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"Pure terror" after Jetstar passenger climbs out onto wing

<p>A passenger onboard a Jetstar flight from Sydney to Melbourne has recalled the "commotion" when a man opened the emergency door just seconds after the plane landed. </p> <p>Audrey Varghese was on the flight that landed at Tullamarine airport on Thursday morning, and said the trouble began when the man became very agitated as soon as the plane touched down. </p> <p>“It’s assumed common knowledge that you stay in your seats until the seatbelt sign is turned off, but he got up as the plane was still moving," the 2GB producer told <em><a href="https://7news.com.au/news/jetstar-passenger-reveals-commotion-as-man-climbs-through-emergency-door-onto-wing-c-15792138" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7News</a></em>. </p> <p>“The cabin crew were sort of shocked at the fact that he would even do that.”</p> <p>When the plane eventually came to a stop, Varghese said the man charged to the emergency exit rows and forced passengers out of their seats to get to the emergency door. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-9OACGPBco/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-9OACGPBco/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by 7NEWS Sydney (@7newssyd)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>The man then managed to open the emergency exit door and climbed out onto the wing of the plane, causing terror among the rest of the passengers.</p> <p>“There was a bit of a commotion. It was hectic, everyone was screaming,” Varghese said.</p> <p>“It was just pure terror. People were so terrified of what could possibly have gone wrong.”</p> <p>Video capture of the incident shows the man standing on the wing before sliding down the emergency slide, only to be met with police as he reached the ground. </p> <p>The AFP said officers arrested a man for “alleged aggressive behaviour and breaching aircraft safety protocols” and charges were likely to be laid.</p> <p>The remaining passengers safely disembarked the aircraft but had to wait about 45 minutes for their luggage, as the emergency slide had blocked the cargo door.</p> <p>Varghese added that Jetstar were "really good" about the luggage delays, and said the cabin crew did a “great job” handling the situation.</p> <p><em>Image credits: 7News</em></p>

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"Words matter": Why Australia's threat level was just raised to "probable"

<p>Anthony Albanese has announced that Australia's terror level has been raised in the wake of spy agency warnings.</p> <p>The Prime Minister announced the change from “possible to probable” on Monday morning at a press conference in Canberra with ASIO director-general Mike Burgess.</p> <p>“ASIO is raising the national terrorist and threat level from possible to probable," Mr Burgess said.</p> <p>“Our decision reflects that the security environment is degrading. A threat level of probable is reassessed as a greater than 50 per cent chance of attack planning in the next 12 months." </p> <p>“It does not mean that we have intelligence about the current attack planning or expectation of an imminent attack." </p> <p>The National Terrorism Threat Advisory System has a scale of five levels, beginning with Not Expected, Possible, Probable, before rising to Expected and Certain. </p> <p>Mr Burgess said the decision was not taken easily, as he explained, “Our decision is not a direct response to the tragic events in the Middle East. At this stage we do not believe any of the terrorist plots we have investigated in the last year have been inspired by Gaza."</p> <p>“Terrorist leaders offshore are not inspiring attacks onshore. This is why we did not raise the threat level in the immediate aftermath of 7 October.”</p> <p>Mr Albanese said the decision follows a cabinet meeting today and briefings by spy agencies.</p> <p>“My government’s first priority is the safety and security of Australians and this morning, I convened a national-security committee meeting to hear from the director-general," Mr Albanese said.</p> <p>“I want to reassure Australians that probable does not mean inevitable and it does not mean it is intelligence about an imminent threat or danger. But the advice that we have received is that more Australians are embracing a more diverse range of extreme ideologies and it is our responsibility to be vigilant.</p> <p>Mr Burgess said it did not mean there was any imminent threat of a terrorist attack in Australia, but said it was about being vigilant and prepared. </p> <p>“Australia’s security environment is more volatile and more unpredictable, you’ve heard me say many times of espionage and foreign interference, our principal security concerns,’’ he said.</p> <p>“While the threats to our way of life are elevated we are seeing an increase in extremism, more Australians are being radicalised and radicalised more quickly. More Australians are embracing a more diverse range of extreme ideologies and more Australians are willing to use violence to advance their cause."</p> <p>In response to a question from the media on the Greens, who recently accused the Labor Party of being implicit in genocide when it comes to the war in Palestine, the Prime Minister said some of the rhetoric was of concern.</p> <p>“Words matter and it is important that people engage in a way that is respectful, that people don’t make claims that they know are not right in order to try to secure some short-term political advantage,’’ he said.</p> <p>Concluding the press conference, Mr Burgess said it is up to every Australian to say vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour. </p> <p>He said, "This is a matter for everyone, community leaders, politicians, the media, watch your words, watch your actions. Be very careful about that because there is a direct correlation between inflamed language and inflamed tension and violence.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: LUKAS COCH/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Editorial </em></p>

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"Pure terror": Samuel Johnson recalls infamous Logies moment with Molly Meldrum

<p>Samuel Johnson has opened up on his long-running feud with Molly Meldrum, which began at the 2017 Logies. </p> <p>Johnson appeared on 2Day FM’s <em>Hughsey, Ed &amp; Erin</em> on Wednesday to reveal the brutal fallout of the infamous moment when Meldrum stormed the state during Johnson's acceptance speech and took over the microphone, giving a rambling and at times explicit speech of his own.</p> <p>The win, for playing Meldrum in the two-part miniseries about his life titled <em>Molly</em>, came at a time when the actor had become a tireless fundraiser for cancer research after starting the Love Your Sister charity in 2012 with his sister Connie, who had been diagnosed with multiple cancers throughout her life.</p> <p>However, instead of being able to use his speech to raise awareness for the charity, Meldrum instead stole the actor’s thunder and was left facing a wave of criticism over his bizarre antics. </p> <p>Speaking on Wednesday, Johnson said that incident was “pure terror” and a night he’s still not forgotten about.</p> <p>“I told him it was my moment not his! I was looking down at the front table. It was all the people from <span id="U84206877909VdF">The Project</span> and they all had their jaws on the floor,” he said. “It was 8 minutes of pure terror.” </p> <p>Johnson, who previously claimed Meldrum’s antics at the ceremony cost the charity he had planned to plug over $1 million dollars, went to reveal the fallout of the incident, confessing that he’s not seen Meldrum since all the drama went down that infamous evening.</p> <p>“I don’t hold grudges, I just can’t walk into the future with him,” he continued, suggesting that more has gone down behind the scenes than fans know about.</p> <p>“There’s a lot that he’s done that I don’t say. But it’s not that I hold a grudge, it’s that I’ve moved on.”</p> <p>Johnson appeared on the same radio show last year when he spoke about the feud, when Hughesy urged him to let go of his grudge against the Aussie TV legend. </p> <p>“You said you would never speak to Molly again … I hate grudge holding and that’s bad for you,” Hughes bluntly told Johnson last year. </p> <p>“I agree with you, I totally agree with you, but when I’ve specifically asked you not do something, and it’s a once in a lifetime moment, a moment I’ll never get back … He has breached my trust in that moment and I’m sorry, I’m not going to do the Molly sequel. I don’t think I should,” Johnson argued.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Nine Network / 2Day FM </em></p>

