US Border Patrol begins punishing illegal crossers
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Border Patrol is in the process of revising its revolving-door policy with those attempting to illegally cross the border.
Rather than just sending migrants back to Mexico, the Border Patrol will begin imposing the “Consequence Delivery System” to deter the same migrants from attempting to cross in the future.
This policy overhaul is said to come at a time when U.S. border security is tighter than it has ever been. The number of agents guarding the 1,954-mile border has more than doubled since 2004. Details of the Border Patrol’s new policy are expected to be released in upcoming weeks.
Children enslaved for the production of chocolate
CNN reporter David McKenzie travelled to the Ivory Coast’s cocoa fields to investigate a massive industry powered by child labor.
The U.S. State Department said there are approximately 100,000 children working in the cocoa fields, many of whom were doing so against their will. This startling fact has been unveiled 10 years after two U.S. lawmakers took action to outlaw child labor in the cocoa industry.
According to the World Cocoa Foundation and the International Cocoa Initiative, 70 to 75 percent of the world’s supply of cocoa beans come from small farms in West Africa, which include the Ivory Coast.
Captain involved in disastrous cruise liner crash claims to have tripped overboard
The New York Times reported a new development surrounding the Costa Concordia, a $450 million cruise liner that currently lies shipwrecked off an Italian coast. The ship’s captain, who has received heavy criticism for abandoning ship during the crisis, has said jumping ship was unintentional.
“I was trying to get people to get into the boats in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60 to 70 degree angle, I tripped and I ended up in one of the (life) boats. That’s how I found myself there,” Captain Francesco Schettino told the La Repubblica newspaper.
MailOnline reports 11 deceased and 29 passengers and crew members still unaccounted for.
