Authorities remove mysterious monolith north of Las Vegas

June 24 (UPI) -- Authorities in the Las Vegas area removed a mysterious monolith from the desert north of the city out of concerns of the damage tourists could do to the natural landscape.

The 77-inch tall structure, constructed out of sheet metal and secured with rebar and concrete, was spotted earlier this month about 20 miles north of Las Vegas in the Gass Peak region.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department revealed on social media that the monolith was removed late last week "due to public safety and environmental concerns."

The unusual object "is being stored at an undisclosed location while public authorities determine the most appropriate way to dispose of or store the item," the department said.

Police said "it remains unknown how the item got to its location or who might be responsible."

The column evoked memories of similar monoliths discovered in 2020 in locations including Utah, California, Las Vegas, Texas, Florida, Wisconsin, Romania and England's Isle of Wight. An anonymous art collective called The Most Famous Artist later took credit for several of the U.S.-based monoliths.

Another monolith was found earlier this year on Hay Bluff, near Hay-on-Wye, Wales. The origins of that structure remain unknown.

Mysterious object with tadpole-shaped smoke trail identified as rocket 

June 24 (UPI) -- A mysterious object that streaked across the Las Vegas-area sky, leaving a tadpole-shaped smoke trail in its wake, was identified as a SpaceX rocket.

Numerous residets of southern Nevada reported seeing the object streaking across the sky Sunday evening and questioned what it could be.

"I have a video I took tonight of an unknown object flying across the sky with what appears to be smoke of some sort trailing behind it," a resident said in an email to KLAS-TV.

The National Weather Service's Las Vegas office said on social media that the object was a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink satellites into orbit.

The rocket was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Some viewers said a second object seen in a video shared by NWS appeared to be interacting with the rocket, but the NWS said in a follow-up tweet that the second light was an aircraft that took off from Runway 26 at Harry Reid International Airport and turned north.

The rocket launched 20 Starlink satellites into orbit -- sparking further UFO reports in Malta, where residents could see lights in the sky from the satellites that were heading toward orbit.

PROFIT OVER ALL!

Kings Island roller coaster open again after man's recent death

A man was struck by the ride five days earlier and died.

Police say park guest had entered restricted area of ride to retrieve keys lost while on coaster

The Benshee roller coaster opeened in 2014 at Kings Island. 

Photo courtesy Kings Island

June 24 (UPI) -- A roller coaster at Kings Island near Cincinnati has reopened after a man was struck by the ride five days earlier and died.

In Mason, Ohio, the Banshee was closed during an investigation by Kings Island, Mason police and the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Division of Amusement Ride Safety and Fairs. It reopened Saturday after passing an inspection.

Arntanaro Nelson, 38, of Wilmington, Ohio, was pronounced dead Friday at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He was flown there for treatment after being found with a serious injury inside a restricted area near the roller coaster Wednesday.

The death was announced Monday.

Mason police told The Cincinnati Enquirer that Nelson was in the restricted area to retrieve keys he had dropped while riding the Banshee at about 8 p.m.

The Hamilton County Coroner's Office listed his death as a "suspected accident" but it remains under investigation.

The Banshee, the world's longest inverted roller coaster, opened in 2014 at the former location of Son of Beast. It has seven inversions.

Kings Island has 16 roller coasters.

The amusement park opened in 1972 and is owned by Cedar Fair, which merged with Six Flags in November 2023. In 2021, there were 3.18 million guests.

LockBit claims Federal Reserve breach, threatens release of 'Americans' banking secrets'

By Sheri Walsh

JUNE 24, 2024 

The U.S. Federal Reserve has not responded to claims by Russian ransomware group LockBit that it has breached the central banking system of the United States and is threatening to release "33 terabytes of juicy banking information containing Americans' banking secrets."


June 24 (UPI) -- Russian ransomware group LockBit claims it has breached the U.S. Federal Reserve and is threatening to release 33 terabytes of sensitive data, including "Americans' banking secrets," on Tuesday.

"33 terabytes of juicy banking information containing Americans' banking secrets," LockBit wrote Sunday on its data leak site.

"You better hire another negotiator within 48 hours, and fire this clinical idiot who values Americans' bank secrecy at $50,000," the group added.