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Why is the Sydney church stabbing an act of terrorism, but the Bondi tragedy isn’t?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/greg-barton-10990">Greg Barton</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a></em></p> <p>Just days after the deadly <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-14/several-killed-in-mass-stabbing-at-westfield-bondi-junction/103705354">Westfield Bondi attacks</a>, a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-16/albanese-says-there-is-no-place-for-violence-in-our-community/10372830">second knife attack</a> in Sydney has generated widespread shock and grief. This time, a 16-year-old entered an Assyrian church and rushed forward to stab the popular bishop presiding over a service, together with a priest who rushed to his defence. The shocking events were captured on the church’s video stream, and the news quickly reached thousands of members of Sydney’s large Assyrian community.</p> <p>While both priests were injured, thankfully the knife blows were not fatal. Parishioners immobilised the attacker, and police and paramedics swarmed the church. Police moved quickly to identify the assailant and analyse his apparent motivation before announcing they were treating the attack as a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-68823240">terrorist incident</a> early this morning.</p> <p>Public knife attacks are rare in Australia, and for Sydney to experience two in quick succession has rightfully alarmed many and, understandably, led to comparisons between the two. A lot of the discussion is around why the Bondi Junction shopping mall attack in which six were killed wasn’t considered terrorism, but this shocking, but non-lethal, attack was.</p> <p>So what do we know about the church attack, and what important distinctions can be made between it and the awful events at Bondi?</p> <h2>What happened at the church?</h2> <p>Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel has developed a large following, not just in Australia but in the Assyrian diaspora <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-16/who-is-bishop-mar-mari-emmanuel-wakeley-church-attack/103728808">around the world</a>, with his live-streamed sermons. Shortly after seven o'clock on Monday night, the video feed of the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Sydney’s outer west went dead, but not before it captured the shocking attack and parishioners rushing forward to help.</p> <p>Almost immediately, crowds gathered outside the church. We don’t yet know the motivations of the people who turned up, but it can be assumed they were there because they either saw or heard of what had happened and rushed over out of concern.</p> <p>Tragically, at some point the dynamics of the fast-swelling crowd took a dark turn. Instead of letting the large police and ambulance presence continue to handle the situation, some emotional onlookers turned on the authorities. Multiple police officers and paramedics were injured and vehicles were heavily damaged.</p> <p>It’s likely the fact the attack was captured on video, and therefore able to be shared and watched over and over again, added to the combustibility of an already volatile situation. It would appear the attack was deliberately planned to provoke an angry response. But what exactly happened in the crowd is the subject of one police investigation.</p> <h2>Why is it considered a terrorist act?</h2> <p>The other investigation is an anti-terrorism one. This is because while the teenager acted alone, it’s very likely they had received encouragement and backing from others. <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/unabomber">The Unabomber</a> is one of the very few documented cases of someone committing violence for ideological reasons truly in isolation.</p> <p>This lone actor attack in Sydney is reminiscent of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-03/nsw-police-headquarters-gunman-was-radicalised-youth/6825028">2015 murder</a> of police accountant Curtis Cheng. He was shot dead by a 15-year-old who had been radicalised by supporters of Islamic State. It later came out <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-14/curtis-cheng-murder-surveillance-man-guilty-of-terror-plan/10900982">in court</a> the attack had been planned by three other people, who also supplied him with the gun.</p> <p>Police were quick to pronounce the knife attack on Monday to be an act of terrorism. Having identified the attacker, they would have been studying his social connections and examining his digital footprint.</p> <p>The police assessment would have also given attention to the particulars of the church targeted. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Assyrian">Assyrians</a> (people from northwest Iraq, northeast Syria and southeast Turkey) are almost exclusively Christian, belonging to one of the oldest churches in existence, living in precisely that part of the world in which the Islamic State established its brutal caliphate.</p> <p>It’s telling that before the caliphate was established, Assyrians made up just 3% of the Iraqi population. But in the wake of Islamic State sweeping across northern Syria and Iraq, Assyrians soon made up <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/assyrian-australians-plead-for-second-special-refugee-settlement-deal/x7ej8ix2y">40%</a> of Iraqi refugees. The trauma of those years is <a href="https://theconversation.com/diversity-and-religious-pluralism-are-disappearing-amid-iraqs-crisis-29832">recent history</a>, fresh in the minds of many.</p> <p>The recent Islamic State claim of responsibility for the <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/europe/missing-people-russia-moscow-concert-hall-attack-intl/index.html">recent deadly attacks in Moscow</a>, is a reminder the group remains a live and growing threat. For these reasons police will be looking for any evidence Islamic State might have played a role in inspiring this attack.</p> <h2>Terrorism or not terrorism?</h2> <p>Events at the church have been under a bigger spotlight given the events of the days preceding it.</p> <p>Despite <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/15/false-claims-started-spreading-about-the-bondi-junction-stabbing-attack-as-soon-as-it-happened">early misinformation</a>, police said thathey believe the Bondi killer, Joel Cauchi, was not motivated by a larger political cause – that is, a terrorist motivation. Instead, they say he lashed out violently because of anger control issues related to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/14/joel-cauchi-who-was-the-queensland-man-who-carried-out-the-bondi-junction-mass-stabbing">mental ill-health</a>.</p> <p>But of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/14/bondi-junction-mass-stabbing-attack-who-are-the-six-victims">six people</a> he killed, five were women. Women also make up the majority of those injured. The one man who lost his life, security guard Faraz Tahir, a Muslim refugee from Pakistan, was attacked because he bravely <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/04/16/friend-of-bondi-security-guard-says-his-last-moments-were-brave/">rushed towards</a> danger in an attempt to try to stop Cauchi. NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said Cauchi <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-15/westfield-bondi-attack-stabbing-investigation/103706698">deliberately targeted women</a>.</p> <p>So if someone is targeting a specific group of people, isn’t that terrorism? Why does it matter if they were killing based on gender or religion? Is misogyny not terrorism?</p> <p>Put simply, the defining characteristic of terrorism is perpetuating violence in the name of a higher, broader cause. Terrorists have a belief in a collective goal, and see themselves as being backed by people who share that belief. Misogyny can be an element of their motivation and justification of hatred, but it’s part of a larger political project.</p> <p>Basically, it boils down to whether these violent actors think they’re part of a political or religious movement that’s going to <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-inclusion-is-important-in-aotearoa-new-zealand-but-so-is-speaking-honestly-about-terrorism-167429">change the system</a>, or whether they are simply angry men projecting loathing and driven by personal demons. The two, of course, are <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/not-since-the-lindt-siege-has-sydney-known-grief-like-this-20240414-p5fjnl.html">not mutually exclusive</a>.</p> <p>This is not to undermine the damage that angry men can, and do, inflict. Domestic violence is a bigger threat to Australians than terrorism. Calling something a terrorist act doesn’t make it more or less serious than anything else, rather the categorisation is to provide conceptual clarity for the sake of the ensuing investigation.</p> <p>Events at Westfield Bondi Junction and the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church are both awful, but while they share some similarities, they are different sorts of crimes with different drivers and enablers. As police investigations continue, we’ll come to better understand the nature of both.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/227997/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/greg-barton-10990">Greg Barton</a>, Chair in Global Islamic Politics, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-sydney-church-stabbing-an-act-of-terrorism-but-the-bondi-tragedy-isnt-227997">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

