#Economic and Organised Crime Office

[newshuntermag]

Ghanaian Celebrities Are Not Living Lavish Lifestyles Like Politicians – Okyeame Kwame Defends As EOCO Hints At Auditing Them

Ghanaian rapper, Kwame Nsiah-Apau, well-known as Okyeame Kwame, has defended the lifestyle of celebrities in the country. Following the plea of Hajia4Real to guilty over her $2 million romance case, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has hinted at its decision to audit the lifestyle of celebrities and individuals suspected of possessing unjustifiable wealth. “We are leading the…

[communistkenobi]

Star Wars is explicitly in the process of becoming a new MCU, but because this process encourages the audience to treat all SW properties as incomplete components of an entire fabric of canon, where each show or movie must be read in relation to all others and cannot fully stand on its own, I feel like the weird colonial frontier vibes of Chapter 17 of The Mandalorian become that much worse because of the existence of Andor. Like Andor is not perfect by any means, especially its depiction of colonial extraction and indigenous dispossession, but it invokes those historical forces MULTIPLE TIMES (first with Cassian, then with the people on Aldhani) in order to build the case that the Empire is a fascist and imperial (duh) power, and this is what that kind of power does to people and the places they inhabit - destruction of life, destruction of culture, destruction of history. Andor is drawing an extremely basic and obvious parallel between colonialism and fascism, making the argument that these processes are one and the same.

And now in The Mandalorian, you have Greef Karga, High Magistrate of Nevarro, the Gem of the Outer Rim. Nevarro has been rid of all its “scum and villainy” (a phrase directly lifted from the OT), and since that purge of undesirables it’s become a verdant and economically vibrant place. Now of course, part of the class of undesirables was the Imperial remnant, so part of Nevarro’s problem was the fact that it was being ruled by an Imperial officer. However, Chapter 17 goes to great lengths to stress that the ruler of Nevarro also hates pirates and other “low” forms of wealth accumulation, opting instead to be an independent trading planet that is explicitly against New Republic rule (i.e., the government that overthrew the Empire). It has become respectable now, and that respectability is presented to the audience in the form of an organised private economy that has begun to engage in mining. Greef Karga offers Din a parcel of land on Nevarro, literally calling him “landed gentry” on the planet were Din to take up his offer. And this is framed as an improvement - a place devoid of crime, devoid of government rule, now flowering with vegetation that is almost certainly not part of Nevarro’s natural biosphere. The Mandalorian is now adopting, almost certainly unintentionally, the same aesthetic and processes of colonial rule that Andor has labelled as unambiguously fascist. Which is hilarious lol

[submalevolentgrace]

for pretty much my entire life we have been locking up refugees in UN-certified human-rights-violating "offshore detention" camps for the heinous crime of daring to try and flee from death and worse, often from wars-on-terror we've helped wage, and have very much done highly decorated war crimes in. we hold them in conditions so bad that war-fleeing refugees have sown their mouths shut, tried to starve themselves, even children trying to kill themselves to escape what we're doing to them. WE are doing. because in my boots on the ground activism days i tried to fight the government on this, and the fact is, the australian public on the whole doesn't give a shit about us torturing refugee kids, half the country is in support of it, so the government gets a free pass no matter which side is in power. from howard to rudd to gillard to rudd to abbott to turnbull to morison to albanese, we lock up and torture refugees. the UN anti-torture inspectors aren't allowed to visit. the camps are run by a private USA prison contractor now.

and it's not like we can't organise a protest! we'll barricade MP's offices because of something an ally-in-law country is doing that we condemn, but when the blood is on our hands we don't wanna know, don't wanna fight, don't wanna admit. and albanese gets up there and says those barricades have "crossed a line", "there's no place for violence like this in our democracy", he says. you know where there is an implicit place for violence, apparently? cops beating indigenous kids to death on camera, the australian people are fine with that apparently. happens all the time. better have a curfew so those kids don't get too rowdy about it!

oh and the CIA agents and US soldiers we welcomed here to supposedly defend us, they rape a bunch of women and children, mostly also indigenous? better get ASIO and the AFP to monitor the population for anti-american sentiment, local cops do it plenty too and we can't stand up to the USA, we're about to go to war with our biggest economic trading partner on their behalf, the troop buildup locations have already been announced! sweep it under the rug little aussies, scrub it from your memory, who cares about raped children anyway? not worth protesting, apparently.

we are right in the middle of the asia-pacific, with loosely speaking about a 5th of the population ethnically or culturally asian, and they are absolutely terrified of speaking out about how many hate crimes they suffer constantly, because the other 80% of the population is more culturally invested in american politics than the fact that labor considers pauline hanson an ally. i don't blame the 20% getting hatecrimed for being scared to speak up, i sure as fuck blame the rest of us for not protecting them, and for doing those hate crimes. "wE'rE a MuLtIcUlTuRaL sOcIeTy!! nO rAcIsM hErE!!", but we'll organise citywide marches in the middle of a pandemic if a black american kid gets killed over there, and then tell blak people they're spelling it wrong.

then we flood the region with our white-bleached propaganda and "culture", to control smaller governments and and lure the people of the region here for our economic benefit; the wealthy as fodder to fund the education complex, and the poor to work below-minimum-wage-slavery "jobs programs" on our great proud aussie battler family run farms.

it's all out in the open. the torture, the murder, the rape, the hate crimes, the technically-it's-legally-distinct-from-slavery, it's all known, all reported regularly on the news, endlessly, cyclically, every few months or years, for my whole life. fuck knows what else we're doing and i don't know about because pine gap prevents it from reaching english language news.

i know the internet zeitgeist really only cares about the single latest trending topic to happen, so you're wondering what that is to make me react enraged and ashamed; but it's everything. i haven't even scratched the surface, just ranting off the top of my head.

every day i carry the shame of what a disgusting violent colony nation this is; to the people who consider themselves australian, to the people here before the nation and their descendants, to the people surrounding us now. i carry the guilt of failure to stop it, and casual complicity of having given up the fight because i couldn't handle it. i think that's what most activists do here, give up in shame, because activists aren't fighting the government - we have one of the most free and open democracies in the world, and the spineless cowards in charge absolutely will do what the populace whims of them - activists here are fighting the cruel and apathetic average australian, who either don't care, or active condone it all. we have the blood of this country on our hands.

so.

what has australia done now?

it's fucken wednesday, mates. nothing new.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Leftist leaders are failing their promises across Latin America

The changing political landscape in Latin America, highlights the decline of leftist governments due to economic challenges, crime, and social reform failures, and the rise of more business-friendly, right-leaning administrations.

