Police in Cleveland, Ohio, reported the disappearance of more than 30 teenagers, between the ages of 12 and 16, in just two weeks in May.
The chief of police in Cleveland, Ohio, said more than 30 children were reported missing in the first two weeks of May, an unprecedented number he had not seen in his 33-year career.
This came in a report by "Fox News", in which Chief of Police John Magwi said that the missing children ranged between the ages of 12 and 17.
"The percentage of missing persons increases at times and decreases at others, and despite that, what happened during the month of May is completely unprecedented," Magwi said.
He continued, "For an unknown reason, in 2023 we witnessed a much higher number of missing persons than we usually see, which is of course worrying because we do not know exactly what is happening to them. Is it related to kidnapping or human trafficking, or are they involved in gang activities and drug abuse?"
Magwi suggested that the majority of cases may be an escape, pointing out at the same time that teenage children are usually naive and easy to seduce or "prey on" them, as he put it, describing what is happening as "a crime that takes place before our eyes."
Magwi pointed out that despair, when teenagers prevail, pushes them to join gangs to feel the warmth of the group and secure protection, and accordingly they commit crimes such as theft or prostitution, or they turn towards drug addiction.
What makes this case even more disturbing is the lack of personal photos of many of the missing, "Unless someone knows that person, how can we find him?" According to the chief of police.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia next week
Washington : US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will travel next week to Saudi Arabia, an ally of the United States with which relations are currently witnessing a sensitive stage, according to what the State Department announced Friday.
Blinken's visit to the Kingdom begins on the sixth of June and ends on the eighth of it, and it comes at a time when the two countries are leading mediation in Sudan without succeeding so far in imposing the commitment of several armistices between the two parties to the conflict.
A statement by US State Department spokesman Matthew Milner said that Blinken will discuss, during his talks with Saudi officials, “strategic cooperation” between the two countries on regional and bilateral issues.
On Wednesday, he will participate in a ministerial meeting to be held by the Gulf Cooperation Council, and on Thursday in a meeting of the International Coalition to Combat the “Islamic State” to be held in Riyadh.
Blinken's visit comes a few weeks after a visit to the kingdom by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and about a year after a visit by US President Joe Biden in the summer of 2022, with mixed results.
Relations between Washington and Riyadh are very complex, as the Biden administration accuses the oil-rich Gulf kingdom of violating human rights and pushing to raise crude oil prices.
The case of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in his country's consulate in Istanbul in 2018 continues to weigh on relations, although the United States has largely turned the page.
Biden had called for a "reset" of relations with Saudi Arabia after the kingdom's decision last October to cut oil production.
However, the Saudi ally, to which Washington supplied large quantities of weapons, plays a key role in the region, and American officials do not hide their desire for rapprochement with the Kingdom, despite the many differences.
It is expected that peace efforts in Yemen will occupy a large part of the talks that Biden will hold in Saudi Arabia, as well as efforts to normalize relations between the Kingdom and Israel within the framework of the Abrahamic Accords.
These agreements, which the administration of former President Donald Trump made great efforts to reach, allowed several Arab countries to normalize relations with the Hebrew state.
However, Riyadh requires recognition of a Palestinian state for normalization and requires the United States to provide security guarantees.
During a hearing before a congressional committee, Barbara Leaf, the senior official in the US State Department in charge of the Middle East file, acknowledged that there was a lot of “interaction” on this issue, noting a “gradual openness” between the Israelis and the Saudis, especially in the cultural and sports fields.
Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, is witnessing a period of calm since a UN-brokered truce was reached in April 2022.
Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition in Yemen in support of the government in the face of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
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