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Beyond the Barrier Reef: Australia’s 3 other World Heritage reefs are also in trouble

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kate-marie-quigley-1400512">Kate Marie Quigley</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/james-cook-university-1167">James Cook University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-hamilton-baird-11285">Andrew Hamilton Baird</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/james-cook-university-1167">James Cook University</a> The Great Barrier Reef is world famous – it’s the largest coral reef system in the world and home to tens of thousands of species. No wonder it is World Heritage listed. But Australia has three lower profile reefs which are also World Heritage listed – Ningaloo and Shark Bay in Western Australia, and Lord Howe Island, 600 kilometres off the New South Wales coast, the <a href="https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/612288-most-southerly-coral-reef">southernmost coral</a> in the world. Ningaloo has 260km of coral reef, while the reefs of Shark Bay have less coral but are home to ancient stromatolites, vast seagrass beds and iconic species such as dugongs. This month, the World Heritage Committee will meet in New Delhi. On the agenda will be how the world’s natural World Heritage sites are faring. The Australian government will be under increased scrutiny to prove it has upheld its <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/heritage/about/world/management-australias-world-heritage-listed/managing-world-heritage-australia/protecting-world-heritage#regulation">international commitments</a> to protecting these reefs. Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.17407">new research</a> has found all four of these reefs are in greater danger than we thought – even those in subtropical waters, such as Lord Howe Island. Our two Indian Ocean reefs at <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/578/">Shark Bay</a> and Ningaloo actually face more species and function loss than the Great Barrier Reef. At 1.5°C of warming, we are likely to lose about 20% of the 400-odd coral species which currently live across these four reefs (equating to about 70 extinctions). At 2°C warming, our modelling of species abundance and ecosystem functions predict an almost complete collapse in reef ecosystems – even for the subtropical reefs. This aligns with <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/docserver/fulltext/animal/12/1/annurev-animal-021122-093315.pdf?expires=1721002489&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=A9A203CC0F3AEB7D1FE9420F50EDF69A,%20https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/238807594/AGR2020.pdf">predictions</a> by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the future of coral reefs. We believe our work adds to the need to consider whether Australia’s four iconic reefs should be <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/danger/">on the list</a> of World Heritage sites in danger. <h2>What does it mean when a reef is World Heritage listed?</h2> Declaring a natural or cultural site as World Heritage is done to encourage the preservation of locations of immense ecological and cultural value. Nations have to <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/nominations/">nominate sites</a> they think are worthy of protection. Australia has 20 World Heritage sites, <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/heritage/places/world-heritage-list">of which</a> 12 are natural. When sites are formally listed, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) requires the country’s government to look after it. If the site is degrading, it can be listed as in danger. UNESCO has considered listing the Great Barrier Reef as in danger twice, in 2021 and again in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/24/set-more-ambitious-climate-targets-to-save-great-barrier-reef-unesco-urges-australia">June this year</a>. For the reef to keep its World Heritage status, the government must prove its policies are sufficient to keep the reefs in <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/heritage/about/world-heritage/outstanding-universal-value">good health</a>. In the debate over the Great Barrier Reef, two things have been missed – first, any mention of Australia’s other World Heritage reefs, and second, whether the federal government’s current policies to cut greenhouse gases are enough to protect the reefs into the future. <h2>What did we find?</h2> Our new results suggest all four reefs are in trouble. Given current warming trends, they will only deteriorate further in the future if we stay on this course. While the Barrier Reef has drawn a great deal of attention, it’s actually the ecosystems at Ningaloo, Shark Bay and Lord Howe Island which are projected to warm the most. When standardised to park boundaries, temperatures here are projected to increase by up to 1.3°C by the end of the century. (This temperature estimate is for sea temperatures, not the overall surface temperature which we use as shorthand when we talk about 1.5°C or 2°C of warming). While that might not sound like much, it will be enough to push many corals to potential extinction. Many coral species already exist within 1-2°C of the maximum temperature they can tolerate. Our modelling shows Shark Bay and Ningaloo actually face a greater risk of species and function loss than the Barrier Reef. It also suggests the ability of our reefs to bounce back will be overcome when warming tips over 1.5°C globally. While these models incorporate the baseline heat tolerance of coral species on these reefs, they don’t yet include their <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-animal-021122-093315;jsessionid=mfIBuwjZ-ru5bkBMhWXDjumNnsvZgxkl02fPAg63.annurevlive-10-241-10-101">potential for genetic adaptation</a>. The question of whether some corals could adapt to this rapid warming is still open. A lot is riding on their ability to do so. <h2>Looming danger</h2> This year, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/sentinels-of-the-sea-ancient-boulder-corals-are-key-to-reef-survival-in-a-warmer-world-223207">Great Barrier Reef</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/06/lord-howe-island-coral-bleaching-moving-south-fears-ocean-temperatures">Lord Howe Island</a> have suffered intense stress from high sea temperatures – the direct result of burning fossil fuels and producing heat-trapping greenhouse gases. This year is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/2024-could-be-worlds-hottest-year-june-breaks-records-2024-07-08/#:%7E:text=The%20latest%20data%20suggest%202024,so%20far%2C%20some%20scientists%20said.">on track</a> to again be the hottest year on record, overtaking the previous record holder of 2023. Australia is already in the midst of an extinction crisis. Australia has one of the worst track records for extinctions. Since European colonisation, 34-38 mammal species have <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.adg7870">gone extinct</a> compared to just one from the contiguous United States, which covers a similar area. You might have read that coral cover – a measure of how much coral there is in an area – <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-024-02498-5">hit historic highs</a> on the Great Barrier Reef last year. Coral cover is a helpful and important metric, but it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/record-coral-cover-doesnt-necessarily-mean-the-great-barrier-reef-is-in-good-health-despite-what-you-may-have-heard-188233">not perfect</a>. For instance, fast-growing heat tolerant coral species might expand as less heat tolerant species die off. Importantly, relying on coral cover alone can mask significant changes in how the <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2019.2628">reef is functioning</a>. It’s hard to assess how species in our oceans are doing, given the difficulty of access and the large number of species, including many <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-step-to-conserving-the-great-barrier-reef-is-understanding-what-lives-there-146097">unknown to science</a>. If warming continues unabated, we will likely start to lose species before we have even documented them. Our results are based on “moderate” climate models of global surface temperature changes. Australia has committed to cutting emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by 2030. While that sounds good, it’s not enough – this decrease is compatible with <a href="https://environment.govt.nz/what-you-can-do/climate-scenarios-toolkit/climate-scenarios-list/ipccs-ssp-rcp-scenarios/">hitting 3.2ºC by 2100</a>. To limit warming to 1.5ºC or below by 2050, we would need to commit to much greater cuts in emissions – 90% below 2005 levels by 2030. Our results clearly suggest Australia’s four World Heritage reefs will be dramatically affected by warming in the near future. They will no longer qualify as being maintained under “conditions of integrity”. It’s hard to see how they can avoid being added to the in danger list.<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/234268/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kate-marie-quigley-1400512">Kate Marie Quigley</a>, DECRA Research Fellow in molecular ecology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/james-cook-university-1167">James Cook University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-hamilton-baird-11285">Andrew Hamilton Baird</a>, Professorial fellow in coral reef ecology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/james-cook-university-1167">James Cook University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock 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/beyond-the-barrier-reef-australias-3-other-world-heritage-reefs-are-also-in-trouble-234268">original article</a>. </div>

