Source: jang.com.pk 11/3/24 The most awaited trailer of Netflix’s Squid Game 2 has unveiled on November 1, which featured some old and new characters, trying to navigate the chaotic and lethal game. Although, the trailer fueled exciting among fans, it also sparked outrage due to the inclusion of veteran actor Song Young-chang, who was convicted of underage prostitution in 2000. … Many major Korean broadcast channels banned him but Song continued to work in the entertainment industry, appearing in various K-Dramas and movies in supporting roles Read the full article
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Dutch rapist Steven van de Velde’s partner issues staunch defence of Olympic selection
Source: yahoo.com 7/23/24 The playing partner of Steven van de Velde, the Dutch Olympian permitted to compete in beach volleyball at the Paris Games despite raping a 12-year-old British girl, has described him as being “like a second father to me”. Van de Velde refused to answer questions upon arrival in Paris where he was confronted by a Daily Mail journalist. Matthew Immers, the other half of the Netherlands pair, has mounted a staunch defence of his team-mate. “I feel comfortable with him, we take good care of each other,”…
Read MoreSome registrants will be prevented from traveling in Europe’s Schengen countries
Source: etias.org [Beginning first half of 2025] Criminal records can prevent you from being allowed to travel to the Schengen Zone. Any travellers applying for ETIAS for a short stay in Europe are likely to have their ETIAS application declined if they have committed a serious crime. Applications from people with minor offences will usually be approved for an ETIAS and granted entry to the 26 ETIAS countries. Any of the following serious criminal offences in the last ten years will need to be reviewed and likely to be declined:…
Read MoreConvicted child rapist to represent Netherlands at Paris Olympics
Source: mlive.com 6/8/24 A convicted child rapist will compete at the Olympics in Paris. Steven van de Velde, 29, who was named to the Dutch beach volleyball team last month, was sentenced to four years in prison in Great Britain in 2016 following the rape of a 12-year-old girl two years earlier when he was 19, Reuters reported. Much like in the U.S. statutory rape is defined in England as unforced sexual activity where one of the individuals is younger than the age required to consent to the behavior. Read…
Read MoreEU cancels vote on child sexual abuse law amid encryption concerns
Source: politico.eu 6/20/24 A vote scheduled today to amend a draft law that may require WhatsApp and Signal to scan people’s pictures and links for potential child sexual abuse material was removed from European Union countries’ agenda, according to three EU diplomats. Ambassadors in the EU Council were scheduled to decide whether to back a joint position on an EU regulation to fight child sexual abuse material (CSAM). But many EU countries including Germany, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic were expected to abstain or oppose the law over cybersecurity and privacy…
Read MoreInternational Living 2024
This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Living ONLY. Please give your account of a country’s expenses, environment, requirements, advantages, limitations, and so on. Each year we will start a new page, just like we do for International Travel.
Read MoreNorway: Sex offender asks Norway’s Supreme Court to declare social media access is a human right
Source: abcnews.go.com 5/1/24 STAVANGER, Norway — A convicted sex offender is asking the Norwegian Supreme Court to declare that social media access is a human right. The case before the court Thursday involves a man who molested a minor and used the Snapchat messaging app to connect with young boys. The unidentified offender was sentenced last year to 13 months in prison and banned from using Snapchat for two years. His lawyers argue that depriving him of his account is unlawful under the European Convention on Human Rights. The case…
Read MoreBarbados: Youth Minister calls for a sex offender’s registry
Source: starcomnetwork.net 5/15/24 There is a call for a national register for child sex offenders in Barbados. It came from the Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Charles Griffith during the debate on the report of the Child Protection Bill in the House of Assembly yesterday. Mr. Griffith stressed that the Government needs to move a step further and implement the register. Read the full article
Read MoreEU plan to force messaging apps to scan for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) risks millions of false positives, experts warn
Source: techcrunch.com 5/2/24 A controversial push by European Union lawmakers to legally require messaging platforms to scan citizens’ private communications for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) could lead to millions of false positives per day, hundreds of security and privacy experts warned in an open letter Thursday. Concern over the EU proposal has been building since the Commission proposed the CSAM-scanning plan two years ago — with independent experts, lawmakers across the European Parliament and even the bloc’s own Data Protection Supervisor among those sounding the alarm. The EU proposal would…
Read MoreMA: Former Mass. city councilor accused of having explicit images of a child apparently joined Russian army
