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The cursed cruise: how the dream of never-ending luxury at sea became a nightmare

The MV Odyssey was billed as the ultimate escape from Donald Trump. Instead, the oil shock caused by his war has left passengers unceremoniously dumped in Cambodia

The idea was a never-ending retirement at sea, a continuous voyage around the globe. The promise to the passengers of the MV Odyssey cruise ship – many approaching the autumn of their lives – was that on the open seas they could cut loose from the troubles of the world. But the world had other ideas.

The end came in an announcement as stark as it was brief: they had seven hours to get off. They were going no further than Cambodia.

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© Illustration: Anaïs Mims/Getty

© Illustration: Anaïs Mims/Getty

© Illustration: Anaïs Mims/Getty

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Cambodian police and soldiers helped guard abusive scam compounds, Amnesty alleges

Survivors tell rights group that serving officers who worked as guards administered electric shocks and beatings

Cambodian police and military officers worked as private security guards in scam compounds where thousands were forced to work in the online fraud industry, according to a report by Amnesty International.

The global rights group alleged they worked for security companies as part of a system that enabled slavery and rape in the compounds, with some guards using electric batons to keep people trapped.

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© Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

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Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi ‘sounds strong’ but is isolated, son says

Kim Aris tells the Guardian chance to speak with detained Nobel laureate was ‘public relations’ move from military leaders

Myanmar’s former democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi appears to be in good physical and mental health but is living in near-complete isolation, her son has said after the first call with his 81-year-old mother in more than five years.

“She still sounds certainly all there mentally, and physically she sounds strong,” Kim Aris said. “I don’t think she has anybody outside of the military or the police around her, so essentially she’s been held in solitary confinement from what I gather.”

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© Photograph: Tian Macleod Ji/AP

© Photograph: Tian Macleod Ji/AP

© Photograph: Tian Macleod Ji/AP

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