Domestic Travel

"Other cities will follow": Big trouble ahead for SUV owners

Paris residents have voted to charge SUVs triple the cost of parking compared to standard sized cars in a bid to tackle air pollution and improve safety. 54.6 per cent of residents voted to pass the plan, with the new parking tariffs expected to start in September. The price increase will apply to on-street parking for vehicles with combustion or hybrid engines weighing more than 1.6 tonnes and electric vehicles weighing over two tonnes. The change means that the vehicles will pay €18 (A$29.69) an hour for parking in the centre of Paris, up from €6 (A$9.90), and €12 (A$19.79) an hour in the rest of the city, up from €4 (A$6.60). "Parisians have made a clear choice … other cities will follow,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said. Experts are onboard with the move and believe the Australia should do the same thing. Urban access consultant and author of the book Rethinking Parking David Mepham said that the move could help improve safety as: “SUVs are actually some of the most unsafe vehicles on the road for pedestrians with a fatality rate that is significantly higher than other vehicles.” “The injury and fatality rate should be a concern in highly pedestrianised areas such as city centres.” In 2022 alone, SUV and light commercial vehicles made up 76.8 per cent of car sales, coming in eighth on the top 10 vehicle sales according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. With spaces in the cities limited, Mepham added: “If you’ve got a larger car you should expect to pay more for that, you should pay for what you use.” Standards Australia has recently proposed to increase the size of off-street parking spaces by 20 centimetres in Australia, from 5.4 metres to 5.6 metres, which would make it easier for larger vehicles to park, but would limit car spaces. Executive director of the Australia Institute, Richard Dennis also said that SUV owners need to face the consequences of owning a larger vehicle. “If we want to drive much bigger cars, are we going to widen all of our city streets, are we going to have less car parking spaces?” he said. “Because if we want to drive these cars we need to own the consequences.” Marion Terrill, an independent transport expert, also agreed that higher parking fees for large vehicles are “absolutely reasonable.” “If you want more of it you can pay more, it’s the same principle as paying for parking at all," she said. Image: Getty

