The number of complaints of domestic violence received by the National Commission for Women rose sharply in 2020, the year of the lockdown when most people were confined to their homes due to COVID-19. The trend continues this year as well.
A court in Milan on Wednesday acquitted oil giants Shell and Italy’s Eni of corruption charges in a $1.1 billion bribery case involving control of a lucrative Nigerian oil block.
In addition to the companies, Eni’s current CEO his predecessor and a former Nigerian oil minister were among 13 defendants acquitted after a three-year trial involving the 2011 purchase of the OPL 245 offshore oil field.
Non-governmental organizations and activists expressed outrage at the verdict and called on Milan prosecutors to appeal. The court has 90 days to issue its reasoning.
“This verdict must not mark a return to business as usual,’’ Global Witness senior campaigner Barnaby Pace said in a statement. “It is no vindication for either company, nor the industry as a whole who continue to put our planet at risk and cut short the lives of its inhabitants with their toxic practices.”