Society's ChildS


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Millions of children in slave-like conditions as domestic laborers

Child Laborers
© Associated PressYoung Indian bonded child laborers wait to be processed at a safe house after being rescued during a raid by workers from Bachpan Bachao Andolan, or Save the Childhood Movement, at a factory in New Delhi, India, June 11, 2013.
Geneva - The International Labor Organization estimates 10.5 million children around the world are working as domestic workers in hazardous, sometimes slave-like conditions. The ILO is marking World Day Against Child Labor June 12 by calling for action to eliminate child labor in domestic work.

The International Labor Organization reports all regions of the world employ children as domestic laborers, often in brutal conditions. The report finds 6.5 million of the 10.5 million child domestic laborers are aged between five and 14 years. More than 70 percent are girls.

International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor Director Constance Thomas says children carry out a variety of domestic tasks such as cleaning, ironing, cooking, gardening, looking after other children, and caring for the elderly.

"We know that they are vulnerable to physical, psychological and sexual violence and abuse. They are isolated from their own families. They are hidden from the public eye by the nature of where they are working. And, they can become in a state of high dependence on the family or the people in whose household they are working. We have evidence that some do end up becoming commercially sexually exploited," said Thomas.

Thomas describes the situation of many domestic workers as a serious violation of child rights. She says the conditions under which they work are appalling, with long hours and no time for rest or leisure. She says many are exposed to toxic chemicals, carry heavy loads, and use dangerous tools like axes and knives. She says the children often are underfed, receive humiliating and degrading treatment and suffer verbal and sexual abuse.

Black Cat 2

Mom: Officer shot kittens in front of my kids

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© WKYCMany of those attending the rally Wednesday morning brought their own pets with them. They carried signs, including those asking for harsher penalties for animal abuse.
The Ohio Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals wants Humane Officer Barry Accorti fired for allegedly shooting five kittens in a home's back yard on Monday.

OSPCA Executive Director Teresa Landon says Accorti should be fired and charged with five counts of animal cruelty.

Bizarro Earth

Florida man stabbed brother in fight over mac and cheese, beer, Volusia deputies say

Randy Zipperer arrested on charges of aggravated battery, obstructing an officer

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Randy Zipperer
A 49-year-old man was arrested in Deltona late Tuesday on suspicion of stabbing his brother in a fight that started over some missing macaroni and cheese and spilled beer.

Randy Zipperer was arrested on charges of aggravated battery and obstructing an officer without violence.

According to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, a witness said Zipperer was at his home on Danforth Avenue when he became upset because he couldn't find his mac and cheese.

His 47-year-old brother went to help look for the food and accidentally knocked over Zipperer's beer, the witness told deputies.

Che Guevara

Famous last words? Turkey's prime minister claims massive Istanbul demonstrations 'will be over in 24 hours'

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They don't look like they're going anywhere anytime soon
The Turkish Prime Minister says protests at Taksim Square and Gezi Park "will be over in 24 hours." This comes hours after Tayyip Erdogan met a group of activists, in an attempt to start dialog, and vowed to put an end to the gatherings.

"I have given orders to the interior minister," Erdogan said. "This will be over in 24 hours."

Earlier on Wednesday the Turkish Prime Minister spoke to a group of 11 people as part of the government's attempt to listen to the demands of the demonstrators. The participants included artists, academics and students, as well as the Interior Minister, Environment and Urban Minister, Tourism and Culture Minister and the vice chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Erdogan has warned that he would put an end to the gatherings, which he said were hurting Turkey's image and economy.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman Huseyin Celik has said a referendum might be held to decide whether to build barracks in Gezi Park or leave it as it is.

Comment: Here are some scenes from Taksim Square yesterday 11 June. Does it look like it's nearly over?




Grey Alien

Man detained for 'freezer alien' hoax

Fake Alien
© Globaltimes.cn
A Shandong man who admitted his claim to have killed an alien and stored it in a freezer was a hoax was arrested after his story went viral on Chinese social media.

Binzhou resident Li Kai was sentenced to five days in detention for creating false reports and disturbing public order after admitting to police that he had engineered a hoax as a publicity stunt on June 10, according to China Radio International.

"The alien [Li] claimed to have killed was made of wire, glue, and white pigment", said Binzhou police chief Zhou Xiaofei in the statement on Monday afternoon.

