An Italian Facebook page where thousands of men posted intimate images of female partners, sisters and unknown women – many women disagree and were shut down due to public anger and multiple complaints against the police.

Since its launch in 2019, hundreds of thousands of women have been posted to the Facebook group Mia Moglie (my wife) with the aim of eliciting comments and propositions by almost 32,000 members of the male group.

The posts ranged from a couple of swingers to photos of women shared with their partners, which were later posted on the site. According to Italian Postal Police, which is responsible for digital law enforcement, many of the photos were taken during sexual intercourse and most were posted without the consent of the woman depicted.

More than 2,000 complaints have been filed with Meta and local Italian authorities since the start of MIA Moglie, according to Italian Postal Police.

“All comments will be submitted to our information system,” Barbara Strappat, deputy director of the Rome Postal Police, said Wednesday, announcing its closure. “Crime ranges from honor losses to the spread of intimate material without consent. I acknowledge that I have never seen such disturbing phrases in social media groups. Our office has worked 24 hours a day (a day) to block pages.

The last post before the page was deleted was an invitation to join the group in a new format, and perhaps a telegram, Strappato said. “We just created a new private, secure group,” an unappointed administrator posted. “Goodbye, and f**k you’re a moralist.”

The group page closure comes after making several formal complaints to Facebook owner Meta, instigated by feminist activist and author Carolina Capria. She posted on her Instagram page that she filed a complaint with the Postal Police. “There are dozens of groups where people exchange photos of women (wifes, girlfriends, sisters, step-sisters, strangers). I did some visits yesterday that flagged you,” she posted.

Among the most disturbing entries, the man said that the man is offering a wife photo for money, including those who cite age, weight, breast size and number of sexual partners. Some commentators praised her breasts, while others said they wanted her to be wearing the thong, police said.

“Place your hands between her thighs and see if she wakes up,” one commenter hints at the fact that the victim was asleep when the photo was taken, according to information shared with the public by police.

A MetaItalian spokesman said in a statement shared by the Postal Police that the site was removed because it “violated our policies against sexual exploitation of adults.”

“We do not allow content that threatens or promotes sexual violence, sexual abuse, or sexual exploitation on our platform,” Meta’s statement said. “If you notice any content that incites or endorses rape, you can disable the groups and accounts that post it and share this information with law enforcement.”

The incident prompted a comparison with the French gang rape case involving Dominique Perricot.

In an online comment to CNN, Capria said that the example of Mia Moglie highlights how the case of Pelicot is not unusual, and warned that there are many more sites like it.

Mia Moglie is not the first such sexually exploitative site to be removed from social media by Italian authorities. The group called “Dipreisti,” with nearly 16,000 members among those seeking sexual favors in exchange for nude photos of women, has been closed dozens of times, changed names on WhatsApp and Telegram, all tied to paid sites, Postal Police said.

Members can sign up anonymously using pseudonyms, making it difficult to press the fee without the assistance of a site administrator. “Dipreisti was previously called “La Bibbia 5.0” (Bible 5.0, Il Vangelo del Pelo (The Gospel of the Hair) and Stupro Tua Sorella (The Raped Sister).

Italy has a “revenge porn” law passed in 2019, punishing the “illegal spread of sexually explicit images” that can be punished in prisons for up to six years. Many sites appear on Telegram, but this has not been cooperative in helping to crack down on crime, police said. “We have noticed a lack of cooperation with law enforcement regarding Telegram, as we claim that unlike other platforms, we do not retain user data,” Strappato told the La Republica newspaper.

“Citizens can report false groups to the postal police, but without a truly effective internal removal tool, the results will remain temporary. It is only a temporary suspension for developers to immediately block accounts that replicate them until they implement steps that allow developers to eliminate channels, bots, mirrors and cloud services.”

Once the postal police have completed an extensive investigation into Mia Moglie, they will hand over the case to the Roman Prosecutor’s Office, including reaching out to women they can identify, and decide what to file, if any.

The smell of garbage is overwhelming and intense under the Caribbean sun. The accumulated waste is like traffic blocking the entire streets of Havana, far from the tourist area.

But the garbage collectors here are not on strike. They simply don’t come often enough. This is another example of Cuba’s decline over the past year, alongside power losses and water cuts. It is the result of the economic and energy crisis struck the island, and authorities are no longer trying to deny it.