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Christchurch attack victims' families reflect on tragedy five years on

<p>It's been five years since 51 men, women and children, were murdered in a terror attack when a white supremacist opened fire at Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.</p> <p>Now, the victims' families have reflected on the tragic day, and commemorated their loved ones on the five-year anniversary of the attacks.</p> <p>Dr Maysoon Salama, who lost her son Atta Elayyan, 33, relives the grief of losing her son every day.</p> <p>“The pain is still fresh,” she told <em>7NEWS</em>.</p> <p>Five years on, the good memories she shared with her son still play back in her mind.</p> <p>“Atta was an amazing son,” she said. “He’s touched the lives of so many people.”</p> <p>Despite the tragedy, Dr Salama remains strong and finds herself healing through her granddaughter Aya.</p> <p>“I feel like I see her father when I see her,” she said.</p> <p>“It’s a really hard journey ... but she has always been my focus.”</p> <p>Aya was two when she lost her father, and Dr Salama was faced with the heartbreaking task of helping her granddaughter adjust to a life without her father.</p> <p>“When I look her in the eyes and she will ask, ‘Where is my dad?’, what am I going to tell her?” she recalled thinking.</p> <p>“How are we going to tell her when she’s so attached to her daddy? She loved him so much.”</p> <p>Dr Salama's husband, Mohammad Alayan, was among the dozens of people hospitalised following the attack, with doctors at the time saying he was “lucky to survive”.</p> <p>“He had been shot twice. One in his head and it affected his vision and one in his shoulder and she said it was just a few millimetres away from his heart,” Maysoon said.</p> <p>The couple run a Muslim childcare centre An-Nur, and have worked together to help children navigate New Zealand's darkest days.</p> <p>She recalled the sinking feeling when she first heard of the attacks while at work, and how her husband's first instinct was to tell her to protect herself and everyone at the childcare centre.</p> <p>“I got a call from my husband and he told me he was in hospital and that I have a big responsibility to protect the children and the teachers and lock down, close the doors because he was afraid the shooter would also come to our place because we are a Muslim childcare centre,” she said.</p> <p>“More families who were distressed started coming to pick up their children, and some of them even had blood on their shirts, some of them witnessed the thing.</p> <p>“It was really an awful situation.”</p> <p>Not long after, she learned that her own son had also been injured, but at the time had no idea of the reality of it all.</p> <p>Aya Al-Umari lost her brother, Hussein, on the fateful day.</p> <p>“It happened so suddenly, I had no time to grieve,” she said.</p> <p>Hussein spent the last moments of his life protecting other people, and even though Aya misses his hugs more than anything, she takes comfort in knowing that her brother's legacy will live on.</p> <p>“He had the opportunity to escape, but he didn’t,” she said.</p> <p>“He was running towards the terrorist.</p> <p>“It really goes to show, especially in his last moments, he was always a giver.”</p> <p>Both Aya and Dr Salama both take comfort in the belief that their loved ones died as as a Shahid – a true martyr who died in the name of their faith in Islam.</p> <p>Dr Salama hopes that the findings from last year’s coronial inquest, expected to be handed down this year, will provide a sense of closure to the victims' families.</p> <p>She also hopes that people will use the fifth anniversary of the shootings to reflect on the work that is yet to be done and call for more action in fighting Islamophobia and extremism.</p> <p>“We can fight Islamophobia by challenging the biases and educating ourselves also and intervening against discrimination.</p> <p>“See something, say something.”</p> <p>Canterbury's Muslim community will also gather today to honour the victims with a commemoration service at Masjid Annur in the evening, according to<em> <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/511744/muslims-mark-5th-anniversary-of-christchurch-mosque-terror-attacks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RNZ</a></em>.</p> <p>Brenton Tarrant, who was behind the terror attacks, was sentenced to life in jail without parole – the first person in New Zealand's history to receive the sentence because his actions were deemed "so wicked".</p> <p><em>Images: 7News</em></p> <p> </p>

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9/11 victim’s remains identified nearly 23 years after terror attack