Cheeseburger

California woman bites in BK hamburger, finds razor blade


Willits - A local woman bit into her Burger King hamburger and found a razor blade.

A few weeks ago, relatives of 46-year-old Yolanda Orozco went to the Burger King in Willits and ordered a few hamburgers.

"I bit off of it, I checked for onions and then I saw a razor blade in there," said Orozco. Fortunately, she didn't take a big bite.

"I was in shock. I was just looking at it. Somebody at Burger King was careless," she said.

Officer Mark McNelley with the Willits Police Department took the call.

"To be honest with you, I thought it was going to be a hoax," he said.

Pills

Cops plead guilty to helping plant drugs on woman sexually harassed by judge

A judge responded to an assault victim by demanding sex in exchange for 'legal favors' in her divorce. She filed a complaint, and he sent cops to plant meth in her car.

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© shutterstock.com
With a plot out of a Hollywood movie or a gripping Lifetime TV show, a mesmerizing drama of sex, power, frame-ups, planted drugs, and lies unfolded in real life in Georgia when two Murray County sheriff's deputies recently pleaded guilty in federal court for their part in a scheme to send an innocent woman to prison. Now both deputies await sentencing on charges of obstruction of justice and perjury stemming from an FBI civil rights investigation into the odd goings-on Down South.

The woman in question, Angela Garmley, had filed a complaint with the Georgia Judicial Qualification Committee alleging that Chief Magistrate Judge Bryant Cochran solicited sex from her in return for legal favors in her pending divorce. Shortly after Garmley filed her complaint, she was arrested on August 14, 2012 in sleepy Chatsworth, Georgia, and charged with possession of methamp

Black Cat 2

Two-Faced kitten: Rare 'Janus' cat born in U.S.


A kitten owner had to do a double take when she realised her newborn feline had two faces.

Duecy was rejected by its mother so Stephanie Durkee is feeding her by hand. She is giving her kitten formula with a syringe and keeping her warm with a heating pad.

Ms Durkee said: "The kids actually found them and came in and said, 'Mom there's a kitty with two heads', and I said I think you guys are just tired, you're crazy, that doesn't happen."

Duecy, who was born in Oregon on Tuesday, has been examined by a vet and everything appears to be in good working order. She is a rare two-faced kitten, also known as a "Janus" kitten.

TV

Greece's only public station shut down, spawning widespread anger

ERT
Staff continued to defy the government's closure of ERT's television and radio stations. This is a screen shot from one of the livestreams last night.
The Greek government announced late Tuesday that it is shutting down its only public television broadcaster - the latest in the country's drastic austerity measures - spawning both widespread anger and a guerrilla TV station organized by the European Broadcasting Union.

The move, which has left 2,700 people without jobs and a country without its public broadcasting station, ERT, is being criticized as the "most dramatic in a series of attacks on free speech and public space by the Greek government."

Over 3,000 people including the now former ERT employees gathered outside the broadcaster's headquarters north of Athens on Tuesday night following the announcement, vowing to stage a sit-in until the government rescinded the order.

And that is just what they did.

Eye 1

Canadian 'Black Widow' aged 78 jailed for poisoning her newlywed husband

A 78-year-old Canadian woman dubbed the "Black Widow" was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for drugging her newlywed husband.

Melissa Ann Shepard was charged last year after Fred Weeks fell ill during the couple's honeymoon.

The court heard that Shepard slipped tranquillisers into her 76-year-old husband's coffee. He was taken to hospital but survived. Shepard had been convicted of manslaughter in 1992 after the death of her second husband, Gordon Stewart, whom she drugged and ran over twice with a car.

In 2005, Shepard - who has gone by several other surnames - was sentenced to five years in prison on seven counts for theft from a man in Florida who she had met online.

Alex Strategos, now 81, said she stole $20,000 (£12,600) from him over the month that they lived together.

In his ruling on Tuesday, Judge Joseph Kennedy agreed with the prosecution's argument for a 3.5-year prison term, less time served, saying Shepard's criminal past was relevant

Her lawyer argued for a two-year jail term, saying Shepard feels remorseful.

She declined to address the court.

Shepard married Weeks in a civil ceremony on 25 September, a few weeks after they met.

But their marriage was later declared invalid by the local authorities after they said that false information had been supplied on the marriage certificate.

Source: Associated Press