Taiwan, Taiwan
CNN
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Silwanus Tancotta worked on a Taiwanese fishing boat in the far Pacific Ocean last year. At that moment, heavy waves slammed the swinging metal door in his hand, crushing his middle finger.

The Indonesian immigrant fishermen needed to see a doctor, but the captain refused to return to the port, saying they had not caught enough fish to justify the trip. For over a month, the tancotta was forced to endure the burning pain, wrapping the wound in tape and picking it with exposed bones with toothpicks to prevent infection.

“I did whatever I could… took the clippers and toothpicks on my nails and destroyed the protruding bone,” he told CNN. “I thought if I didn’t pull the bones out, the infection would continue and my fingers would rub.”

Tancotta’s ordeal is tragic, but far from an isolated incident.

Taiwan operates the world’s second largest remote water fishing fleet. We supply tuna, squid and other seafood to supermarkets around the world, including the US and Europe.

Autonomous Island is widely promoted as a beacon of Asian liberalism and human rights, a vibrant democracy with a relatively strong record of equality, for example being one of three Asian jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is legal.

However, the treatment of migrant workers is subject to growing international scrutiny, raising questions about their commitment to these values.

Since 2020, the US Department of Labor has cited Taiwan’s far-flung water fishing as showing signs of forced labor and highlighting issues such as deceptive adoption, withholding, physical violence and extreme working hours.

In a statement to CNN, Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency said the U.S. Department of Labor’s report was based on “unverified” information provided by NGOs, and that immigrant fishermen described it as “an important partner” in Taiwan’s fishing.

The agency said Taiwan is one of the “few” jurisdictions for “implementing a concrete plan of action on fisheries and human rights.”

Taiwan’s Labor Ministry said it will work with the Fisheries Bureau to “practically protect the rights of distant migrant fishermen and support strengthening related conservation measures.”

However, migrant workers like Tancotta are part of staying politically and socially marginalized, and often face serious abuse without the attention of many people.

Tancotta, now 38 years old, is from Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, and began working on Taiwanese vessels in 2019. In Indonesia, fishermen often earn less than $100 a month. This is a minimum of $550 in Taiwan.

However, the reality was tougher than he thought. On a mid-sized fishing boat, Tancotta spent up to four months at a time in the relentless Pacific Ocean, working 18-hour shifts with just a short rest. The boat was designed for a crew of 23 people, but only 16 people were on board. The food was insufficient and often drove off quickly, he said.

But the bigger problem was extreme isolation. The boat had no internet, and it separated the crew from their families and kept them from asking for help.

When Tancotta was seriously injured, its isolation became important. The boat was located near the Solomon Islands, about 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) from Taiwan, with the door crushing my fingers. With no way to seek help, he had no choice but to continue on board while the captain prioritized profits. When he was finally transferred to another ship a few weeks later, it continued fishing, not heading to the harbor.

“I felt helpless and the pain felt difficult to sleep,” he said. “The only thing in my mind was that I needed to land as soon as possible, which made me disappointed.”

A month later, he was hospitalized in Taiwan with two missing fingers, but was soon given a letter of dismissal. Not because of injuries, but because his position was over. As a result, he was denied compensation.

The Fisheries Department received a report from the fishing boat about the Tancotta incident and said it received treatment from the captain while on the trip.

“This case was reported to a coast-based doctor and evaluated it as no immediate risk,” he said. “The captain continued to provide care to Mr. Tancotta, based on the advice of the doctor.”

CNN reached out to Tancotta’s former employer and its representative Indonesian office in Taipei for comment.

Taiwan’s far-flung water fishing relies on more than 20,000 Indonesian and Filipino workers, but lacks political will to protect their rights, said Allison Lee is the co-founder of Yilan Migrant Fishermen Union, based in a fishing port in northeastern Taiwan.

“The US has been labelled Taiwan’s fisheries since 2020, but the government responded with rhetoric, but little has changed,” she said, adding that many workers have promised decent salaries but have faced overwork and delayed wages.

Unlike most migrant workers in Taiwan, far water fishermen operate under a different set of rules and are excluded from Taiwan’s Labor Standards Act. This means that it lacks overtime wages and health insurance protections that others are entitled to.

“Overwork has a very serious problem,” added Lee. “Some migrant workers were told they had 10 crew members, but only four people were on board and they had to work very long.”

Even basic safety measures were ignored, she said. Some people have told them not to wear life jackets because they “get in the way” of work.

In 2023, the 10 Indonesian crew members on your ship were owed 15 months’ wages. The fisherman reported that he was forced to feed with instant noodles due to food shortages and faced daily verbal abuse.

Wage theft is one of the widest problems facing immigrant fishermen, said Achimad Mudozakir, a fisherman who leads a Taiwan-based NGO that supports other crews.

His organization regularly receives complaints about unpaid wages. It will have devastating consequences for families. “It’s a bit painful because when we work hard at sea, we face high risks and put our lives at risk.