Travel Trouble

“I’m in trouble here”: Hughesy recalls disastrous surfing accident

Dave Hughes has recalled the details of a horrific surfing accident on New Year’s Eve, that resulted in him being rushed to hospital in excruciating pain. Speaking candidly on his Hughesy, Ed & Erin radio show, the 53-year-old shared what happened on the Surfers Paradise beach as he was ringing in the New Year. He told his co-hosts Erin Molan and Ed Kavalee that he was having surfing lessons when the disaster unfolded. “It’s New Year’s Eve, I decide to go surfing and I crash on a huge wave,” Hughesy began. “We’ve all got out big boards, and the problem is, the boards are too big.” “So, and, I didn’t listen properly when the instructor said, ‘If you’re going to fall off your board, fall off backwards, don’t fall off forwards’.” “And I didn’t really realise why, but I found out why.” <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/C2HC0_ILybf/?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/C2HC0_ILybf/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Hughesy, Ed & Erin (@hughesyedanderin)</a> </div> </blockquote> While still sporting a sling on his arm from the accident, Hughesy explained that he fell forwards off a wave, and the surfboard took the next wave, which was directly behind him. “The board got a really good wave and the board smashed into my back and dislocated my shoulder,” he said. “I was immediately like, ‘I am in trouble here’.” “The instructor saw me and said, ‘are you okay?’ and I said, ‘I don’t think so.’” “He started laughing! And I’m like, ‘no, I’m really, I’m really in pain’.” Still trying to keep his sense of humour through the ordeal, Hughesy described the pain as “worse than childbirth”, with the situation only getting worse when he “sat on the beach crying for an hour” waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Hughesy <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/health/caring/hughesy-gives-health-update-after-being-rushed-to-hospital">first shared</a> the news of his accident in the days after he was released from hospital, sharing a series of photos to his Instagram from the fateful day. He shared that he had "morphine and the rest of them" after enduring "two hours of the worst pain of my life", thanking the hospital staff who treated him, as well as the Surfers Paradise Surf Club before admitting he will "be in a sling for a while". Image credits: Instagram / 2DayFM

Caring

Patti Newton's desperate plea to her troubled son

Patti Newton has issued a desperate plea to her son Matthew, who has spent two years out of the spotlight and has built a new life in America. According to <a href="https://www.nowtolove.com.au/womansday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Woman's Day</a>, Patti is determined to see her family reunited, as she wishes for Matthew to return to Australia. After a series of scandals, Matthew fled the country and has since created a new life for himself in Texas with his <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/huge-matthew-newton-mystery-confirmed-during-bert-s-funeral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wife</a> Catherine Schneiderman. Matthew was arrested twice in 2012 following altercations in Miami, following a string of scandals in Australia, including several domestic violence allegations a charge of assault. Despite her son now living his best life in the US, Patti desperately wants him to return home. "Moving to Texas is the best thing either of them could have done. They're loving a new outdoorsy life and they're both looking and feeling great," a source told the magazine. "[But] Patti desperately wants them to come home to Australia." It's been several years since Matthew returned home, as he chose <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/family-pets/why-matt-newton-won-t-be-attending-bert-s-funeral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not to return</a> for his father Bert's funeral in 2021. Matthew, who suffers from bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and has a history of addiction, refrains from the spotlight after having a stint in the Australian entertainment scene with a series of TV shows and movies. Image credits: Ten

Family & Pets

Counting the wrong sheep: why trouble sleeping is about more than just individual lifestyles and habits

