Today's Story Line

The deaths of 58 Chinese being smuggled in a truck point to the scope of human trafficking today. European leaders pledged to work more diligently and closely on immigration issues.

Quote of note: "The profit these criminals can make by smuggling humans in, rather than drugs, is now very, very substantial." - Jack Straw, the British Home Secretary.

Rwandan women are getting more legal rights as part of a cultural shift in the wake of the 1994 genocide that targeted men.

Controversy wafts over Canada as a ban on fragrances spreads.

David Clark Scott World editor

REPORTERS ON THE JOB..

*GROOMS BEHIND BARS: When Brazil correspondent Andrew Downie arranged to attend the mass wedding at the Carandiru prison in So Paulo, he expected a high-security knot-tying ceremony. But once at the complex, "I didn't see any guards, come to think of it. Everyone was just milling around." The warden had told Andrew he needed two letters from the penitentiary officials vouching for his press credentials. But, even though family members and brides were frisked, no one seemed to care whether he was armed with a weapon or with a steno pad.

"There was a big scrum of people walking around, and I just sneaked in behind them. No one checked my papers." That's not all they didn't check. "Security was so lax I even brought in a Swiss Army knife and my cellphone," Andrew deadpans. "In theory I could have given it to anyone. If the inmates had wanted to, they could have used a phone to plan an escape."But there were no jailbreaks- just a lot of weepy tough guys.

And what does a native Scotsman wear to such an auspicious - if offbeat - event? "Well, my friends joked I should go formal and wear my kilt, but I thought that'd be a little over the top."

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
QR Code to Today's Story Line
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0621/p6s2.html
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe