Slave girl kept in cellar awarded $160,000 in UK court

LONDON: A deaf and mute girl smuggled to Britain and kept as a slave for almost a decade must be paid £1,00,000 ($1,60,000) by her captors, a court ruled on Wednesday.

Trafficked from Pakistan as a 10-year-old girl, the victim was repeatedly raped by Ilyas Ashar, 85, who along with his wife Tallat, 69, forced her to work as their servant.

She was discovered in the cellar of their five-bedroom house sleeping on a cot bed by investigators looking into allegations of money laundering.

Now in her 20s, she learned a form of sign language to testify at the trial last year.

"The money will in no way make up for what she went through over a number of years, but it will help her move on with her life and continue her inspiring recovery from these awful events," said Salford Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle.

"I believe today's outcome also gives hope to any victim of trafficking. It reminds us that there are people out there willing to bring people to this country purely to be exploited but, with the correct use of the law, the perpetrators can be brought fully to justice."

The court calculated the Ashars should pay the victim £101,300: what she would have been paid if she had earned the minimum wage working for the couple for 12 hours a day, every day since 2003 except for ten days off.

The two also must also pay back benefits to the state that they wrongfully claimed for the girl.

The victim, who cannot be named, could not read or write but was taught to write her name by the Ashars so that they could claim social benefits on her behalf.

Ilyas Ashar was earlier jailed for 15 years for rape, trafficking and benefit fraud, and his wife Tallat was jailed for five years for trafficking and benefit fraud.

Their daughter Faaiza Ashar, 46, was ordered to do community service after being convicted of benefit fraud.

At their earlier conviction, judge Peter Lakin said the Ashars had shown no remorse and were "deeply unpleasant, highly manipulative and dishonest people" who did not treat the girl as a human being. 

Australian naval base in lockdown, bomb squad called

SYDNEY: A naval base in the Australian state of Victoria is in lockdown and a resident of the base is in custody, with a police bomb squad heading to the scene to investigate unspecified "hazardous material", security officials said on Thursday.

An exclusion zone of 400 metres had been declared around a residential apartment at HMAS Cerberus, a naval training base on the Mornington Peninsula, 75 km (45 miles) southeast of Melbourne, Victorian police said.

Police took the security measures after a routine search of the apartment found a number of unspecified items on Thursday morning. A statement from the Australian Defence Force said "hazardous material" had been found, but gave no further details.

A bomb response unit and members from the arson and explosives squad were enroute, a Victorian police spokeswoman told Reuters.

The resident was understood to be in the custody of other naval officers, the spokeswoman added.
She declined to comment further on the items found in the apartment or the nature of the threat.

'Drunk' baby taken to hospital after breast feeding on drunk mom

BEIJING: A 3-month-old baby had to be rushed to a hospital and treated for "drunkenness" in Southwest China's Chongqing city. The child was brought to the hospital by its mother after she found his baby's face had turned red and hot, and she felt that he was developing high fever.

At the hospital, a doctor confirmed the baby had become drunk after feeding on breast milk. The baby's mother, Zhang Xin, had taken about half a liter of liquor at a party before nursing the hungry and crying baby, the China News Service said. The doctor said the baby must have been affected by the liquor consumed by the mother.

Breast feeding has proved controversial in certain Chinese provinces in recent months. Some businessmen in south China were reported to be paying high prices to drink milk directly from the breast of women who earned good income out of the venture.

Another controversy involved online sales of homemade "breast milk beauty soap" with sellers claiming that they were made from real breast milk taken from donors. Stalls on online Taobao website claimed the soap protects and whitens the skin of the users.

Some doctors reacted to the online advertising advising people not to trust the claims, and warning them that using such products might result in dangerous bacteria being transferred onto the skin of the users.

The public transport system in Jinhua city of Zhejiang province made news recently by creating a separate, curtained seat for breast feeding mothers. The Jinhua No.2 Public Bus Operation Company explained that women with babies will be given priority but the seat could be used by anyone if no breastfeeding mother was on the bus. 