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mary-breheny-1269716">Mary Breheny</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/te-herenga-waka-victoria-university-of-wellington-1200">Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rosie-gibson-1051224">Rosie Gibson</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/massey-university-806">Massey University</a> Sleep may seem straightforward – everyone does it, after all. But as many of us know, getting enough sleep is not necessarily a simple task, despite what you might read in the media. How to sleep “properly” is a favourite topic of self-help articles, with <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/health/expert-advice-good-nights-sleep-27900333">headlines</a> such as “Expert advice to get a good night’s sleep whatever your age” promising the answer to your nocturnal awakenings. Older people are commonly the audience of these messages. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad058">Our analysis</a> of articles published in the New Zealand media between 2018 and 2021 found sleep is presented as inevitably declining with age. At the same time, sleep is portrayed as a cure for everything: a good night’s sleep is depicted as a way to maintain productivity, ward off illness and dementia, and ultimately live longer. But most of these articles are aimed at the individual and what they can do to improve their sleep. Often missing is any reference to the external factors that can contribute to poor sleep. <h2>Personal choice and sleep</h2> A key message in many of the articles we examined is that sleep is a simple matter of making the right choices. So, if you’re not getting enough sleep it’s probably your own fault. People are lectured about poor “<a href="https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/%7E/media/CCI/Mental-Health-Professionals/Sleep/Sleep---Information-Sheets/Sleep-Information-Sheet---04---Sleep-Hygiene.pdf">sleep hygiene</a>” – staying up too late looking at their phone, having too many cups of coffee, or not getting enough exercise during the day. And it’s true, drinking too much caffeine or staring at a screen into the small hours might interfere with sleep. It’s also true that good sleep is important for good health. But things are a bit more complicated than this. As anyone who has struggled to maintain good sleep knows, simple tips don’t always overcome the complex situations that contribute to these struggles. <h2>Awake to other factors</h2> Good sleep is not just a matter of “making the right choices”. Internationally, there’s a growing body of research showing sleep is affected by much more than individual behaviour: it’s often shaped by a person’s <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040119-094412">social and economic circumstances</a>. New Zealand research is adding to this pool of knowledge. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235272181600019X?via=ihub">One study</a>, based on survey results from just over 4,000 people, found insufficient sleep was more common among Māori than non-Māori, partly due to higher rates of night work. International <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6524484/">research</a> has also found women are more likely to experience insomnia due to their caregiving roles. One US study found unpaid caregivers for children or parents (or both) reported shorter sleep quantity and poorer sleep quality than paid caregivers or people without such roles. A <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1471301220915071">survey</a> of 526 carers in New Zealand showed two-thirds reported mild or severe sleep disturbance. We also know lack of sleep is <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/chronic_disease.html">linked to serious disease</a>, including diabetes and heart disease. Sleep duration and quality have been identified as predictors of levels of haemoglobin A1c, an important marker of blood sugar control. And hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease and irregular heartbeats have been found to be more common among those with disordered sleep than those without sleep abnormalities. Failure to acknowledge the social context of poor sleep means sleep messages in the media ignore the fundamental causes in favour of the illusion of a quick fix. <h2>The commodification of sleep</h2> Sleep is also increasingly characterised as a commodity, with a growing market for products – such as sleep trackers – that claim to help improve sleep quality. Sleep trackers promise to measure and enhance sleep performance. However, their reliability may be limited – <a href="https://mhealth.jmir.org/2021/6/e26462">one study found</a> the tested tracker did not accurately detect sleep, particularly in older adults who had greater levels of nighttime movement. Framing public health problems as matters of personal choice is common. Alcohol and fast-food consumption, for example, are regularly presented as <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1745691619896252">matters of individual responsibility</a> and poor personal choices. The <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hpja.737">role of marketing</a> and access to healthy food gets a lot less attention. Of course, simple tips for getting good sleep may be useful for some people. But ignoring the underlying social and economic factors that shape the possibilities for good sleep will not address the problem. Health promotion messages that focus on individual behaviour miss <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9566.12112">the structural barriers to better health</a>, including poverty, low levels of education, high rates of incarceration, substandard or crowded housing and racism. We need to move beyond messages of individual behaviour change and start talking about inequities that contribute to the problem of who gets a decent night’s sleep and who doesn’t.<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/210695/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mary-breheny-1269716">Mary Breheny</a>, Associate Professor of Health Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/te-herenga-waka-victoria-university-of-wellington-1200">Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rosie-gibson-1051224">Rosie Gibson</a>, Senior lecturer, School of Psychology, Massey University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/massey-university-806">Massey University</a> Image credits: Getty Images 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/counting-the-wrong-sheep-why-trouble-sleeping-is-about-more-than-just-individual-lifestyles-and-habits-210695">original article</a>.