<p dir="ltr">Almost 23 years on from the deadly attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, a victim’s remains have been identified. </p> <p dir="ltr">John Ballantine Niven, 44, was an executive at Aon Risk Services, an insurance firm on the 105th floor of Tower Two of the Trade Centre complex in September 2001. </p> <p dir="ltr">Niven is the 1,650th victim identified from the deadliest act of terrorism on American soil, when hijackers crashed planes into the Twin Towers, killing 2,753 people on September 11th. </p> <p dir="ltr">At the time of his death, he left behind a wife and an 18-month-old son, with his body remaining unidentified until now. </p> <p dir="ltr">“While the pain from the enormous losses on September 11th never leaves us, the possibility of new identifications can offer solace to the families of victims,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m grateful for the ongoing work from the Office of Chief Medical Examiner that honours the memory of John Ballantine Niven and all those we lost.”</p> <p dir="ltr">In recent years, the medical examiner’s office has been utilising modern advanced DNA technology to identify victims through their remains. </p> <p dir="ltr">“We will forever remember our heroes who perished on 9/11 and we appreciate the continuous efforts of forensic experts to help identify victims,” Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said in a separate statement. </p> <p dir="ltr">“We’re hopeful that this amazing advance in technology helps bring peace to Niven’s family and allows him to eternally rest in peace.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Roughly 40 percent of victims of the World Trade Centre attack have yet to have their remains identified, as few full bodies were recovered when the towers collapsed.</p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 13pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><em>Image credits: Getty Images / legacy.com </em><span id="docs-internal-guid-d265186e-7fff-17e5-ac35-9495d9fb314a"></span></p>

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Kochie breaks silence on Lindt Café siege terror

<p>David ‘Kochie’ Koch spared no emotion as he spoke for the first time about how he was tracked down and whisked to safety by police on the day of the Lindt Café siege.</p> <p>The veteran TV presenter reflected on the crippling ordeal during an interview with M’s <em>Rush Hour with Leisel Jones, Liam and Dobbo</em>, which was secured by <em>news.com.au</em>.</p> <p>“I’ve never talked about it,” Koch revealed when asked about the devastating events of December 15, 2014. “It had a massive impact on both Nat (Natalie Barr) and I.</p> <p>“The bloke involved in that (Man Haron Monis) was on our security watch list because he’d tried to get to me a few times,” Koch told the Triple M hosts.</p> <p>Six years before the siege, Monis had approached Koch and other <em>Sunrise</em> presenters as they chatted with fans outside the Martin Place studios.</p> <p>Monis was unhappy with a segment that had aired on the show and he allegedly accused the hosts of being “terrorists” before he was taken away by security.</p> <p>On the morning of the siege, Koch left the Channel 7 studios after <em>Sunrise</em> was over and went to a gym three blocks away.</p> <p>He was working out with a friend when the news of the hostage situation first broke.</p> <p>“I remember I got a call … (saying) ‘can I come to (the gym’s) reception,’” Koch shared.</p> <p>On the other end of the phone was the police, who were concerned that the TV presenter could be one of Monis’ targets.</p> <p>According to Koch, the police told him, “We’re coming to pick you up, take you home, you stay there until we tell you.’”</p> <p>Koch said the events that unfolded “had a massive impact” on him and led him to take his security much more seriously.</p> <p>“I have a car that I haven’t driven since because the police said it’s too distinctive,” he said.</p> <p>During the interview, Rush Hour co-host and Olympic gold medallist Leisel Jones revealed she was very closely caught up in the terror attack, which claimed the lives of café manager Tori Johnson and lawyer Katrina Dawson.</p> <p>“I was actually supposed to be in the Lindt Cafe,” Jones, who was working at the nearby Westpac building at time, shared. “(But) I didn’t want hot chocolate, I chose coffee.”</p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty / Instagram</em></p>

TV

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"Sheer terror": Pensioner slapped with five-figure government fine

<p>Pensioner Rosemary Gay opened up about the “sheer terror” she faced upon receiving a letter from the government demanding she pay back the $65,000 Robodebt bill they claimed she had been overpaid. </p> <p>Rosemary’s nightmare began on September 19, 2016, when the letter arrived, an event that Rosemary confesses “turned my life upside down and created an enormous emotional and mental strain on me."</p> <p>The letter detailed that she was required to pay the total of $64,999.17 in overpaid welfare benefits. Centrelink claimed this was because her declared amounts did not reflect what she actually earned during the period of July 9, 2010, to 6 October, 2016.</p> <p>“It turned my life upside down,” Rosemary told the Robodebt Royal Commission on Monday, “I’ve never earned that much money, how could I owe that much money? And the fact I was to come up with it within a matter of three or four weeks, it was sheer terror.”</p> <p>The emotional 76-year-old admitted that she feared she would have to sell her home to cover the debt, and detailed the bleak path she saw before her, “all I could see was that I may be faced with selling my home and losing everything that I had worked for in my 70 years, and I just saw it all going away instantly.”</p> <p>After contacting Centrelink, Rosemary confirmed that what she had reported was the same as what was on the paperwork. She admitted to assuming that would “be the end of it.”</p> <p>Officials at Centrelink eventually told Rosemary that it came down to a “glitch”, and after a review, the total of her debt was reduced to $6,600. </p> <p>Of her Robodebt experience, Rosemary said, “it was a very dark period of time for me and one that is very difficult to re-live. My mental health and physical health, at that stage, were at a very low ebb.”</p> <p>A second review brought a new letter to Rosemary in December 2016, this time stating that her debt had been reduced to $120. </p> <p>Finally in 2020, Rosemary was informed by Centrelink that she would be refunded the $120, with the Coalition government winding up the unlawful scheme - ruled as such by the Federal Court in 2019. It is suspected that more than 381,000 people were affected, and that over $750m was wrongfully recovered from the victims. </p> <p>“I was shocked and angry by this time to think they could initially cause such a traumatic experience to anybody accessing support from a pension,” Rosemary told the Royal Commission, “it will continue to remain with me forever. It’s just something I will never get over and it has had a huge impact on my physical and mental wellbeing … </p> <p>“That they could turn someone’s life upside down and still get it so wrong over and over again.”</p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Money & Banking

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Aussie survivors reflect on the Bali bombings 20 years on