Murky players emerge from within Hong Kong protest

HONG KONG: In the Hong Kong protests, not all is as it seems. From the shadows of the city's mass street protests, murky characters have emerged. Allegations have spread among protesters, the local media and online that triad gangsters, paid demonstrators, police pretending to be protest leaders, and even a stuntman feigning suicidal tendencies have arrayed themselves against the students and the Occupy Central movement.

Part of this is to do with rumors flying around in a continually changing situation, with no time for people to verify what they read or hear. But with the Chinese Communist Party in the background after taking control from Britain in 1997, Hong Kong citizens are ever ready to believe such claims of duplicity. 

Michael DeGolyer, a political economist at Hong Kong Baptist University, said there is a "wedge of distrust" within Hong Kong society because there is a coyness about who belongs to the Communist Party _ which does not officially exist as a party within the political system here _ while another section of society suspects there are foreign interests giving directions within this former colony. 

"There are rich grounds for suspicion from both the pro-democracy groups, or you might say the pro-American or pro-British groups, and the pro-government, or you might say the pro-Beijing groups, that they are not being honest about really who is encouraging them or giving them money or directing them," DeGolyer said. "This is not a society that is characterized by a huge degree of trust." 

This atmosphere of distrust has come to the fore during days of protests by students and Occupy Central, an alliance of pro-democracy activists, who are calling for genuine democratic reforms in this semiautonomous region. When police fired tear gas and pepper spray on protesters on Sept. 28, it caused an upsurge in support and brought tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents onto the streets. 

On Sunday afternoon, a man who wanted the protests to end climbed up to the top of a pedestrian walkway over a key road that has been at their epicenter and looked as if he might jump if student leaders didn't meet with him. He used a megaphone to berate protesters for stopping him from getting to work and his three children from going to school, and later brandished a box cutter. 

While he was still up there, rumors circled on social media and the pro-democracy Apple Daily reported that he was in fact a stuntman who had been hired to disrupt the protests. What purported to be his photo in the stuntman's register was circulated. 

But the Hong Kong Stuntman's Association denied on Tuesday that the stuntman, identified as Leung Siu Hung, was the man in question. 

"It doesn't look anything like him. He's much fitter," spokeswoman Rita Yeung said by phone. 

Police and fire crews had rushed to lay out two large inflatable cushions beneath him and some protesters tried to debate with him. No leaders came to meet with him and he eventually stepped down nearly five hours later. 

Later Sunday, amid division among protesters after Occupy Central had announced it was withdrawing from some areas, local television broadcasts showed Joe Yeung, identified as a protester, shaking hands with a police official and saying protesters would remove barriers from outside the office of the chief executive, Hong Kong's leader. Later on, internet users found out that Yeung was an auxiliary police officer and accused him of being part of a ruse. 

Yeung told The Associated Press by phone that he was both a part-time police officer and an Occupy Central supporter, and since Sunday's incident had handed in his resignation. He said he had made up his mind to resign from the police when he saw officers using pepper spray on the students the week before. 

Kevin Tam, a psychologist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said people's trust in the traditional media had faded during the protests because "fact-checkers" on social media had alleged inaccuracies in their reports, and there was more information available on social media than in the traditional media, including videos. 

This "reinforces some preexisting concerns ... of the tight control of the government on information and that of course violates the core values of Hong Kong, we are used to have transparency, information can flow very freely," Tam said. "The concern has been there for a while because of course people understand what happens in mainland China." 

On the mainland, authorities can largely control the narrative on any outbreaks of unrest. 

After clashes broke out Friday when an angry mob tried to force pro-democracy activists from the streets they were occupying in the Mong Kok area, Hong Kong police and its security chief were forced to deny that they had any connection to criminal gangs suspected of inciting attacks on peaceful demonstrators. Online accounts and videos accused the police of standing by while protesters were beaten. 

"They can't drive us away with tear gas so they are trying to do it with gangsters," said protester Johnny Hui, 31, summing up a widespread belief among protesters that the Hong Kong government and police were colluding with triads. 

Photos circulated on social media of a call to "Blue Ribbon action" _ in reference to the blue ribbons some pro-government supporters wear _ and a price list for causing a disturbance. The maximum payment was HK$1,000 (US$103). The claims could not be independently confirmed, and calls to a telephone number said to be where one could claim a reward did not connect. 

