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       The UN labour agency Profits and poverty report said forced sexual exploitation was to blame for three-fourths of the take from a business that deprives migrants of money they can send home, swipes jobs from legal workers, and allows the criminals behind it to avoid taxes.

       After sexual exploitation, the sectors with the highest illegal profits are industry (€32 billion), services (€19 billion), agriculture (€4.6 billion), and domestic work (€2 billion).

       Total annual illegal profits from forced labour are highest in Europe and Central Asia (€77 billion), followed by Asia and the Pacific (€57 billion), the Americas (€47 billion), Africa (€18 billion), and the Arab States (€16.5 billion).

       The ILO researchers said the dramatic increase in profits had been fuelled by a growth in the number of people forced into labour, as well as higher profits generated from the exploitation of victims.

       The authors said traffickers and criminals were generating about nine billion euros per victim, up from more than €7.5 billion euros a decade ago.

       Forced labour can encourage corruption, strengthen criminal networks and incentivise further exploitation, the report said.

       Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Trade, described the global estimates of 2022 as ''a sad reading''.

       ''28 million people in a forced labour. Twelve million of them are women and girls, and more than three million are children. Today we learned that it remains a lucrative business," he said.

       Manuela Tomei, ILO Conditions of Work and Equality Department director, noted that such a sum equalled the economic output of EU members such as Latvia and Croatia and eclipsed the annual revenues of tech giants like Microsoft and Samsung.

       ''Behind these staggering figures, there is human suffering. There are people who are trapped in a cycle of abuse, subjected to different forms of coercion that make it impossible for them to escape jobs that they have engage in against their will," she said.

       ''One of the most common forms of coercion against forced labour is the systematic and deliberate withholding of wages. And this is often coupled with threats of physical or sexual abuse, as well as deprivation of basic needs. It is really a vicious cycle that leaves those trapped in forced labour in despair and misery.''

       Bernd Lange, German Member of the European Parliament, said there were negative impacts for economies.

       ''Billions of dollars are not going to the people on the ground working in the factories. And of course, they are not generating income for the countries. So it has really a serious economic impact,'' he said.

       The report stressed the urgent need for investment in enforcement measures to stem illegal profit flows and hold perpetrators accountable.

       It recommended strengthening legal frameworks, providing training for enforcement officials extending labour inspection into high-risk sectors, and better coordination between labour and criminal law enforcement.

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       Across our brand new web site you will find unique features that provide a range of information to help better track political trends that shape the European Union.

       The Euronews Polls Centre allows users to see the distribution of European Parliament by viewing the selectable Map View feature to compare current and future seats for each EU member. Users can also utilize the Graph View to compare current seats with the Euronews Forecast for 2024, our projection for how seats will be dispersed among the EU Party Groups based on current polling data.

       Use our Euronews Polls Centre interactive map to navigate the continent’s EU members, or use the dropdown bar to select a country. To exit, just click the map or return to “select a country.”

       After selecting a country, you will find three unique features: Euronews Guidebooks, Euronews Polling resources and visualizations, and Euronews Analysis.

       Follow the Euronews Polls Centre Guidebooks to gain a brief introduction of any EU country, its current EU Parliamentary distribution, and how the political situation is evolving ahead of June’s EU election. Guidebooks are a tool to help better understand the basic political nuances of each EU member.

       To get a deeper scope of information and insights, select our Euronews Polls Centre Analysis. Developed by regionally-based specialists in politics, research and polling, our authentic, insider perspective on elections and polling analysis will help readers better grasp the machinations and movements that shape Europe’s elections. Each country will include a fresh outlook on how the latest trends can be interpreted, which way voters are moving and the issues that can be expected to dictate outcome in upcoming elections.

       In our Polls feature users will find an array of resources. In every EU member-state, Euronews developed a proprietary methodology for averaging publicly-released third-party polls—the Euronews Polls Average. Euronews is also thrilled to announce a partnership with Ipsos. Utilizing the extensive reach and scale of Ipsos market research capabilities, the Euronews Polls Centre includes political surveys for 18 EU-member-states with a focus on June’s EU election. Follow the voting intentions and tops issues responses to learn more about the latest voter trends in Europe’s largest nations.

       Finally, the homepage includes the Polls Centre’s most avant-garde feature: the Euronews Forecast Tool. Using the Forecast Tool, you can develop your own structure and distribution for the 2024 EU Parliamentary term. Follow the directions to build your own EU Parliament by selecting seats contributed by each country’s national parties. The template is based on the Euronews Polls Centre Forecast model, but with just a few clicks, users can reshape the EU Parliament with their own predictions for June’s election. By selecting the “coalitions” option, users can construct their own EU Group coalitions, should it look like no single party can build a governing majority.

       Stay up to date on the polls, opinions and political movements that define Europe. Check back in at polls.euronews.com for regular updates and enhancements to Euronews Polls Centre.

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       The new chapter in the thorny relationship between the media and Britain’s royal family has a Russian disinformation angle amidst concerns about King Charles's health.

       Fake news about the death of King Charles III were spread on Monday by Russian pro-Kremlin Telegram channels such as Mash and Readovka, which have millions of followers, and several media outlets such as Sputnik, sanctioned by EU for propaganda.

       A screenshot with a fake statement attributed to the Buckingham Palace was shared as proof. The file was closely modelled on the palace’s announcement of late Queen Elizabeth II's death.

       There were also speculations on the social media platform X, including mentions of flags at half-mast in government buildings, circulating and fuelling the rumours before the fake news went viral.

       Disinformation travelled quickly, reaching other countries even though there was no official confirmation or announcement from the Royal Family.

       After it was reposted in Ukraine, the British Embassy published a statement denying the fake news. "We would like to inform you that the news about the death of King Charles III is fake." The same situation occurred in Azerbaijan.

       Conspiracy theories about the Royal Family have been spreading recently due to the absence of its members from the public because of health issue.

       The Vulture traced the origin of the fake news to the post on a Pakistani outlet from 16 March, it was picked up by X accounts regularly sharing conspiracy theories.