Fears over crime and a failure to keep promises of social reform are starting to take down some of Latin America’s leftist leaders, making room for the return of more business-friendly governments in the region.

In Colombia, the country’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro, has presided over a moribund economy, a surge in violent crime and a huge wealth exodus. Over in Chile, young leftist President Gabriel Boric has twice tried and failed to rewrite the constitution. Instead, he’s now pushing the country’s biggest effort yet to stop the spread of organised crime. Both were catapulted into leadership as the answer to waves of protests and social unrest in the world’s most unequal region at the start of the decade.

The left will face a crucial test next year, when voters head to the polls in Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile, and in 2026, when Brazil, Colombia and Peru hold their elections. No matter how individual candidates perform, the new LatAm Pulse poll by AtlasIntel and Bloomberg News shows that Latin Americans are growing sympathetic to more business-friendly economic models — a trend that is sure to accelerate if the shock therapy implemented by libertarian President Javier Milei proves successful in Argentina.

“You look across the region and where, right now, does it look like a leftist incumbent, at any level, is coasting to re-election?” said Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “I can’t think of a single place.”

At 40 percent and 39 percent respectively, Petro and Boric have the lowest approval ratings among leaders in Latin America’s biggest economies, according to the poll. The notable exception is Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has managed to secure the backing of a slim majority of the population nearly two years into his mandate. Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office this month, is enjoying a post-election honeymoon with voters.

Continue reading.

[scotianostra]

Patrick Colquhoun was born born in Dumbarton, on March 14th 1745.

Colquhoun was sent to the new world and served an apprenticeship as a sixteen-year-old in Virginia in North America. Likely working in a tobacco store.during the American Revolution he was part of the Government militia, in what was a Glasgow regiment to contribute to the government’s war effort. This part of history is being explored at the moment in the hit show Outlander.

On his return to Glasgow he became one of the city’s famous/imfamous ‘Tobacco Lords’. He had multiple commercial interests and was also a co-partner in the Glasgow-West India firm, Colquhoun & Ritchie, that traded with Jamaica and Antigua. As such, his wealth was derived from transatlantic slavery and its commerce, perhaps this is why he is not as well known in his native Scotland, we have a habit of brushing over the shame in the abhorrent trade of human beings.

In 1782 he built Kelvingrove House - in what is now Kelvingrove Park - as his residence. Colquhoun was Lord Provost of Glasgow, 1782-1784 and founder and the first Chairman of Britain’s oldest Chamber of Commerce in Glasgow in 1783. He was an honorary graduate of the University and the Colquhoun Lectureship in Business History is named for him. He moved to London in 1789 where he became a magistrate and published pamphlets on policing and other social issues of the day.

It is due to his work in London and those writings on policing he is credited with being the founder of the first regular investigative police force in England, The Thames Valley Police the first regular professional police force in London. Organised to reduce the thefts that plagued the world’s largest port and financed by merchants, the force was directed by Patrick Colquhoun and consisted of a permanent staff of 80 men and an on-call staff of more than 1,000. Two features of the marine police were unique. First, it used visible, preventive patrols; second, officers were salaried rather than stipendiary, and they were prohibited from taking fees. The venture was a complete success, and reports of crimes dropped appreciably. (In 1800 the government passed a bill making the marine police a publicly financed organisation.) This was a decades before Robert Peel established the Metropolitan Police, and it has to also be noted around the turn of the 18th City of Glasgow Police was established.

Colquhoun’s treatises on police also inspired the foundation of police in Dublin (Ireland), Sydney (Australia), and New York (USA).

Colquhoun’ has also been criticised for his violent oppression “wholly in the service of an industrialist and property-holding class in the earliest incarnation of socio-economic warfare in the Atlantic economy.” He “organised political surveillance by spies and snitches of those opposing slavery. In addition to his Virginia cotton interests he owned shares in Jamaican sugar plantations.” So by many accounts a nasty piece of work.

Colquhoun has been called ‘the Father of Glasgow’ because of his role in promoting Glasgow’s trade and manufacturing during the late 1700s. In fact, he referred to himself in this way when drawing up his will in 1817. We have a name for such people in Scotland, and it really fits this guy- Baw Heid.

[sourcreammachine]

WORKERS' PARTY MANIFESTO 2024 SUMMARY

tldr: conservative tankie cunts filling a niche left barren by all major parties. self-obsessed contemptible assholes riding a wave of genuine rage: profiting off demands for an end to the genocide and for socialist economics to fuel their self-serving egotrip, letting themselves loose to pursue their transphobic, misogynistic, hypernationalist, russophilic whims

holy shit, this manifesto is about a third the length of a typical party manifesto, and there are so little actual policies, it's all just polemic rambling

💷ECONOMY

"transform britain into a secure democratic socialist state"

"socialism is [about] economic planning"

'immediately' raise the personal allowance to £21,200 from £12,570

5% supertax on estates over £10,000,000

raise disability benefits to a 'minimum decent income' in parity with employed workers, with no enumeration of what mechanisms to use to achieve this

[the party is very critical of the trade unions. it criticises 'bureaucracy' and leaderships. it alleges they have an "attitude of not wanting to be in charge"]

workers on boards with voting rights, right of workers to have first rights to acquire assets set to be closed

via equivocation – not allow public sector unions the same rights as private ones, to "ensure the maintenance of public services and making [them] more effective"

reduce the pension age to 60 'over time' and abolish the WASPI discrepancy

support blockchain and AI

🏥PUBLIC SERVICES

consider for nationalisation "anything that is a monopoly"

end PPPs and PFI, renationalise the NHS, nationalise pharmaceutical industry

nationalise water

abolish tuition fees

free school lunches and breakfasts, abolish the charity status of private schools