On Saturday, the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily declared in a headline that "the police and triads join hands to clear the protests." 

At least eight of 19 people arrested were believed to have backgrounds linked to triads, or organized crime, police said. 

Tam, the psychologist, said unverified information had spread virally partly as a way for the public to express its anxiety amid a lot of uncertainty and powerlessness. 

People were also clinging to information that reinforced their existing beliefs and finding it hard to be objective and entertain other viewpoints, Tam said. "I think that is why there is a trend now on Facebook of defriending," he said. "That has not happened before." 

Saudi sentences iconic Shia cleric to death

DUBAI: A well-known Shia cleric was sentenced to death Wednesday by a court in Saudi Arabia, sparking fears of renewed unrest from his supporters in the kingdom and neighboring Bahrain. 

Sheik Nimr al-Nimr's case has been watched closely by minority Saudi Shiites in the eastern region of the majority Sunni kingdom. The 54-year-old cleric's case was seen as a barometer for Saudi Arabia's handling of Shia grievances over the past years. 

His brother, Mohammed al-Nimr, announced the verdict on Twitter. He had told The Associated Press earlier Wednesday that he would be in the courtroom for the verdict. He could not be immediately reached again for comment. 

The cleric had faced charges that also include disobeying the ruler, firing on security forces, sowing discord, undermining national unity and interfering in the affairs of a sisterly nation. A statement by the cleric's family described the verdict as discretionary, suggesting that what the court found al-Nimr guilty of could have been eligible for a lighter sentence. 

The family said the verdict sets a "dangerous precedent for decades to come.'' 

Prosecutors asked for execution followed by crucifixion. In Saudi Arabia, most death sentences are carried out by beheading. Crucifixion in this context means the body and head would then be put on display as a warning to others. 

Al-Nimr had not denied the political charges against him, but denied ever carrying weapons or calling for violence. He can appeal the sentence. 

Public figure and renowned activist Jaafar al-Shayeb in eastern Saudi Arabia said the verdict appears to have been handed down for "sedition'' and "incitement'' of Shia protests in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. 

"There's a big chance there will be a reaction,'' al-Shayeb said. "There could be protests, marches, statements of condemnation. ... The situation is tense.'' 

Bahraini authorities on Wednesday painted over pictures of al-Nimr that had been plastered on walls by Shia supporters there. 

Al-Nimr was a key leader of Shia protests demanding equal rights in 2011. Protests are banned in Saudi Arabia, where many ultraconservatives view Shiites as heretics. 

He also openly criticized the Sunni government of Bahrain's handling of Shia protests there. Saudi Arabia sent troops to help Bahrain's Sunni monarchy quell its Shia uprising in the tiny island nation. 

Al-Nimr was arrested in July 2012 when he was shot by security forces in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. Four security officers said he had weapons and fired on them first, prosecutors said. 

Defense lawyers did not cross-examine security forces because they were not at the hearing they testified in. The lawyers said they were not told of the hearing. 

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 1,040 people were detained in Shia protests between February 2011 and August 2014. There are at least 280 still imprisoned. 

"I think the message that Saudis are saying is — "We will arrest anybody. We don't care how high profile they are. ... nobody is above this. We don't have any tolerance. We don't have any flexibility,'' Human Rights Watch Middle East researcher Adam Coogle said. 

Coogle said fears about Iran, the Middle East's dominant Shia power, also played into the trial. He said that Saudi authorities view what happened in Bahrain and the Eastern Province of the kingdom as "meddling'' by Iran. 

"Talking up the Iranian threat is also an excuse to perpetuate systematic discrimination against Shia citizens,'' he said. 

8 killed, 12 hurt in China land dispute

BEIJING: China saw one of the bloodiest clashes over land dispute that left eight people dead and 12 injured in a suburb of the southwestern city of Kunming on Tuesday. Reports from the Jinning suburb said armed men in black uniforms attacked villagers some people to evict them from their lands. 

Chinese official media said the clashes involved over 3,000 people, which included 1,000 odd attackers and 2,000 local residents angry after two of them were killed. Postings on Chinese social media sites indicate people in a villagers captured and burnt alive some of the attackers. Chinese social media site, Weibo, carried pictures showing burnt bodies of several men in blue uniforms with their hands and legs bound. The photos showed some were carrying shields with the word "police" on them. A portable tear gas launcher was also visible. But the authenticity of the pictures could not be independently verified.The county government said issued a statement saying it was a clash between construction workers and residents, but The conflict broke out in Fuyou village, where a trading and logistics centre is being built, it said. The dead included six workers and two villagers. 

But villagers said it was conducted by hired thugs sent by a land developer trying to evict them of their lands. The attackers came in black uniform bearing shields bearing police symbols. They also used knives, steel pipes and tear gas. 

One report cited a resident surnamed Gao, who said over 2,000 local residents bandied together to capture and kill some of the attackers after two of the villagers lost their lives. Another report said villagers fought back by settling a supply of gas on fire but did not explain how it worked. 

The Jinning county government said the police reached the village immediately after receiving reports about the violence and helped the injured

.

Freak Nepal blizzards kill at least 29, including hikers, guides

KATHMANDU: At least 29 people, including eight foreign hikers and a group of yak herders, were killed in Nepal by unseasonal blizzards and avalanches triggered by the tail of cyclone Hudhud, officials said on Wednesday. 

Rescue officials said the death toll could rise as dozens of other foreigners and locals who had been trekking were out of contact due to poor communication links and could have been caught in blizzards. 

Two climbers from Slovakia and three Nepalese guides were also reported missing. 

The hikers' deaths come during the peak trekking season in Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountain peaks, including Mount Everest. 

For the past two days, Nepal has been lashed by heavy rains brought on by the cyclone that has battered neighbouring India. The weather triggered blizzards at high altitudes. 

The bodies of a Nepali citizen, two Polish nationals and an Israeli hiker were found along a popular trekking route in the Thorang-La area near Annapurna, the world's 10th highest mountain, said Baburam Bhandari, governor of the district of Mustang, where the incident took place. 

Bhandari said the group perished in a blizzard. 

"We have rescued five German, five Polish and four Israeli trekkers who were trapped in the snowfall early on Wednesday," Bhandari told Reuters by telephone, without giving details. One German tourist fractured his leg, he said. 

Police said eight Nepalis had died in Mustang, an apple growing area bordering Tibet, which is about 150 km (93 miles) northwest of the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, and is popular among foreign hikers. 

Separately, in the neighbouring district of Manang, four Canadian hikers and an Indian national were killed in an avalanche, the district's most senior bureaucrat, Devendra Lamichhane, told Reuters. 

"The pilot of a rescue helicopter spotted the bodies in snow," Lamichhane said. "But it is not possible to retrieve their bodies because it is snowing heavily in the area now." 

Three yak herders were killed after being swept away by a separate avalanche at Nar village in Manang, officials said. 

Search called off

Two climbers from Slovakia and three Nepalese guides were also missing as night fell after an avalanche near the base camp of Dhaulagiri late on Tuesday, tourism department officials said. Dhaulagiri is the world's eighth-highest peak, at 8,167 metres (26,795 feet). 

Army helicopters took 14 injured survivors to local hospitals. Some of the survivors were flown to Kathmandu. 

"We have called off the rescue operation today due to heavy snowfall and darkness," army official Niranjan Shrestha said. "Rescue and search will continue early on Thursday." 

Local television showed soldiers carrying stretchers bearing the bodies of dead hikers to and from rescue helicopters in Mustang. 

Nepal's tourism industry is still recovering from the aftershocks of an ice avalanche that struck the lower reaches of Mount Everest in April, killing 16 sherpa guides in the worst disaster in the history of the world's highest peak. 

More than a tenth of the nearly 800,000 tourists who visited Nepal in 2013 went hiking or mountain climbing, providing a key revenue stream for the aid-dependent nation, which relies on income from tourism for 4 percent of its gross domestic product. 

The Annapurna Circuit, a trekking trail that goes around Mount Annapurna and was battered by the blizzards, is one of the most popular hiking routes in Nepal although the avalanche on Everest in April has deterred many climbers.