<p>On October 12th 2002, three bombs were detonated in two Bali hotspots which resulted in the death of 202 people, 88 of whom were Australian.</p> <p>It was the single largest loss of Australian life due to an act of terror.</p> <p>Now, 20 years on from the tragedy, survivors told <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/bali-bombings-20-year-anniversary-survivors-rescuers-victims-stories/8f6a1661-e377-4ce9-aa17-204d67ca065c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9News</a> their inspirational yet harrowing stories of survival, and how their lives have changed since since that fateful day two decades ago. </p> <p><strong>Therese</strong></p> <p>After suffering devastating burns to 85 percent of her body, Therese Fox has fought valiantly through hundreds of skin grafts, life-threatening infections and agonising physiotherapy.</p> <p>Therese spent a year in hospital and defied doctor's expectations to survive, only to be confronted with the reality of survivor's guilt. </p> <p>Two decades on, she is still haunted by the loss of her good friend Bronwyn Cartwright and dozens of others.</p> <p>"I could go through my burns a hundred times over. The guilt of survival is the hardest thing to live with," Fox said, before breaking down in the face of the overwhelming emotion of her first return to Bali.</p> <p><strong>Ashleigh</strong></p> <p>When Ashleigh Airlie was just 14-years-old, she was faced with the trauma of losing her mother Gayle, who was killed in the terror attack. </p> <p>Four other mothers were holidaying in Bali with their teenage daughters, who were in the back of the Sari Club when the second bomb went off. </p> <p>It was just two days before Ashleigh's 15th birthday when she was buried under the collapsing roof and leaving her grasping for strangers' legs to make it out to the street.</p> <p>"When I think about it, that's the last place I had a good time with my mum," Ashleigh, now 34, told 9News.</p> <p>"It was the last place we had fun and she was having the time of her life."</p> <p><strong>Peter</strong></p> <p>When Peter Hughes was interviewed from his hospital bed, he unknowingly became the Australian face of the Bali bombing tragedy, which left him feeling "a little bit embarrassed about it all".</p> <p>"I was dying at the time and I knew that," he said, describing the interview as a chance to show his son Leigh that he was ok, even though he knew he wasn't.</p> <p>"I was just hanging on back then."</p> <p>While appearing on TV, Peter was swollen and barely able to breathe, but seemed unconcerned about his injuries. </p> <p>He slipped into a coma days later with burns to more than half his body. </p> <p>Now, he still struggled with the physical and mental effects of surviving the attack, but that doesn't stop him from returning to Bali several times a year. </p> <p><strong>Andrew</strong></p> <p>While Andrew Csabi was laying in the street dying outside the smoking ruins of the Sari Club, he gave himself the last rites. </p> <p>"I looked down, I said, 'my leg's blown off' and I couldn't believe it," he said.</p> <p>"I laid there quietly and I issued myself last rights."</p> <p><strong>Natalie and Nicole</strong></p> <p>Nicole McLean and Natalie Goold were just 23 when the bombs went off in Bali. </p> <p>After Nicole lost her right arm and suffered horrific leg injuries in the attack, Natalie fought to save the life of her friend in an act that saw her <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; caret-color: #333333; color: #333333;">became one of only four people awarded the Star of Courage medal in the </span>Bali honours list.</p> <p>"She was just a force to be reckoned with. She knew where we had to go, where we had to be, and she wasn't leaving my side," McLean said.</p> <p>"She was ripping people's t-shirts off them and shoving them in my leg to stop the blood."</p> <p>Nicole McLean had survived the horror of the Sari Club and made it onto an RAAF jet that could get her back to Australia within hours.</p> <p><em>Image credits: 9News</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Investigations continue into hospital terror explosion

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An explosion in a taxi has prompted British authorities to amp the country’s threat level up from substantial to severe, as the incident is treated as an act of terrorism.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">David Perry, a taxi cab driver, was injured after the cab he was driving exploded outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital just before 11am on Remembrance Sunday.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Authorities are investigating the explosion and have since identified the passenger as 32-year-old Emad Al Swealmeen, who died at the scene.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to police, Mr Al Swealmeen brought a homemade explosive device into the cab and asked Mr Perry to drive him to the hospital.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845675/bus-explosion2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/0c2d4a82a159482193623405ddd5b4a6" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Carl Bessant was inside the hospital when the explosion occurred. Image: Carl Bessant</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">CCTV footage shows the cab pulling into the drop-off section of the hospital car park at speed before the explosion occurred.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The driver then got out of the vehicle before it was engulfed in flames, and has since been treated for injuries.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson praised Mr Perry and suggested he had diverted the incident from occurring inside the hospital by locking the passenger in the cab.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The taxi driver in his heroic efforts has managed to divert what could have been an absolutely awful disaster,” she </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/liverpool-hospital-explosion-uk-terror-threat-level-raised-to-severe-after-men-arrested-under-terrorism-act/630e52b4-2135-4cdf-bad4-8ade94cb60f1" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">told</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">BBC</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The taxi driver locked the doors.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Our thanks go to him.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, authorities have not confirmed her account of the incident.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the “sickening attack”, telling reporters that British people “will never be cowed by terrorism”.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CWTKqG9sKvo/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CWTKqG9sKvo/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Ian Redpath &amp; Jeremy Chopra (@allontheboard)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We will never give in to those who seek to divide us with senseless acts of violence,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Three men believed to be “associates” of the deceased man were also arrested in other parts of Liverpool on Sunday under the Terrorism Act, with a fourth detained on Monday.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They have since been </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-59287001" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">released</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> without any charges laid.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the hours following the explosion, police raided two properties where Mr Al Swealmeen was believed to live, with both located within a mile of the hospital. Police also confirmed that a controlled explosion was carried out at one of the properties where they believe Mr Al Swealmeen constructed the explosive device he used in the cab.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Assistant Chief Constable Jackson <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-16/heroic-cabbie-praised-for-actions-after-deadly-liverpool-blast/100622794" target="_blank">said</a> the explosion was declared a terrorism incident, but that the motive behind it was yet to be determined.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845676/bus-explosion3.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/dcc90df5df7c4996bde4d00917e9c433" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Forensic officers undertook a fingerprint search outside the hospital following the blast. Image: Getty Images</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Our enquiries indicate that an improvised device has been manufactured and our assumption so far is that this was built by the passenger in the taxi,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The reason why he then took it to the Women’s Hospital is unknown, as is the reason for the sudden explosion.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Constable Jackson said the connection between the explosion and the time it occurred - shortly before Remembrance Day events were due to start -  is a line of inquiry authorities are pursuing.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Police also </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://newsnationusa.com/news/world/uk/controlled-explosion-near-liverpool-house-where-taxi-terrorist-made-bomb/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">believe</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the explosive may have failed to detonate properly or was set off prematurely.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The explosion comes within a month of the UK’s first fatal incident, where British MP David Amess was stabbed to death during a constituency meeting. </span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: The Guardian / YouTube</span></em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Close up: World War Z frames the terror of ‘loss of self’ and the threat of a mass pandemic