Caring

Travelling overseas? Here’s what the embassy will – and won’t – do to help if you get in trouble

Australians are jetting back out into the world again. The numbers are still below pre-pandemic levels, but almost <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/tourism-and-transport/overseas-arrivals-and-departures-australia">1.1 million Australians left the country</a> in December last year – compared to 1.3 million in December 2019. According to information provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, passport applications smashed records in 2022, averaging more than 250,000 each month in the second half of the year. International travel is a safe, positive experience for most people, but unfortunately things do go wrong for some travellers. Trouble, when it comes, can involve anything from lost passports and small-scale theft to serious welfare problems, hospitalisation and arrests. In these cases, DFAT’s consular service will be expected to do what it can to assist. But where does personal responsibility begin and end when we leave our shores? What should we expect from our government, and what can we do ourselves to minimise the risks? <h2>Travellers behaving badly</h2> As a former head of the consular service in the early 2000s, I know the caseload involving overseas Australians is not limited to major, news-grabbing situations, like the recent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/23/png-hostage-freed-australian-professor-researchers-captive-papua-new-guinea-mount-bosavi">kidnapping</a> of an Australia-based academic by a criminal gang in Papua New Guinea, or the impact of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/11/turkey-and-syria-earthquake-australian-death-toll-believed-to-have-risen-to-three">devastating earthquake</a> in Turkey and Syria on Australians and their families. These were serious situations requiring intensive work from our diplomats, but there is much more to the job than that. <a href="https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-11/consular-state-of-play-2021-22.pdf">From June 2021-22</a>, an average of four Australians died overseas every day, while an average of two Australians were arrested every day - on matters ranging from immigration breaches to drugs crime, theft and fraud. In total, nearly 16,000 Australians turned to their local Australian overseas mission that year for help in “crisis cases” – more than triple the number in 2018-19 before the pandemic. COVID-related repatriations arranged by DFAT were counted separately – there were more than 62,000 of these in the past three years. Carrying an Australian passport means we can rely on a consular service to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/saturdayextra/what-happens-when-things-go-wrong-for-australians-overseas/13973350">provide support in these situations</a>. But expectations have grown among travellers in recent decades, partly because of the speed of our communications and the instant public feedback we receive via social media. While most Australians are self-reliant travellers, there are still many not living up to their side of the bargain. Most importantly, there are still too many not taking out appropriate travel insurance. Others disregard official travel warnings and then turn to the government for help when things go wrong. Then there are those whose expectations are just inappropriate – asking officials to arrange opera tickets or look after their pets, for example. More seriously, expectations can be very hard to manage in arrest cases overseas. Some Australians are shocked their citizenship doesn’t come with a “get out of jail free card”. But we are all subject to local laws and authority, no matter what notions we might have about the standards of justice that apply in some countries. At any given time, there are between <a href="https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-11/consular-state-of-play-2021-22.pdf">300 and 400 Australians imprisoned</a> overseas. Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, there are real <a href="https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/consular-services/resources/arrested-jailed-overseas-factsheet">limits to what the Australian consular service can do</a> in these cases. The service will check periodically on the welfare of prisoners overseas, guide them towards local legal representation and monitor their trials. But that’s about it. This applies to foreigners imprisoned in Australia, too. To be sure, there is occasionally a case that is clearly so arbitrary or unjust, our government calls for the release of the individual. This was the case for Sean Turnell, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-australian-economist-sean-turnell-came-to-be-in-and-freed-from-a-myanmar-jail-195419">who was imprisoned in Myanmar</a> for political reasons until being released last year. But unlike Turnell, most Australian prisoners overseas probably have a case to answer. <h2>Three ways to stay safe</h2> 1) Be informed about where you are going Australians have a responsibility to know what’s happening at their planned destinations. The conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere have impacted many travellers, as have major weather events and natural disasters. With international flights returning to normality over the last year, DFAT’s COVID repatriation program has largely wound up. Travellers once again need to look to their own resources – or their travel insurance policies – to ensure they get home. The government’s <a href="https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/">Smartraveller</a> website is a reliable source of up-to-date information on everything from emerging health risks to cultural and legal issues in specific countries to the local security situation. They have recently launched a <a href="https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/news-and-updates/sneak-peek-our-new-ad-campaign">fresh advertising campaign</a> in an effort to highlight the importance of avoiding trouble in the first place. 2) Stay in touch with family back home The consular service deals with hundreds of “whereabouts” inquiries each year. And if disaster strikes when you are travelling somewhere, your family and friends will be worried. In each of the major consular disaster responses I was involved in, including the September 11 attacks and the 2002 Bali bombings, there were people who caused their loved ones untold grief by not letting them know they were safe. In my recent book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Consul-Insider-Australias-Diplomatic-Frontline/dp/0702263494">The Consul</a>, I recount the story of one Australian who worked on an upper floor of the World Trade Center in New York, but took ten days to let his family know he had actually been in London when the attacks took place. 3) Buy good travel insurance If there’s one thing travellers really should do, it’s to take out travel insurance. Most people think about insurance as a way of covering themselves for flight cancellations or for the theft of personal items. But if you get sick or are injured overseas – or even in the case of a death – insurance is critical. The Australian government cannot just step in and pay for a medical evacuation. From my time as consular chief, I know that some Australians were forced to sell their homes to cover their medical costs overseas. People also often find themselves under-insured, or are surprised to learn that certain activities, such as adventure sports, are not covered. Young people are the least likely to take out insurance. <a href="https://insurancecouncil.com.au/resource/aussies-planning-to-travel-more-but-need-to-do-more-travel-planning/">Travel industry surveys</a> indicate about 12% of travellers below the age of 30 do not intend to take out insurance, and the number is higher for those heading to destinations in the developed world regarded as “safe”. It really doesn’t work like that though - hospitalisation in the United States without insurance can mean financial disaster. It doesn’t take much to minimise the risk of difficulties turning into disasters overseas. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/travelling-overseas-heres-what-the-embassy-will-and-wont-do-to-help-if-you-get-in-trouble-198589" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Travel Tips

