In the News is a free service of TheFreeDictionary.com http://www.thefreedictionary.com en-us Farlex, Inc. Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT 360 http://www.thefreedictionary.com http://img.tfd.com/modules/thm_news.png 120 60 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gptKcpErzW-FrR8Vu7iCG8zERKxAD9COL0H80 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gptKcpErzW-FrR8Vu7iCG8zERKxAD9COL0H80# According to a report released by the Pan American Development Foundation, at least 225,000 poor children in Haiti have been forced into slavery and work as unpaid household servants known as restavek. Most are sent by their parents, who cannot afford to care for them, to live with families who may be only slightly better off. In fact, 11 percent of families that have such a slave have sent their own children to be restaveks elsewhere. Some of these children, particularly young girls, suffer sexual, psychological, and physical abuse while living and working under incredibly difficult conditions. Discuss
]]> Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8426541.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8426541.stm# A Chinese villager named Kang Wannian has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for killing and eating what is believed to have been the last wild Indochinese tiger in China. With fewer than 2,000 left in the forests of Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma, the Indochinese tiger faces the very real possibility of extinction. Though Kang claims to have killed the animal in self-defense while gathering freshwater clams in a nature reserve, a local court sentenced him to 10 years for killing the rare animal as well as two years for the illegal possession of firearms. Four villagers who helped dismember and eat the tiger were also sentenced to several years in prison.
]]> Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gMi5B2USfJStXxfqgWWr2xjRYpOgD9COKAQ85 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gMi5B2USfJStXxfqgWWr2xjRYpOgD9COKAQ85# Just hours after a memorial service honoring Melquisedet Angulo, a Mexican marine killed in a raid that took out one of the country's most powerful drug lords, his mother, aunt, and siblings were brutally gunned down in their home. The attack is believed to have been motivated by the killing of Arturo Beltran Leyva, known as the "boss of bosses," and sends a strong message to those battling the cartels. This sort of intimidation tactic-the staging of retaliatory hits on military or law enforcement after arrests or killings-has been used before by Mexico's cartels. Since the Mexican government began its crackdown on organized crime in 2006, more than 15,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence.
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