🏠HOUSING

"our birth rate is falling because families start later and with less resources" -actual line from the HOUSING section of the manifesto

social housing programme that will 'override all planning constraints'

compulsory expropriations of unused land

"encourage opportunities for workers and trade unions to acquire collectively-owned land and property in the countryside and on the coasts for the rest and relaxation of the working class"

allow council estates to mutualise

🚄TRANSPORT

abolish the ultra-low emissions zone

free transport for children

👮FORCE

referendum on leaving NATO (a "clear and present danger to the security of the british population"), "they dare not act as brutally as they would like (except through proxies like Netanyahu or Zelensky)", "our position on Ukraine centres on a condemnation of the expansionary provocation of NATO in alliance with another ethnonationalist government", "we deplore the whipping up of hysterical sino- and russophobia", "[the US] was also the chief beneficiary of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine”

one state solution with right-of-return

save police time by ending "policing by twitter and criminalising speech and thought", reduce police bureaucracy because 'police officers are workers too', surge funding for organised crime policing, broken windows policy

"get tough on noise pollution, antisocial behaviour in general and use of property for criminal purposes"

"we will make it a criminal offence to deny a political organisation or individual a platform"

🌱CLIMATE ?

"climate change is constantly taking place. it has done so for thousands of years. we follow the science when it is clear but we understand just how much science can be socially constructed"

"we see no necessity to be rushed into ['creating a greener national economy'] by business-directed media propaganda... we will not be seduced by the more apocalyptic green hysteria that floods our media"

'referendum on net zero as soon as possible'

🗳️DEMOCRACY

proportional representation BUT "only if it can be structured to ensure that political parties cannot ‘fix’ their lists under the control of their own elites", a huge thicc but, meaning this is a no

abolish the lords

referendum on abolishing the monarchy

formally transfer royal prerogative powers to parliament

🏳️‍⚧️REACTIONARY AGENDA

"the evidence is clear that we seeing a growing crisis of mental health. our analysis suggests that a great deal of this is down to three factors", the third being "the hysteria of university-based cultural engineering. a malign alliance has emerged between increasingly unhinged identity politics and the neoliberal elite where Frankenstein’s monster (identity politics) now partially controls its former master (capitalism). there will be no support for identity politics or non-jobs for middle class graduates to support the NGO-industrial complex. everyone will be encouraged throughout the educational system to ‘be their own person’ and to be personally proud of their lifestyle choices instead of depending for their worth on the weird theories of university theoreticians and the neuroses of american progressivism. arts spending will be on national and working-class culture and public money will not be wasted on sectional interests" - actual quotes from the HEALTH section of the manifesto

"from the top down, [liberalism] seeks to impose its values on populations at home and overseas without informed consent through the educational system... and through arts and cultural patronage. this has created a class of intellectuals which has declared war on its own national and working class cultural traditions. the british working class is known for its easygoing tolerance and welcoming stance towards new ideas. however, this tolerance is very different from top-down ideologically-driven progressivism, imported from the very different conditions in the US with its understandable racial obsessions and lack of any tradition of a collective working class politics. progressivism fails to allow communities to live and learn alongside one another but imposes alien values through incentives and threats from above. we particularly oppose all attempts to impose identity politics and division in our communities. we will enshrine the right to enjoy a private life and lifestyles that harm no other and we will restrict the ability of private wealth to engage in cultural engineering" - the overwhelming bulk of the ARTS & CULTURE section

"while the WPB is absolutely committed to equal participation of men and women in the work place, it must not be at the expense of children or family life. child-rearing is not a side issue. it is one of immense social importance. "

"the import of identity politics into our small towns will no longer be financed"

"if my children are taught that there's – whatever the current vogue number is – 76 or 97 or whatever the number of purported genders that exist, i don’t want my children taught that. i want my children to be taught that the normal thing in britain, in society across the world, is a mother, a father and a family. i want them to be taught that there are gay people in the world and that they must be treated with respect and affection as i treat my own gay friends and colleagues with respect and affection but i don't want my children to be taught that these things are equal because i don't believe them to be equal" - george galloway mp, leader of the workers' party, 2024

[mariacallous]

The youth brain drain is one of the biggest problems in Western Balkan countries, with some predicting that up to half of the skilled and educated young population may leave these countries in the next decades. 

A research report published on Monday, Migration and Brain Drain – Comparative Analysis of Albania, North Macedonia, and Serbia, shows that young people leave these countries not only because of low salaries and economic issues but also because of corruption, crime, political instability and lack of security.

The report was published as a part of the Regional Youth Leadership Mobility Programme, which is a collaboration between the Centre for Science and Innovation for Development, the Youth Educational Forum from North Macedonia, and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights from Serbia.

The paper focuses on how to attract young migrants back to their home countries.

Respondents in Serbia and North Macedonia voiced pessimism about the possibility of returning, but family ties remained a strong motive for doing so. Youngsters in Albania expressed similar reasons for staying in Albania, such as strong family ties and the desire to contribute to the country’s development.

Natalija Zunic, a graduate student at the Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences and co-author of the report, told BIRN that one of the main recommendations they highlighted is better advertising and recognition of support programmes offered by government and non-governmental organisations that address migrants who want to return home.

“The biggest thing we noticed is the very low representation of programmes to support migrants who return. They exist, but 80 of our respondents were not aware that they exist,” she said.

Many of these schemes offer the same support that potential returnees seek, such as support for establishing of new businesses with the capital they earned in foreign countries.

But one problem noted in Serbia is that the state no longer recognises the young people who left as an integral part of the state. “When they come back, they no longer have a sense of their home state because it doesn’t treat them like that,” Zunic said.

It is mainly young and skilled individuals that are leaving Serbia. The average age of emigrants is 28.7 years, compared to the national average age of 42.2 years. 

A survey conducted by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy revealed that 64.5 per cent of Serbian youth would emigrate if given the chance. Their main reasons include securing a better future (22.7 per cent), higher salaries (20.1 per cent), and a higher living standard (19.6 per cent).

One is five emigrants also leaves with their entire family, indicating permanent departure.

North Macedonia, with its small population, is also facing significant emigration. The 2021 census highlighted a loss of 200,000 inhabitants compared to the 2002 census, as the population decreased from around 2 million to 1.8 million. This decline is primarily attributed to migration rather than a low birth rate.

