British police uncover illegal immigrant smuggling network
British police have carried out a large-scale operation against illegal immigration. As a result of raids in London and Lincolnshire, 19 people have been arrested, the BBC reports. Eight of them are suspected of helping foreigners, mostly Turkish Kurds, move to Britain.
Police say they have uncovered an entire criminal network whose members have brought some 200,000 illegal immigrants to Britain over the past few years, earning millions of pounds in the process. Each immigrant paid between three and five thousand pounds for the illegal services.
In addition to the British police, law enforcement officers from Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and France took part in the operation. Scotland Yard said that until now the London police had not taken part in such large-scale operations against illegal immigration. According to a Scotland Yard spokesman, the operation was carried out as part of a broader investigation involving Europol. That investigation had already led to the arrest of another 20 suspects over the previous two years.
Foreigners temporarily unable to adopt Ukrainian children
The Child Adoption Centre under Ukraine's Ministry of Education and Science has temporarily suspended acceptance of documents from foreign citizens for the adoption of Ukrainian children. This was announced by the Centre's director, Yevgenia Chernysheva, during a meeting with representatives of the US, Italian, Spanish, German and Canadian embassies.
The meeting discussed the problem of informing Ukrainian consular services in these countries about children adopted by foreigners. The reason was the lack of information about children previously adopted by citizens of these countries.
During the meeting, Chernysheva stressed that Ukraine had not imposed a moratorium on the adoption of Ukrainian children by foreigners. According to her, centre specialists are currently working with foreign citizens who had previously submitted adoption documents.
At the same time, from 19 September the acceptance of documents from citizens of the US, Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Canada has been temporarily suspended due to the lack of information about Ukrainian children adopted by citizens of these countries. The meeting stressed that foreign adoptive parents had undertaken, in accordance with Ukrainian law, to inform Ukrainian consular offices in a timely manner about the lives of the adopted young Ukrainians. This measure has already borne fruit - foreign diplomatic missions provided information reports on the fate of adopted children within two weeks. Moreover, more reports were received than over the past six months.
At the meeting, embassy representatives informed about the measures being taken by institutions dealing with adoption issues in their countries so that the Ukrainian side could obtain information about the fate of all Ukrainian children adopted abroad. However, the reporting procedure is complicated by private law and the federal structure of many countries, where child adoption is regulated by local legislation and these issues are handled by authorities in specific states, provinces, lands, etc., so the process of obtaining reports is delayed.
It should be recalled that about 80% of Ukrainian orphans are adopted by citizens of other countries. Despite officials' assurances of control over foreign foster families, no one monitors the fate of children from Ukraine. The scandal broke after reports of the murder of a two-year-old girl adopted by an American couple in Russia. The same family was also raising a five-year-old girl from Ukraine.
Britain faces exodus of prisoners
Overcrowding in British prisons has forced the UK Home Office to make a proposal that will be welcome news for prisoners. The head of the department, Charles Clarke, is insisting on the need to release convicts on licence not two weeks or four months before the end of their sentence, as is currently done, but six months, The Guardian reports.
According to official figures, thanks to the mercy of British courts, 77,622 people are currently behind bars. If another 527 convicts join them in the near future, prison places will run out. The possibility of releasing prisoners six months early would allow their number to be reduced by a thousand a day.
True, this would apply only to those criminals whose prison terms do not exceed four years. In addition, they must not have been convicted of violence in any form.
Meanwhile, Downing Street is in no rush to release criminals early. “No one is saying the issue is not being studied, but a decision has not yet been made,” stressed a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair's office.
Alongside early release, the authorities are considering other options for solving the problem. For example, they could use currently abandoned prison buildings, or simply impose community service instead of prison sentences more often. In addition, two new prisons are expected to open in June 2006. However, by that time the capacity limit will already have been exceeded.
The hardest-working Asians are Singaporeans
According to a study conducted by specialists from the International Labour Organisation, it is the citizens of tiny Singapore who spend more time at work than anyone else, RIA Novosti reports.
"Singaporeans devote the largest number of hours per week - 46 - to work. Only South Korean citizens can dispute their leadership, taking an honorable second place in the industriousness rating. The Japanese round out the top three, spending about 42 hours a week at their workplaces," says the ILO statement published in the Malaysian newspaper The Edge. The "laziest," according to the survey results, are residents of Australia and New Zealand. They spend only 35 hours a week within the walls of offices and enterprises.
The survey results also showed that Asians' desire to work is inversely dependent on the nation's level of well-being - the lower the per capita income, the more zeal for work the representatives of these countries display. This is exactly what explains the emerging decline in labor activity among the Japanese, whose image is traditionally associated with work enthusiasm and perseverance. "Although in Japan there is even a special term 'karoshi' meaning death from overwork, in recent years there has been a trend toward an increase in holidays and weekends, as well as a desire to rest on Saturday and Sunday," the ILO statement says.
Similar sentiments are observed in other economically prosperous countries, for example, Malaysia. A recently adopted government decision freed some civil servants from the need to appear at the office on Saturday, reducing the work week to five days.
Britons to ban giving animals to children as gifts
The British government is going to introduce new rules designed to protect animals. To this end, an animal rights bill is being created, which will apply to England and Wales.
According to the new rules, children will be able to buy animals themselves from age 16, rather than from 12, as is now the case. Incidentally, the existing rules have been in effect since 1911. It is assumed that until the age of sixteen, children are rather inconsistent in their treatment of their pets and shift the care of them onto their parents. As a result, the animal may end up needed by no one. It is also planned to introduce a ban on giving animals to children as gifts. In addition, for cruelty to animals, their owners will now face 51 weeks of imprisonment.
As Reuters reports, according to the authors of the innovations, "adoption of the rules will help strengthen Britain's reputation as a country of animal lovers."