<p>How do filmmakers communicate big ideas on screen? In this video series, film scholar Bruce Isaacs analyses pivotal film scenes in detail. (Warning: this video contains violence and may be upsetting for some viewers.)</p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rTkFBg2gSRQ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>There is perhaps no better time than now to appreciate the unique and subversive genre of <a href="https://theconversation.com/were-obsessed-with-zombies-which-says-a-lot-about-today-37552">zombie movies</a>. These films have always been great socio-cultural lenses. Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead were two classics of the genre.</p> <p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt">World War Z</a> (2013), an adaptation of Max Brook’s 2006 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8908.World_War_Z">apocalyptic zombie novel</a> continues this tradition. In a pivotal scene set in Jerusalem, director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0286975/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Marc Foster</a> encapsulates the greatest threat posed by zombies: the end of our individuality and loss of uniqueness. The casting of Hollywood star <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000093/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm">Brad Pitt</a> is crucial, as are the cuts between him as a figure and the invading mass.</p> <p><em>Written by Bruce Isaacs. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/close-up-world-war-z-frames-the-terror-of-loss-of-self-and-the-threat-of-a-mass-pandemic-145090">The Conversation.</a> </em></p>

Movies

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London terror attack: Man shot dead after stabbing rampage

<p>The knifeman who strapped a fake bomb vest to his chest before stabbing two people in South London had been released from prison just a few days prior.</p> <p>Sudesh Amman was under the watchful eye of counter-terror cops before the “knife obsessed” jihadi went on a rampage on Streatham High Road early this morning.</p> <p>Terrified witnesses heard shots fire and saw the 19-year-old fall to the ground on Streatham High Road.</p> <p>Amman, from Harrow, North London, was sentenced to over three years in prison but was let-out on automatic release after serving half his sentence – despite concerns he still held extremist views.</p> <p>The man was just a teenager when he was arrested and was jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents.</p> <p>It was also revealed that Amman had shared an Al-Qaeda magazine in his family WhatsApp group and told his siblings “the Islamic State is here to stay”, the court heard.</p> <p>He owned bomb making manuals and also had plans to carry out acid attacks, his trial was told.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">*UPDATED STATEMENT* on our response to this afternoon's incident in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Streatham?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Streatham</a>.<br /><br />We treated three patients for injuries at the scene, and took all three people to hospital. <a href="https://t.co/oDCIO3sh6i">pic.twitter.com/oDCIO3sh6i</a></p> — London Ambulance Service (@Ldn_Ambulance) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ldn_Ambulance/status/1224027508695277569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2020</a></blockquote> <p>A source said Amman was released early because there was nothing the authorities could do under existing laws to keep him behind bars.</p> <p>But he was put under the strictest licencing terms and that’s why the police were so quick to respond to the incident that occurred today.</p> <p>Scotland Yard is yet to confirm that Amman was known to counter-terror authorities, but it is believed he was on the watch-list due to the speed at which they responded.</p> <p>Witness Kiranjeet Singh told the<span> </span><em>Sun Online</em> that Amman stole a 10-inch knife from his brother’s bargain shop before injuring multiple people who came in his way.</p> <p>He stabbed a woman in the back before she ran away screaming in pain said another witness, and then he followed that attack by slashing a young man in the chest with a “huge knife”.</p> <p>Armed forces rushed to the scene, where the knife-wielding man was wearing a suicide vest and shot him three times just after 2pm.</p>

Travel Trouble

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Expert weighs in: In this new world of bushfire terror, I question whether I want to have kids