While the Federal Reserve has not confirmed the hack, a number of cybersecurity experts are discounting LockBit's claims, saying there are no published samples of the stolen data.

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"No proof so prolly just blowing off steam," said security researcher Dominic Alvieri.

"LockBit's claim is likely complete and utter bollo ... erm, nonsense, and a tactic designed to get its ailing RaaS (Ransomware-as-a-Service) back into the limelight," Brett Callow, threat analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emisisoft, told the Daily Dot.

LockBit has conducted numerous high-profile ransomware attacks on companies, banks and government departments around the world since 2019, including the U.S. Department of Justice, the Port of Nagoya in Japan, British Royal Mail, Fulton County in Georgia and Boeing.

Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department announced a $15 million reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in LockBit.

Last month, the United States, Britain and Australia sanctioned and indicted Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, a Russian national accused of leading LockBit and extorting some $120 million in ransom payments from victims worldwide in more than 2,000 known attacks.

In a separate attack earlier this month, the FBI informed victims of LockBit ransomware that it had obtained more than 7,000 LockBit decryption keys that could allow them to recover their encrypted data for free.

"Additionally, from our ongoing disruption of LockBit, we now have over 7,000 decryption keys and can help victims reclaim their data and get back online," said Bryan Vorndran, the assistant director at the FBI Cyber Division.

Texas' abortion ban tied to more infant deaths, study indicates

By Ernie Mundell, 

HealthDay Reporter
JUNE 24, 2024

Protesters argue over abortion rights in front of the Supreme Court on the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Dobbs v Women's Health Organization case which overturned Roe v. Wade in Washington, D.C. on June 24, 2023. File Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI | License Photo

Following state legislation passed in 2021 that essentially banned abortion in Texas, the rate of infant deaths rose by almost 13%, compared to a much smaller 1.8% rise nationwide, a new study finds.

The number of Texan babies whose deaths were specifically linked to birth defects also jumped by 22.9% in 2022, the year after the ban was put in place. In the rest of the United States, such deaths declined by 3.1% over the same time period, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

The findings may have relevance beyond Texas following the July 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

"The [study] results suggest that restrictive abortion policies may have important unintended consequences in terms of trauma to families and medical cost as a result of increases in infant mortality," said researchers led by Alison Gemmill. She's an assistant professor of population, family and reproductive health at Hopkins.

The findings were published June 24 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

In their study, Gemmill's group look at data on all recorded infant deaths from the state of Texas and 28 comparison states for the years 2018 through 2022. They zeroed in on the period between March through December of 2022, because it was during this period when fetuses and newborns would first have been subject to the 2021 Texas abortion ban.

Overall, "an excess of 216 infant deaths" were recorded in Texas between March and December of 2022, Gemmill's team reported.

The sharp rise in deaths linked to birth defects was particularly troubling, the researchers said.

"Deaths involving congenital malformations, which are the leading cause of infant mortality in the U.S. and account for more than 1 in 5 infant deaths, may increase due to forced continuation of pregnancies involving defects or other anomalies," they wrote.

Forcing women to carry through with an unwanted pregnancy may also raise financial and emotional stressors, especially among poorer, less advantaged groups, "all of which may increase exposure to known risk factors for infant mortality," Gemmill and colleagues wrote.

In a linked journal editorial, three experts in reproductive and child health said the Texas study "adds to the growing body of literature documenting the direct harms inflicted on our communities by abortion bans."

Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi and Aketch Osamb, of Pegasus Health Justice Center in Dallas, and Dr. Atsuko Koyama, of the University of Arizona in Phoenix, say other data shows the 2021 ban in Texas is harming women and their babies.

"Researchers from two Dallas hospitals, including one of the busiest labor and delivery units in the country, illustrate a significant increase in maternal morbidity [illness] with subsequent poor fetal outcomes" soon after the ban was enacted, they wrote.

And they believe the new study is just a harbinger of things to come nationally.

"In the coming years, as more people continue to be harmed by abortion bans across the country, we anticipate that more research will illuminate what Texans already know to be true: abortion bans harm everyone," the experts said.

More information

To find out more about neonatal birth defects, head to the Cleveland Clinic.

Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Distress, depression rates double among transgender Americans in 10 years

By Ernie Mendell,

 HealthDay News

JUNE 24, 2024

The rate of self-reported mental distress and depression among American adults who identify as transgender or gender-diverse has more than doubled between 2014 and 2022, an analysis of federal health data reveals.

 Photo by Astrobobo/Pixabay

The rate of self-reported mental distress and depression among American adults who identify as transgender or gender-diverse has more than doubled between 2014 and 2022, an analysis of federal health data reveals.

During that time, "a record number of enacted laws has threatened the rights and protections of TGD people, including restricting access to gender-affirming care and permitting discrimination in public accommodations," noted a team of researchers led by health care policy investigator Michael Liu, of Harvard Medical School.

The findings are published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Liu's team tracked survey data from the federal government's ongoing Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which follows the self-reported physical and mental health of U.S. adults over time.

The analysis started in 2014, the first year in which gender identity was added to the survey, and tracked data through 2022.

Liu's team found that the "prevalence of frequent mental distress increased from 18.8% in 2014 to 38.9% in 2022" among transgender or gender-diverse people.

In contrast, the rise in mental distress was less steep among cisgender people -- from 11.2% to 15.5%.

Depression rates among transgender and gender-diverse adults also rose sharply between 2014 and 2022 -- more than doubling from 19.7% to 51.3%, Liu's group found. Over the same time period, depression rates among cisgender adults rose only slightly, from 18.6% to 21.1%.

Even physical health was affected: During the study period, the percentage of transgender/gender-diverse adults who rated their health as just "fair" or "poor" went from 26.6% to 35.1%, while that number remained stable at just over 17% among cisgender people.

In a linked journal editorial, three experts in health policy say the Harvard findings are not unexpected.

Dr. Carl Streed of Boston University, Kellan Baker of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore and Arjee Javellana Restar of the University of Washington School of Public Health in Seattle, point to hundreds of state bills "explicitly targeting transgender and nonbinary populations" proposed in 2023 and 2024.

"These efforts to exclude transgender and nonbinary people from civic life threaten the well-being of the more than 1.6 million transgender and nonbinary people in the U.S.," the experts said.

Increasing stigma means transgender and gender-diverse Americans are dealing with daily assaults to mental health, including deliberate misuse of pronouns, issues around restroom access, discrimination on the job and even acts of violence, the editorialists said.

It's probably not going to get better anytime soon.

"Given the sociopolitical trajectory of the U.S. regarding increasing discrimination and political attacks on transgender and nonbinary people, we can expect to see worsening mental health in these populations for the foreseeable future," the experts said.

South Korea latest to level charges against Israeli officials for alleged war crimes in Gaza


A Palestinian man walks through the rubble of destroyed buildings following an operation by Israeli Special Forces in the Nuseirat camp, in the central Gaza Strip, earlier this month. South Korean government officials and other organizations on Monday filed a series of charges leveled against top Israeli government officials, including Israel's president and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for genocide and other alleged crimes against humanity in the war in Gaza. 

Photo by Hatem Al-Rawag/UPI | License Photo

June 24 (UPI) -- South Korean government officials and other organizations on Monday filed a series of charges leveled against top Israeli government officials, including Israel's president and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for genocide and other alleged crimes against humanity.

The South Korean lawsuit cites seven high-ranking Israeli officials, such as the country's President Isaac Herzog along with Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

The charges were brought on by the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Asian Dignity Initiatives and more than 5,000 individuals, including two members of the country's National Assembly who contend Israel has committed multiple crimes since the October 7 war with Hamas began.

The "key allegations" against Israeli government officials point to, specifically: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes against humanitarian activities, and war crimes using forbidden weapons and means.

"The indictment signifies that some 5,000 co-accusers have acknowledged that a genocide occurred in Gaza. They are not only mourning but also insisting that the perpetrators be harshly punished according to South Korean law," Lee Dong-hwa, an ADI team manager, said in a written statement.

The group filed the charges under the 2007 Act on Punishment of Crimes under Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

"Common sense dictates that even when war crimes are committed outside of South Korea, they should be investigated according to the law and principles, and the perpetrators should be punished according to the severity of the crime," Dong wrote.

