In April, the German government raised significant concerns about the European Commission’s proposal.

A statement put out by the Ministries of Family Affairs, Justice, the Interior, Family and Digital Affairs at the time said.

“In the German government’s view, significant changes are needed in the draft regulation to make it acceptable from the German point of view.’’

The EU countries and the European Parliament have not yet voted on their position on the proposed law.

Interior ministers, however, had recently shown themselves to be open to it.

Headline

Indian Court Denies Bail To Nigerian Man Over Drug Charges

Published

1 hour ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

A court in India has denied bail to a 44-year-old Nigerian national, Cristian Soporuchukwu, who is currently facing drug trafficking charges in the country.

Cristian Soporuchukwu initially entered India on a business visa but was later arrested over allegations of involvement in the sale of hard drugs.

Reports indicated that after arriving in India, Soporuchukwu travelled through Goa, Delhi, and Mumbai, where he allegedly established links with suspected drug traffickers.

He was accused of purchasing MDMA crystals and distributing them to college students and information technology workers.

According to reports, operatives of the Beguru Police arrested Cristian Soporuchukwu in April 2025 for allegedly selling MDMA crystals around Begur Lake and the AECS Layout Road area.

The New Indian Express reported that the High Court of Karnataka subsequently dismissed the Nigerian’s bail application.

“The anti-narcotics wing seized about 1 kg of MDMA crystals, a pocket weighing machine, 10 zip-lock covers, a mobile phone and a scooter from him,” the report stated.

Justice V. Srishananda, while ruling on the bail application, reportedly held that errors relating to the grounds of arrest could not automatically justify bail in serious narcotics-related offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, NDPS, Act.

The court further noted that Cristian Soporuchukwu had allegedly overstayed his visa in India, according to the report.

Headline

Strait Of Hormuz: US Announces Sanctions Against Iran

Published

2 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States Treasury has announced sanctions against Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said this in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement extended the threat of sanctions to anyone paying the fees, saying they may be providing support to and receiving services from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and therefore may be exposed to sanctions risk.

“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash.

“Treasury has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions,” Bessent said.

Bessent added that the US has succeeded in disrupting tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue from being accessible to Tehran.

Headline

US Launches New Airstrikes On Iran

Published

2 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States has launched new airstrikes in southern Iran.

The strike shot down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz and then a ground control site.

A US official revealed that American forces struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

The official described the strikes as purely defensive, saying the US intended to maintain the ceasefire.

Report says this is the second time in three days that the US has carried out self-defense strikes against Iranian military targets in southern Iran.

Recall that on Monday the US carried out airstrikes against Iranian missile locations and boats that US Central Command said were preparing to launch mines in the Strait of Hormuz.