Data in Albania shows that there is also a mismatch between educational programmes and labour market demands, which contributes to the brain-drain. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that few young people don’t have the opportunity to join quality internships.

Results of a survey conducted in Serbia show that students who gained internship experience are often not satisfied with its quality, citing another report with the same project, The Role of Career Counselling and Internship Programmes in Facilitating Students’ Transition from University to Workspace.

Participants without internship experience criticized career counselling offices for inconsistent availability and perceived rude attitudes, particularly in public universities.

Isidora Petkovic, a student of the Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences and co-author of the report, told BIRN that when young people go to an internship, they “do everything except their job”, explaining that this includes some side office duties.

The solution for that is better mentoring and leadership, “someone who would guide them from the very beginning to the end of the internship”, she said, adding that it’s also hard to get an internship, for which you usually need “good connections”.

[kalashni-cola]

Lets go..

@Shithead... no that's not right, @usefulidiot? Eeeeeeh @jamielovesjam since I have to.

Where to start..

Age of majority

The age of majority refers to the age at which an individual will be legally considered an adult. It is the age at which one will be subject to the full legal rights and responsibilities of an adult, including the right to vote, the right to join the military or the right to sign a contract. After reaching the age of majority, one will become fully responsible for their own actions, contractual obligations and other undertakings. Parental duties of support will also cease.  It is important to note that the age of majority does not necessarily conflate with the drinking age, smoking age, driving age, voting age, age of sexual consent, marriageable age etc. These will also vary from state by state and country by country. United States: 18/19/21* Netherlands: 18 United Kingdom: 21 Austria: 19 Sweden: 18 Canada: 18/19* Australia: 18 Switzerland: 20 Germany: 18 Japan: 18 France: 21 Belgium: 18 (Countries based on stupid purple circle graph by the US. SG office) (**Alabama and Mississippi being weird and some Canadian territories) The age of majority is 18 years in almost all OECD countries (Table PF1.8 A). (That's a official pdf) https://www.oecd.org/ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (Oh and yes I did spell that right. They can't get their copyright right yeesh)

General consensus among most people is that at 18 you are an adult, Uncle Sam says you're old enough to be drafted at 18. The World Health Organization is a United Nations political tool that does not have a great track record at all. The UN/WHO have no say in US politics or policies at the end of the day.

Relative frequencies are often used to inform the general population instead of experts and they have some advantages for this use case:

relative frequencies always allow for integers instead of fractions, which is useful if the variable of interest only makes sense in integer format (e.g. 0.5 out of 100 humans or 0.3 out of 100 births is not helpful). If the occurrence is very low (say 1 in a million), percentages are also not pretty (0.0001%)

relative frequencies might be easier to visualize: 1 in 10 may make us think of 10 people we know; 10% is rather abstract. As Greg Snow pointed out, relative frequencies have a relation to the real world. If 100 000 people live in my city, 85/100 000 is easier to grasp.

there is actually also scientific theory about this, the "frequency format hypothesis": "The frequency format hypothesis is the idea that the brain understands and processes information better when presented in frequency formats rather than a numerical or probability format." (from Wikipedia)

and, finally, percentages are sometimes given without a reference class (% of what?)

So when you proclaim 36.4 per 1m with your purple graph, that's 0.00364% chance of death between your chosen demographic.

0.00364%* 1 in 15,300 people has a better chance of getting hit by lighting. (according to News Nation) That's 0.00653%**

See, pretty interesting how its not much of a difference in percentages but the numbers are widely different.

(I'll add the source of that 36.4 per 1m here (at least the Office of the USSG spelled the organization correctly, I'll give them that.)

I mean there is also the whole PDF by them.. You know so people can read the whole thing on which this data pieced from. before we dig into that PDF, lets go to the Unified Crime Report (UCR) from the FBI, our favorite Table 8.

I want to you look at these numbers carefully. Total homicides for 2019, 13,927 - The FBI include suicides in these statistics for the UCR, as suicide is typically recorded as a homicide/murder. Lets go over to the mess I like to call the "Crime Data Explorer", this is the new administration trying to be edgy for no reason with their data. Data set to the same year 2019.

That's 6,618 uses of weapons in a homicide. A little different than the 13,927 from the UCR. Lets go over to Table 9 You might like this because of the age brackets. Important to note we're still at 13,927 victims.

669 victims of homicide under the age of 18, and if you want to be semantic, 1,462 deaths of 19 and under. Some would think "Wow that's a big leap!" 17-19 account for a massive jump from 270 to 1,042. Most can and would attribute that to gang violence. Now lets jump to the new CDE.

1,048 victims 19 and below. Pretty close but no cigar to the UCR this time. Wondering where I'm going with this ey? Well there hasn't been a new UCR out since 2019. And quiet frankly the CDE is horrible to interact with and considering the variables I've found in it, I'd find them not very accurate. But if I would..

If we believe the CDE trend wise homicide is down, minus since 2020 its spiked a really shitty border might be a reason for that but I digress. (that means gun violence is as well by the way but otherwise down.) And if we want to look at 2022;

That's one hell of a jump if you ask me but also closer to the old UCR data though mildly increased. So in comparison the CDE does not have a good breakdown of their data into tables like the UCR. So all in all, I'd love to know where "48,204 total people died from firearm‑related injuries, including suicides, homicides, and unintentional deaths." As the PDF graphs you've give me to read. (Their number 2 source doesn't give the data they used for that quote btw) Because if they're trying to include suicides say from AFSP the say there were 27,032 suicides by firearms in 2022, but that doesn't stack well when there are suicides reported with homicide numbers in the UCR. So be it as it may. I see your PDF and I would trash it, even if it had some interesting tidbits like this;

I'd say Gang related or socioeconomic conditions may have something to do with this in urban centers and it's not necessarily a firearm issue. But anyways. Your tags are lame and there is no "etiquette of tags" on Tumblr reblogs. I tag things when they have relevance so I can find them later, or an initial post. Suck on my tags as they say.