Source: wbur.org 4/11/24 A U.S. Air Force veteran who fled a charge of possessing sexually explicit images of a child told his lawyer he joined Russia’s army, and video appears to show him signing documents in a military enlistment office in Siberia. Wilmer Puello-Mota, a former elected official in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was expected to enter a guilty plea in Rhode Island in early January, but did not show up to court, according to prosecutors. Last week, video surfaced that appears to show the 28-year-old in Russia and expressing support for…
Read MoreMO: St. Louis man fled country, spent nearly a decade in Asia avoiding child porn charges
Source: stltoday.com 2/22/24 ST. LOUIS — When federal prosecutors opened Dominic Pavia’s file last year, they found floppy disks inside. They were finally revisiting his case after Pavia fled the U.S. and spent nearly a decade in China, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines after learning that he was facing indictment for child pornography charges. He pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography upon his return, and on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Ross ruled on the cost of Pavia’s years on the run: seven years in federal prison. “We’re here…
Read MoreAsylum Case Result #2 (Good News): German High Court Condemns Torture Used Against American Sex Offenders
Source: Just Facts Not Fear / Common Sense Laws on YouTube 2/15/24 Recently, two more asylum cases (brought by American asylum seekers), both initially denied and facing deportation, were decided by a German federal judge. We will examine the outcomes of both cases. This is the first case of the two and it solidifies Germany’s stance against at least one of the torture methods that the Americans use on their victims they brand as “sex offenders”. The redacted case file, dated 22 January 2024, can be viewed on our site Just Facts…
Read MoreSpain: TSJM denies applying ‘Yes is Yes Law’ to minor sex offender with 19-year sentence
Spain: alaskacommons.com 2/16/24 The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) has rejected an appeal to review a sentence imposed on a man who was found guilty of several sexual crimes against minors between 2014 and 2017. The man was sentenced to 19 years and seven days in prison by the Provincial Court of Madrid. The appellant requested a reduction in his sentence under the ‘Yes is Yes Law’, but the High Court judges rejected his request. The Chamber argued that the absence of freely given consent in the episodes…
Read MoreHungary’s president Katalin Novák stepped down after pardoning a man convicted of helping cover up sex abuse
Source: theguardian.com 2/10/24 The Hungarian president has announced her resignation over her decision to pardon a man convicted of helping cover up a sex abuse case at a children’s home as the controversy posed a challenge for Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán. The pardon decision was made last year but only caught the public’s attention over the past days after a report by the local news site 444.hu, which was met with outrage, leading Hungary’s opposition to call for Katalin Novák to step down. “I made a mistake,” Novák said…
Read MoreCanada: Registrants have the same low re-offense risk as the general public after about 10 years of being offence-free in the community
Source: utpjournals.press 7/3/2023 The public is justifiably concerned about the risk presented by individuals with a history of sexual crime. Given that recidivism risk varies across individuals and over time, what level is so low as to be indistinguishable from sexual recidivism risk in the general population (a desistance threshold)? T … Other research has found that most individuals released from a sexual offence present a similarly low residual risk (< 2%) after 10 years of being offence-free in the community. Consequently, applying long-term restrictions (e.g., lifetime registration; Criminal Code…
Read MoreInternational Travel 2024
This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Travel ONLY. For more information and previous discussions on the topic, please see International Travel 2023, International Travel 2022, International Travel 2021, International Travel 2020 and International Travel 2019. In this International Travel 2024 post, the information is identical to the International Travel 2023 post. We added a new post for 2024 in order to keep the discussion manageable. Please help us by sticking to the topic of International Travel only. ==== From 2020: We have updated our main International…
Read MoreUK accuses Meta of empowering child sexual abusers with encryption rollout
Source: theguardian.com 12/7/23 Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has been accused by the UK government of empowering child sexual abusers after the tech firm began rolling out the automatic encryption of all messages on its Facebook and Messenger platforms. The home secretary, James Cleverly, described the move as a “significant step back” for child safety after Meta said it would introduce end-to-end encryption on the apps. The move means that only the sender and receiver of messages on the platforms will be able to access their content. Cleverly said: “Law enforcement,…
Read MoreUK: ‘I can’t defend what he did’: Why I stayed with my child sex offender husband
Source: news.sky.com 12/4/23 Sarah, not her real name, was shocked when her husband was arrested and later convicted of viewing hundreds of illegal child abuse images. After agonising over her future, she decided to stay with him. Watch the video
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