Mudzakir said one solution would require WiFi access for all immigrant fishermen.

He added that restrictions that prevent migrant workers from returning to their home countries or switching jobs without paying fees for new agents prevent them from reporting abuse for fear of firing their debts or paying debts.

In response to inclusion in the US forced labor list, the Taiwan Fisheries Agency said it has been introducing reforms since 2022, including raising the minimum wage, installing CCTVs on boats, and hiring new inspectors to improve working conditions. However, activists like Lee criticised the measure as a cosmetic product, saying it aims to improve Taiwan’s image rather than addressing the underlying causes of forced labor.

Former Indonesian immigrant fisherman Adrian Dogdodo Bassar saw him die on a Taiwanese fishing boat in 2023, reflecting his call for reform.

While working in the Pacific, his friend became seriously ill with swollen legs and stomach pain. Adrian said the captain pleaded for his high cost to return to the port, offering only expired medicines. A few months later – before the ship returned – his friend died.

Adrian said he was punished for food deprivation and threats of pay deduction when he demanded that the body be returned home immediately. “We asked him to go to the nearest port to send Bodhis home, but the captain denied us,” he said. “When I started to protest, I was not given any food.”

Like other immigrant fishermen, Adrian paid more than US$2,000 to secure the job. This is a debt that prevents other colleagues from speaking out for fear of losing their job.

These abuses may seem far away, but Taiwan is the seventh largest seafood exporter in the world, earning catches at dining tables around the world. This means that seafood on supermarket shelves may have been caught by exploited workers.

“American consumers still have a significant risk of consuming seafood contaminated by modern slavery,” says Saliheidenreich, senior human rights advisor at Greenpeace USA. “It’s essential for companies importing seafood from Taiwan to scrutinize their supply chains more closely.”

Earlier this year, four Indonesian fishermen filed a groundbreaking federal lawsuit against a massive Bumblebee Food in the US, owned by Taiwanese seafood conglomerate FCF Co. He told CNN that this was the first known case of fishing boat slavery brought about to Agnieszka Fryszman, a US seafood company, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

As for Silwanus, who now relies on his friends and relatives, he hopes that no one has to endure what he has done.

“I hope all my friends, all my siblings work on Taiwanese ships. If they get injured in the sea, they’re getting proper treatment.”

“I hope this only happens to me, but not to other fishermen again.

CNN
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The official report on the world’s most fatal aviation accident in a decade answered one important question, but others raised it.

Air India Flight AI171 lost momentum last month and barely left the runway as it crashed in a densely populated area of India’s western city of Ahmedabad.

Currently, a preliminary report by the Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) revealed that fuel supply to both engines has been reduced in critical minutes as the aircraft is rising.

The plane’s “black box”, the plane’s flight data recorder, showed that the aircraft reached an airspeed of 180 knots when the fuel switches on both engines “were shifted from run to cutoff position 1”. The switches flipped within one second of each other, stopping the fuel flow.

In the audio recording from the black box mentioned in the report, one of the pilots hears asking the other person why they turned the switch over. The other pilots replied that he didn’t. The report does not specify who is a pilot or who is the co-pilot of the dialogue.

A few seconds later, the Boeing 787’s Dreamliner switch was flipped over in the other way to revert the fuel supply. Both engines could be revived, and one began to begin “progressing to recovery,” the report says, but it was too late to stop the plane’s courageous descent.

The report reveals the basic reasons why the jet crashed, but many are not explained.

The findings do not clarify how the fuel switch flipped to the cutoff position during flight, whether intentional or accidental, whether the technical failure is liable or not.

In Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, the fuel switch is between the two pilot seats just behind the plane’s throttle lever. They are protected on the sides by metal bars.

The switch is purposefully designed, as it cannot be knocked by mistake, and therefore requires physical lifting of the switch handle to a physical stop (catch).

Jeffrey Dell, an aviation safety expert who conducted numerous aircraft accident investigations, finds it difficult to see how both switches were incorrectly flipped.

“It’s at least two action processes for each,” he told CNN. “You have to point the switch towards you and then push it down. That’s not something you can carelessly do.”

According to Dell, it would be “strange” for a pilot to deliberately cut fuel to both engines immediately after takeoff.

“There’s no scenario on Earth to do that right after a lift-off,” he said.

Dell pointed out, pointing to the fact that both engine switches were turned over within a second of each other. “That’s the kind of thing you do when parking the plane at the end of the flight… you plug into the terminal and close the engine.”

One possibility that the report will raise is related to a 2018 bulletin report published by the Federal Aviation Administration. However, considering this is not considered a dangerous condition, Air India did not conduct inspections.

Dell said the aircraft’s flight data recorder should help explain how the fuel switch was flipped in each case. However, India’s AAIB has not released a full transcript of the conversation between the two pilots. Without that, Dell says it’s hard to understand what happened.

Former pilot Asan Khalid also believes the findings in the report raised questions about the location of the important engine fuel switch.

