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Chinese tennis star denies sex assault allegations in new video
19 Dec, 2021 19:11
Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, whose well-being has caused international concern since she posted allegations of sexual assault, has appeared to deny all claims against a former Chinese vice-premier.
In a new video which appeared on Sunday, Peng denied accusing anyone of sexually assaulting her and claimed that a lengthy post she made on local social media outlet Weibo in November, which was later taken down, had been misunderstood.
The video was posted by Singapore media outlet Lianhe Zaobao after footage had been shared of Peng with basketball legend Yao Ming at a Shanghai event.
"First, I need to stress one point that is extremely important, I have never said or written that anyone has sexually assaulted me, I have to clearly stress this point," Peng said in the latest clip.
Peng added that her post on Weibo was a "private matter" which "people have many misunderstandings" about.
Peng, 35, claimed to have been living at her home in Beijing without supervision since global concerns for her safety were raised, and said that she wrote to WTA chief Steve Simon last month to deny the allegations of sexual assault she had apparently lodged against 75-year-old Zhang Gaoli, though the latter figure wasn't mentioned in her new video address.
The Wimbledon and French Open doubles winner insisted that an English translation of the letter to Simon by state media in China was accurate.
The WTA has canceled tournaments in the Asian country as a response to the furor, while Simon said he "had a hard time believing" Peng had actually written the email or what was attributed to her.
Peng's denial comes as the Chinese capital prepares to host the Winter Olympics in February amid a US diplomatic boycott.
As the wider world believed Peng to have gone into forced hiding, after being absent from the public eye for almost three weeks since making her post, International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach held a video call with her for which his organization was widely-criticized and deemed to have cozied up to the Chinese government.
On Sunday, a separate video of Peng smiling and laughing at a Shanghai event with Ming was posted by Qingqing Chen, a reporter for the Global Times, which is owned and run by the state in Beijing.
Believed to be from the Shanghai stop of a cross-country skiing tour, a photo of her, Ming, former table tennis player Wang Liqin and Olympic sailing gold medalist Xu Lijia in front of the iconic Yangpu bridge was also published by the same reporter, which marks the most active weekend of media related to Peng that the world has had access to since the controversy began.
It seems Peng has had a reorientation of her thoughts. I wonder how that came about?
Polish politician told female colleague to sleep with Ukrainian visitor
19 Dec, 2021 09:26
By Layla Guest
A Polish politician has spoken out over claims she was pressured by a colleague to sleep with a visiting official from Lvov during a banquet with a Ukrainian delegation, prompting calls for him to stand down from his post.
Local media reported on Friday that Alicja Szczepańska, a councilor in the southern Polish city of Krakow, was left outraged after the assembly’s deputy chairman, Sławomir Pietrzyk, insinuated that she should “pay for services in kind,” and attempted to push her to jump into bed with a fellow guest at the opulent bash held earlier this month.
The woman told Polish news outlet Onet on Thursday that she found her fellow politician’s efforts to solicit sex for the Ukrainian delegate unacceptable, adding that he had made suggestive remarks about her body. Szczepańska has since complained to the head of the city’s administration, insisting she is taking action in a way “every person who is subjected to sexual harassment and discrimination should do in this situation.”
The councilor said, however, that she does not feel she is a victim, as using this terminology creates a stigma towards people who have been molested and harassed.
The scandal sparked outcry from councilors and women’s rights groups, with some demanding Pietrzyk’s resignation. Rafał Komarewicz, the chairman of the ‘Friendly Krakow’ club, which the politician is a member of, condemned him over the “very serious allegations,” adding that if events transpired as Szczepańska claims, consequences are inevitable.
Pietrzyk took to Facebook to issue a public apology last week. “I apologize to Councilor Szczepańska for my use of unfortunate phrases during dinner with the delegation from Lvov, which were taken as an insult,” he wrote, saying he is sorry his words caused “pain and sorrow.”
Twitter censors account that alleged another CNN pedophilia scandal
19 Dec, 2021 19:40
Twitter has suspended an account linked to Project Veritas after the media outlet posted a video accusing a CNN producer of soliciting nude photos of an underage girl and fantasizing about molesting another child.
The account, called ‘@investigatecnn’, was suspended on Saturday for unspecified violations of Twitter’s rules. The move came two days after Project Veritas released a video in which former sex worker Janine Bonanni alleged that a CNN producer – later identified as Rick Saleeby – asked for nude ‘mother-daughter’ pictures with her 15-year-old child and spoke of the sexual things he wanted to do with the 14-year-old daughter of his fiancé.
Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe said the suspension came shortly after his investigative journalism outlet released Saleeby’s name – with the permission of his now ex- fiancé. The video of O’Keefe’s interview with Bonanni had been viewed about 1.3 million times.
Saleeby is a producer for CNN’s ‘The Lead With Jake Tapper’. O’Keefe said Tapper’s name was trending on Twitter at the time the social media giant suspended the account that posted the video. Saleeby’s ex-fiancé sent a note to Project Veritas thanking the outlet for having “saved us all from him.” She added that she was pushing for the producer to be criminally charged.
“The real question is, is CNN putting pressure on Twitter to take down this video?” O’Keefe said. “This is about potential pedophilia, potential abuse against an underage girl.” CNN is yet to comment on the case.
Bonanni, who claimed to have known Saleeby for more than a decade, showed text conversations and a recording of a telephone call purported to be with the producer to back up her accusations. In one of the texts attributed to Saleeby, the person asked Bonanni whether he would be given “mother-daughter nudes” for his help. Bonanni, now a case manager for sexual assault victims, said the ‘help’ reference was to money that Saleeby gave her.
The allegations against Saleeby surfaced after CNN last week fired another producer, John Griffin, who was arrested on December 10 for allegedly trying to entice children to engage in sexual activity.
Bonanni said she spoke to Saleeby after Griffin’s arrest, and he reacted by calling his fellow producer a “pervert” and a “scumbag.” She added, “In my head I’m thinking, you’re doing the same thing.”
Ironically, Saleeby was caught up in another Project Veritas report in 2019, when he was shown on hidden camera speaking about allegations of sexual misconduct against another CNN producer.
Twitter permanently banned a Project Veritas account last February after the outlet posted a video of one of its staffers confronting a Facebook executive about his leaked comments regarding censorship tools.
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