[tieflingkisser]

Lack of access to clean drinking water is a death sentence for the people of Gaza

The catastrophic lack of clean drinking water sources in Gaza City and the northern areas of the Gaza Strip has left Palestinians there facing a horrifying tragedy akin to a death sentence, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement issued Monday, citing the war crime as further evidence of the genocide Israel has been carrying out against the Strip’s civilian population since 7 October 2023. Distress is engulfing Gaza City and its northern regions in alarming ways—a result of Israel’s cutting off of the water supply in the Gaza Strip, systematic and intentional Israeli bombing of water sources and wells, and a lack of fuel required to run water conversion and distribution facilities, said Euro-Med Monitor. The human rights organisation warned that the lack of drinking water in the Strip has become a matter of life and death. It noted that residents are currently forced to drink unclean well water, which is contributing to the spread of transmitted and infectious diseases, especially amid the power outage and overall water supply shortage. Prior to Israel’s 100-day-long genocide, the Gaza Strip—one of the world’s most densely populated areas—was already experiencing a crippling crisis in clean drinking water supplies. More than 90% of the population, or more than 2.3 million people, were living in a declining economic environment with the barest necessities. Gaza City’s main reservoirs, Al-Balad and Al-Rimal, were completely destroyed last weekend during an Israeli bulldozing operation in the area, the Euro-Med Monitor team confirmed. Al-Balad Reservoir, which houses a water well, a warehouse for water line maintenance equipment, and administrative offices for the city’s water department, and Al-Rimal Reservoir, which includes the sanitation department’s offices and a warehouse for sewage network maintenance equipment, have both been bulldozed during the Israeli ground incursion.

[capybaracorn]

Geneva - The catastrophic lack of clean drinking water sources in Gaza City and the northern areas of the Gaza Strip has left Palestinians there facing a horrifying tragedy akin to a death sentence, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement issued Monday, citing the war crime as further evidence of the genocide Israel has been carrying out against the Strip’s civilian population since 7 October 2023.

Distress is engulfing Gaza City and its northern regions in alarming ways—a result of Israel’s cutting off of the water supply in the Gaza Strip, systematic and intentional Israeli bombing of water sources and wells, and a lack of fuel required to run water conversion and distribution facilities, said Euro-Med Monitor.

The human rights organisation warned that the lack of drinking water in the Strip has become a matter of life and death. It noted that residents are currently forced to drink unclean well water, which is contributing to the spread of transmitted and infectious diseases, especially amid the power outage and overall water supply shortage.

Prior to Israel’s 100-day-long genocide, the Gaza Strip—one of the world’s most densely populated areas—was already experiencing a crippling crisis in clean drinking water supplies. More than 90% of the population, or more than 2.3 million people, were living in a declining economic environment with the barest necessities.

Gaza City’s main reservoirs, Al-Balad and Al-Rimal, were completely destroyed last weekend during an Israeli bulldozing operation in the area, the Euro-Med Monitor team confirmed. Al-Balad Reservoir, which houses a water well, a warehouse for water line maintenance equipment, and administrative offices for the city’s water department, and Al-Rimal Reservoir, which includes the sanitation department’s offices and a warehouse for sewage network maintenance equipment, have both been bulldozed during the Israeli ground incursion.

According to the Palestinian Water Authority, the ongoing Israeli military attacks have destroyed the water infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, including at least 65% of the water wells in Gaza City and the northern areas of the Strip.

Due to Israeli bombing, at least 12 wells in the area have been destroyed, resulting in an extreme and unprecedented water crisis in Gaza City. Prior to the Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip on 7 October, the Gaza municipality was pumping approximately three million cups of water per month. Israel’s state-owned Mekorot company provided 700,000 cups per day, or 25% of the total amount. The desalination plant provided 10%, and the city’s local wells provided roughly two million and 200,000 cups. Almost all of these sources have since ceased production.

The situation is made worse by the fact that the Israeli authorities are still placing tight restrictions on the flow of aid into the Gaza Strip, particularly into the northern areas and Gaza City; this includes the fuel needed to run the water and sanitation facilities.

Since the beginning of its unprecedented military assaults, Israel has imposed a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip and stopped the flow of food, fuel, water, and other basic human necessities. Later, Israel’s military began methodically and willfully destroying water tanks and stations.

Under international pressure, Israel has allowed the daily entry of 100 aid trucks into the Gaza Strip via the Rafah land crossing into Egypt. This is a far cry from the average load of 500 trucks that entered the Strip prior to 7 October to meet humanitarian needs.

According to Euro-Med Monitor, the lack of clean drinking water in the northern Gaza Strip is resulting in increasingly dire consequences and severe suffering for residents of the Jabalia refugee camp, who have not had access to it since the start of Israeli military attacks. A 73-year-old resident of the camp’s “Block 4”, Alian Fares Abdel-Ghani, told the Euro-Med Monitor team that residents are forced to drink salted water, which is necessary for daily survival but difficult to obtain. According to Abdel-Ghani, Israel’s army destroyed the camp’s two desalination plants, the Tiberias and the Shomer plants, shortly after the start of its ongoing attacks.

Abdul-Ghani stated that the cost of a gallon of water initially increased from one Israeli shekel ($0.27 USD) to four shekels ($1.08 USD) as a result of the Israeli bombing and the lack of fuel required to run other stations farther from the camp. After a few days, he continued, Israel shut off the water supply entirely. Many Jabalia families have tried to sterilise water and make it somewhat drinkable by boiling it over wood fires, he said, especially after diseases started to spread among them and children started getting diarrhoea and colic on a regular basis.

Euro-Med Monitor warned that excessive consumption of undrinkable salt water will lead to high blood pressure; kidney disease; increased risk of stroke, intestinal, and stomach diseases; constant vomiting; and diarrhoea. These side effects ultimately result in excessive dehydration of the body’s tissues, particularly brain tissue. Drinking water drawn from wells without treatment could result in an imbalance in the body’s salt content and cause dehydration, with children and elderly people being the most vulnerable due to weakened immune systems, and the potential for gastrointestinal infections to cause fatalities.

Given the scarcity of drinkable water, particularly following winter rains and floods, worries about waterborne and infectious diseases like cholera and chronic diarrhoea are high.