<p>As fires continue to burn along Australia’s south-east, it’s impossible to ignore how climate change can wreak devastation and disrupt lives.</p> <p>Australia has always experienced bushfires. However, climate change <a href="https://theconversation.com/weather-bureau-says-hottest-driest-year-on-record-led-to-extreme-bushfire-season-129447">means</a> this year’s bushfires were so extreme in their ferocity and spread they could be <a href="https://www.space.com/australia-wildfires-space-station-astronaut-photo.html">seen from space</a>. And this is just a taste of what’s to come.</p> <p>I’m a marine scientist, and research the effects of climate change on coral reefs. Aside from bushfires, coral bleaching is one of the most severe manifestations of climate change in Australia. Watching corals turn white and die is just another daily reminder of the disasters our children will be up against.</p> <p>Until now, my partner and I have both wanted to be parents one day. Now I’m not so sure. Here are the things I’m weighing up.</p> <p><strong>The forces at play</strong></p> <p>I am not alone in these family planning concerns. In September last year I hosted a Women in STEM seminar and photography <a href="https://www.emergingcreativesofscience.com/women-in-steam">exhibit</a> showcasing female scientists at the University of New South Wales. One of the major points of discussion was how to plan for a family, knowing how climate change will affect the quality of life of the next generation.</p> <p>Cases of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rise-of-eco-anxiety-climate-change-affects-our-mental-health-too-123002">eco-anxiety</a>” when it comes to family planning are on the rise. <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/it-doesn-t-feel-justifiable-the-couples-not-having-children-because-of-climate-change-20190913-p52qxu.html">Many couples</a> in my generation are rethinking what it means to start a family. Even Prince Harry and Meghan Markle <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/prince-harry-reveals-how-many-kids-he-and-meghan-will-have/news-story/1f6acaf856c50b6e613cd882aa0d9f74">said last year</a> they’ll have only two children at most, for the sake of the planet.</p> <p>But other factors also affect family planning decisions, such as religious, cultural and societal expectations. And of course there are the views of partners and spouses to take into account.</p> <p>In my case, I come from a large Italian-American, Catholic family. My family expects me to settle down and have babies as soon as possible. But my partner and I both agree the planet cannot sustain a growing population that results from these traditional religious expectations.</p> <p><strong>Would going childless make a difference?</strong></p> <p>Studies show having fewer children is one of the most effective ways an individual can mitigate climate change. Choosing to have one less child prevents <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541#erlaa7541f1">58.6 tonnes of carbon emissions</a> entering the atmosphere each year, according to a 2017 study. That’s like 25 Australians going car-free for the rest of their lives.</p> <p>In fact, even if you do your bit to reduce emissions in your lifetime, such as riding a bike and using energy-saving lightbulbs, having two children means your <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-family-planning-could-be-part-of-the-answer-to-climate-change-32667">“legacy” of carbon emissions could be 40 times greater</a> than that saved through lifestyle changes.</p> <p>But having one less child is not a quick fix for climate change. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4246304/">As research in 2014 pointed out</a>, even one-child policies imposed worldwide, coupled with events causing catastrophic numbers of deaths, would still leave the world population at 5–10 billion people by 2100 – enough to cause stress on future ecosystems.</p> <p>So it’s critical we, as consumers, start now in making our lifestyles more environmentally friendly if the world’s population continues to grow.</p> <p>The above research concluded the most immediate and effective way to keep the planet’s warming at bay is policies and technologies to reign in global emissions.</p> <p><strong>The planet our children will inhabit</strong></p> <p>On our current business-as-usual trajectory, we’re on track for at least a <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/global/temperatures/">4℃</a>temperature increase by 2100. Even if the temperature increase was limited to 2.8℃ (now an optimistic scenario) major changes in <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/07/major-us-cities-will-face-unprecedente-climates-2050/">weather patterns would occur by 2050</a>.</p> <p>These changes would bring more <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/climate-change-and-drought-factsheet/">severe droughts</a>, <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/updates/articles/a023.shtml">flooding</a>, <a href="https://time.com/5627355/climate-change-heat-waves/">heatwaves</a>, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/sea-level-rise/">sea level rise</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/11/what-are-the-links-between-climate-change-and-bushfires-explainer">bushfires</a>. This is not a future I want for my children.</p> <p>Already, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0315-6">climate hazards have been implicated</a> in pre- and post-natal health problems for children. Children whose mothers were exposed to floods while pregnant exhibited increased bedwetting, aggression towards other children and below-average birth weight, juvenile height and academic performance.</p> <p>What’s more, exposure to smoke from fires during pregnancy may have affected brain development and resulted in premature birth, small head circumference, low birth weight and foetal death</p> <p>This season’s bushfires caused a <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/spike-in-ambulance-calls-for-help-before-smoke-haze-worsens-20200107-p53pea.html">51% spike</a> in people needing help for respiratory issues on one of the most extreme days in Melbourne. Children are among the most vulnerable to respiratory issues stemming from poor air quality.</p> <p>But it’s not just physical health in question – mental health is also at risk.</p> <p>Today’s children already know that without major change, the world they were born into will limit their quality of life. It’s not only affecting their <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/the-dread-and-worry-keeping-young-australians-up-at-night-20191115-p53aw5.html">mental health</a>, but also their process of identity formation, with children experiencing an “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-terror-of-climate-change-is-transforming-young-peoples-identity-113355">existential whiplash</a>”.</p> <p>They’re caught between two forces: the belief held by previous generations that if you work hard you’ll have a high quality of life, and knowledge that climate change will make parts of the planet inhabitable.</p> <p><strong>Weighing it all up</strong></p> <p>Of course, improvements in family planning are not solely a matter for the developed world. As <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2102">experts have stated</a>, family planning has the potential to empower women in developing nations, giving them the basic human right to choose whether to have children.</p> <p>Policies to support this – such as better access to contraception and giving more girls a quality education – <a href="https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/11/08-062562/en/">would be a “win-win”</a>, improving reproductive rights and slowing the population growth to combat climate change.</p> <p>As for my own situation, my mind isn’t yet made up. I am seriously considering not having kids altogether. Or perhaps my partner and I will have only one child, or adopt.</p> <p>But one thing is clear. Whether you want to create a healthier planet or you’re concerned about the Earth your children will inherit, climate change should weigh heavily on your family planning decisions.</p> <p><em>Written by Melissa Pappas. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-this-new-world-of-bushfire-terror-i-question-whether-i-want-to-have-kids-126752">The Conversation.</a> </em></p>

Retirement Life

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Second victim in London Bridge attack named

<p>Saskia Jones, who was described as a “funny, kind and positive influence” has been named as the second victim of Friday’s London Bridge terror attack.</p> <p>The 23-year-old former Cambridge University graduate had only just applied to the police’s graduate scheme, with the intention to specialise in victim support, when her life was brutally stolen from her.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5iw2h9lqCY/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5iw2h9lqCY/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Kushal Roy (@unapologetickushal)</a> on Dec 1, 2019 at 12:26pm PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>In a heartbroken statement, her family said her loss would leave a huge void in the lives of everyone she had met.</p> <p>“Saskia was a funny, kind, positive influence at the centre of many people’s lives,” they said.</p> <p>“She had a wonderful sense of mischievous fun and was generous to the point of always wanting to see the best in all people.</p> <p>“She was intent on living life to the full, and had a wonderful thirst for knowledge, enabling her to be the best she could be.</p> <p>“Saskia had a great passion for providing invaluable support to victims of criminal injustice, which led her to the point of recently applying for the police graduate recruitment programme, wishing to specialise in victim support."</p> <p>Miss Jones had been attending a prisoner rehabilitation initiative, when convicted terrorist Usman Khan attacked volunteers and delegates with two larges knives.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5gP5uKIzMD/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5gP5uKIzMD/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Ideologiekritische Aktion (@ideologiekritische_aktion)</a> on Nov 30, 2019 at 1:00pm PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>She died alongside another Cambridge graduate, Jack Merritt, who was as equally committed to helping others ­ specifically prisoners’ who wanted to turn their lives around.</p> <p>Khan was released from prison last year after serving eight years of a 16-year sentence for plotting to blow up the London Stock Exchange and other targets.</p> <p>He had been invited to attend the event to discuss his experiences, however, began stabbing at least five people and fatally wounding Miss Jones and Mr Merritt.</p> <p>Director of the Institute of Criminology, at Cambridge Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe, shared a heartfelt statement about her former student.</p> <p>"Saskia's warm disposition and extraordinary intellectual creativity was combined with a strong belief that people who have committed criminal offences should have opportunities for rehabilitation,” she said.</p> <p>"Though she completed her MPhil in Criminology in 2018, her determination to make an enduring and positive impact on society in everything she did led her to stay in contact with the Learning Together community. </p> <p>"They valued her contributions enormously and were inspired by her determination to push towards the good."</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5ilhR7Jft1/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5ilhR7Jft1/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by JD dan (@janined62)</a> on Dec 1, 2019 at 10:47am PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>She also made a heartfelt tribute to Mr Merritt: "All of us at the Institute will miss Jack's quiet humour and rigorous intellect. Jack's passion for social and criminal justice was infectious. He was deeply creatively and courageously engaged with the world, advocating for a politics of love. He worked tirelessly in dark places to pull towards the light."</p> <p>Just last month, Miss Jones shared a post onto her Facebook page which relayed a heartfelt sentiment about appreciating the little things in life.</p> <p>“I hope I never get tired of the night sky, of thunderstorms, of watching cream make galaxies in my coffee,” the post read.</p> <p>“This world is ugly. I hope I never grow to be someone who can no longer see the small beautiful things.”</p>