This is the most recent effort since the United Nations Security Council recently passed a U.S.-drafted resolution calling for a Gaza cease-fire, and the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, to try and hold Israeli officials accountable for the allegedly over 34,000 dead in Gaza.

Brazil's president in February compared what he called the genocide of Palestinian people to the Holocaust

"What's happening in the Gaza Strip isn't a war, it's a genocide," Brazilian President Lula da Silva said in remarks at the time while in Ethiopia for the African Union summit. "It's not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It's a war between a highly prepared army and women and children."

This latest effort by South Korea is now another in series of other formal complaints lodged against Israel.

The United Nations Human Rights Council in April adopted a resolution calling for Israel to be held accountable for what it called war crimes in Gaza, urging an immediate cease-fire. The 28 to 6 yes vote had 13 abstentions with the United States voting no.

South Africa last December filed a case in the U.N.'s International Justice Court accusing Israel of acts of "genocidal in nature" in its occupation of Gaza, followed by Egypt last month in May and the Arab League.

That was followed in January by the International Court of Justice in the Hague, the Netherlands, that ordered Israel to take immediate steps to end atrocities in Gaza in its war with Hamas, which Israel and the United States blasted at the time as baseless.

Court trustee shutting down Alex Jones' Infowars conspiracy operation

Alex Jones protests in Dallas on February 28, 2014. On Sunday, a bankruptcy trustee disclosed plans to shut down Jones' Infowars to pay some of the nearly $1.5 billion he owes Sandy Hook school shooting victims' families following a defamation lawsuit. 

File Photo by Sean P. Anderson/Wikimedia Commons

 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode

June 24 (UPI) -- Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars media empire is coming to an end.

On Sunday, a bankruptcy court-appointed trustee said the company will be shut down and sold off, according to an emergency court filing. A timetable was not listed.

Trustee Christopher Murray wrote Sunday that since being appointed, he "began planning to wind-up operations and liquidate its inventory." Jones' media company is Free Speech Systems in Austin, Texas.

Murray wrote he "seeks this Court's intervention to prevent a value-destructive money grab and allow an orderly process to take its course."

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The far-right outlet had been accused of spreading dangerous misinformation, prompting a defamation suit filed by the families of victims of the mass shooting of the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn. In 2012, a gunman shot and killed 26 people at the school, including 20 children and six adult staff members.

Jones, 50, had said the school shooting was a so-called false flag attack and that the victims were actors. He was sued by family members and eventually found liable in separate lawsuits in Texas and Connecticut for spreading false stories on his radio and online show. He admitted in court his claims were not true. The families were awarded $1.44 billion.

One of the Sandy Hook victim's parents filed a motion in a Texas District Court to be granted custody of all of Free Speech Systems' assets, including Infowars. Some families say this would have delayed the process.

Christopher Mattei, an attorney for Sandy Hook families from Connecticut in favor of liquidating the company, said "this is precisely the unfortunate situation that the Connecticut families hoped to avoid when we argued that the Free Speech Systems/InfoWars case should have remained with the bankruptcy court rather than being dismissed."

In December 2022, Jones filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

A bankruptcy judge in Texas earlier this month gave permission to Jones to start liquidating personal assets to pay off what he owed.

Lawyers told bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez those personal assets include Jones' $2.8 million Texas ranch. Some personal assets, including a home in Austin, are exempted.

He then was allowed to move from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 liquidation of his assets.

Jones last year told the court he had about $9 million in assets. At the time, a judge ruled he could not avoid paying the legal judgments by declaring bankruptcy.

Jones has acknowledged Infowars would likely only continue broadcasting for a few more months.

Jimmy Carter's long stay in hospice dispels myths about end-of-life care

By Brian Dunleavy


Former President Jimmy Carter departs after the funeral service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Maranatha Baptist Church on November. 29, 2023, in Plains, Ga. The former first lady was 96. 

Pool Photo by Alex Brandon/UPI | License Photo

NEW YORK, June 24 (UPI) -- Former President Jimmy Carter's being in hospice for 16 months makes him an "outlier," but it also highlights the multifaceted nature of end-of-life care and dispels myths about that care, experts told UPI.

Carter, who is to turn 100 in October, entered hospice in February 2023 after deciding to discontinue aggressive treatment for metastatic melanoma.