"We got in trouble a lot": Fergie spills all on Princess Diana arrest

Sarah Ferguson has opened up about the time she and the late Princess Diana got themselves arrested in 1986. The pair were celebrating at a nightclub when they were arrested for impersonating law enforcement officers. The two had decided to dress up as police for Fergie’s bachelorette party, unaware that they were setting themselves on a path to trouble in an event described by Royal Expert Tom Quinn as a “riot”. Speaking to The Sun, Fergie claimed that once authorities came to the realisation that she and Diana were actually royals, it wasn’t long before they were released. And while appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show, she expanded on the tale, outlining exactly how the two had gotten themselves into such a situation in the first place. “It was extraordinary,” the 63-year-old Duchess of York said, “because we went to a nightclub, of course, you go to a nightclub with the Princess of Wales. “We sat down, and the waiter came up to us and said ‘excuse me, this is a members club. It’s for fun, and we don’t serve police officers here’." “They thought you were real police officers?" host Kelly Clarkson exclaimed. Fergie confirmed the detail with a confident "yes!" She explained that once they had been arrested and ushered into the police van, they opted to hide their engagement rings. Fergie went on to recall that Diana had been told off for eating some chips - “smoky bacon-flavoured” she’d found in the vehicle. Their brief encounter with the law didn’t ruin their fun though, with the party continuing on into Annabel’s nightclub - an establishment known to be one of the world’s most exclusive. And their fun reportedly wasn’t limited to their own celebration, with Town and Country Magazine claiming that the two got up to some more mischief when they decided to lock Andrew out of Buckingham Palace after his bachelor party. Their fun kept the two close over the course of their friendship, and Fergie has admitted that she carries Diana everywhere she goes, telling Kelly, “she’s with me all day”. “She and I, we laughed a lot,” Fergie reminisced, “we got into trouble a lot. “You know what she used to do? She used to tell me the worst story, joke story, just before I had to be serious." Although, despite her admiration for Diana’s sense of humour - and her belief that Diana would be “incredibly proud” of her grandchildren - Fergie did once share on Good Morning America that if the two had had the chance to go head-to-head as grandmothers, she believed they’d “have a ‘Granny-off’. Because she would run faster in the races, I wonder … she’d probably be funnier. No, I think I’d be funnier.” Images: Getty

Relationships

Troubled TV host Andrew O’Keefe arrested

Troubled TV presenter Andrew O'Keefe has once again been arrested after allegedly breaching his bail conditions. The former Deal or No Deal host was arrested at a home in Vaucluse, in Sydney's eastern suburbs just before 11am on Thursday. NSW Police arrested the 51-year-old before he was taken to Waverley Police Station, where he was charged with breach of bail. The Channel 7 personality was refused police bail on the spot and appeared at Waverely Local Court. The court heard that O’Keefe tested positive for drugs but his lawyer argued the swab was contaminated. He was then released on bail and spoke to the media, furious that he was unable to tell his side of the story. “You don't get to hear the story,” he said outside of court. “The thing about the justice system is that we get no time to prepare as the defendant. “And you're at a distinct disadvantage about getting the facts to even your own people.” O’Keefe’s lawyer argued in court that there was a limited information following the police’s swap test to check his client for drugs. “That's what we discovered in court today. There was a high probability of contempt, erm, contamination (to the sample),” O’Keefe said. Back in January, O’Keefe received six charges, with police alleging he grabbed a sex worker by the throat before punching her and pushing her to the ground. He pleaded not guilty to all six, which included three counts of common assault, intentionally choking a person without consent, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. In February, he pleaded guilty to a separate charge of drug possession. In June, O’Keefe appeared in court to challenge a charge of breaching an apprehended violence order (AVO) against another complainant, and again in July to examine the evidence relating to the allegations of assault and choking. Image: Nine News