According to the government, Cuba’s economy fell 1.1% in 2024. The government has spoken about the “war economy” that has been at a disadvantage since the end of 2023. Meanwhile, the UN Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Committee (ECLAC) is set to sign an additional 1.5% contract this year. And while inflation is slowing, official figures say it’s past double digits.

“We are in a recession and are in a very complicated situation. In countries where power outages lasting up to 20 hours in some regions are not working, Everleny Pérez Villanueva, an economist and researcher and former director of the Cuban Economic Research Center at the University of Havana, told CNN, explaining the situation of waste collection in the capital.

“I go out with my car and there are no traffic lights in town. There are complex highway areas,” he added.

Union Ereclica de Cuba, part of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, reports daily about demand and energy deficits on its social media pages. Simultaneous power outages are already commonplace to cover more than 40% of the country, forcing people to change their daily lives.

“They influence everyone. It’s difficult to maintain connection. I always need to connect, otherwise I’ll lose my clients,” said Lazaro Hernandez, a 38-year-old photographer who works with tourists in Havana. “We have a program that tells you when it’s time to stop, and use it as a guide to know when it’s going to happen and organize it.”

“You try to show off the most beautiful side. The goal of being able to tourism is to fall in love with Cuba despite the difficulties,” Jorge Perez, a tour guide who has worked in the industry since 2018, told CNN. “When we travel to the state, it’s a little more difficult. Trinidad is heavily affected by the blackouts. But many clients see it as an experience. For Cubans, it’s a bitter experience – we’re struggling with all of that.”

For years, energy systems have suffered from lack of maintenance and investment. Things got worse last year during hurricane season, leading to some general collapse at the end of 2024, sparking several street protests.

This week, a group of residents blocked Havana’s town for hours, protesting a lack of drinking water.

Antonio Rodriguez, president of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, said in July that around 10% of the population, or about 10%, are affected by the water supply problem every day.

“We cannot pump water due to the energy deficit,” he explained before a parliamentary committee.

Cuban economist Mauricio de Miranda Parondo and Professor Javerana, the University of Pontificia in Colombia, said the island is experiencing stag situations.

“Cuba is facing serious problems with a lack of supply as it has a productive sector collapse,” DeMiranda said. “This means that the country must import goods to meet basic needs, not only food and fuel, but also the goods produced.”

Reuters estimates that a decline in oil supply from Venezuela, which sent an average of 96,000 barrels in 2011, is a decrease in oil supply from Venezuela.

Power outages also affect the Internet. The Internet has been relatively recent widespread access in Cuba, contributing to the scale of dissatisfaction and organisation of several protests. A group of students at the University of Havana requested that the price rise of the data navigation package be reversed in June. This was granted by the government, but without abolishing the measures.

Beyond the 6GB subsidies, those who need more data will have to pay from 3,360 Cuban pesos (about $140 at the official exchange rate or about $8.50 at the informal market).

Few tourists and fewer sugar

Visitors staying at hotels generally have access to generators that are not normally available to private accommodations. In any case, the crisis will also affect services in the tourism sector, including restaurants and bars that are not open at night.

“We will make sure tourists arrive and have an energy situation. It will admit that it is not good experience and prefers other destinations,” Chino Gonzalez, a Havana guide who asked not to use his real name, told CNN. He said these are factors that determine that many travelers will not visit the country again.

Between January and July, Cuba received almost 1.58 million visitors. Only 83% of visits recorded in the same period in 2024. On their side, the hotel (where Miguel Diaz Canel’s government continues to invest millions of dollars in infrastructure) had just 24% in the first quarter, 11 percentage points less occupancy than last year. That was a “very poor,” Economic Minister Joaquin Alonso Vasquez admitted in a June report.

In addition to being a tourist symbol, Cuba has also become a world-leading sugar producer. This was one of the mainstays of the economy. However, the 2024/2025 harvest had the worst results for over a century. EFE calculations based on official sources reached 150,000 tonnes, less than half of the previous year’s total.

“Harves are a symbol, and now sugar production is no longer present. It was supposed to be an economic locomotive. There is no sugar or tourism,” economist Perez summed up.

The availability of subsidized foods has declined in recent months.

