They added that Mr Rajaratnam has shown no remorse for his crimes. But Mr Rajaratnam's defence lawyers counted that the Sri Lankan-born businessman made only $7m from the scheme and that his health problems called for leniency. It is thought Mr Rajaratnam is likely to appeal against his sentence.
Prosecutors in France have dropped their investigation into an allegation of attempted rape by the former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The allegations were made by a French writer, Tristane Banon. From Paris, Hugh Schofield reports.
Tristane Banon lodged her complaint against Dominique Strauss-Kahn shortly after his arrest in New York in May. She told a story of how in 2003 she'd gone to see him for an interview and had to fight off what she said was a rape attempt. Mr Strauss-Kahn returned to France last month after the American charges against him were dropped. Now French prosecutors have said that the Banon case, too, will be closed. The prosecutor's office said that there was evidence of a sexual assault on
Tristane Banon but not of attempted rape. The lesser charge of sexual assault falls under a three-year statute of limitations and so cannot be pursued.
Initial results from Liberia's presidential election give the current head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a clear lead over her closest challenger but not enough to avoid a run-off. The election commission said she had won more than 40% of votes so far compared with about 25% for the former diplomat Winston Tubman, although only a few ballots have been counted.