News

Police offer “Valentine’s special” to exes in trouble with the law

Police departments have been using social media to share information about missing persons, recent investigations, and other issues within the community - and some have even gone viral doing so.One recent example comes from the Port Orange Police Department, in the US state of Florida, who embraced the spirit of anti-Valentine’s day in a tongue-in-cheek post <a href="https://www.facebook.com/popdpolice/posts/249494237366350" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling</a> on people to dob in their “ex-Valentines” who have been up to no good.“February kicked off the month for celebrating the love in your life, and we don’t want you to forget those ex’s (sic) that did you wrong either,” the department wrote on Facebook, shared alongside a romantic photo of handcuffs and roses.“Do you have an ex-Valentine and know they have outstanding warrants? Do you have information that they are driving with drugs in their car? Give us a call and we’ll take care of the rest.”<img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/02/police-funny-valentines.png" alt="" width="663" height="767" />Port Orange Police received a flood of attention on their cheeky post calling on people to refer their “ex-Valentines” who may be in trouble with the law for a special experience. Image: Port Orange Police Department (Facebook)The post goes on to offer a special experience for those exes who are reported to authorities.“This Valentine’s Day month-long special starts off with a set of limited-edition platinum bracelets, free transportation and a chauffeur, a one-night minimum stay in luxurious accommodations and professional glamour shots that will be posted online for all to enjoy.“This special is capped off with a special Valentine’s dinner. We know this special is so incredible that you may be tempted to provide additional referrals. We don’t blame you, this special is too sweet to pass by!”In less than a day, the post has been flooded with hundreds of comments and shared over 1,400 times.“This is hands down the best thing I’ve ever seen,” one person commented.“Genius! Ex’s might want to be nice right now,” another joked.Others praised the person behind the post, calling them a “genius” and suggesting they should get a raise.“This is the best thing I’ve read in a long time. Hands down to the creator of this post,” one person enthused.“I don’t know who thought up this idea but just wanted to say, ‘I THINK he or she is a “GENIUS”, WHO DESERVES A HUGE RAISE.“P💓R💓I💓C💓E💓L💓E💓S💓S!”The post was soon picked up by the NSW Police Force page - also known for its cheeky posts - and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nswpoliceforce/posts/318087973696962" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared</a> with the caption, “Have you heard the news? Port Orange Police Department’s Valentine’s Day Weekend Special has been extended to New South Wales 🌹”.“To claim, contact Crime Stoppers and we’ll take it from there 😉”.<img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/02/nsw-police.png" alt="" width="781" height="687" />NSW Police quickly got in on the joke, claiming the special Valentine’s offer was now available in New South Wales. Image: NSW Police Force (Facebook)Their post was almost as popular, with many praising the post and getting in on the joke as well.“Love it, handcuffs and a long stem red rose, what a great combination,” one person wrote.“Does it count if they commit crimes against fashion?!” another said.“Why do I love this so much,” a third asked. “Do you give them a card from the ex as well to make it extra special?”A fourth commented, “And they say romance is dead.”Image: Port Orange Police Department (Facebook)

