Weird news - Hospital operates on maid to remove nails hammered into her body by her Saudi employer

The Middle Eastern nations such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc depend on maids, servants, and workers from countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Phillipines, etc. The amounts that these workers can earn in these countries is fairly high as compared to their earnings in their home countries, but the working conditions are fairly restrictive. They really don't have too many rights in countries such as Saudi Arabia, with the employer family controlling their passports and visas, and any problem resulting quickly in imprisonment and deportation.
This situation leads to employers starting to feel that they can do anything with impunity, such as this case (link to article):

Doctors at a Sri Lankan hospital operated for three hours Friday to remove 18 nails and metal particles allegedly hammered into the arms, legs and forehead of a maid by her Saudi employer. Ariyawathie left Sri Lanka on March 25 to work as a housemaid in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after the bureau registered her as a person obtaining a job from an officially recognized job agency.
She was held down by her employer's wife while the employer hammered the heated nails, Ruhunuge told CNN. She apparently had complained to the couple that she was being overworked, Ruhunuge said.
Several countries across the Middle East and Asia host significant numbers of migrant domestic workers, ranging from 196,000 in Singapore to about 1.5 million in Saudi Arabia, according to a report published earlier this year by Human Rights Watch. Many of the domestic workers are poor Asian women from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Nepal. Widespread abuse has been documented by global human rights groups. Common complaints include unpaid wages, long working hours with no time for rest, and heavy debt burdens from exorbitant recruitment fees, said the Human Rights Watch report.

New York lawyer sues Delta for mistreatment

You know the concept, never mis-treat a lawyer unless you want to be dragged through a whole trial that could be very damaging to the public relations for Delta Airlines. A New York lawyer has filed a case against Delta for causing his vacation to turn into a nightmare, with having to spend a long time in the airport, and being treated very rudely by the staff of the airline. The man had planned a trip to Buenos Aires to celebrate his mom's 80th birthday; instead he ended up spending many days in the airport, being without luggage and being treated very rudely by the airline staff:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York lawyer is suing Delta Air Lines for $1 million, saying his family vacation turned into a nightmare after they were stranded in an airport for days and treated disdainfully by airline employees. Roth, his two teenage children, his wife and mother spent three days in airports, went days without their luggage, were treated rudely by airline employees and were forced to spend $21,000 on unused hotel rooms in Argentina, replacement clothes, and other costs.
After the initial flight from New York was delayed by more than two hours, the family was not allowed to board their connecting flight in Atlanta, Roth said. A Delta employee "literally walked away chuckling that he had left them stranded," he said.
After waiting in the airport for hours, Roth was told the next available flight would depart more than two weeks later. He then booked a flight through a different airline and arrived in Argentina three days later than planned. The family was not reunited with their luggage for more than five days.

This would be yet another horror story about airlines and their staff; unfortunately, there are many such stories that are common place nowadays.

California man on trial for torture of family

In the recent past, due to the 2 incidents where fathers have kept their daughters under duress and even had forcible incest with them (leading to the birth of children), it is not surprising any more to read stories where fathers have mistreated their families; but it still causes some distress to read about such painful incidents. Take this case in California (yep, you read it right, California) where a father mistreated his 19 children, including stories of torture and starvation over a period of years. He even managed to manipulate his children to mislead social workers when they came to investigate (although it would seem that the social workers accepted everything at face value):

MURRIETA, Calif. - For weeks, the three wives of Mansa Musa Muhummed and most of their 19 children have been telling a jury countless stories of torture and starvation that they kept to themselves for years. Muhummed sat in a desert courthouse with a hand over his face, shaking his head in denial as family members described being beaten, strung up by their feet and forced to eat vomit and feces.
The trial delays may have hurt his case because his children — once reluctant to talk to authorities — are now telling strangers of extreme deprivation, physical abuse and starvation. Standing just 4-foot-6 and weighing about 98 pounds, Sharon Boddie, 27, told jurors last week that she had grown and gained weight since her father was arrested nine years ago and the children were sent to foster or group homes.
But she still has scars from beatings and burns. She said she was taken out of school in second grade because she kept running away and teachers no longer wanted her there because she stole other children's lunches. "I'd go like a week without eating, not even water," she said in a flat, unemotional voice. She said she would be beaten when she tried to steal food from the refrigerator.

Such incidents are a blot on the concept of a civilized world, and it is shocking that such things can happen in a country as advanced as the United States.