“These products have been significantly reduced. Those who can’t afford to receive a salary will be affected, such as retirees and those who earn the minimum wage. They have less rice, oil and milk,” Gonzalez said.

“There’s either a shortage of sugar, rice and beans or they won’t arrive at the same time,” said photographer Hernandez.

Recently, pensioners have begun to see a significant increase in monthly income, up from around US$65 to almost US$160. However, testimony collected by Reuters shows that the impact is not so important as few products are sold at the official rate of P24 per US dollar, but most products are traded on parallel exchanges, which are around P400.

“The minimum products that guarantee certain social equality are no longer respected,” Perez Villanueva said in turn. “In my neighborhood, they handed over chicken once a month. It’s been eight months now. The shopping cart is more affected than ever.

The early 1990s were marked by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the loss of aid Havana received from its main allies, leading to a rapid recession that forced Castroism to implement economic open-up reforms.

“We’re bad now,” Perez continues. “At least, certain things were guaranteed during that period. There was no transport, but no one million bicycles were imported from China.

De Miranda emphasized that between 1990 and 1994 there were more contracts than in recent recessions, but noted that there were reforms that gave the economy room to take a breather. “I don’t think Cuba has actually emerged from that crisis. Between 1990 and 2024, the average annual GDP fluctuated only 1.1%,” the economist said.

Historically, the Cuban government has continued to point to the impact of the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, mainly due to the US embargo and new restrictions put in place by President Donald Trump’s administration. However, authorities acknowledge the discomfort of the population.

“You don’t defend the revolution by hiding the problems we have,” said Diaz Cannell in July. A controversy broke out over the declaration by then-Law Minister Marta Elena Fight.

The president also said in a podcast in May that long-term blackouts are the biggest “distance” and will have a serious impact on the economy.

Including Cuba on the US list of US terrorist sponsors is an “external factor” that is not dependent on the Cuban government, economist Perez points out, but he adds that there are “unresolved internal issues.”

Di Miranda pointed out that Diaz Cannell’s government “didn’t offer a reliable strategy to overcome the crisis.” The Cuban economy cannot “go forward until it hampers a centralized management model that is closely tied to the political system,” he said. He commented that the measures implemented by the authorities were partial and would create other issues, but “but what stands out is paralysis.”

Official figures show that migratory birds have risen recently, with population declined for the fourth consecutive year in 2024.

Reuters
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The transgender woman is found guilty of sexually assaulting a male partner by failing to disclose her gender status to him. That means they were unable to agree to sexual activity, British prosecutors said Friday.

Ciara Watkin, 21, met on social media site Snapchat in June 2022 and had sex with a man who failed to disclose his transgender status to him.

The Crown Prosecutor’s Office said Watkin told the man that she was in her period and that it meant that he could not touch her under his waist.

A few days later, the pair met again, and then Watkin finally reached out and blocked all contact with the man until during the exchange of text messages she told him she was transgender and had male genitals, CPS said.

“The evidence in this case makes it clear that Watkin refused to inform him of his transgender status before engaging in sexual activity with the victim,” said Senior Prosecutor Sarah Nelson.

“The victim revealed in a police interview that if Watkin knew he was transgender, he would not engage in sexual activity. As a result, these events had a major impact on his mental health.”

Watkin, a native of Stockton-on-Tayes in the northeastern England, lied, but her lawyer told her trial that she was “blindly clear” that she was not a biological woman.

She is sentenced on October 10th, being convicted of two charges of sexual assault and one count of assault by breaking in line with a trial at Teesside Crown Court.

Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
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Three metres underground, timber-enhanced network of tunnels and trenches offers a safer place for frontline fighters to rest and recover, and a deeper position to prevent the possibility of Russia’s advance towards Zaporidia in southeastern Ukraine.

In the soil here, it feels far from the capital Kiev, and has been away from the United States for several years. The dramatic gusts of diplomatic activities over the past week have little meaning for the people on the battlefield.

“We want to believe that the war will end, but we feel it’s unlikely anytime soon,” said Viktor, 53. Infantry from the 65th Separate Mechanized Brigade. “How can we believe in (Russian President Vladimir Putin) when there were so many deceptions?”

After Russian officials reveal that there is an unlikely bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelensky, hopes for all progress are beginning to fade – despite subsequent meetings between Putin and US President Donald Trump and subsequent President Trump’s President Voldian Zelensky and European leaders.

