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US, five Asian nations announce climate change partnership

Posted on October 25, 2017October 25, 2017 by

Thursday, July 28, 2005

The United States, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Australia have formed a partnership aiming to cut the emissions of gasses that lead to global warming. The deal was signed after nearly a year of secret negotiations. The “Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate” deal does not – as yet – contain targets for reducing emissions.

Environmental groups have condemned the deal, claiming that, as it is not legally binding, it is no substitute for the Kyoto Protocol, which the US and Australia refuse to sign. China and India – along with some 140 other countries – have already ratified the Kyoto agreement, but did not have to set a target for reducing gas emissions due to their status as developing countries. The Kyoto Protocol has the firm target of reducing emissions by 5.2% on 1990 levels before 2010.

Answering critics, the Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said, “We are not trying to detract from Kyoto and the commitments that a number of countries have made under the Kyoto Protocol. This partnership will complement and not replace the Kyoto Protocol.”

The Australian Prime Minister John Howard also said that his country should not pursue renewable technologies, but should instead concentrate in reducing emissions from the use of coal. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal, and Howard said that “Australia [should not be] unreasonably penalising herself by saying, in effect, we’re going to try to move away from the use of fuels in which Australia has a natural advantage.”

However part of the deal includes setting up a fund to further research cleaner energy technologies, including more efficient use of fossil fuels as well as renewable technologies, and also methods of trapping and storing greenhouse gasses rather than releasing them to the atmosphere. It is hoped that this will aid China, India and other developing countries to adopt cleaner energy solutions.

The details will be worked out at a meeting between the six countries in November, shortly before the next UN summit on climate change.

The countries believe the deal is fairer and more effective than the Kyoto Protocol. However, a Greenpeace spokesperson said, “The suggested scheme is, unlike Kyoto, a voluntary scheme, and all evidence shows that voluntary schemes do not work. Skulking around making secretive, selective deals will not accomplish a reduction in emissions .”

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that global temperatures could rise by 1.4C to as much as 5.8C by 2100. The US and China are the two biggest producers of carbon dioxide (a major greenhouse gas) in the world.

Interview with Reggie Bibbs on his life with neurofibromatosis

Posted on October 25, 2017October 25, 2017 by

Friday, December 14, 2007

Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a genetic condition causing benign tumors (neurofibromas) to grow along certain types of nerves and, in addition, it can affect the development of bones or skin. There are several variants of the disease but type 1 and type 2 NF account for the vast majority of cases.

The disease manifestations can vary from very mild to severe. Major symptoms include growths on and under the skin; skin pigmentations called café au lait spots in type 1; acoustic nerve tumors and consequent hearing loss in type 2. Growths can affect nearly all parts of the body, and pressure on nearby structures can cause a wide variety of complications. There is a small risk that the tumors transform into malignant cancerous lesions.

NF is one of the most common single-gene human diseases; around 1 in 2,500-4,000 live births are affected by NF-1, whereas NF-2 occurs in about 1 in 50,000-120,000. Both type 1 and 2 are autosomal dominant conditions, meaning that only one copy of the mutated gene need be inherited to pass the disorder. A child of a parent with neurofibromatosis and an unaffected parent will have a 50% chance of inheriting the disorder. The gene responsible for NF-1 and possibly NF-2 is thought to function as a tumor suppressor gene.

In most cases of neurofibromatosis 1, patients can live normal and productive lives. In about 25-40% of patients there is an associated learning disability with or without ADHD. In some cases of neurofibromatosis 2, the damage to nearby vital structures, such as the cranial nerves and the brainstem, can be life-threatening. When tumors are causing pain or disfiguration, surgery is thus far the only proven beneficial treatment option.

Reggie Bibbs is a 43-year-old-man living in Houston, Texas. Mr Bibbs was born with a genetic disease called neurofibromatosis (NF), which causes him to develop tumors on his body (see infobox on the right). NF can be a subtle disease, but in Bibbs’ case it has left him with a disfigured face and deformed leg. But he is happy with the way he looks, and doesn’t want to change his appearance to please other people. He has launched a successful campaign entitled “Just Ask”, and that’s just what Wikinews did in a video-interview.