Speaking to Reuters, Khalid warned against locking the pilot’s liability. “The AAIB report to me is crucial just to say that the accident occurred because both engines lost power.”

He added: “The pilots were aware that the aircraft’s engines had lost power and they were aware that the pilot had not taken action to cause this.”

A full report has not been scheduled for months, and India’s civil aviation minister, Ram Mohan Naidu, said, “Let’s not jump to conclusions at this stage.”

Air IndiaJet took off from Sardar Valabhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, western India on 12th June and headed for London Gatwick.

Air India said there were 242 passengers and crew members on board. This included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. Everyone on board was killed except for one passenger.

19 people on the ground were killed when the plane collided with a hostel at BJ Medical College and a hospital.

Air India has acknowledged its receipt of the report and says it will continue to work with authorities in the investigation.

CNN
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Rudy Gade, the only person explicitly convicted of the brutal 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, returns to court this fall in the face of charges of sexual assault and violence against his ex-girlfriend.

Guede, a 38-year-old Ivory Coast who has lived in Italy since he was five years old, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for Kercher’s murder in October 2008.

This case sparked a media frenzy, giving birth to over two dozen books and three films.

According to investigator Rita Ciaroni, investigator magistrate Rita Ciaroni, who ordered Gade at a preliminary hearing on Friday at Vitero, more than 100,000 photos, thousands of chats and voice messages between Guede and the unknown victim are one of the evidence to consider in the trial.

Italian media said the two began dating while Gode was still in prison, ending their relationship in 2023 when a woman charged him.

Amanda Knox, an American student who was Kelcher’s roommate at the time of her murder and Knox’s then Italian Rafaelle Solecito, was convicted in parallel on allegations of roles in Kelcher’s murder in 2009, but was completely exempted by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015.

Knox is still there In 2007, former nightclub boss Patrick Lumumba was found guilty of slander after accusing Katcha of murder.

Guede’s new indictment and trial stems from sexual assault, abuse, stalker charges in 2023, and accusations by Guede, a 25-year-old woman, from Viterbo, after Guede was first addressed to release her job from prison and was subsequently released. His first hearing will take place on Viterbo on November 4th.

His lawyer, Carlo Mezzetti, told CNN that his client is innocent and fears that he will not be subject to a fair trial given his previous beliefs.

CNN
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Israeli settlers have killed a 20-year-old Palestinian-American man on the West Bank as settler violence against Palestinians is rising in occupied territory.

Sayfollah Musallet, 20, “has been marched after being badly beaten all over his body by settlers in the town of Singil north of Ramallah,” the health ministry said in a statement Friday.

The city of Singer said Musalou died after a “wild attack” carried out by settlers as part of a “daily attack” on local residents. It alleged that Israeli forces attacked the area at the same time as the settlers attacked, obstructing the work of paramedics and volunteers.

A family friend of the deceased man added to CNN that he was with Musalou and took him to the hospital in Lamara, adding that the young man was an American citizen born in Tampa, Florida.

The Israeli military said “we know of reports on many Palestinian civilians and injured Palestinians as a result of the conflict, and they are attracting attention from Isa (Israel security agencies) and Israeli police.”

Musallet’s family is calling for the US State Department to lead an investigation into the case.

“We were devastated by our beloved Seyphora Musallet (known as Saif) brutally beaten by an Israeli settler, and he was devastatingly defending his family’s land from the settlers who were trying to steal it,” the family said in a statement.

“We demand justice.”

In a statement to CNN, the US State Department said it was aware of reports of American deaths on the West Bank without providing names.

“We respect the privacy of our families and loved ones during these difficult times and have no further comments,” a department spokesperson said.

Musallet runs the business in Tampa and has been on the West Bank since June 4th to visit family and friends, a family statement said.

The Palestinian health ministry said a second Palestinian was killed in the attack in Singel, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. He added that 10 other people were injured in the same attack.

In a social media post Friday, the municipality said settlers also attacked the ambulance while paramedics worked near Singel.

The video accompanying the post CNN geolocated in the outskirts of Singel allows you to see the ambulance on a broken windshield and a rear window.

CNN contacted Israeli military and police about the incident.

The West Bank ambulance attacked by settlers on Friday was reported by Sinjel Municipality.

The West Bank ambulance attacked by settlers on Friday was reported by Sinjel Municipality.

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Following the attack, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticized what was called Israel’s growing reconciliation project in the occupied territories and called for urgent action to hold perpetrators of settler violence accountable.

Israel recently expanded its military operations in the West Bank, ousting tens of thousands of Palestinians, and destroying the entire community as it targets what it says is extremists operating on its territory.

Several American citizens have been killed in the West Bank over the past few years, according to Palestinian officials and witnesses.

Israeli soldiers also shot and killed a 26-year-old woman in September 2024 during a protest against Israeli settlement.

CNN’s Ibrahim Derman, Anoa Abeka Mensa and Eve Brennan contributed to this report.