Briefly

UNITED STATES

Self-help guru gets 120 years in sex-slaves case

Disgraced self-improvement guru Keith Raniere, whose Nxivm followers included millionaires and Hollywood actors, was sentenced to 120 years in jail on Tuesday for turning some adherents into sex slaves branded with his initials and sexually abusing a 15-year-old. US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis called Raniere "ruthless and unyielding" in crimes that were "particularly egregious "because he targeted girls and young women in the sex-trafficking conspiracy. He handed down the unusually stiff sentence in Brooklyn federal court after hearing 15 victims call for a long prison term to reflect the nightmares and anguish they'll confront the rest of their lives. Nxivm charged thousands of dollars for invitation-only self-improvement courses at its headquarters near Albany, New York.

FRANCE

4 killed after Channel migrant boat capsizes

At least four people, including two young children, died on Tuesday when a boat carrying at least 19 migrants capsized off France while trying to cross the English Channel to Britain, French authorities said. Fifteen migrants have been saved so far. Search and rescue operations were still under way, according to the regional administration for the Nord region. It said in a statement that the dead were a 5-year-old and an 8-year-old, a woman and a man. It stressed the toll so far is provisional pending further searches. Aid groups decried the deaths and called for more help for migrants, while British and French authorities expressed their condolences. Such crossings have become common in recent years, but deaths are rare. French authorities reported four migrant deaths in total in small boats crossing the Channel in 2019.

BRAZIL

Patient dies during hospital fire evacuation

Fire erupted in one of Rio de Janeiro's main hospitals on Tuesday, forcing rescue workers to evacuate at least 200 people, with some wheeled out in their beds. At least one person reportedly died. The fire began in a basement of the Bonsucesso Federal Hospital, said fire department spokesman Lauro Boto, and it sent dense black smoke pouring into the sky. Patients fled the hospital in wheelchairs and on crutches, while hospital workers rolled some out to safety in their beds. Hospital officials told Band News radio that a 42-year-old female COVID-19 patient died while being transferred.

Agencies Via Xinhua