Despite his decision, his surviving with the disease for more than 5 years, at his advanced age, should be considered a success, said Dr. Joan Teno, a former hospice provider and an expert in geriatric care.

"President Carter is an outlier in that only a small percentage of hospice patients survive more than 15 months," she told UPI in an email. "The fact that he has lived so long on hospice is testament to his excellent medical care at home and, if I had to guess, his will to live."

It also illustrates the core focus of hospice, which is typically geared toward people with an anticipated life expectancy of 6 months or less, for whom curing their underlying illness isn't an option, Teno added.

The approach emphasizes symptom management -- most notably for pain -- and quality of life, according to the Hospice Foundation of America.

"While Hospice Foundation of America has worked for more than 40 years to educate people about the many benefits of hospice care, most Americans don't engage in advance care planning and know little about care options at the end of life," Angela Novas, the organization's senior medical officer, told UPI via email.

"Because of that, there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about what hospice is, the care it provides, who qualifies and how to access care," she said.

Defying the odds

More than 90% of patients who enter hospice care die within the first six months, and nearly 40% die within the first week, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Since entering hospice, though, Carter has celebrated his 99th birthday and grieved the death of his wife of 77 years, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, and was even able, with assistance, to attend her funeral.

"I suspect that President Carter is following the disease trajectory of [metastatic melanoma, which leads to] progressive fragility, where he needs help in his everyday functions and uses a wheelchair," said Teno, who has no direct knowledge of his health status.

Citing recent interviews with family members, the former president is likely spending most of his days sleeping, she said.

In general, hospice patients who are "not alert and sleeping more" are close to dying, said Teno, who is also an adjunct professor of health services, policy and practice at the Brown University School of Public Health.

"About two-thirds of [these patients] drift peacefully to sleep [as they die] -- I suspect that is what is happening," she added.

What end-of-life care entails

The nuts and bolts of hospice vary by patient, but most providers adhere to Medicare guidelines and engage a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals trained to address the physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs of patients with terminal illnesses.

They also provide support to family members and other "intimate, unpaid" caregivers, according to the Hospice Foundation of America.

Teams typically include a hospice physician, nurse, medical social worker, home health aide and, if applicable, chaplain and/or spiritual adviser, the foundation says.

Services include medication for symptom control, including pain relief, medical equipment, such as a hospital bed, wheelchairs or walkers, and supplies, such as oxygen, bandages and catheters, as needed.

Many hospice patients receive physical and occupational therapy to maintain strength and mobility, as well as speech-language pathology services so that they can continue to communicate.

They also receive dietary counseling, which debunks "one of the most unhelpful myths" about hospice care that providers "limit nutrition and fluids or refuse to treat illnesses, such as an infection, that may occur while in hospice care to speed the dying process," the foundation's Novas said.

"This is simply not true," she said.

In some cases, "as part of the natural dying process, appetite diminishes significantly and patients frequently either refuse food and fluids or can no longer swallow safely without coughing and choking or aspirating food and fluids into their lungs, resulting in pneumonia," Novas said.

However, for as long as patients like Carter can tolerate food and fluids and find eating pleasurable, they are typically offered small portions of their favorite meals when they ask, she added.

"At end-of-life, hospice and family caregivers typically go with the flow of the day, which is dictated by how the hospice patient is doing," Novas said.

"It is likely that Mr. Carter has good days and bad days with waxing and waning of symptoms and abilities," she added.

Although she doesn't know specifics on the former president's daily regimen, on bad days, he may sleep for most of the day with little interaction with family or caregivers and a poor appetite, On good days, he may be alert, asking for food and be able to be out of bed and be engaged in life, Novas said,

"We have seen many photos of him during the time he has received hospice doing just that, and the hospice providing his care is highly focused on helping those opportunities happen," she said.

"Many hospice patients enjoy these good days or hours reminiscing with family and friends, reading, watching their favorite films or TV shows, or enjoying music," she added.

Hospice means home

Being in hospice means that Carter, and others like him facing terminal illnesses, are able to stay at home, in comfort, surrounded by loved ones, according to the Hospice Foundation of America.

The service is provided primarily in the patient's home, whether that is a private residence, nursing home or community living arrangement, it says.