Euro-Med Monitor conducted an analytical study last month that included a sample of 1,200 people in the Gaza Strip in order to ascertain the impact of the humanitarian crisis experienced by residents of the enclave in the midst of Israel’s genocidal war, ongoing since 7 October. Sixty-six per cent of the study sample reported having experienced diarrhoea, skin rashes, or intestinal diseases within the past month. According to the study, the rate of access to water in the Strip, including drinking, bathing, and cleaning water, is just 1.5 litres per person per day. This is 15 litres less than the minimum amount of water required for survival at the level required by international standards.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor stressed that international humanitarian law forbids attacks, destruction, or disruption of vital facilities necessary to the survival of the civilian population, such as drinking water facilities and networks. The rights organisation further emphasised that international humanitarian law strictly prohibits the use of starvation as a weapon. As an occupying power, Israel is obligated under international humanitarian law to provide basic needs and protection to the Gazan people.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court provides that intentionally starving civilians by “depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies” is a war crime, added the Geneva-based rights group.

Euro-Med Monitor stated that Israel has been committing acts of genocide against the civilian population of the Gaza Strip since 7 October according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and pertinent international judicial rulings. Israel’s crimes include depriving the civilian population of enough potable water, which has caused serious, intentional harm and trapped them in living conditions meant to destroy them.

[waterspinachdith]

SoCiAL ACtiV!Sm

#BlackLivesMatter. 

The establishment of a movement opposing the occurrence of racist acts. Although racism was thought to have ended with the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. This is known as the Black Lives Matter movement. This campaign condemns the violence committed by a white police officer named Zimmerman against Treyvon Martin, which sparked outrage among black people. This campaign was named after a hashtag created by Alicia Garza, a black woman who expressed her worries about the case. "Black folks, I love you. I love us, our lives matter," Patrisse Cullors reposted Garza's post. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was used at the end of the upload by the final name.  

The same thing happened in 2014. In the United States, police shot and killed Michael Brown, a young black man. This case also prompted the Black Lives Matter organisation to stage a protest called "Freedom Rides," which highlighted the circumstances surrounding Brown's killing. This marked the beginning of community opposition to racism in the United States. Black Lives Matter is there for people who require a symbol to appropriately represent their pain, thus recreating the lost connection between their pain and the belief that it will go away. Black Lives Matter is the result of a group of people experiencing pain and organising a protest.

Occupy Wall Street has emerged as a new social movement. The Occupy Wall Street movement is a new social movement phenomena with the main concern being economic injustice. As a New Social Movement, Occupy Wall Street rejects the organisational framework of a hierarchical movement by not establishing a leader as a symbol, implying that they are anti-bureaucracy, which can be more complicated and does not accommodate everyone's input. The concerns formed in the movement are more grounded by listening to the input of the action participants one by one, even if this takes a long period. This movement is democratic, inviting everyone to think together because of the communal difficulties we confront on a daily basis (social-economic-political), which have the ability to unite everyone in one force.

Fan activism, according to Melissa M. Brough of University of Southern California, is a fan-driven movement to solve civic or political issues through interaction and strategic diffusion of popular cultural content. There are other examples of K-pop fandom being used as a resource or launch for civil and political action. In South Korea, for example, a group of female K-Pop fans actively participated in mobilising the movement to promote the suspension of President Park Gyeun He, who was involved in several constitutional and criminal crimes, including bribery and abuse of power.

Twitter, for instance, is becoming a popular forum for digital fandom, such as how ARMY, BTS admirers take action and contribute to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. ARMY activism varied from retweeting people's BLM tweets, educating each other about racial injustices in the world and their individual countries, holding rallies, and launching the #MatchAMillion global fundraising drive through One in An ARMY (a collective of volunteers around the world focused on global donation campaigns). ARMY was able to raise more than $1 million in donations in just one day because of this global fundraising effort.

[systemtek]

New data laws unveiled to improve public services and boost UK economy by £10 billion

