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Latvia launches human trafficking investigation after Epstein file release
Latvia has launched a criminal investigation into potential human trafficking after the release of documents related to late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that included references to Latvian model agencies and models, police in the Baltic nation said on Thursday.
The investigation, which also involves Latvia’s prosecutors and its Organised Crime Bureau, will centre on “the possible recruitment of Latvian nationals for sexual exploitation in the United States”, police said in a statement, Reuters reported.
It has asked potential victims to come forward.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics called for the investigation after the public broadcaster reported the Epstein documents included passport data and travel details for several Latvian women.
Eriks Neisans, head of the Natalie modelling agency mentioned in the documents, denied any knowledge of wrongdoing to the public broadcaster.
The U.S. Justice Department’s recent release of millions of internal documents related to Epstein has revealed the late financier and sex offender’s ties to many prominent people in politics, finance, academia and business – both before and after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges.
Latvia’s neighbour Lithuania has launched its own investigation into human trafficking earlier this week.
Seven Afghan migrants have been killed after a vehicle carrying Afghan migrants collided with a fuel-carrying vehicle in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province.
According to the human rights organization HalVash, the accident occurred on Friday in the Sarbaz area of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Siyavash Mohbi, the head of Iran’s traffic police in Sistan and Baluchestan, said the Afghan nationals had entered Iran illegally.
He added that nine other people were injured in the incident.
Mohbi attributed the accident to the negligence of the driver of the vehicle carrying the migrants.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has announced that its Contact Group on Afghanistan will meet on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
OIC Secretary-General Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed is leading a high-level delegation from the organization’s General Secretariat to participate in the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Week and hold bilateral meetings with heads of delegations from member states as well as senior UN and international officials.
The OIC will also convene its Annual Coordination Meeting of Member States’ Foreign Ministers at UN Headquarters.
According to the organization, several ministerial contact groups and specialized committees will meet on the sidelines of the General Assembly. These include groups focusing on Palestine, Muslim communities and minorities, regional issues in Europe, Jammu and Kashmir, Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, and Afghanistan.
The OIC did not provide a specific date for the Afghanistan Contact Group meeting.
Ahmad Jan Bilal, General Director of State-Owned Corporations, met with Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad during a visit to Iran to discuss expanding cooperation in the oil and gas sector.
Bilal, accompanied by Mohammad Nasir Rahimi, chief executive of the Afghan state-owned Oil and Gas Corporation, held talks with the Iranian minister on supplying Afghanistan with its oil and gas needs, technical and vocational training, and joint cooperation in oil and gas exploration.
Bilal and his delegation also visited the Iranian Oil Ministry’s research center and oil refineries in Tehran, where they reviewed the facilities’ technical and professional activities and capabilities.
The Iranian side expressed readiness for comprehensive cooperation, necessary coordination and implementation of joint projects in the areas discussed.
At the end of the meeting, both sides introduced joint technical teams tasked with coordinating and following up on the necessary measures to implement the agreed areas of cooperation.
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