A woman has been accused of torturing her two maids and causing one of them to die of pneumonia, while she kept them unfed and locked in her Al Rashidiya home for more than a month.
The surviving maid, a Filipina, alleged that the 45-year-old Emirati woman, R.M., beat them with sticks while naked, banged their heads against the wall until they bled and forced her to drink cleaning products. She told the court her Ethiopian colleague was so hungry she searched for food in the garbage.
Prosecution records said the severity of the torture and conditions of their confinement led to the Ethiopian's death and caused the 29-year-old Filipina, E.K. to suffer severe injuries.
Dubai Police's forensic expert, who examined the injuries of the Ethiopian, K.J., confirmed that she had been tortured consistently for more than a month.
Society's Child
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his 29-year marriage to his his wife, Lyudmila, was over - after removing his wedding band as they watched the ballet together.
The 60-year-old and his 55-year-old wife broke the news of the end of the 29-year marriage in an obviously staged TV interview after a night at the ballet.
Before the ballet at the Kremlin Palace, Putin was pictured wearing his wedding ring, but he must have removed it during the performance because he was not wearing it by the time he left and was interviewed.
The military said in a statement Thursday that 103 detainees are on hunger strike and that 41 of them are being force-fed. The military also said four detainees who are being force-fed are being observed at the hospital.
None of the hunger strikers has a life-threatening condition, said Lt. Col. Samuel House, a spokesman for Joint Task Force Guantanamo.
© Agence France Presse
Clément Meric was member of the Solidaires students' union and the far-Left anti-fascist movement.
Clément Meric was member of the Solidaires students' union and the far-Left anti-fascist movement.
Toulouse's Socialist mayor had expressed concern about a planned torchlit evening march to commemorate the victory of a Christian army in 721 over Muslims besieging the city, after a clash between ultra-Right and far-Left youths in Paris on Wednesday led to the death of a 19-year-old student.
Toulouse police headquarters said it had feared a "serious risk of public disorder" if the rally went ahead.
France has been shaken in recent months by scenes of far-Right youths hurling bricks at police and smashing cars as they piggybacked on street marches led by conservatives and Catholics against a reform to legalise same-sex marriage.
The sudden visibility of far-Right groups is shaking up the already fragmented Right-wing opposition, as National Front leader Marine Le Pen seeks to distance herself from them and the UMP conservative party squabbles over whether to embrace or oppose the anti-gay marriage movement.
© AP
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, left, stands before military judge Col. Jeffery Nance Wednesday in this court sketch.
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, left, stands before military judge Col. Jeffery Nance Wednesday in this court sketch.
To avoid the death penalty, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales pleaded guilty to multiple counts of murder at the hearing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle. He then read from a statement in a clear and steady voice, describing his actions for each killing in the same terms.
Bales, 39, said he left the remote base where he was posted in southern Afghanistan in March 2012, and went to the nearby villages of mud-walled compounds. Once inside, he said he "formed the intent" of killing the victims, then shot each one.
"This act was without legal justification, sir," Bales told the judge while seated at a defense table, his handles folded in front of him.
Most of the victims were women and children, and some of the bodies were burned. Relatives have told The Associated Press they are irate at the notion Bales will escape execution for one of the worst atrocities of the Afghanistan war.
© Unknown
The word "fascist" is thrown around a lot these days and it's usually by people who have no clue what it really means. They bleat about "Big Brother" and an authoritarian government, even as they ironically vote for the politicians who support the very same things. Even though we won the war against fascism in Germany, it seems as if we brought that back with us like a parasite that would lay dormant for a few decades.
In a nutshell, fascism is basically an authoritarian government for corporations, by corporations. Extreme nationalism, the loss of individual liberties, and collectivism that benefits corporations rather than people. Basically, corporate protection and welfare. This is where the dollar is placed above the individual, where human beings are just cogs in the wheel. Have you ever heard your boss say "you're an asset to the company"? That's it, you are an asset just like the office printer - and just like that printer, you'll be thrown away once your usefulness has run its course.
© Unknown
File photo of an electronic breathalyzer
File photo of an electronic breathalyzer
KNXV-TV reports that 64-year-old Jessie Thornton - a native of Ohio - was recently pulled over by Surprise police after he recently left an LA Fitness gym. Thornton then says the officer accused him of driving drunk.
"He walked up and he said 'I can tell you're driving DUI by looking in your eyes,'" Thornton told KNXV.
Thornton was then given a sobriety test.
"I take my glasses off and he says, 'You've got bloodshot eyes.' I said, 'I've been swimming at LA Fitness,' and he says, 'I think you're DUI,'" said Thornton. "He goes, 'Well we're going to do a sobriety test.' I said, 'OK, but I got bad knees and a bad hip with surgery in two days.'"
© PA
Rise: Shocking figures have revealed that more than half a million people across Britain are now forced to use food banks
Rise: Shocking figures have revealed that more than half a million people across Britain are now forced to use food banks
Up to half of those seeking help were doing so as a direct result of having benefit payments delayed, reduced or withdrawn, a report by Church Action On Poverty and Oxfam said.
Other factors behind the increase on those using emergency help - the 'hidden hungry' - include rising food prices, unemployment and energy costs.
The charities accused the Government of failing to properly monitor the numbers now resorting to emergency help.
© Flickr.com/yanyanyanyanyan/cc-by-nc
The cost of living in Europe's biggest economy slumped to a two-and-a-half year low of 1.2 per cent in April.
The May rise was fueled by a 5.3-per-cent surge in food prices, which came after prolonged winter weather helped to drive up the cost of fruit and vegetables.
The cost of energy and services also accelerated in May, the statistics office said.
© pasadenaweekly.com
Mass surveillance is official US policy. It's not for national security. It's not about discovering terror or other threats. None whatever exist. Claiming otherwise doesn't wash. Big Lies substitute for vital truths.
What's ongoing reflects unchecked power. It's for unchallenged global dominance. It's secret with no oversight for good reason. It's unconstitutional. Societies governed this way are lawless. People living in them aren't free.
America never was a democracy. It wasn't created to be one. It's not one now. Freedom is verboten. It's vanishing in plain sight. Wealth, power and privilege alone matter. Police state terror targets non-believers.
Comment: Remember that these men have never been found guilty of any crime whatsoever, yet they have been imprisoned and tortured for years, against all international and human rights laws. This force feeding sounds like one more torture technique they suffer for no reason at all.