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Brave bystanders praised after mass Sydney stabbing

<p>New details have emerged after multiple people were stabbed following a car crash in Sydney's south, on Sunday. </p> <p>Emergency crews were called to the intersection of Princes Highway and Old Bush Road at about 9am after receiving several triple zero calls about a crash. </p> <p>A 58-year-old man, who was known to police for "a number of matters" and suspected of carrying out the wild attacks, was allegedly found running from the scene by officers. </p> <p>He was later pursued on foot, tasered and taken into custody, and remains in Liverpool Hospital in serious condition, as he appeared to have inflicted a number of injuries to himself before the police arrived. </p> <p>A policeman was also injured during the arrest after the alleged offender stabbed him on his arm. </p> <p>A woman in her 40s, was allegedly being assaulted by the man as he drove, and is believed to be the partner of the alleged offender. </p> <p>“They were in a domestic relationship, there is no history that we are aware of, there is no apprehended violence orders between the two but definitely domestic related,” Superintendent Donald Faulds told a press conference on Sunday afternoon. </p> <p>“We believe the female was being assaulted in the car while the male was driving the vehicle at the same time.</p> <p>“A number of witnesses mentioned the car was driving quite erratically at the time and we believe that’s when the assault was occurring in the car and as result they then collided with another vehicle.”</p> <p>The female passenger was transported to hospital and is in a critical condition. </p> <p>Three other people were also injured, after they had rushed over to the accident to help. </p> <p>It is alleged that he had a box-cutter. </p> <p>“A number of members of the community stopped to assist occupants from both those vehicles,” the Superintendent said. </p> <p>“As community members were assisting one of the females out of one vehicle, a male got out of that vehicle. He was armed with what we believe to be a box cutter.”</p> <p>One witness reportedly told radio station 2GB that he saw a man get out of the car appearing to be armed with a box cutter, yelling “I’m going to kill you”.</p> <p>A NSW spokesman said of those injured, one male patient had sustained slash wounds to his arms and his neck and has been taken to Liverpool Hospital and is now in a serious but stable condition. </p> <p>A woman in her 40s was taken to St George Hospital with multiple stab wounds and is in critical condition. Another woman was hospitalised in a serious condition with a stab wound to the abdomen. </p> <p>The police officer sustained a large laceration to his arm and is in a stable condition. </p> <p>Superintendent Faulds praised the brave bystanders who went to assist those in the crash, without knowing what was about to unfold. </p> <p>“Amazing work, they’ve just turned up thinking it was a normal motor vehicle accident so they’ve obviously have gone to render assistance to both people and then they were faced with a male armed with a box cutter, quite frightening but very brave on those peoples’ behalf,” he said. </p> <p>He has asked the community to reach out to Crime Stoppers or Sutherland Police if they have any information about the incident. </p> <p><em>Images: Nine News</em></p>

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Olympic disaster as Nine publishing staff stage mass walkout

<p>Nearly all journalists employed by Nine Entertainment newspapers – more than 90 percent – are going on strike just as the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris are about to commence. This includes 20 reporters already on the ground in Paris, significantly impacting coverage of the event.</p> <p>The strike, beginning Friday July 26 and lasting for at least five days, follows a vote by staff at Nine's key mastheads – <em>The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, WAtoday, </em>and<em> Brisbane Times</em>– who overwhelmingly supported the industrial action. The decision comes after failed negotiations over annual pay rates between union representatives and Nine Entertainment management.</p> <p>During a crucial meeting on Thursday, <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/current-affairs/more-than-90-per-cent-of-nine-publishing-staff-walk-off-the-job-on-eve-of-2024-olympics/news-story/1bb81c607dbae8c7756e9726d085e45c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au reported</a> that a 3.5 percent annual pay rise offer from Nine executives, up from the existing 2 percent, was rejected by journalists. The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), representing 90 percent of the journalists, deemed the proposal insufficient amid ongoing inflation and recent announcements of significant job cuts, including 90 positions from the publishing division.</p> <p>The strike, coinciding with the Olympic Games' opening, poses a substantial challenge for Nine, which holds exclusive broadcast rights to the event in a $305 million deal. The company has assured the public that plans are in place to maintain production and distribution during the walkout, with "skeleton staff" working in local newsrooms.</p> <p>In a statement, Nine's publishing managing director, Tory Maguire, expressed disappointment over the union's decision while still committing to continued negotiation: "While it is disappointing the union has elected to proceed with industrial action, we can confirm comprehensive plans are in place to ensure the production and distribution of Nine Publishing mastheads will not be impacted and our readers will continue to have access to unrivalled coverage of the Paris Olympics."</p> <p>The situation is further complicated by concerns among staff over job security and the potential use of artificial intelligence in journalism, exacerbating fears of further job losses.</p> <p>Should the strike threaten to extend beyond the initial five days, the financial implications for Nine are substantial. The network, having invested over $120 million in this year's Games, faces potential losses amid high production costs and declining advertising revenue.</p> <p><em>Image: Nine Entertainment</em></p>

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Urgent investigation into potential cancer cluster after mass diagnosis

<p>An urgent investigation has been launched into a potential cancer cluster after five women from the same workplace all developed cancer. </p> <p>Liverpool City Council confirmed five staff members working at its Moore Street office building, in Sydney’s southwest, were diagnosed with thyroid cancer within three to five years of each other. </p> <p>Four of the five workers are taking part in an urgent investigation by the NSW Department of Health, while sixth worker who has reported a thyroid condition has also opted out.</p> <p>The staff members were all working on the sixth floor of the office building, which has since been shut down upon the commencement of the investigation, with workers being relocated to other floors. </p> <p>Jenny Havilah, who works on level six of the building and was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer, told <em><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/liverpool-council-cancer-cluster-investigation-three-staff-diagnosed-thyroid-cancer/75ef3ccd-1ca6-4b41-b3b5-8c614886f093#:~:text=Liverpool%20Council%20has%20made%20the,were%20%22well%20and%20working%22." target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-tgev="event119" data-tgev-container="bodylink" data-tgev-order="75ef3ccd-1ca6-4b41-b3b5-8c614886f093#:~:text=Liverpool%20Council%20has%20made%20the,were%20%22well%20and%20working%22." data-tgev-label="national" data-tgev-metric="ev">9News</a></em> she was concerned for her colleagues' health and safety. </p> <p>“It certainly sounds very sinister,” she told the outlet when asked about how three of her workmates who sat five metres apart were experiencing the same health issue. </p> <p>“I’m worried about my colleagues, not just on the sixth floor (but) that worked in that building.”</p> <p>“I had my thyroid and some lymph nodes removed and I’ll get the results in a week or so.”</p> <p>In a statement, Liverpool City Council said it was taking the matter “very seriously”, and have employed a third-party environmental health consultant while the NSW Department of Health undertakes a separate epidemiological investigation.</p> <p>“The decision to relocate staff is in response to the council’s high level of concern for the welfare of its staff,” the council said. </p> <p>“Our thoughts are with those affected and we wish them a prompt recovery.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Nine News </em></p>

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“It turned to tragedy”: Three people dead after mass drowning

<p dir="ltr">Three people have died and another is in critical condition after drowning at the popular Phillip Island beach in Victoria. </p> <p dir="ltr">Emergency response teams were quick on the scene on Wednesday afternoon after four people were unresponsive after being pulled from the water at the beach notorious for dangerous rips. </p> <p dir="ltr">The victims are a man in his 40s and two women in their 20s, while another woman in her 20s is fighting for her life after being airlifted to hospital. </p> <p dir="ltr">An eyewitness told <em>7News</em> it was a “horrible” situation that unfolded. </p> <p dir="ltr">“The family was really upset,” the witness, Alex Tzatzimakis, said. “There seemed to be a group of 10 people who came here for a really nice day. Obviously it turned to tragedy.”</p> <p dir="ltr">She said that family members of the victims were crying and consoling each other, while beachgoers who pulled the bodies from the water attempted to perform CPR. </p> <p dir="ltr">One man could be heard wailing, <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/bass-coast/emergency-services-converge-on-forrest-caves-beach-phillip-island/news-story/1c8708162bf57f6f97c23e4306aedb2a">according to the <em>Herald Sun</em></a>, “I told them not to go – I should have been there.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The incident is understood to have occurred at Forrest Caves, a popular tourist destination on Phillip Island known for its sea caves, but is also an unpatrolled beach known for its dangerous rips. </p> <p dir="ltr">Locals have reacted to the horrific drowning, with many admitting they would not ever attempt to swim in the hazardous waters. </p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s treacherous out there,” one person wrote on Facebook. “Definitely not a swimming beach. Only if you are a strong swimmer and understand rips.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“So, so sad,” a second wrote. “Great surfing beach but not a swimming beach.”</p> <p dir="ltr">A third said, “If the island is going to be pushed so hard as a tourist destination there will be more and more incidents.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Drownings around Australia have risen this summer, with many people flocking to less busy unpatrolled beaches to escape the summer heat. </p> <p dir="ltr">In the days before the fatal Phillip Island drowning, Surf Life Saving Australia CEO Adam Weir told <em><a href="https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/tragic-summer-high-number-of-drowning-deaths-on-australian-beaches/video/a66cc0032dfe6482f9d7e023179de36c">Sky News Australia</a></em> the issue is “very concerning”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We’ve had 33 drowning deaths around the country so far,” Mr Weir said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“And we’ve still got a month to go in summer, so it has been a tragic summer.”</p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><em>Image credits: 9News</em><span id="docs-internal-guid-3041d316-7fff-6761-69a3-b703dcdbba4d"></span></p>

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The BMI isn’t all its cracked up to be

<p>The obsession people have with weight is nothing new. But as the relationship between science and weight evolves, health professionals are increasingly advocating for a shift away from one of the most often used tools as an individual measure of health.</p> <div class="copy"> <p>The Body Mass Index – or BMI – has been used for the past half century as a standard measurement tool for weight and obesity. It’s calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by the square of their height in metres.</p> <p>This produces a figure which is indexed on a spectrum of weight ranges. A BMI below 18.5 is considered underweight, above 25 is overweight, and above 30 is obese.</p> <p>The latest episode of <em>Debunks</em>, a new podcast from Cosmos, investigates how useful the BMI actually is for assessing health.</p> <p>Health advocacy bodies, health insurers and government departments all make reference to the BMI as being a globally recognised standard for weight classification.</p> <p>Most – but not all – <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/bmi-overweight-obese-healthy-deaths/">acknowledge that the tool is imperfect</a>. Its <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/body-and-mind/body-mass-index-miscalculation/">simple arithmetic</a> is based on a system devised by 19th-century Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quetelet, who was an early pioneer of the social sciences and the use of data to understand human trends.</p> <p>The so-called ‘Quetelet Index’ was first described in 1832 as a means of trying to identify a calculation for the average man, first by conducting cross-sectional studies of infants and then adults.</p> <p>The need to consider weight as an indicator for health, mortality and morbidity, saw scientists trial several measurements before settling on Quetelet’s formula and rebranding it as the BMI in 1972.</p> <p>The problem? The BMI was largely based on studies of Anglo-Saxon populations. This is one of the biggest limitations often recognised by health groups. The Australian Department of Health, for instance, notes that a healthy BMI range is generally lower for people of Asian backgrounds, and higher for those of Polynesian backgrounds.</p> <p>But ethnicity isn’t the only limiting factor. Age and pregnancy status also play a part. Even athletes with more lean muscle (which weighs more than fat) might also find the standard BMI doesn’t capture their health status accurately.</p> <p>Diets and lifestyles have also shifted from the 19th century Belgian standard, and even from those of 50 years ago. Health professionals have long supported a shift away from the BMI being used as a rolled gold indicator of individual health, and medical professionals are beginning to take a wider view of patient health.</p> <p>“There has been a recent change in the position from the [US] National Academies of Nutrition and Dietetics surrounding BMI and there are shifts in the guidelines around BMI for medical diagnosis,” Dr Emma Beckett, a molecular nutritionist at the University of Newcastle, tells <em>Debunks</em>.</p> <p>The same goes for other measurements like waist-to-hip ratios and waist circumference. These metrics are often used by researchers conducting large population studies, but they don’t necessarily explain a person’s ‘health picture’.</p> <p>“Because we measure them in so many of our research studies, people mistakenly believe they are the most important markers of health and it’s just not true. Health is so much more complicated,” Beckett says.</p> <p>“The ‘normal’ [BMI] category is the one with the lowest health risks, but it doesn’t mean being in that category means you have no health risks and it doesn’t mean if you just get yourself into that category and change nothing else, there are no health risks.”</p> <p>On the latest series of Debunks, a podcast from Cosmos and 9Podcasts, find out how weight – and measurements like the BMI – are much more complicated than they might seem.</p> <p><iframe title="Weight: Should you care about your BMI?" src="https://omny.fm/shows/debunks/weight-should-you-care-about-your-bmi/embed" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <div><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; padding-top: 20px; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px;"><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/body-and-mind/the-bmi-isnt-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="null">Cosmos</a>. </em></div> </div>

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"It was a brutal moment": Qantas employee recalls mass firing

<p>A former Qantas worker has recalled the "brutal" moment he and almost 1,700 employees were fired from the airline. </p> <p>Ramp supervisor Don Dixon spoke to <em>A Current Affair</em> about his time with the Qantas, just hours after the High Court ruled the Aussie airline <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/finance/legal/jubilant-scenes-as-high-court-hands-down-judgment-against-qantas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">illegally sacked</a> hundreds of employees during the Covid-19 pandemic.</p> <p>“I absolutely loved Qantas. It was a fantastic company to work for until Joyce took over,” the former employee of over 20 years told Ally Langdon. </p> <p>“Some of the people I worked with [had been there for] 40 years, and it was an iconic Australian company, and it was a fabulous place to go to work." </p> <p>“The last 15 years were just awful.”</p> <p>Mr Dixon said that when Alan Joyce took over as CEO, “everything changed” revealing that loyalty diminished, and he was made to feel like a “dinosaur”.</p> <p>According to Mr Dixon, he and his team found out they had three months until they would be terminated via an announcement over a loudspeaker in the lunch room. </p> <p>Host Allison Langdon, floored by the revelation, asked, “Is there any more cowardly way to tell someone who has served loyalty for 20 years they no longer have a job?”</p> <p>“They could have mailed something, but I don’t think they would have paid for the stamp,” Mr Dixon responded.</p> <p>“Over the loudspeaker, in the lunch room, we were all together. It was just a brutal moment.”</p> <p>Mr Dixon claimed that finding other work after he was fired was challenging, given that the 20 years at Qantas left him with a specific skill set. </p> <p>“Nobody wanted to employ you – when you worked at Qantas, it was a career, it was a lifetime, no one was going to leave because it was that good.”</p> <p>“It’s not as if every company in Australia has a role for washed-up baggage handlers and cleaners.”</p> <p>He said Wednesday marked the first day since what has been dubbed one of the largest sackings in Australian corporate history that he, as a union delegate, had heard “happy voices” on the other end of the phone line. </p> <p>“We were a small part of history today – we won – we did it.”</p> <p>In the landmark decision that saw former employees pumping their fists in celebration inside the courtroom, Qantas has issued a formal apology to its workforce after the High Court declared its actions unlawful when it terminated the employment of over 1,700 ground crew members during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p> <p>The court upheld two prior rulings from the Federal Court that deemed the airline's outsourcing of baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff to be in violation of the law.</p> <p><em>Image credits: A Current Affair</em></p>

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The body mass index can’t tell us if we’re healthy. Here’s what we should use instead

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachael-jefferson-buchanan-297850">Rachael Jefferson-Buchanan</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/charles-sturt-university-849">Charles Sturt University</a></em></p> <p>We’ve known for some time the <a href="https://theconversation.com/using-bmi-to-measure-your-health-is-nonsense-heres-why-180412">body mass index (BMI) is an inaccurate measuring stick</a> for assessing someone’s weight and associated health. But it continues to be the go-to tool for medical doctors, population researchers and personal trainers.</p> <p>Why is such an imperfect tool still being used, and what should we use instead?</p> <h2>First, what is BMI?</h2> <p>BMI is an internationally recognised screening method for sorting people into one of four weight categories: underweight (BMI less than 18.5), normal weight (18.5 to 24.9), overweight (25.0 to 29.9) or obese (30 or greater).</p> <p>It’s a value <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/index.html">calculated</a> by a measure of someone’s mass (weight) divided by the square of their height.</p> <h2>Who invented BMI?</h2> <p>Belgian mathematician <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolphe-Quetelet">Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet</a> (1796-1874) devised the BMI in 1832, as a mathematical model to chart the average Western European man’s <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17890752/">physical characteristics</a>.</p> <p>It was initially called the <a href="https://www.msdmanuals.com/en-au/professional/multimedia/clinical-calculator/body-mass-index-quetelets-index">Quetelet Index</a> and was never meant to be used as a medical assessment tool. The Quetelex Index was renamed the “body mass index” in 1972.</p> <h2>What’s wrong with the BMI?</h2> <p>Using a mathematical formula to give a full picture of someone’s health is just not possible.</p> <p>The BMI <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/index.html">does not measure excess body fat</a>, it just measures “excess” weight. It does not distinguish between excess body fat or bone mass or musculature, and does not interpret the distribution of fat (which <em>is</em> a <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/abdominal-fat-and-what-to-do-about-it">predictor</a> of health, including type 2 diabetes, metabolic disorders, and heart disease).</p> <p>It also cannot tell the difference between social variables such as sex, age, and ethnicity. Given Quetelet’s formula used only Western European men, the findings are not appropriate for many other groups, including non-European ethnicities, post-menopausal women and pregnant women.</p> <p>The medical profession’s <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37432007/">overreliance on BMI</a> may be <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2930234/">harming patients’ health</a> as it ignores much of what makes us healthy and focuses only on mass.</p> <h2>What should we use instead?</h2> <p>Rather than seeing BMI as the primary diagnostic test for determining a person’s health, it should be used in conjunction with other measures and considerations.</p> <p>Since researchers know belly fat around our vital organs carries the most <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3324">health risk</a>, <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-definition/how-to-measure-body-fatness/">waist circumference</a>, waist-to-hip ratio or waist-to-height ratio offer more accurate measurements of health.</p> <p><strong>Waist circumference</strong>: is an effective measure of fat distribution, particularly for athletes who carry less fat and more muscle. It’s most useful as a predictor of health when <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7027970/">combined with the BMI</a>. Waist circumference should be less than 94cm for men and 80cm for women for <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/bundles/your-heart/waist-measurement">optimal health</a>, as measured from halfway between the bottom of your ribs and your hip bones.</p> <p><strong>Waist-to-hip ratio</strong>: calculates the proportion of your body fat and how much is stored on your waist, hips, and buttocks. It’s the waist measurement divided by hip measurement and according to the World Health Organisation it should be <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/44583/9789241501491_eng.pdf;jsessionid=A119D165CFFF5E7B5BDBD51D9DD25684?sequence=1">0.85 or less for women, and 0.9 or less in men</a> to reduce health risks. It’s especially beneficial in predicting health outcomes in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40200-021-00882-4">older people</a>, as the ageing process alters the body proportions on which BMI is founded. This is because fat mass increases and muscle mass decreases with age.</p> <p><strong>Waist-to-height ratio</strong>: is height divided by waist circumference, and it’s <a href="https://www.nice.org.uk/news/article/keep-the-size-of-your-waist-to-less-than-half-of-your-height-updated-nice-draft-guideline-recommends">recommended</a> a person’s waist circumference be kept at less than half their height. Some studies have found this measure is <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/3/e010159">most strongly correlated</a> with health predictions.</p> <p>Body composition and body fat percentage can also be calculated through <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1A9m0wO17g">skinfold measurement tests</a>, by assessing specific locations on the body (such as the abdomen, triceps or quadriceps) with skin callipers.</p> <p>Additional ways to gauge your heart health include asking your doctor to monitor your cholesterol and blood pressure. These more formal tests can be combined with a review of lifestyle, diet, physical activity, and family medical history.</p> <h2>What makes us healthy apart from weight?</h2> <p>A diet including whole grains, low fat protein sources such as fish and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legume">legumes</a>, eggs, yoghurt, cheese, milk, nuts, seeds, and plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/heart-healthy-diet/art-20047702">reduces our risk</a> of heart and vessel disease.</p> <p>Limiting <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/generalissues/Pages/processed-foods.aspx">processed food</a> and sugary snacks, as well as <a href="https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/healthy+living/healthy+eating/healthy+eating+tips/eat+less+saturated+and+trans+fats">saturated and trans fats</a> can help us with weight management and ward off diet-related illnesses.</p> <p>Being physically active most days of the week improves general health. This <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/physical-activity-and-exercise/physical-activity-and-exercise-guidelines-for-all-australians">includes</a> two sessions of strength training per week, and 2.5 to five hours of moderate cardio activity or 1.25 to 2.5 hours of vigorous cardio activity.</p> <p>Weight is just one aspect of health, and there are much better measurements than BMI.<!-- 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/211190/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><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachael-jefferson-buchanan-297850"><em>Rachael Jefferson-Buchanan</em></a><em>, Lecturer in Human Movement Studies (Health and PE) and Creative Arts, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/charles-sturt-university-849">Charles Sturt University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: 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/the-body-mass-index-cant-tell-us-if-were-healthy-heres-what-we-should-use-instead-211190">original article</a>.</em></p>

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"We strongly object": Cruise line passengers witness mass whale hunt

<p dir="ltr">A cruise line has apologised to over 1,000 passengers who witnessed a gruesome whale killing while their ship was docking at a port.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ambassador Cruise Lines confirmed on Thursday that the arrival of their ship Ambition in Torshavn in the Faroe Islands - located between Scotland, Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic - had coincided “with the culmination of a hunt of 40+ pilot whales in the port area.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“We were incredibly disappointed that this hunt occurred at the time that our ship was in port. We strongly object to this outdated practice, and have been working with our partner, ORCA, a charity dedicated to studying and protecting whales, dolphins and porpoises in UK and European waters, to encourage change since 2021,” Ambassador said following the arrival of their ship in the Torshavn port area on the southern part of the main island.</p> <p dir="ltr">Communities in the Faroe Islands have been hunting pilot whales in the area for centuries, as many partake in the cultural tradition, known as grindadráp, to harvest the whale's meat which is an integral part of the local diet.</p> <p dir="ltr">As such, the government of the Faroe Islands issued a statement in rebuttal, reiterating their clear stance on the historical practice of whale hunting.</p> <p dir="ltr">“As has been the case for centuries, whaling still occurs in the Faroe Islands today,” a statement from the government said, on behalf of the estimated 53,000 people on the island, explaining the values of the whaling hunt.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Faroese have eaten pilot whale meat and blubber since they first settled the islands over a millenia ago. Today, as in times past, the whale drive is a community activity open to all, while also well organised on a community level and regulated by national laws.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The Faroe Island’s government said that the hunt is part of the island’s sustainability efforts and that “the meat and blubber from the hunt is distributed equally among those who have participated … Hunting and killing methods have been improved to ensure as little harm to the whales as possible. All hunters must now obtain a hunting license in order to kill a whale.”</p> <p dir="ltr">In their apology, Ambassador said that sustainability is one of the cruise line’s “core values”, and that the company fully appreciates that “witnessing this local event would have been distressing for the majority of guests onboard. Accordingly, we would like to sincerely apologise to them for any undue upset.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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Huge change coming to The Project after mass exodus

<p dir="ltr"><em>The Project</em> is reportedly opting for more youthful hosts following the shock resignation of their top dogs. </p> <p dir="ltr">Carrie Bickmore, Lisa Wilkinson and Peter Helliar all announced they will be leaving the news program within weeks of each other. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Studio 10</em> host Sarah Harris has already been named as Carrie’s replacement but now the network may have new faces for the show. </p> <p dir="ltr">”I did not see this coming. And I'm still trying to wrap my head around it,” Sarah said at the time of the announcement. </p> <p dir="ltr">“It's such an incredible opportunity to step into some pretty huge shoes and be part of The Project's next chapter.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I can't wait to learn more, and have some fun with Waleed and the team. This is one of the biggest jobs in TV, and feels like a once-in-a-lifetime gig.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Bachelor stars Abbie Chatfield and Laura Byrne, and the ABC's Tony Armstrong have all been possible name drops to front Channel Ten’s news program along with remaining host Waleed Aly. </p> <p dir="ltr">A strong possibility of Laura replacing Lisa has seen fans point out her appearance on the show in the previous weeks. </p> <p dir="ltr">She is also constantly sharing similar snaps as to what Carrie does, showing off her outfit. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Lisa, you’re all class and it has been a career highlight. The biggest privilege to sit at your desk,” Laura wrote on her podcast Life Uncut.</p> <p dir="ltr">“As a viewer and lover of the show, you will be so very missed.” </p> <p dir="ltr">Lisa responded: “I absolutely loved doing the show with you. I am so thrilled you are now a part of The Project family.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Watch this space. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: The Project</em></p>

TV

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“I want my younger body back”: Finding a way to fight age’s decay

<p>I’m turning 50 next year. Like any major milestone in life, that presents an opportunity to reflect on what’s behind and what’s ahead. On the long list of creeping “changes” I’d begun to notice about myself – both mental and physical – one that leapt out every time I looked in the mirror was a strange sense of … shrinking.</p> <p>It’s possible this was an issue I was hyper aware of, having seen it in my father. You watch the shoulders vanish, the hair disappear, the neck thin out. You think nothing of it – nothing overly negative, anyway; it’s just the graceful march of time after all – but all the same, it registers on some level. </p> <p>Dad passed away from a type of motor neurone disease called progressive supranuclear palsy at the age of 72, the effects of which could be seen for quite a few years before the end. He was always a very active, sporty and outdoors guy. Loved golf. Dominated on a tennis court. Was weirdly skilled with a frisbee, and quietly the most proud of that for some reason. </p> <p>All of those take dexterity, finesse and physicality, the very things that vanish first when you are in the grip of progressive supranuclear palsy. He swung his last club and racquet, and made his last tricky behind-the-back frisbee throw, many years before he would have wanted.       </p> <p>So that’s the backdrop – and clearly the motivation – to all of this. In my mind now I’ve got potentially the same fate in store. Intellectually I know that’s not how it works, but you can’t tell your emotional self that. Whether or not PSP or MND is in my future is not something I can control, and that creates fear.   </p> <p>So, obviously, taking control over what you CAN control is the only sensible course. Which brings us back to the mirror. </p> <p>I’d been noticing this shrinking for some time – an overall diminishing of muscle mass in the shoulders, arms and legs – so I decided to look it up. </p> <p>Turns out, at least according to <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/preserve-your-muscle-mass" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harvard Medical School</a>, that “age-related muscle loss, called sarcopenia, is a natural part of ageing. After age 30, you begin to lose as much as 3% to 5% per decade. Most men will lose about 30% of their muscle mass during their lifetimes.”</p> <p>Thirty percent! That’s pretty grim news. </p> <p>But all is not lost, as it also turns out that’s mostly reversible – through a little basic resistance and weight training and upping your protein intake. </p> <p>Since I was a little frightened of heading into a crowded gym during these pandemic times, I also decided I wanted something I could do from the safety and convenience of home – and that’s when fate intervened in the form of the <a href="https://www.onepeloton.com.au/guide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peloton Guide</a>.</p> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/Peloton_1280_setup.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>I’d only ever heard of the <a href="https://www.onepeloton.com.au/bikes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peloton exercise bikes</a> before, but this clever new gadget essentially turns your TV into a home gym, which I found to be very impressive and a great idea. You take the Peloton Guide camera, clip it either to the top of your screen or place it at the base, and then after walking you through a series of very simple set-up steps, you can suddenly see YOURSELF in one half of the TV, while your virtual or pre-recorded class instructor appears on the other half and takes you through a workout, step by step. </p> <p>It’s basically like having an expert, one-on-one personal trainer right there in your home whenever you want, for any kind of workout you can possibly conceive of. </p> <p><a href="https://www.onepeloton.com.au/digital/checkout/digital-30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">There’s an app</a> that contains a list of all the available workouts and exercises, all of which are designed to suit different ages and fitness levels so you can increase muscle mass while building stronger bones to reduce injury risk. There are warm-up classes, ones using dumbbell weights, others using just your own bodyweight, upper body, lower body, full-body, prenatal classes (I skipped those), resistance band classes, pilates classes, yoga sessions and load, loads more.</p> <p>Aside from being incredibly easy to use and a lot of fun, I found the classes to be highly motivating – and that’s the key right there. For some reason having that virtual instructor right there in front of you, showing you exactly how to perform each exercise, giving you encouragement and urging you on, really helps you try your hardest and even look forward to the next class. </p> <p>There are all kinds of other benefits, including free delivery, a <a href="https://www.onepeloton.com.au/home-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100-day home trial</a> with a refund if you don’t absolutely love it, but for basically having a personal trainer on permanent stand-by in your home 24/7, I think the <a href="https://www.onepeloton.com.au/shop/guide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rates are really reasonable</a>. Especially when the pay-offs are so great. </p> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/Peloton_12803.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>After just a few days of classes I was feeling the pain, but it was that good kind of pain you get from slowly reintroducing muscle groups to the concept of doing more than just sitting there gradually fading away.</p> <p>Then after a few weeks of classes that initial pain was replaced by a noticeable return of muscle mass and definition around the shoulders, in my legs, my arms, my calves and everywhere else that the tireless virtual trainers had directed me to concentrate my efforts.</p> <p>All in all I’m really happy with the results so far – enough to stick with it for the long term, that’s for sure. I haven’t suddenly become Arnold Schwarzenegger, but that was never the goal. I just wanted to feel stronger and more able to move around with the freedom I had felt a handful of years ago.</p> <p>I know I’m not alone in feeling like this. We recently asked our Over60 readers the exact question I had been thinking: “If you could get your younger body back, would you do it – and why?” and the responses were telling, to say the least.         </p> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/Peloton_1280_facebook2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" />  </p> <p>“I don't need the body that was beautiful,” said Over60 reader Merilyn O'Neill. ”But I would choose to have the strength that I had.”</p> <p>Greg Browning chimed in with this: “Yes. I am sick and tired of my body telling me that I can’t do the things I used to do.”</p> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/Peloton_1280_facebook1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>Paulette Bakker said that “more muscle tone would help”; Lynne Fairbrother said, “Doesn't have to be younger, just stronger and then I could play tennis again”; Karen Moon said, “In a heartbeat… so l could play netball and tennis again… and this time l would appreciate it more!”</p> <p>And last but not least, Over60 reader Kel Marlow said what we’re all probably thinking: “Absolutely… because I’d probably live 10 years longer!”</p> <p>Well said, Kel. The good thing is it’s never too late to start.</p>

Body

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"Beauty from ashes": The unlikely love story to emerge from devastating US shooting

<p>It's one of the most unlikely places for romance to blossom. </p> <p>But for Lasamoa Lanier, what was the most traumatic and devastating night of her life also became the night she met her future husband. </p> <p>On July 20th 2012, Lasamoa and her then fiancé AJ Boik attended the midnight screening of Dark Knight Rises in Colorado. </p> <p>Just after the opening scenes, a gunman opened fire in the cinema which claimed the lives of 12 people and wounded 70. </p> <p>Among the deceased was Lasamoa's 18-year-old fiancé, who died at the scene after sustaining two fatal gun shot injuries. </p> <p>Officer Cody Lanier, a resource officer at Lasamoa's high school, was one of the officers who rushed to the scene to try and assist on that horrifying day.</p> <p>Lasamoa was trying to cope with the grief of losing her fiancé, while Officer Lanier was reeling from the pain of not being able to save all those who perished. </p> <p>He also was the officer who had to break the tragic news to Boik's mother telling her that her son probably did not survive calling "it the absolutely the worst singular event I could imagine as a cop."</p> <p>For Lasamoa, she spent years trying to heal from the tragedy and found various ways to cope. </p> <p>Part of her healing included  writing letters to the police officers, who were also traumatised by the massacre, thanking them for risking their own lives while trying to save others.</p> <p>She delivered the letter to Officer Cody, and the pair decided to go out for lunch. </p> <p>What was supposed to be an hour long lunch turned into an entire evening and the beginning of a special relationship. </p> <p>"In a way, La kind of filled this gap," Cody said. "Beyond that it was just this connection. Every day since she turned into my best friend."</p> <p>"I am pretty sure there is not a thing that I want to do where she is not involved," he said.</p> <p>On October 3rd 2021, the pair made it offical and tied the knot in a beautiful wedding ceremony which Lasamoa calls the "best day of her life".</p> <p>The couple are still swept up in their post wedding bliss, as they reflect on how they found love in the most unlikely circumstances. </p> <p>"It's like a sleepover with my best friend all the time. It's crazy. Beauty from ashes, man," Cody said. "I don't know what I would do without her."</p> <p>Lasamoa shares the same feelings, as she counts her blessings each day. </p> <p>"Sometimes I stop and think about it and I am like oh you are able to find love again," she said. </p> <p>"I have been through this and been through that but life is still happening."</p> <p>Lasamoa still journals to help her heal from the trauma, and shared a letter she wrote to her late fiancé AJ on Instagram. </p> <p>She wrote, "I don't know if you had any intentions of leading him [Cody] to me, but I really appreciate you sending him to me."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram</em></p>

Relationships

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Mass shooting in Copenhagen claims several lives, injures others

<p dir="ltr">Several people have been killed and others have been wounded after a gunman opened fire in a shopping centre in Copenhagen, Denmark.</p> <p dir="ltr">Terrified shoppers ran for safety as the gunman wielded a “hunting rifle” at Field’s Shopping Mall on Sunday afternoon local time, with images showing parents carrying their children as they fled.</p> <p dir="ltr">Danish police said the suspected gunman, a 22-year-old Danish man, was detained near the mall, adding that police have undertaken a massive search operation in the local Zealand region to determine whether he had accomplices.</p> <p dir="ltr">“There are several injured, and what we also know now is that there are several dead,” police inspector Soren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen police operations unit, said at a press conference on Sunday evening.</p> <p dir="ltr">Thomassen added that a motive of “terrorism” couldn’t be ruled out as yet.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We investigate it as an act, where we can’t exclude, that it’s terror,” he said.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-306b3d19-7fff-5833-1604-8f7a2f62975e"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Witnesses told local media that they saw more than 100 people rush towards the exits when the first gunshots were heard.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/07/fields-shooting1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Shoppers were photographed fleeing the scene after the first shots were heard. Image: Getty Images</em></p> <p dir="ltr">Laurits Hermansen told Danish broadcaster DR that he was with his family in a clothing store when he heard “three-four bangs”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Really loud bangs. It sounded like shots were being fired just next to the store,” Hermansen said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Thera Scchmidt told broadcaster TV2 that they could see “many people” running towards the exit before hearing a bang, before they fled the mall themselves.</p> <p dir="ltr">20-year-old Emilie Jeppesen told Jyllands Posten: “You didn’t know what was happening. Suddenly there was just chaos everywhere.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We were sitting and going to eat and suddenly we could see people running.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Then we first thought, ‘why do people run?’ But then we could hear the shots.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Her friend, Astrid Kofoed Jørgensen, added: “Everyone in the restaurant was shown out into the kitchen, and then when we saw out there we could hear three or four shots.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Other witnesses who saw the gunman described him as a 1.8-metre-tall man with a hunting rifle.</p> <p dir="ltr">At around 5.30pm local time, roads around the shopping centre were blocked, the nearby subway was stopped and a helicopter was flying overhead, according to an AFP correspondent on the scene.</p> <p dir="ltr">Heavily armed police officers kept onlookers back from the area, preventing locals from returning to their homes.</p> <p dir="ltr">Singer Harry Styles, due to perform at a concert venue less than two kilometres from the shopping centre that evening, took to Snapchat to share his shock at the incident.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My team and I pray for everyone involved in the Copenhagen shopping mall shooting. I am shocked,” he wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">After announcing the show would “proceed as planned” shortly after the shooting, the organiser later announced the show’s cancellation.</p> <p dir="ltr">The shooting comes just two days after this year’s Tour de France began in Copenhagen, with the Tour organisers releasing a statement expressing their sympathy shortly after the attack.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0cc9b220-7fff-8450-4c04-fc94d9aff89a"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“The entire caravan of the Tour de France sends its sincerest condolences to the victims and their families,” it said.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

News

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10-year-old arrested for threatening to carry out mass shooting

<p>A 10-year-old boy has been arrested for threatening to carry out a mass shooting via text message.</p> <p>The 5th grader from Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral, in the state of Florida, was pictured in handcuffs and being walked to a police car on Saturday evening.</p> <p>He was interviewed and charged with making a written threat to conduct a mass shooting, coming just days after 19 children and two of their teachers were killed in a mass shooting in Texas.</p> <p>“This student’s behaviour is sickening, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a statement.</p> <p>“Right now is not the time to act like a little delinquent. It’s not funny. This child made a fake threat, and now he’s experiencing real consequences.”</p> <p>The sheriff’s office’s School Threat Enforcement Team was tipped off about the message and quick to act.</p> <p>“Making sure our children are safe is paramount,” Sheriff Macreno said.</p> <p>"My team didn’t hesitate one second, not one second, to investigate this threat.”</p> <p>While police in Texas were on the scene within minutes of the shooting at Robb Elementary School, officers have come under fire for waiting almost 80 minutes to enter the classroom and kill gunman Salvador Ramos.</p> <p>The Texas Department of Public Safety has since admitted that law enforcement’s response fell disastrously short.</p> <p>“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course it was not the right decision,” Director Steve McCraw said on the delay.</p> <p><em>Image: Lee County Sheriff's office </em></p>

Legal

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What caused the deadly scenes at Astroworld

<p><em><strong>Warning: This story contains graphic content which may distress some readers. </strong></em></p> <p><strong>What is Astroworld?</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Astroworld is an annual festival held by 30-year-old rapper Travis Scott in his native Houston, Texas.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The festival, named after his critically acclaimed album, has been running for three years after being founded in 2018 (there was no 2020 show due to the pandemic).</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The festival sees young rap fans from all over the country come to enjoy their favourite artists, but the 2021 event was vastly different to the years prior. </span></p> <p><strong>What happened?</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the first night of the festival on Friday night in Houston, the festival began with over an estimated 50,000 people in attendance. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">During the course of the evening as Travis Scott took to the stage as the final performer of the night, the crowd began to be crushed by each other. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fans were squeezed in so tightly between other festival-goers and a series of barricades that they could not breathe or move their arms. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As fans started to jump around and dance to the music, people began to fall to the ground and become trapped under a sea of bodies. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fans became compressed towards the front of the stage, as people began to pass out from a lack of oxygen, as paramedics were unable to get to everyone who needed help due to the overwhelming capacity of the crowd.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Houston police have reported that at least 8 people have died in the mass casualty event, and hundreds more people were gravely injured. </span></p> <p><strong>How did this happen?</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Throughout the beginning of the festival, people began posting photos and videos to social media of people storming the barricades and by-passing security to make it into the event. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fans recounted their time trying to make it into the venue, saying they noticed many people come into the event who didn’t have tickets or the required wristbands to the sold-out concert. </span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">As we were arriving to the Astroworld Festival at NRG Park right at 2:00, a stampede burst through the gates. Hundreds of people destroyed the VIP security entrance, bypassing the checkpoint. People were trampled. Some were detained. <br /><br />(Excuse any language you may hear) <a href="https://t.co/d0m2rjqAAk">pic.twitter.com/d0m2rjqAAk</a></p> — Mycah Hatfield (@MycahABC13) <a href="https://twitter.com/MycahABC13/status/1456704812456845316?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Fans just broke through the fence to get into <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AstroWorld?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AstroWorld</a><a href="https://t.co/mpi70ZzTOs">pic.twitter.com/mpi70ZzTOs</a></p> — XXL Magazine (@XXL) <a href="https://twitter.com/XXL/status/1456724589560598537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As fans knocked down the barricades, many got stuck under the sea of people storming the venue. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many people believe that as people without tickets pushed their way into the show, the venue quickly rose to maximum capacity, and was filled with people at an unsafe number. </span></p> <p><strong>Why did the concert continue?</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the majority of the injuries and deaths happened while Travis Scott, the main performer of the night, was on the stage, many in the crowd tried to start a chant of “Stop the show”.  </span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Fans urged and pleaded with Travis Scott to stop the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ASTROFEST?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ASTROFEST</a> show amid the mass casualty event. He continues to sing. <a href="https://t.co/xsBdX2Ew3x">pic.twitter.com/xsBdX2Ew3x</a></p> — Drama For The Girls (@dramaforthegirl) <a href="https://twitter.com/dramaforthegirl/status/1456974764879269890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Due to the overwhelming noise of the concert production, these cries went underheard by the performer and by concert officials. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Two concert-goers even climbed on a platform where a cameraman was filming the event, as they tried to get someone to notice what was happening. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The young woman, Seanna, posted her detailed recount of the event to her </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CV7NkBiLf3L/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, as another person captured her pleas to the cameraman, saying “Someone is dead in there”.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">“There is somebody dead.”<br /><br />“Stop the show. Stop the show. Stop the show.”<br /><br />And the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AstroWorld?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AstroWorld</a> show continued<a href="https://t.co/uHJKGiSosX">pic.twitter.com/uHJKGiSosX</a></p> — David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) <a href="https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/1457017187038908424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In her recount, Seanna said that as she desperately asked the cameraman to do something, the cameraman told her “he would push me off the 15ft platform if I didn’t get down” because “they were live-streaming the show”. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At one point throughout the show, Travis stops performing and says “Who asked me to stop?” before ignoring the cries of his audience and continuing the concert. </span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">tw/// astroworld <br /><br />the screams for help oh my God <a href="https://t.co/W1RMyxbE2z">pic.twitter.com/W1RMyxbE2z</a></p> — ★Reena★ (@harujukoo) <a href="https://twitter.com/harujukoo/status/1457053492049285125?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><strong>Has anything like this happened before?</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yes. At the 2019 Astroworld festival, three people were </span><a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-astroworld-2019-three-people-trampled-20211106-ulo2z6uderci5edpsqbz7s37e4-story.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">trampled and hospitalised</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as fans rushed to the entrance of the music event. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Crowd crushings have long been deadly and led to casualties, as </span><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/rock-roll-tragedy-why-11-died-at-the-whos-cincinnati-concert-93437/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">11 people died in 1979</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as fans scrambled to enter an Ohio venue for a concert by The Who. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At Sydney’s Olympic Stadium, </span><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/doublej/music-reads/features/how-the-big-day-out-lost-its-innocence/11606956"><span style="font-weight: 400;">teenager Jessica Michalik died</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after being crushed in a mosh pit at the Big Day Out festival in 2001. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p> <p><strong>What now?</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Houston officials are investigating the events that led to the devastating concert, as Travis Scott says he is “absolutely devastated” by what happened at Astroworld. </span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/ijXKslw7E2">pic.twitter.com/ijXKslw7E2</a></p> — TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) <a href="https://twitter.com/trvisXX/status/1457018948109705217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Following the deaths of 8 people, the second day of Astroworld was cancelled and the investigation remains ongoing. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Getty Images / Twitter</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>

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Body mass index miscalculation

<div> <div class="copy"> <p>For the first time in my life, to my horror, I noticed I had developed a spare tyre, so I put myself on a diet to get rid of it.</p> <p>It was a very simple diet: eat less. I lost 7 kg in three weeks and I looked trim. Bouncing triumphantly off the scales one morning, I decided to check my body mass index (BMI).</p> <p>To my great surprise, with a BMI of 24.1, I was at the high end of ‘normal’, <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.health.gov.au/internet/healthyactive/publishing.nsf/Content/healthy-weight" target="_blank">defined as between 18.5 and 24.9</a>. The charts told me I could lose another <span style="font-family: inherit;">20 kg and still be normal, but that would leave me skin and bones.</span></p> <p>It naturally got me wondering: how scientific is the body mass index (BMI)?</p> <p>It may be a <a rel="noopener" href="https://academic.oup.com/ndt/article/23/1/47/1923176" target="_blank">188-year-old staple of health statistics</a>, but modern health professionals have documented many flaws.</p> <p>For starters, the BMI doesn’t distinguish whether body weight comes from fat or muscle, so Michelin Man and the Terminator might have the same BMI despite their very obvious differences in fat and muscle distribution.</p> <p>Neither does it factor in other key health criteria such as age, gender or body type. For instance, people who deposit fat around their waists are at a higher risk of disease than people who deposit it on their hips and thighs.</p> <p>My concern, however, is that the BMI ignores elementary physics.</p> <p>The problem traces back to Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, the Belgian statistician who invented the BMI in 1830.</p> <p>Quetelet failed to consider the mathematics of scaling. He defined the body mass index as weight divided by height squared.</p> <p>Note, however, that weight is proportional to volume, which is proportional to height cubed. The upshot of this is that, all other things being equal, BMI varies directly with height, which it clearly should not. (See formula below.)</p> <p>Perhaps the fault goes back to Jonathan Swift’s <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17157/17157-h/17157-h.htm" target="_blank">wildly popular 1726 tale of </a><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17157/17157-h/17157-h.htm" target="_blank">Gulliver’s Travels</a>. Swift’s giant Brobdingnagians and tiny Lilliputians could not actually exist.</p> <p>For example, consider a giant twice as tall as myself but with exactly my shape and looks.</p> <p>If the giant was standing on a beach with no other objects in sight, a far-off observer could not tell that he was not me.</p> <p>Because his mass would be proportional to my height cubed, my double-height doppelganger would weigh eight times more than me.</p> <p>However, the cross-sectional area of his legs would be proportional to my height squared, so they would be only four times stronger.</p> <p>Those poor bones! They would be over-stressed by carrying eight times the weight.</p> <p>My giant double would collapse under his own weight. Now create a version of me half my height. He would weigh one-eighth of what I weigh, but his leg bones and muscles would be twice as strong as they needed to be.</p> <p>Nature understands this, which is why elephants look like elephants and ants like ants.</p> <p>The BMI formula does not share this insight. It can make tall people appear overweight when they are not.</p> <p>Compared with a 152 cm (five foot) individual with a ‘normal’ BMI of 22, an identically proportioned 183 cm (six foot) person would have a BMI of 26.5 – overweight.</p> <p>Based on BMI ranges, most Australians are too plump: 28% are classified as obese, 35% overweight, 35% normal and a mere 2% underweight.</p> <p>No doubt this skewing towards being overweight reflects a genuine health problem. But it might be affected by the increase in the average height of the population since 1830.</p> <p>Fortunately for Quetelet, there were few Terminators back then to question his BMI.</p> <p>And fortunately for Jonathan Swift his satire was not questioned by an incurable engineer who would have pointed out that the Brobdingnagian giants, at 12 times the height of Gulliver, would have weighed more than 100 tonnes, with a BMI in the hundreds.</p> <p>I don’t suggest changing the way the BMI is calculated, despite its flaws, because we would not want to throw out the past 188 years of BMI records (noting that in most cases the raw data – height and weight – will not have been kept).</p> <p>Instead, we could adjust the standard <span style="font-family: inherit;">BMI numerical ranges for underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese based on height, and perhaps even gender and body shape.</span></p> <p>Then your quite trim incurable engineer could relax instead of dieting himself to skin and bones.</p> <em>Image credit: Shutterstock                        <!-- Start of tracking content syndication. Please do not remove this section as it allows us to keep track of republished articles --> <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=21579&amp;title=Body+mass+index+miscalculation" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> <!-- End of tracking content syndication -->          </em></div> <div id="contributors"> <p><em>This article was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/body-and-mind/body-mass-index-miscalculation/" target="_blank">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Alan Finkel.</em></p> </div> </div>

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Man charged over mass horse shooting

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A man has been arrested over the death of 41 horses, including pregnant mares, at a property in western Queensland.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A member of the public found the horses on August 5 at a 2000-hectare property north of Longreach.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The animals were found with multiple gunshot wounds, with police alleging the horses - including geldings, colts, pregnant mares, and mares with foals - were killed between August 3 and August 4.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height:332.7731092436975px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843087/68976102d91c47d75ed4dbb8efbba07f.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/2bde4707b52a4c9882a031806cde0b44" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Supplied / Queensland Police</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The owner of the property had been in hospital for some time prior to the incident, and was not home when it occurred.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Police arrested and charged a 49-year-old Mount Isa man on Thursday, August 12, with one count of injuring animals.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The man was refused bail and will face the Mount Isa Magistrates Court on Friday.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Detective Sergeant Allan Cook said the incident caused “great devastation” in the local community.</span></p>

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How much does COVID-19 weigh?

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The total mass of COVID-19 globally is currently between 100g and 10kg, according to an estimate </span><a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/118/25/e2024815118"><span style="font-weight: 400;">recently published</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by Ron Milo of the Weizmann Institute of Science and his colleagues.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The article also details exactly how the team calculated the estimate.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Using the typical viral load of tissues and fluids in the body during the peak of an infection, the researchers estimated that an individual would carry between 1-100 billion viral particles, with a total mass of between 1 and 100 micrograms (between 0.0001 and 0.1 milligrams) during peak infection.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The team then calculated the global mass of the virus by multiplying the viral load by the number of cases globally.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The total number of viral particles globally was also calculated, with the researchers estimating that there have been between one hundred quadrillion and ten quintillion viral particles at any given time, assuming there has been between 1 million to 10 million people infected at close to peak infection over the course of the pandemic.</span></p> <p><strong>Why this matters</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It was also noted that, for every person infected with COVID-19, the virus particles enter cells and replicate between three and seven times. Each of these replications can also introduce mutations, though not all of them will result in new variants of the virus.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This allows researchers to calculate an estimated rate of the formation of new genetic variants and form a better understanding of how many cells in different areas of the body can become infected.</span></p>

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Shock casualties of the widespread Facebook news block

<p>Facebook's news ban has impacted news sites as well as non-news pages, including the Bureau of Meteorology and other Australian government pages.</p> <p><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/shock-casualties-of-facebooks-news-block-bom-betoota-advocate-wa-fire-australian-government-pages-wiped/news-story/de46c2fb6fa9a4c03aec35a49c7d2e07" target="_blank"><em>News.com.au</em></a><span> </span>has confirmed that Facebook is using technology to enforce the ban, but is unable to explain why other pages have been caught in the ban.</p> <p>Australians who are looking for reliable information about the weather from the Bureau of Meteorology won't be able to do so as all of its posts have been scrubbed from Facebook.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">So Facebook has even removed the <a href="https://twitter.com/BOM_au?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BOM_au</a> verified blue tick page's content as well. <br /><br />The Australian Bureau of Meteorology. <br /><br />The Australian Government Bureau that looks at the weather. <br /><br />WTF <a href="https://t.co/K7nKyLkgpW">pic.twitter.com/K7nKyLkgpW</a></p> — Trish (@Tr1shM) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tr1shM/status/1362161063848906753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <p>The Queensland Health Facebook page has also been wiped clean, so Queenslanders looking for information from their local health authorities will be impacted.</p> <p>Other government Facebook pages hit by the ban include the ACT Government Facebook page, the South Australian Health Facebook page and Harvey Norman, the electronics retailer.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">I get all my Australian news from Harvey Norman.... 😳 <a href="https://t.co/qSUEZ473mf">pic.twitter.com/qSUEZ473mf</a></p> — Trudy McIntosh (@TrudyMcIntosh) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrudyMcIntosh/status/1362175848455970818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <p>The move has shocked many, but Communications Minister Paul Fletcher is unphased.</p> <p>“Facebook needs to think very carefully about what this means for its reputation and standing,” Mr Fletcher told the ABC.</p> <p>“They’re effectively saying, on our platform, there will not be any information from organisations which employ paid journalists, which have fact-checking processes, editorial policies. They’re effectively saying any information that is available on our site does not come from these reliable sources.”</p> <p>Currently, there is nothing stopping Australians from reading information from their favourite news sites directly, but they will be unable to see the posts on their Facebook feed.</p> <div class="c-message_kit__blocks c-message_kit__blocks--rich_text"> <div class="c-message__message_blocks c-message__message_blocks--rich_text"> <div class="p-block_kit_renderer" data-qa="block-kit-renderer"> <div class="p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper--first"> <div class="p-rich_text_block"> <div class="p-rich_text_section"><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.facebook.com/help/2579891418969617" target="_blank" class="c-link" data-stringify-link="https://www.facebook.com/help/2579891418969617" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Read more</a> about how people can appeal by clicking directly on the notification on their Page which will bring them to the Facebook Help Centre &amp; appeal form.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>

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