A new Bill which will harness the enormous power of data to boost the UK economy by £10 billion, and free up millions of police and NHS staff hours has been introduced to Parliament today (Wednesday 23rd October). The Data Use and Access Bill will unlock the secure and effective use of data for the public interest, without adding pressures to the country’s finances. The measures will be central to delivering three of the five Missions to rebuild Britain, set out by the Prime Minister: - kickstarting economic growth - taking back our streets - and building an NHS fit for the future Some of its key measures include cutting down on bureaucracy for our police officers, so that they can focus on tackling crime rather than being bogged down by admin, freeing up 1.5 million hours of their time a year. It will also make patients’ data easily transferable across the NHS so that frontline staff can make better informed decisions for patients more quickly, freeing up 140,000 hours of NHS staff time every year, speeding up care and improving patients’ health outcomes. The better use of data under measures in the Bill will also simplify important tasks such as renting a flat and starting work with trusted ways to verify your identity online, or enabling electronic registration of births and deaths, so that people and businesses can get on with their lives without unnecessary admin. Vital safeguards will remain in place to track and monitor how personal data is used, giving peace of mind to patients and victims of crime. IT systems in the NHS operate to the highest standards of security and all organisations have governance arrangements in place to ensure the safe, legal storage and use of data.  Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: Data is the DNA of modern life and quietly drives every aspect of our society and economy without us even noticing – from our NHS treatments and social interactions to our business and banking transactions.   It has the enormous potential to make our lives better, boosting our National Health Service, cutting costs when we shop, and saving us valuable time. With laws that help us to use data securely and effectively, this Bill will help us boost the UK’s economy, free up vital time for our front-line workers, and relieve people from unnecessary admin so that they can get on with their lives. The Bill, delivered by the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, has three core objectives: growing the economy, improving UK public services, and making people’s lives easier. The measures will be underpinned by a revamped Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s independent authority responsible for regulating data protection and privacy laws, with a new structure and powers of enforcement - ensuring people’s personal data will be protected to high standards. Improving public services The Bill will unlock the power of data to relieve front-line workers in the NHS and police forces across the country from bureaucracy and enable them to better serve the public.   Police officers across the country will benefit from measures that will remove unnecessary manual logging requirements whenever accessing personal data to work on a case, for example every time an officer needs to look up a suspect or person of interest on the police database, freeing up to 1.5 million hours of valuable police time for our officers, so that they can be on the streets fighting crime rather than being bogged down by admin. This will help save around £42.8 million in taxpayers’ money every year. The legislation will also ensure that healthcare information – like a patient’s pre-existing conditions, appointments and tests – can easily be accessed in real time across all NHS trusts, GP surgeries and ambulance services, no matter what IT system they are using. It will require IT suppliers for the health and care sector to ensure their systems meet common standards to enable data sharing across platforms. The measure will free up 140,000 hours in NHS staff time every year, providing quicker care for patients and potentially saving lives. Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: The NHS is broken, but imagine its enormous potential if each part of the system communicated properly with each other. That starts with sharing vital medical records between healthcare providers, because it shouldn’t be the patient’s responsibility to join the dots for their doctor. How can a GP diagnose a problem without knowing about someone’s recent hospital surgery? This Bill and our Ten Year Health Plan will ensure important data flows safely and securely through the NHS, freeing up staff time and speeding up patient care. I know people worry about Big Brother, which is why data will only be shared to the most relevant staff and anybody using data must comply with strict security protocols. Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, Dame Diana Johnson said: It is vital police officers are able to dedicate their time to protecting the public on the beat, not in the office. Freeing up this valuable resource will see more officers out on our streets, making a real difference in fighting and solving crime. As part of our mission to make streets safer, this government will bring back neighbourhood policing, ensuring thousands of additional police and community officers are out patrolling our towns and communities. Vin Diwakar, National Director of Transformation at NHS England, said: This Bill is a significant step in creating a more responsive and efficient healthcare system. As an NHS doctor myself, I know it is vital that NHS staff have quicker access to more accurate and comprehensive data, giving them more face-to-face time with patients who need it most. These changes will lay the foundations for patient information to flow safely, securely and seamlessly, which will improve clinical outcomes, make decision-making more informed and speed up the delivery of care. By simply using data more efficiently, we can save time and money, and create a modern, digital NHS that continues to improve care for patients. Growing the economy The Bill is expected to generate approximately £10 billion towards the UK economy across ten years by legislating on data sharing to generate a host of benefits for both consumers and businesses.    Delivering on a key government manifesto commitment, the Bill will create the right conditions to support the future of open banking and the growth of new smart data schemes, models which allow consumers and businesses who want to safely share information about them with regulated and authorised third parties, to generate personalised market comparisons and financial advice to cut costs. This will pave the way for the model to expand in sectors such as energy, which could give customers the ability to compare utility prices, find better deals, and reduce their energy use, as well as foster tech innovation and boost competition, which will ultimately grow the UK economy. This potential has already been demonstrated in open banking, where 82 firms alone have raised over £2 billion of private funding and created over 4,800 skilled jobs in the financial year 2022-2023. The Bill will also help reduce the risk of accidents on underground water and energy pipes and broadband cables, which currently amount to 60,000 every year and cause prolonged disruption of roadworks and access to key amenities like energy and broadband to homes. The National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) will be put on a statutory footing, mandating that owners of underground infrastructure, such as water companies or telecoms operators, register their assets on the NUAR, which is a complete map of underground pipes and cables. The use of the Register will mean that companies will know exactly where any underground asset is placed, reducing the risk of accidents on pipes and cables, making construction safer for workers and reducing the disruption – and hazards - caused by holes being dug up in the streets. This will generate approximately £400 million a year, boost construction and tackle accidental damage currently costing the economy £2.4 billion a year. Davey Stobbart, Water Networks Regional Manager, Northumbrian Water: Our field crews have found the way information is presented in NUAR to be more useful than anything they have seen or used before.  It has reduced the time taken for crews to understand what lies below the ground where they are about to dig.   In the field, we frequently find the precise point of excavation needs to be made not-quite where our office-based planners predicted and previously in this case the job would have been delayed whilst a new plan pack was prepared.  Now with NUAR, our crews are simply able to pan and zoom to that point instantly, seeing everything they would have seen on all those individual plans without the back-office cottage industry and without these delays.  In fact, they will be seeing more because we’re now able to easily access information from local authorities through NUAR too, such as street lighting, highways gulleys and tree preservation orders all in one place.  We have found NUAR to be a great additional tool in the toolbox to help us reduce the likelihood of high potential utility strikes. Making people’s lives easier The rules proposed in the Bill will make Britons’ day-to-day lives easier, by simplifying important tasks such as renting a flat, starting work, or registering births and deaths, so that people and businesses can get on with their lives rather than being bogged down by admin. The Bill will legislate on digital verification services, meaning companies who provide tools for verifying identities will be able to get certified against the government’s stringent trust framework of standards, and receive a ‘trust mark’ to use as a result. As well as increasing trust in the market, these efficiency gains will boost the UK economy by £4.3 billion over the next decade.  The trust mark will be a new logo to show digital verification services are approved by the new Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA) within Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). The Bill will help make sure digital verification services are inclusive, secure and privacy-preserving, and will make it easier for people to know which services they can trust. The Data Bill will pave the way towards modernising the registration of deaths in England and Wales from a paper-based system to an electronic birth and death register – in turn supporting people at one of the most challenging times in life. The new law will enable registrations, which are required by local authorities, to be carried out over the phone, removing the need for face-to-face registration while retaining that choice. Access to data for research into online safety The Bill will also boost the UK’s approach to tackling online harms through a power to create a researcher data access regime. This will support researchers in accessing data held by online platforms so they can conduct robust and independent research into online safety trends. The move will boost transparency and evidence on the scale of online harms and the measures which are effective in tackling them.  Further details on the specific measures can be found below: - Growing the economy - Improving public services - Making people’s lives easier Read the full article

[head-post]

Norway increasingly alarmed by Swedish gangs

Norway is increasingly concerned about Swedish criminal gangs, already known for their offences in Denmark, where they operate throughout the country, according to Euractiv.

Kjetil Tunold, head of the organised crime division at the Norwegian National Bureau of Investigation, stated:

“It is serious. We are afraid that the development we have seen in Sweden will infect us.”

One of the cases in which Swedish gang criminals are suspected of involvement is a house bombing at an apartment complex in Dröbak, south of Oslo, last autumn. Following the incident, three Swedes linked to the gang were charged with attempted murder.

