Thursday, April 15, 2010

Police beating of university student John McKenna shocks the US

AU.News.AU 15/04/2010

Ckick here for VIDEO fotage: Sports fan bashed by cops

FOOTAGE of police brutalising an innocent sports fan in Maryland and rendering him unconscious has shocked America today.

In scenes captured by CCTV cameras, University of Maryland student John McKenna is seen skipping down the street celebrating after watching his university basketball team defeat Duke.

Within seconds he is approached by police on horseback who stand over him before other cops in riot gear swoop and begin beating him with batons, The Sun reports.

Police reports allege it was Mr McKenna who had first been assaulting the cops and their horses causing "minor injuries" as they responded to reports of trouble after the game.

But he never strikes out on the footage - and even tries to back away when confronted.

The FBI are now investigating the incident which left the 21-year-old needing eight staples to repair a gaping wound in his head.

He was also allegedly told by officers in Maryland not to make a fuss about his injuries because they would have to fill out more paper work.

Microsoft accused of 52c-an-hour 'slaves'


MICROSOFT said it had opened an investigation following a report of harsh working conditions at a factory in China that makes products for the US software giant.

The Pittsburgh-based National Labor Committee, in a report released Tuesday, denounced conditions at a KYE Systems factory in the city of Dongguan in Guangdong province.

The NLC, a private group with a stated mission to "help defend the human rights of workers in the global economy," said KYE recruits hundreds of "work study students" aged 16 and 17 years old who work 15-hour shifts, six and seven days a week.

It showed photos released over the past three years purporting to have been smuggled out of the factory, showing "exhausted teenaged workers, toiling and slumping asleep on their assembly line during break time".

It said that in 2007 and 2008, before the recession, "workers were at the factory 97 hours a week while working 80-and-a-half hours".

"In 2009, workers report being at the factory 83 hours a week, while working 68 hours," the NLC said.

It said workers were paid 65c an hour, "which falls to a take-home wage of 52c after deductions for factory food."

Aussie dies after Thailand street attack

AU.Yahoo.Com 15/04/2010
An Australian tourist who died after being attacked in Thailand will be buried there on Friday, farewelled by his pregnant Thai wife and Adelaide family.

Andrew Oake, 28, had been holidaying in Prasat, near Surin in northeastern Thailand, for two months with his wife, Som, who is six months pregnant.

About four weeks ago the pair were travelling between villages when they were set upon by two men on motorbikes.

Som ran for help while Mr Oake was slashed in the arms and head with a machete in what might have been a failed robbery.