On Wednesday, Zelensky said “some compromise” would be needed, but on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Zelensky “has no interest in sustainable, fair and long-term settlements.”

Trump appears to have created justification for Ukraine to take a more aggressive approach to Russia, taking a more aggressive approach to Russia, a shift from shift from shifting from posts on true society on Thursday, saying it is “if not very difficult or impossible.”

Zelensky warns that Russia is “building its power” and begins to mobilize troops from the Kursk region to Zaporidia, so that change could be useful for Ukraine.

“The Russians are preparing for escalation here, that’s certainly true,” said Serhii Skybchyk, the communications commander of the 65th Separate Mechanized Brigade.

“We’re standing until the end.”

Preparation and aggressive behavior is already underway.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian Brigade conducted a coordinated drone strike with Russian fuel trains in the occupied Zaporidia region. For miles, a wave of black smoke was wavy in the air to slam the supply lines in order to disrupt the supply lines for Russia’s advance.

The building’s crew has been implanted even in the summer heat, erecting poles and wires covered over 100 miles of Zaporia roads with anti-drone nets made from traditional fishing nets. They aim to protect the logistics routes of the military, as the style of combat shifts from traditional artillery and tanks to dominance in drone warfare.

However, fighter jets say they need more advanced equipment.

“We are in the technical stage where the ‘kill zone’ increases almost every month,” Skybchyk says. “It used to be about 5-7km (about 3-4 miles). Now it’s up to 30km. That means you need long-range weapons, and of course, an electronic warfare system. These are missing in every part of the front.”

The 65th separate mechanized brigade, who took part in the attack on the train, has experienced the brutality of this war, spending up to two weeks before returning to the rear ditch and reorganizing.

Their latest mission took place just hours before CNN visited the makeshift home.

“They fired us from the beginning of our approach,” said Yevhenii, the brigade’s 32-year-old infantry commander. “We found one enemy and destroyed him. But we couldn’t get any footing due to the intense fire.”

Of the six in his group, he said one was killed, two were injured and two suffered concussions due to drone attacks, mortars and rap shots. They were pinned from 8pm to 5am, saying, “There’s no chance to get up or crawl forward.”

For career soldiers like Yevhenii, who joined the army at the age of 18, this battle is greater than this war.

And the talk of a “peace agreement” involving giving away land that risks protecting their lives on a daily basis is very simply impossible.

“We don’t have the option of retreating ourselves,” said Viktor, 53. Brigade infantry. “We’re standing until the end.”

These weary soldiers are on a daily mission to protect the town of Oricif, just a few miles from the frontline, caught up in the war cross.

There are around 800 residents remaining – about 14,000 compared to the pre-war population – many of them are elderly, reluctant or impossible to leave their homes.

Every day, the threat of drones looms above the residents – hanging out in town listening to the horrifying topics of people gathering pensions from the post office and trying to secure some clauses.

“When it hit in the morning – I thought it was the end of it all,” said Liudmyla, a pensioner who lives alone with two dogs who felt an explosion near the house on Thursday morning.

“During the day, I keep pounding and pounding. It’s scary,” she added.

The idea of ​​civilians still living in Oricif “motivated” the troops to continue the fight, Officer Skybuchik said.

“The presence of civilians reflects their trust in the military, which empowers us,” he said. “We don’t want to disappoint them. We won’t abandon this place.”

Back in the dugout, the soldiers try to get some rest before the next mission.

By Trench standards there is a wealth of pantry, makeshift showers, Starlink Internet and TV. It also keeps the basement warm in winter when the temperature reaches below -20 degrees Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit).

They sleep in a sturdy wooden bunch topped with a small mattress – more comfortable than the trench on the front, but still sandwiched between the room in three.

“Life here is comfortable and kind of thing,” Yevheni said. “We want more freedom and more private life.”

“It’s safe here. It’s better than living in a home,” he added.

The cat’s family also roams the tunnel. This is an important member of the team to keep mouse populations at bay.

“We even have cat food,” said Volodimia, the brigade sergeant, to open the cans to feed and praise him.

A small joy to strip the reality of war from the next operation.

“You know how we say — “Hope dies in the end,” said Victor.

Victoria Butenko and Svitlana Vlasova contributed the report