People buying boats on Facebook to reach Britain illegally
London: Smugglers and migrants are using Facebook to buy boats for crossing the Channel from the French port city of Calais to come to Britain, The Telegraph reported. The Facebook “Marketplace” has been favoured by groups of Iranians and Iraqis intent on organising their own Channel crossings, because they can club together and buy a boat at a much lower price than if they had to pay a smuggling gang, the paper reported on Sunday. The Telegraph spotted online advertisements for 25 boats for sale within a 40 mile radius of Calais that cost under 15,000 euros on a single day. It is believed that smugglers are also finding the Facebook “Marketplace” a convenient place to buy boats as it allows them to source their vessels from a nearby place. Marketplace was introduced in 2016 as a place for Facebook users to buy and sell within their local communities. Responding to the issues raised by The Telegraph, Facebook said that any ads, posts, pages or groups that co-ordinate people smuggling are not allowed on Facebook. “We work closely with law enforcement agencies around the world including Europol to identify, remove and report this illegal activity, and we’re always improving the methods we use to identify content that breaks our policies, including doubling our safety and security team to 30,000 people and investing in technology,” a Facebook spokesperson was quoted as saying. (IANS)
Lion kills worker at US wildlife park
Washington: A lion attacked and killed a young American woman who had just started working at the facility where it was kept, the center said Sunday. Alexandra Black, 22, was passionate about wildlife and had worked just 10 days as in intern at the facility in Burlington, North Carolina. “The Conservators Center is devastated by the loss of a human life today,” it said in a statement. “While a husbandry team led by a professionally trained animal keeper was carrying out a routine enclosure cleaning, one of the lions somehow left a locked space and entered the space the humans were in and quickly killed one person. “It is unclear at this time how the lion left the locked enclosure. At no time did the lion ever enter a space that was not enclosed by the park’s perimeter fence,” the statement added, expressing its condolences to Black’s family and announcing it would close temporarily. The lion was killed so Black could be retrieved, the center said. Black, a recent graduate of Indiana University, had worked a few weeks at the facility home to dozens of animals and 21 different species, its website says. (AFP)