World IN BRIEF : UNITED ARAB EMIRATES : Philippine Maid Gets Symbolic 100 Lashes

Philippine maid Sarah Balabagan was caned 100 times in a United Arab Emirates prison for stabbing her Gulf Arab employer to death. Philippine Ambassador Roy Seneres said Balabagan “said it was bearable. Embassy officials visited her twice afterward, and there were no marks or bruises or reddening.” Seneres said the canings were carried out 20 at a time on five separate days, ending Monday. Officials had said the canings would be symbolic and the person executing them would place a book under his arm to reduce the impact of the strikes. An Islamic court in October sentenced the teenage maid to 100 lashes and a year in prison to be followed by deportation for killing Almas Mohammed al Baloushi in July 1994. Balabagan has said she stabbed Baloushi 34 times in self-defense during an attempted rape.