Hospice practitioners believe that being at home is best for people at end-of-life, both for reasons of comfort, as well as the reduced risk for hospital-acquired infections, which can add to suffering and reduce life expectancy, Novas said.

Still, hospice providers are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond if the patient needs care.

Most hospice patients are eligible for Medicare, which covers all aspects of end-of-life care, and Medicaid offers similar coverage, according to the Hospice Foundation of America.

In addition, many commercial health insurance plans offer a hospice benefit, but the extent to which they cover care and services may vary.

"Certainly, Mr. Carter's choice to elect hospice care versus futile treatment has shone a spotlight on the value of hospice and palliative care and the important role it has in our healthcare system," Novas said.

"By outliving his initial prognosis and by receiving hospice care for over a year now, he has done much to dispel the myth that hospice is only for people who are bedbound and actively dying."

Human trafficking report reveals 'growing role of digital technology'

South Korea returns to list of top nations trying to eliminate problem

By Sheri Walsh
UPI

JUNE 24, 2024 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken releases the 2024 Trafficking in Human Persons Report, which assesses worldwide trafficking trends, on Monday in Washington, D.C. Blinken also honored 10 TIP heroes, who are "working to combat human trafficking around the globe." 

Photo courtesy of U.S. State Department

June 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department's annual Trafficking in Human Persons Report, which assesses worldwide trafficking trends and was released Monday in Washington, D.C., has revealed this year's "growing role of digital technology" as networks target and recruit victims online.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the 2024 report an "objective assessment of the state of anti-trafficking efforts across 188 countries and territories, including the United States."

In the report, the State Department returned South Korea to the top-tier list of 33 countries and territories that are working to eliminate human trafficking, which also includes the United States, Britain, Taiwan, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Poland and Sweden.

Malaysia was upgraded to Tier 2 in this year's report for the first time since 2017. Countries in Tier 2 are defined as not fully meeting the minimum standards to eliminate human trafficking, but making "significant efforts."

"Malaysia's systemic inability to meaningfully combat labor trafficking, ensure remediation of victims and accountability of perpetrators does not deserve an upgrade," said migrant rights activist Andy Hall in response to the country's upgraded standing.

Bangladesh was also cited as making "significant efforts" as it remained in the Tier 2 category, but failed to "meet the minimum standards in several key areas."

"Although the government increased local law enforcement efforts it did not take adequate steps to address internal trafficking crimes -- including sex trafficking and forced child labor," the U.S. State Department wrote in the report.

Egypt, Indonesia, India, Japan, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam were all designated as Tier 2, according to the report.

North Korea remained in the lowest third for the 22nd straight year, according to the report, which also placed the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at the bottom.

"We vehemently oppose and firmly reject the unfounded and false remarks in the report against the situation in Hong Kong," said a spokesman for the HKSAR government.

"Trafficking in persons is never a prevalent problem in Hong Kong. There has never been any sign that Hong Kong is being actively used by syndicates as a destination or transit point for TIP," the spokesman said, adding that the findings in the report "are groundless."

"The rating of Hong Kong at Tier 2 (Watch List) is utterly unfair, misconceived and not substantiated by facts," he added.

Afghanistan, China, Cuba, Belarus, Russia and Iran were also among those countries in the lowest tier.

Blinken said this year's annual human trafficking report reveals the growing role digital technology has played for traffickers.

"Around the world, trafficking networks target and recruit victims online -- through social media, through dating apps, through gaming platforms," Blinken said.

"Perpetrators conduct financial transactions in opaque cryptocurrencies. They use encryption to make it harder to detect their activities or ascertain the countries where they're operating. And increasingly, traffickers coerce their victims into participating in online scams."

While the report focuses on how trafficking networks are using technology to target victims, it also reveals how those same technologies are being used to uncover and disrupt traffickers.

"Civil society and the private sector are collaborating to create and apply AI-enabled tools that detect trafficking operations," Blinken said, while introducing this year's 10 TIP Heroes who are "survivors, government leaders, law enforcement officials, lawyers, social workers."

"Today we honor ten people working to combat human trafficking around the globe. They are courageous individuals who are driving change in the face of daunting obstacles, often at great personal risk," Blinken wrote Monday in a post on X.