Travel Trouble

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Four injured after attempted terror attack in New York

<p>Witnesses have described terrifying scene of people “running for their lives” after a man detonated a homemade bomb inside the New York subway system during Monday morning rush hour.</p> <p>Authorities called the explosion in the terminal at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue an "attempted terrorist attack" and police identified the suspect in custody as Akayed Ullah, 27.</p> <p>The suspect, a former cab driver believed to be from Bangladesh, strapped an improvised pipe bomb to his body with velcro and zip ties that exploded in an underground passageway.</p> <p><img width="398" height="299" src="http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/080b6834f11ec8649f756eb2d21b2398" alt="Akayed Ullah pictured on his 2011 driver’s licence shows. Picture: New York Department of Motor Vehicles via AP" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>The New York Post report he carried out the attack as revenge, saying from his hospital bed according to law enforcement sources the Post spoke to: “They’ve been bombing in my country and I wanted to do damage here.”</p> <p>New York governor Andrew Cuomo described the explosive as an unsophisticated “low-tech device” that the suspect learnt how to make on the internet.</p> <p>He told CNN the man “wound up hurting himself” when the device partially detonated in the passageway.</p> <p>The New York Police Department said Akayed was in custody at Bellevue Hospital in a serious condition suffering burns and lacerations to his hands and abdomen.</p> <p>Three people suffered minor, “non-life-threatening” injuries including ringing in their ears n, the New York Fire Department confirmed. One of the injured was a Port Authority police officer.</p>

News

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BREAKING: Several people killed after truck plows into cyclists in New York

<p>A man has been shot and taken into custody in New York after driving his Home Depot rental truck onto a busy bike path and firing at a crowd. At least six people have been killed and 15 more have been injured.</p> <p>The incident occurred on the West Side Highway in Lower Manhattan, nearby Stuyvesant High School and the site of the World Trade Center. It comes just hours before New York’s annual Halloween parade, which attracts thousands to the area.</p> <p>“What happened was there was a car crash… he came out of one of the cars. He had two guns. He was running around Chambers [Street] and somebody started to chase him,” 14-year-old Stuyvesant student Laith Bahlouli told reporters. “I heard four to six gunshots – everybody starts running.”</p> <p>US police have described the incident as a terror attack, with reports suggesting the FBI has taken over the investigation.</p> <p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> The death toll has risen to eight, according to a statement from Mayor Bill de Blasio.</p> <p>"This was an act of terror and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians, aimed at people going about their lives who had no idea about what was about to hit them. We know of eight innocent people who have lost their lives and over a dozen more injured.</p> <p>"We know that this action was intended to break our spirit, but we also know New Yorkers are strong, New Yorkers are resilient and our spirit will never be moved by an act of violence."</p> <p>The suspect allegedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great" in Arabic) during the incident.</p> <p><em>More to come.</em></p>

Legal

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Passengers' terror as AirAsia flight plunges 20,000 feet in mid-air emergency

<p>An AirAsia flight from Perth to Bali has plunged 20,000 feet in a mid-air emergency, causing chaos on board as passengers began fearing for their lives.</p> <p>Flight QZ535 was forced to turn back to Perth Airport on Sunday morning after a technical issue caused the cabin to lose pressure, just 25 minutes into its flight,</p> <p>Oxygen masks dropped and passengers were told to get into brace position as the plane plunged from 32,000 feet to 10,000 feet.</p> <p><img width="306" height="455" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/10/15/10/455AEE1100000578-4981868-image-m-13_1508058631790.jpg" alt="Total panic: Passengers were forced to put on oxygen masks when the cabin lost pressure mid-air (pictured)" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" id="i-bf6e03d6e7d8ed6e"/></p> <p>Clare Askew, among the 145 passengers on board, said the reaction of the airline’s crew made the ordeal much more terrifying than it perhaps needed to be.</p> <p>“The panic was escalated because of the behaviour of staff who were screaming, looked tearful and shocked,” she told <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/airasia-bali-flight-returns-to-perth-after-midair-emergency/news-story/5df82a86e8825ada020da66ca87e07e2" target="_blank">Perth Now</a>.</strong></span></p> <p>“Now, I get it, but we looked to them for reassurance and we didn’t get any, we were more worried because of how panicked they were.”</p> <p>A passenger named Leah told <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/10/15/19/16/air-asia-flight-forced-to-turn-back-after-terrifying-midair-emergency" target="_blank">Nine News</a></strong></span>: “I actually picked up my phone and sent a text message to my family, just hoping that they would get it. We were all pretty much saying goodbye to each other. It was really upsetting.”</p> <p>Leah said the cabin crew were panicking but left passengers in the dark as to what was happening.</p> <p>“One of the stewardesses started running down the aisle and we thought, ‘why is she running?’ And then the masks fell down and everybody started panicking. Nobody told us what was going on,” she said.</p> <p>Tracy, who was travelling with son Jayden, said: “My son said he didn’t want to get on another flight but I’ve assured him it can’t happen twice in a row. It’s really put me off flying. I fly every year on AirAsia.”</p> <p>The plane landed safely in Perth and passenger flights were rescheduled.</p> <p>AirAsia said its engineers at Perth Airport were investigating the aircraft.</p> <p>“The safety of our guests is our utmost priority,” the airline said in a statement. “AirAsia Indonesia apologises for any inconvenience caused.”</p>

International Travel

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