According to Tomas Staerk, head of investigations for Norway’s Eastern Police District, several Swedish criminal organisations have established themselves in the area.

We are worried about the gross use of violence and that the Swedish gangs will recruit vulnerable young people to join them. It is money laundering, economic crime, violence and threats.

Swedish gangs can now be found in all twelve police districts in Norway and may be linked to the importation and distribution of drugs in the country, according to a Norwegian police report on the national threat of criminal gangs. The Norwegian police have now asked the government for support to start joint patrols with Swedish police in border areas that are particularly prone to Swedish gang crime.

“If the level of violence increases in one place, it can spread so that you strike back with the same coin. It becomes a kind of spiral of violence.”

Denmark announced Friday that it would impose border controls with Sweden following renewed Swedish gang violence that had spilled over into Denmark in recent weeks. Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said on 14 August:

The reality right now is that not only Denmark but large parts of the Nordic countries are feeling the consequences of Sweden’s long-standing failed immigration and legal policies, and we take that extremely seriously.

Sweden’s Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer says Denmark also bears some responsibility for its own gangs, but agrees with much of the criticism of the gang issue in Sweden.

In response, a Nordic hub of police officers from Finland, Norway, and Denmark will be established in Stockholm. Norwegian and Finnish officers are already involved, with Danish officers joining in a few weeks.

Sweden, with a population of only 10 million, has the highest per capita rate of gun violence in the EU.

Read more HERE

[flutterwave]

Cybercrime Research Centre Led by Flutterwave to Launch in Nigeria to Combat Internet Crime

Cybercrime is not only a threat to organisations, but a threat to society as it can entice young people to go down a dark path. Both firms and governments across the globe have a duty to do all they can to intensify the fight against internet crime and looking to do so in Nigeria, Flutterwave, the African paytech, has partnered with Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The new partnership will establish a Cybercrime Research Centre which will be led by Flutterwave. Its purpose is to protect youths and enhance the security of business transactions.

The pledge was formalised on June 14, 2024, during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Abuja between Flutterwave and the EFCC. This high-level event was attended by:

Ola Olukoyede, executive chairman of the EFCC

Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, founder and CEO of Flutterwave

Mobolaji Bammeke, the chief compliance officer

Christopher Gray, the director of the American Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)

Olugbenga Agboola, CEO of Flutterwave, reiterated the company’s dedication, stating: “As the largest payments infrastructure company in Africa, we are committed to promoting secure and safe transactions.

“This initiative underscores our commitment to creating a fraud-free financial ecosystem and leading the charge in safeguarding transactions across Africa. We applaud the EFCC’s relentless efforts to combat internet fraud and other illicit activities in the financial sector.”

Ola Olukoyede, executive chairman of the EFCC, expressed his appreciation for the partnership, noting: “The EFCC is impressed with the strides and expanse of Flutterwave across Africa.

“This partnership marks a significant leap forward in our efforts to combat financial crimes and ensure a secure financial landscape for Nigerians. The Cybercrime Research Centre will significantly enhance our capabilities to prevent, detect, and prosecute financial crimes.”

The Cybercrime Research Centre

As the payments ecosystem continues to evolve, the prevalence of financial fraud remains a significant challenge, threatening the stability and trust in financial systems. This partnership between Flutterwave and the EFCC exemplifies how public-private collaboration can effectively address these issues. Together, they will pave the way for a more secure and prosperous economy in Nigeria and across Africa.

The Cybercrime Research Centre, to be established at the new EFCC Academy, will serve as a hub for advanced research, training, and capacity building in the fight against financial crimes. It will focus on several key areas:

Advanced fraud detection and prevention

Developing and implementing cutting-edge technologies to detect and prevent financial fraud. The centre will offer comprehensive training for law enforcement and industry professionals to combat modern financial crimes effectively.

Collaborative research and policy development

Engaging in joint research initiatives and policy formulation to enhance the understanding and regulation of financial crime. The center will provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and best practices between the public and private sectors.

Youth empowerment and capacity building

Providing high-end training and research opportunities for 500 youths. It will also equip them with the skills needed to navigate and excel in the digital economy.

Technological advancement and resource enablement

Creating a repository of advanced tools, technologies, and resources to support financial crime investigations. This includes protocols for addressing emerging threats such as cryptocurrency-related crimes.

[beardedmrbean]

Belgium’s federal police are opening a judicial investigation into Flemish liberal Euro MP Hilde Vautmans (Open VLD/Renew Europe Group).  The move comes following a request by the European Public Prosecutor's Office. Flemish weekly Knack brought out the news that has been confirmed to VRT NWS. The investigation focuses on alleged misuse of European funds.

Former employees of Ms Vautmans told Knack in May that they had to take on assignments unrelated to her job in the European Parliament.  That is illegal.

The European prosecutor's office then asked Belgium’s federal police to draw up an official report based on the available information. Earlier this month, the prosecutor’s office received that official report and judged that there were sufficient elements to start a judicial investigation, the European prosecutor's office said.

Ms Vautmans denies allegations

The judicial investigation, led by the federal police's Central Department for Combating Organised Economic and Financial Crime, is permitting the questioning of Ms Vautmans' former employees.

According to Knack, Ms Vautmans, who was re-elected as an MEP in the 9 June elections, denies the allegations made by her former employees and stresses that none of them have filed a complaint.

"Parliament confirmed to me that all my spending of European funds was done strictly in accordance with the rules that apply," Ms Vautmans said.

Ms Vautmans seeks to be heard earliest

Responding to news agency Belga, Ms Vautmans said she "has no knowledge" of the investigation, "except from what I have just learned through the press". "If it is confirmed that an investigation is under way, it signifies the secrecy of the investigation has been violated. In the past I already refuted these allegations," she stated.

"If an investigation is really under way, I am happy to cooperate fully with it. That is why I insist on being heard as soon as possible," Ms Vautmans concludes.

[tracknews1]

Some religious organisations more corrupt than public offices — EFCC boss

CHAIRMAN of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr Ola Olukoyede has alleged that some religious organisations are “more corrupt” than public offices in Nigeria. Olukoyede spoke at a leadership conference organised by the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, in Lagos on Friday. The EFCC boss disclosed that his organisation recently recovered “how many millions from a…