Friday 4 July 2008

Thursday, 3rd July 2008

0754


Woman jailed for 11 years in U.S. slavery case

NEW YORK: A wealthy New York woman was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Thursday for keeping two Indonesian women as slaves, forcing them to work up to 20 hours a day for years after confiscating their passports.
Indian-born Varsha Sabhnani and her husband, Mahender Sabhnani, were convicted in December of forced labour, peonage, harbouring aliens, document servitude and conspiracy in what prosecutors called "a case of modern-day slavery."
Mahender Sabhnani was due to be sentenced on Friday, also by Judge Arthur Spatt, at U.S. federal court in Central Islip, on New York state's Long Island.
Defence lawyers had argued that the victims made up the story and were delusional.
The couple, owners of an international perfume manufacturing and distribution business, had kept the two Indonesian women in their home in Muttontown, New York.
The investigation began when one of the victims was found in a doughnut shop wearing rags and with open wounds behind her ears, prosecutors said. The second victim was found in the home, hiding in a closet under the basement stairs.
Prosecutors said the couple, both U.S. citizens, brought two women, identified only as Samirah, 51, and Enung, 47, to the United States from Indonesia with promises to pay $200 a month for housekeeping duties.
Instead, the women testified, they were beaten with brooms, scalded with hot water and forced to eat hot chilli peppers as well as forced to carry out household duties. Both were forced to sleep on mats and had to steal food to get enough to eat, prosecutors said.
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Wall Street ex-chief wins another round in his pay battle




4.6 million Ethiopians urgently need food aid, Unicef says

"Children are already dying, adults as yet are not," Hilde Johnson, deputy director of Unicef, said in an interview in Geneva after a visit to Ethiopia, adding that the situation threatens to deteriorate in the two to three months before the next harvest is due.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/26/africa/26ethiopia.php


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More rains hit flooded U.S. Midwest
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/06/26/america/OUKWD-UK-USA-FLOODING.php


Oil rises past $140 a barrel, setting a record

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/26/business/26oil.php

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BP blames high oil prices on tight production

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/06/26/business/OUKBS-UK-BP-OIL-SUPPIES.php

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EU strikes deal to cap airline emissions

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/26/business/26emit.php

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Airline group says EU CO2 deal "unaffordable"

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/06/26/business/OUKBS-UK-EU-ENVIRONMENT-AVIATION-IACA.php

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Brown launches "green revolution" energy plan

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/06/26/business/OUKBS-UK-BRITAIN-ENERGY.php



French winemakers on rampage

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/26/europe/fuel.php





Kristof: Books, not bombs
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/26/opinion/edkristof.php

3 U.S. marines among 30 killed in 2 Iraq bombings
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/26/mideast/iraq.php













Somalia conflict kills more than 2,100 this year
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/06/26/africa/OUKWD-UK-SOMALIA-CONFLICT.php













AIDS a growing global "disaster"
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/06/26/africa/OUKWD-UK-DISASTERS.php

























1,300 feared dead in wake of typhoon in the Philippines
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/26/asia/phils.php


















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COPYRIGHT IAN WALTHEW 2008

1 comment:

BettyWestern said...

Beautiful staircase.