The interview was prepared by Wikinews reporter Michaël Laurent with the help of Bertalan Meskó (who has a popular genetics and web 2.0 blog). Their questions were sent to a close friend of Mr. Bibbs, Lou Congelio, who kindly conducted the interview.

1 Infobox: What is neurofibromatosis?
2 The interview
- 2.1 On neurofibromatosis
- 2.2 Growing up
- 2.3 A head to toe body tour
- 2.4 The daily life of Reggie Bibbs
- 2.5 Raising awareness and his campaign
3 Sources
4 External links

This exclusive interview features first-hand journalism by a Wikinews reporter. See the collaboration page for more details.

US Congresswoman Jackie Speier comments about Obamacare, Paralympics

Posted on October 25, 2017October 25, 2017 by

Saturday, November 9, 2013

With the 2014 Winter Paralympics set for March, Wikinews sought comment from U.S. Representative Jackie Speier, who serves California’s 14th congressional district about the event and how current U.S. policies impact people with disabilities. Elected to the U.S. House in 2008, she serves on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the House Armed Services Committee. For the first time ever, the Paralympics will be broadcast live in the U.S. on network television.

((Wikinews)) : Will “Obamacare” have a positive or negative impact on the lives of people with disabilities?

Jackie Speier: By-and-large the Affordable Care Act will have a significant and lasting beneficial impact on persons with disabilities […] Most importantly, pre-existing conditions will no longer prevent persons with disabilities from obtaining health insurance. Lifetime limits on medical expenses will be removed and preventive services will be free. All of these provisions of the law create health insurance that is highly supportive of good health outcomes for everyone, but in particular for those who have a disability.

((WN)) : Are there any Paralympic athletes or elite athletes with disabilities from your district that people should know more about?

Jackie Speier: There are currently two Paralympic athletes who train or live in my district that people will definitely hear more about in the coming years. One is a young woman named Allie Hyatt who trains in Judo with Willy Cahill, [whom] I have also trained with. Allie, who is visually impaired and just 15, has already won numerous awards and will participate in the Youth Olympic Games next year. She is sure to be a force in the Judo world for many, many years. Hyatt lives in San Francisco and Cahill is the founder and CEO of the Blind Judo Foundation.

Another great athlete is Mohamend Lahna who is training for the Rio Olympics in 2016 for the paratriathlon,” Speier continued. “He is from Morocco originally but lives now in San Mateo and trains daily at the College of San Mateo. He runs marathons with a prosthetic leg and has his sights set on winning several medals atworld and Olympic events in the future. Lahna has proximal femoral focal deficiency (PFFD), a birth defect that affects the hip and pelvis. He is married and has a 1-year-old child.

Wikinews also sought comment from other members of Congress, including John K. Delaney, Mike Honda, Kyrsten Sinema, Eric Swalwell, Raúl M. Grijalva and Ann Kirkpatrick but at publication time, had received no response.

McCain ad questions Obama’s benefit to families

Posted on October 24, 2017October 24, 2017 by

Thursday, August 7, 2008

The latest advertisement for United States Republican presidential candidate John McCain is questioning Democrat Barack Obama’s benefit to families.

Last week the BBC reported that the McCain campaign had released an advertisement comparing Obama to American celebrities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, calling him “the biggest celebrity in the world.”

McCain’s newest advertisement, released early this week, continues along those same lines.

“Is the biggest celebrity in the world ready to help your family?” the narrator asks, according to The Boston Globe and a video of the ad displayed on its website. “The real Obama promises higher taxes, more government spending. So, fewer jobs.” With images of wind turbines in the background, the narrator says, “Renewable energy to transform our economy, create jobs and energy independence, that’s John McCain.”

The Boston Globe reports that McCain’s latest ad does not acknowledge that Obama’s economic policy, especially the proposed rollback of current president George W. Bush’s capital gains tax cuts, would largely affect the wealthiest of America, not the middle class.

Obama, the BBC reports, is quoted as calling McCain “cynical,” “desperate” and “in the pocket of Big Oil.”

The latest Obama video, shown on the USA Today website, touts McCain as “just more of the same” politics employed by George W. Bush. The ad cites a May 22, 2003 Fox News Channel interview where McCain says “the President and I agree on most issues. There was a recent study that showed I voted with the President over 90 percent of the time.” The ad then criticizes McCain’s policies on tax cuts, money for oil companies, and “tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.”

USA Today does note that “[w]hile the ad shows McCain touting the fact that he had voted “with” President Bush more than 90% of the time, the Arizona senator did criticize the administration’s conduct of the war in Iraq — calling early on for more troops to be sent there. He also voted against the president’s original tax cut plan — though McCain now says he supports extending those tax cuts. And, he proposes cuts in all kinds of corporate taxes, not just those on oil companies.”

McCain is set to appear at an Ohio furniture plant Wednesday to reinforce the messages in his latest advertisement.

“America has the second highest business tax rate in the entire world,” he plans to say, according to prepared remarks issued by his campaign, and released by The Boston Globe. “Is it any wonder that jobs are moving overseas when we are taxing them out of the country? Unfortunately Senator Obama’s plans would raise taxes on businesses even more. He has promised tax increases on income, tax increases on investment, tax increases on small businesses. This is exactly the wrong strategy. Raising taxes in a bad economy is about the worst thing you could do because it will kill even more jobs when what we need are policies that create jobs.”

Obama spokesman Bill Burton responded:

“Is the biggest proponent of George Bush’s tired, failed policies ready to bring about change? Another day brings another dishonest attack from John McCain. While Senator McCain knows that Senator Obama has proposed cutting taxes for 95% of American families, what he’s not telling us is that he wants to give $4 billion in tax breaks to the oil companies, continue giving tax breaks to corporations that ship our job overseas, and provide no direct tax relief for more than 100 million middle-class families. It’s time to retire these old policies and bring new energy to America.”

Britons seized from finance ministry in Iraq

Posted on October 24, 2017October 24, 2017 by

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Five British citizens have been seized in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The group, comprising a finance expert and four bodyguards, were captured from the finance ministry by kidnappers wearing police uniforms and driving police vehicles. The BBC is reporting that over 40 police vehicles were involved in the incident.

In separate incidents, at least 22 people were killed and 55 injured in a bus explosion elsewhere in the city, and at least 15 people were killed in a car bomb which injured a further 36, possibly more.

It is believed the four bodyguards are employed by Canadian GardaWord, a subsidiary of Garda.

Comapare Hyundai Santro With Hyundai I10

Posted on October 23, 2017June 21, 2018 by

Comapare Hyundai Santro with Hyundai i10

Amit K.

Outer Specifications:

Hyundai Santro Xing has an extremely sober look. In front, it has huge head lamps, entire body shade grille segment with company emblem. Adjustable ORVM s & door handles are black in coloration. For the back again, it features a designer boot lid & tail lamps with rear human body color bumper. It has wide rear filter but with no wiper. The car or truck with seating capacity for 5 has length a of 3565mm, width of 1525mm & height of 1590mm with wheelbase of 2380mm.

Within the other hand Hyundai i10 has good clear headlamps, stretching in the direction of rear. Chrome grille adds to its appears. Rear portion with the vehicle cannot be compared with that of Santro. the usage of black colour, at some spots, helps make it search good. Overall, it features a recent search. It has new bumper, triangular fog lamps, ORVMs with turn indicators like other luxury vehicles. It also includes little antenna & invert parking sensors.

Engine, Performance, Capacity, Mechanical Components:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gHbm9LYj1g[/youtube]

Santro Xing has 1.1Lt SOHC valve know-how based mostly, 4 cylinder, 1086cc, petrol engine, with 5-velocity manual transmission making ability of 63Ps@5000rpm & torque of 96Nm@3000rpm. Credited to the usage of highly developed know-how it gives mileage of 13km/l in city & 17km/l on highways. Readily available in LPG variants, it delivers pretty much same fuel efficiency.

i10 has 2 distinct engines & so the mileage can also be diverse. Its 2 variants (D-lite & Era) have 1.1L, 1086cc, IRDE petrol engine, supplying high performance & efficiency. Its mileage ranges from 14km/l to 19.8kmpl. The opposite variants have 1.2L, 1197 Kappa petrol engine with 5 velocity manual transmission. The mileage in such a scenario ranges from 15.4km/l to 19.2kmpl. Some of its variants even have automated transmission gearbox, with all the similar engine, delivering mileage 15.4km/l to 20.3kmpl.

Interiors & Characteristics:

Discussing Hyundai Santro interiors, the instrument panel resides 3 dials in it, getting purple needles, speedometer is from the center, with fuel meter & tachometer at its either sides. It’s somewhat difficult to examine the meters because of their hues. It also has AC vents, audio process with USB slot, 3 spoke electrical power steering in black, beige-brown upholstery, head restraints, ash tray, rear parcel tray, driver part pocket & cup holders. Aided by the seating capacity for 5 men and women, in 2 rows, with headrests, it provides adequate house for leg, shoulder & headroom. It has strength windows on the entrance part, but not at the back again aspect, with facility to open the tail gate & petrol just by pushing a switch.

In i10, the top is the area of gear lever, around the centre console. The 3 spoke steering wheel has audio handle on it & other folks capabilities like blue-tooth thrust button, USB port, electronic fuel mete, MP3/CD player, AC. The seats are placed in this kind of a manner that enough house is there for storage & cup holders. Equipped with warning lgts for a variety of capabilities like seatbelt, oil levels, battery, power steering etcetera are there to indicate when there’s anything fishy, digital ORVM s. It also has adjustable driver seat.

Safety:

Hyundai Santro has wonderful braking & suspension technique, committed to give smooth, comfortable & joy total driving expertise. It has ventilated disc brake in front & drum brake at the spine. Speaking regarding the dealing with, it features a strength steering that is incredibly smooth to utilize with a soft gear knob. Other safety attributes are immobilizer, automated locking door, central locking, seat belts on both equally sides, impact beams on sides, youngster safety door locks.

Hyundai i10 has suspension customized for Indiana roads. The combination of disc/drum brakes brings the automobile from 100km/h to 0 in just 4.1 seconds, covering 56 meters. Even shifting at higher speeds the car or truck will not encounter the vibration, lack of energy. It has entrance disc brakes & rear dumb brakes with ABS. The other safety functions are Dual entrance airbags, seat Belts with warning lamp, door open warning lamp, fog lamps, tubeless Tyres, engine Immobilizer, little one locks with central locking.

Price:

Hyundai Santro has put a price tag, ranging from 2,80,897 to 3,92,538 INR although i10 will come in the assortment among 3,54, 972 – 5,99,455 INR.

If you need more information about NewHyundai Santro and New i10 Price in India find the same at AutoNagar.com.

Article Source:

Comapare Hyundai Santro with Hyundai i10

Ontario Votes 2007: Interview with Green candidate Russ Aegard, Thunder Bay-Atikokan

Posted on October 23, 2017October 23, 2017 by

Monday, September 24, 2007

Russ Aegard is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Thunder Bay-Atikokan riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Cleveland, Ohio clinic performs US’s first face transplant

Posted on October 23, 2017October 23, 2017 by

Thursday, December 18, 2008

A team of eight transplant surgeons in Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, USA, led by reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow, age 58, have successfully performed the first almost total face transplant in the US, and the fourth globally, on a woman so horribly disfigured due to trauma, that cost her an eye. Two weeks ago Dr. Siemionow, in a 23-hour marathon surgery, replaced 80 percent of her face, by transplanting or grafting bone, nerve, blood vessels, muscles and skin harvested from a female donor’s cadaver.

The Clinic surgeons, in Wednesday’s news conference, described the details of the transplant but upon request, the team did not publish her name, age and cause of injury nor the donor’s identity. The patient’s family desired the reason for her transplant to remain confidential. The Los Angeles Times reported that the patient “had no upper jaw, nose, cheeks or lower eyelids and was unable to eat, talk, smile, smell or breathe on her own.” The clinic’s dermatology and plastic surgery chair, Francis Papay, described the nine hours phase of the procedure: “We transferred the skin, all the facial muscles in the upper face and mid-face, the upper lip, all of the nose, most of the sinuses around the nose, the upper jaw including the teeth, the facial nerve.” Thereafter, another team spent three hours sewing the woman’s blood vessels to that of the donor’s face to restore blood circulation, making the graft a success.

The New York Times reported that “three partial face transplants have been performed since 2005, two in France and one in China, all using facial tissue from a dead donor with permission from their families.” “Only the forehead, upper eyelids, lower lip, lower teeth and jaw are hers, the rest of her face comes from a cadaver; she could not eat on her own or breathe without a hole in her windpipe. About 77 square inches of tissue were transplanted from the donor,” it further described the details of the medical marvel. The patient, however, must take lifetime immunosuppressive drugs, also called antirejection drugs, which do not guarantee success. The transplant team said that in case of failure, it would replace the part with a skin graft taken from her own body.

Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, a Brigham and Women’s Hospital surgeon praised the recent medical development. “There are patients who can benefit tremendously from this. It’s great that it happened,” he said.

Leading bioethicist Arthur Caplan of the University of Pennsylvania withheld judgment on the Cleveland transplant amid grave concerns on the post-operation results. “The biggest ethical problem is dealing with failure — if your face rejects. It would be a living hell. If your face is falling off and you can’t eat and you can’t breathe and you’re suffering in a terrible manner that can’t be reversed, you need to put on the table assistance in dying. There are patients who can benefit tremendously from this. It’s great that it happened,” he said.

Dr Alex Clarke, of the Royal Free Hospital had praised the Clinic for its contribution to medicine. “It is a real step forward for people who have severe disfigurement and this operation has been done by a team who have really prepared and worked towards this for a number of years. These transplants have proven that the technical difficulties can be overcome and psychologically the patients are doing well. They have all have reacted positively and have begun to do things they were not able to before. All the things people thought were barriers to this kind of operations have been overcome,” she said.

The first partial face transplant surgery on a living human was performed on Isabelle Dinoire on November 27 2005, when she was 38, by Professor Bernard Devauchelle, assisted by Professor Jean-Michel Dubernard in Amiens, France. Her Labrador dog mauled her in May 2005. A triangle of face tissue including the nose and mouth was taken from a brain-dead female donor and grafted onto the patient. Scientists elsewhere have performed scalp and ear transplants. However, the claim is the first for a mouth and nose transplant. Experts say the mouth and nose are the most difficult parts of the face to transplant.

In 2004, the same Cleveland Clinic, became the first institution to approve this surgery and test it on cadavers. In October 2006, surgeon Peter Butler at London‘s Royal Free Hospital in the UK was given permission by the NHS ethics board to carry out a full face transplant. His team will select four adult patients (children cannot be selected due to concerns over consent), with operations being carried out at six month intervals. In March 2008, the treatment of 30-year-old neurofibromatosis victim Pascal Coler of France ended after having received what his doctors call the worlds first successful full face transplant.

Ethical concerns, psychological impact, problems relating to immunosuppression and consequences of technical failure have prevented teams from performing face transplant operations in the past, even though it has been technically possible to carry out such procedures for years.

Mr Iain Hutchison, of Barts and the London Hospital, warned of several problems with face transplants, such as blood vessels in the donated tissue clotting and immunosuppressants failing or increasing the patient’s risk of cancer. He also pointed out ethical issues with the fact that the procedure requires a “beating heart donor”. The transplant is carried out while the donor is brain dead, but still alive by use of a ventilator.

According to Stephen Wigmore, chair of British Transplantation Society’s ethics committee, it is unknown to what extent facial expressions will function in the long term. He said that it is not certain whether a patient could be left worse off in the case of a face transplant failing.

Mr Michael Earley, a member of the Royal College of Surgeon‘s facial transplantation working party, commented that if successful, the transplant would be “a major breakthrough in facial reconstruction” and “a major step forward for the facially disfigured.”

In Wednesday’s conference, Siemionow said “we know that there are so many patients there in their homes where they are hiding from society because they are afraid to walk to the grocery stores, they are afraid to go the the street.” “Our patient was called names and was humiliated. We very much hope that for this very special group of patients there is a hope that someday they will be able to go comfortably from their houses and enjoy the things we take for granted,” she added.

In response to the medical breakthrough, a British medical group led by Royal Free Hospital’s lead surgeon Dr Peter Butler, said they will finish the world’s first full face transplant within a year. “We hope to make an announcement about a full-face operation in the next 12 months. This latest operation shows how facial transplantation can help a particular group of the most severely facially injured people. These are people who would otherwise live a terrible twilight life, shut away from public gaze,” he said.

Controversy over Liverpool fan jailed in Bulgaria

Posted on October 23, 2017October 23, 2017 by

Friday, July 29, 2005

Michael Shields, an 18-year old Liverpool Football Club supporter, has been jailed for the attempted murder of a Bulgarian barman, despite another man from Liverpool admitting full responsibility.

Shields, 18 from Wavertree was charged with the attempted murder of Martin Georgiev, 25, after being accused of throwing a brick at the barman’s head in the city of Varna, where he was celebrating Liverpool football club’s win over AC Milan in the final of the Champions League in Istanbul in May.

Before being charged, a 20 year old man from Anfield came forward and claimed responsibility for the attack – Graham Sankey, made a statement through his lawyer David Kirwan.

Mr Kirwan said: “Graham believed the case against Michael would either be thrown or adjourned after he came forward to make his confession.” Despite the confession, Shields was convicted of attempted murder.

Shields’ uncle, Joey Graney, was in court when the sentence was passed and said: “Michael was sobbing. He’s an 18-year-old lad, quiet as a mouse, on his own, going back to a Bulgarian jail. What’s he going to do? As far as the Bulgarians were concerned, a local lad had been attacked and they wanted their scapegoat. They did not care that Graham Sankey has confessed to carrying out the attack. They just tossed that aside.”

The family have said they will do everything in their power to clear Michael’s name. Meanwhile, Liverpool Riverside MP Louise Ellman, has backed the family’s campaign calling the incident a “travesty of justice”.

“Graham Sankey has admitted he was guilty of the crime that Michael Shields is now convicted of, but he did so in a way that was inadmissible to the Bulgarian court,” added Mrs Ellman, who is planning to speak to his defence team.

A British Foreign Office spokesman said it could not comment on the verdict but said it would continue offering consular help to Michael Shields.

Bulgarian government officials have since agreed to begin the process of releasing Michael Shields, in exchange for the arrest of Graham Sankey.

The development came after long-time justice campaigner Stephen Jakobi held closed talks with Bulgarian ambassador Lachezar Matev at the Bulgarian Embassy in London.

Mr. Jakobi announced that Michael could be free in the next “few months”.

“It’s been a good day and we have achieved an important breakthrough.

“We have got an agreement with the Bulgarian government that they are going to take up our proposed course of action – that is issuing an arrest warrant for Graham Sankey.

“The government is independent of the judiciary in that country but they can hold talks with them to get the ball rolling as soon as possible.

“The arrest warrant will means the extradition process will begin.”

Home Secretary Jack Straw has also agreed to meet with Shield’s family to discuss the situation with them.

New York couple keeps Indonesian women as slaves

Posted on October 23, 2017October 23, 2017 by

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

In Long Island, New York, a millionaire couple has been arrested after keeping two Indonesian women as slaves for at least five years.

According to federal prosecutors, the two women were beaten and tortured by Nassau County couple Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, and her husband Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, and were kept from leaving the house unless it was to take out the trash. Both women are legal immigrants who migrated to the United States back in 2002. Since receiving the jobs, both women had their passports taken away from them by the Sabhnanis.

“No one would ever think that human beings were being brought into the United States and held for slave labor, and beaten, and tortured in a beautiful mansion right here in one of the most exclusive neighbourhoods on Long Island,” said Demetri Jones, a prosecutor in the case.

Authorities say that the women had scalding hot water poured on them, were forced to take as many as 30 showers in a three hour period, were made to run up and down flights of stairs, and one of the women was forced to eat “25 extremely hot chilli peppers.” All the “punishments” were in response to not completing work properly. The women also said that they had to hide food from “their captors” because the Sabhnani’s did not feed them enough.

Police were alerted to the situation when they found one of the women walking around the city wearing only a towel and a pair of pants.

Both women were promised by the couple to receive at least USD$100 to USD$200 for their work, but according to prosecutors, the couple paid only USD$100 a month, which was sent to one of the women’s daughters who lives in Indonesia.

The women are only identified as Samirah and Nona.

The couple will face charges of keeping people against their will. They are reported to be running a perfume business from their Long Island home.

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