Foreign
Kemi Badenoch calls for fresh probe into ‘rape gangs scandal’ in UK
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Nigerian-born Kemi Badenoch, leader of the British opposition Conservative Party, has called for a comprehensive inquiry to uncover those who turned a blind eye to the grooming gangs responsible for the rape of thousands of girls in the UK.
In a strongly-worded article, Badenoch expressed outrage, stating, “Britain has witnessed the mass grooming of thousands of the most vulnerable white working-class girls – children – by gangs of men, many of Pakistani heritage. This was rape on an industrial scale.”
Badenoch condemned the systemic failures that allowed the abuse to persist, saying, “Shockingly, it was a scandal made possible by the collusion and cover-ups of officials, the police and politicians who were more concerned about community relations than about victims and their families.”
She emphasised the racial aspect of the crimes, noting, “The fact that perpetrators of this sexual violence appeared to have deliberately picked victims because they were white – and not from their own
community or religious background – must not be ignored. Previous inquiries have failed to examine this. It’s for society and the state to address the issue, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.”
Detailing the victims’ harrowing experiences, Badenoch said, *“The testimonies of the victims are hard to read. Girls being forced into barbaric sexual acts. Raped by multiple men at the same time or one after the other. Punished by grotesque sexual violence when they resisted.
“Children were identified as targets because of their backgrounds and experienced years of systematic abuse from adult men whose communities in some cases even helped protect them. Thousands of girls’ lives have been damaged or destroyed. Worse still, this was perpetrated not in one rotten borough by a few rotten individuals, but across the nation.”
She highlighted disturbing examples of complicity, including social workers attending a “Nikah,” an Islamic wedding ceremony between an abuser and his victim.
She also recounted incidents where authorities prioritized optics over justice, saying, “Of councils and a police chief collaborating to keep the extent of the child rape scandal out of the headlines for fear of inflaming community relations or being called racist. And of academics and charity workers drafting obfuscatory reports to conceal the true scale of the problem. This can never be allowed to happen again.”
Badenoch acknowledged the efforts of individuals who resisted systemic failures, stating, “A number of heroes fought a lonely battle against not only a conspiracy of silence but active hostility that victims faced from officialdom. Failing councils were taken over, like Rotherham in 2015. Grooming gang members were prosecuted. The Grooming Gang Taskforce, launched in April 2023, made over 500 arrests in its first year.”
However, she stressed that more needs to be done to hold institutions accountable, saying, “We still need to know the extent to which institutions like the police, prosecutors, local government and social services are compromised by wrong-headed political correctness, and even self-interest. Only then can we have any hope of upholding our laws and culture, and preventing this scale of abuse ever again.”
Badenoch called for a national inquiry with broad investigative powers, asserting, “The inquiry I want to see should start by considering the likely racial or religious motivation of these crimes. It should identify all of the institutions and bodies that failed. It should also identify those individuals who facilitated or ignored these crimes so they can be removed from their roles.”
She concluded with a firm message: “No lenience should be shown to those who rape and exploit children, nor can we tolerate those who protect predators.”
An Ecuadorian court has sentenced former President Lenin Moreno to five years in prison for accepting bribes linked to the construction of the country’s largest hydroelectric dam.
Moreno, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, was among 20 people convicted over corruption allegations surrounding the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project, which was built by Chinese company Sinohydro.
Prosecutors alleged that Sinohydro paid about $76 million in bribes, representing roughly four per cent of the project’s total cost.
Moreno, 73, denied the allegations and maintained that he never received money from the Chinese company.
Speaking after Friday’s ruling, the former president said he had never received “a single cent” from Sinohydro.
He also blamed the case on the administration of his former political ally and predecessor, Rafael Correa, whom he accused of seeking revenge after their political relationship deteriorated.
Moreno served as Correa’s vice-president between 2007 and 2013 before succeeding him as president. The two later fell out after Moreno moved away from Correa’s socialist policies and developed closer ties with the United States.
The court also sentenced Moreno’s wife and other relatives to nearly three years in prison for complicity in the corruption case.
Two former managers of the Coca Codo Sinclair power plant were also among those convicted.
Prosecutors had initially requested a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Moreno.
The former president has announced plans to appeal the judgment.
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America” for official US federal use, in the latest escalation of his dispute with Canada.
Trump signed the order on Thursday at the White House, saying the change was effective immediately. The order directs the US Department of the Interior to update federal geographic records and naming systems.
Trump justified the move by accusing Canada of treating the United States unfairly in trade and defence. He said Canada had been “ripping us off” in trade and criticised Ottawa over its relationship with Washington.
However, the order does not require Canada or international organisations to adopt the new name. Lake Ontario is shared by the US state of New York and Canada’s province of Ontario, with more than half of its surface area lying in Canadian territory.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford dismissed the move, saying the lake would continue to be known as Lake Ontario by Canadians and much of the rest of the world.
The renaming comes amid a rapidly worsening US-Canada trade dispute. Washington recently imposed 50 per cent tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, while Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs of its own on hundreds of US products.
The latest move echoes Trump’s decision in January 2025 to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” for US federal purposes.
Trump also suggested that further geographic name changes could be considered, joking that after a gulf and a lake, the United States might eventually rename the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government had not immediately issued a formal response to the latest order.
The controversy has added another symbolic dimension to already strained relations between the two neighbouring countries, as both sides continue to impose tariffs and seek to protect their economies.
The United States Secret Service has confirmed that it is aware of a video broadcast by Iranian state media that appears to threaten the life of Barron Trump, the youngest son of US President Donald Trump.
The nearly three-minute video, aired by the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), opens with an English-language graphic asking: “Where to kill Barron Trump?!” It then displays stylised graphics identifying places where Barron is publicly known to spend time, including Trump Tower in New York.
The video ends with a narrator referring to people being “eagerly waiting to receive our $10 million reward.”
Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring confirmed that the agency was investigating the video as a potential threat against one of its protectees.
“The US Secret Service is aware of the video and investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees,” Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring told CNN in a statement. “Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence.”
The apparent targeting of Barron marks a new development in a broader pattern of threats directed at Trump and members of his family by hard-line Iranian media.
Iranian media outlets have previously published material threatening President Trump and his family, while first lady Melania Trump has also been the subject of threats. However, the video appears to be the first public instance in which Barron has been specifically singled out.
A federal law enforcement source told CNN that the video forms part of a wider campaign of material from Iran targeting Trump and his family. According to the source, some of the videos have included details about movements and suggestions for killing members of the president’s family.
The security response to such threats involves continuously changing and adjusting protective arrangements, based on information gathered by the Secret Service, other US agencies, police authorities and foreign governments.
IRIB, which broadcast the video, is regarded as aligned with hard-liners within Iran’s regime, while its head is directly appointed by Iran’s supreme leader.
Trump has previously spoken publicly about threats against his life from Iran.
“I’m on whatever list… so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long. These are evil, sick people.”
He made the comments in July at the NATO summit in Turkey, before secretly leaving the country aboard an alternate military aircraft.
The departure was part of an elaborate security operation reportedly triggered by an Iranian threat. Trump boarded the aircraft while concealed inside a catering truck after officials determined that travelling on either version of Air Force One could expose him to an unacceptable level of danger.
A person familiar with the matter told CNN that the threat involved a shoulder-fired missile and was considered specific enough for officials to fear that Trump’s life would be at enormous risk if he travelled on either version of Air Force One.
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