Legal

Fresh insight into troubled past of Cleo's alleged abductor

Content warning: This article contains references to deceased Indigenous individuals. Audio has emerged of the woman who raised Terence Darrell Kelly, Cleo Smith’s alleged abductor, revealing that he had a tumultuous early life. The 36-year-old Carnarvon man was removed from his mother’s care as a two-year-old and was raised by Penny Walker, a respected member of the Indigenous community. “His mum didn’t want him and she threw him away,” she <a href="https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/cleo-smith/cleo-smith-found-accused-kidnapper-terence-darrell-kellys-traumatic-childhood-revealed-c-4476537">said </a>in an interview from 2019. “I looked down at him and this little boy - God was giving me something back in my life what the welfare took off me - my children.” Ms Walker said Mr Kelly’s mother was a drug addict and didn’t want him. She then took him in and raised him alongside her two grandsons - who she was caring for after her daughter died from multiple sclerosis (MS). In the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/audio-files-reveal-difficult-upbringing-of-cleo-smith-s-alleged-abductor-terence-kelly-20211108-p596y8.html" target="_blank">interview</a>, she also spoke about her own traumatic childhood as a member of the Stolen Generation. She spoke of the poor treatment she received as a child at the Moore River Native Settlement and New Norcia Mission, where she was the victim of sexual abuse and beatings. Ms Walker said this led her to become an alcoholic, which resulted in her six children being taken away. She then turned her life around and became a respected member of the Indigenous community in Carnarvon. Ms Walker died in 2020, leaving Mr Kelly alone in their Carnarvon home. When police arrived at the home last week, they found Cleo in a room sitting upright and playing with toys. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845436/terence-kelly1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/e959eb1a366f41e8bff36ecb3282bf94" /> Terence Darrell Kelly boards a plane to Perth, where he will stay in custody until he returns to court in December. Image: Getty Images Mr Kelly was then arrested and faced Carnarvon Magistrate’s Court for several <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/i-m-coming-for-you-suspect-charged-in-cleo-s-alleged-abduction" target="_blank">charges</a>, including forcibly taking a child under 16. His neighbours described Mr Kelly as a “quiet” and “lonely” individual. The day after his court appearance, he was flown from Carnarvon to Perth and spent his first night in a maximum-security prison. Detectives have since returned to his home as part of their investigation into Cleo’s abduction. Police said they don’t believe the alleged abduction was planned and are investigating a theory that Mr Kelly came across Cleo by chance, according to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/cleo-smith/cleo-smith-found-accused-kidnapper-terence-darrell-kellys-traumatic-childhood-revealed-c-4476537" target="_blank">news.com.au</a>. Mr Kelly has been remanded in custody for four weeks and is due to return to court in December. Image: Getty Images

Legal

Paris Hilton calls on Biden to take account for troubled teen industry

Paris Hilton has shared her own shocking experiences while calling on US President Joe Biden and Congress to do something about the “troubled teen industry”. The former reality TV star previously revealed she had faced mental and physical abuse as a teenager in youth facilities. Appearing outside Capitol Hill, <a rel="noopener" href="https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/paris-hilton-strangled-slapped-watched-in-the-shower-troubled-teen-industry-reform/c0ee9436-162e-48e1-988b-503af5584097" target="_blank">Hilton said</a>: “For 20 years I couldn’t sleep at night as memories of physical violence, the feeling of loneliness, the loss of peers rushed through my mind when I shut my eyes. “This was not just insomnia. It was trauma.” Hilton appeared on October 20 alongside other teen survivors to announce the Accountability for Congregate Care Act. They were joined by lawmakers representative Ro Khanna and Senator Jeff Merkley, who are co-sponsors of the legislation. The 40-year-old star called on Biden to support the legislation, which would establish a bill of rights for children in youth facilities and act as oversight for the “troubled teens industry”. “Ensuring children are safe from institutional abuse isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue,” she said. “It’s a basic human rights issue that requires immediate attention.” <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/CVQrDczvaPA/?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> <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/CVQrDczvaPA/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Paris Hilton (@parishilton)</a> </div> </blockquote> In her speech, Hilton also shared her experiences and the trauma she endured as a teenager. “One night when I was 16 years old, I woke up to two large men in my bedroom asking if I wanted to go the easy way or the hard way,” she said. “Thinking I was being kidnapped, I screamed for my parents. As I was being physically dragged out of my house, I saw them crying in the hallway. They didn’t come to my rescue that night. “This was my introduction to the troubled teen industry. “My parents were promised that tough love would fix me and that sending me across the country was the only way.” Hilton went on to share details about her treatment at the facility she was taken to. “I was strangled, slapped across the face, watched in the shower by male staff, called vulgar names, forced to take medication without a diagnosis, not given a proper education, thrown into solitary confinement in a room covered in scratch marks and smeared in blood,” she said. “I was forced to stay indoors for 11 months straight - no sunlight, no fresh air.” <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845046/paris-hilton2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/b08c4c74198f46a29f4b7cbdf2203326" /> Image: Getty Images “I wish I could tell you what I experienced or witnessed was unique or even rare, but sadly,it’s not,” she continued. “Every day in America, children in congregate care settings are being physically, emotionally and sexually abused.” In the past, Hilton has also called on Biden to support another bill which would require youth residential treatment centres to be under additional government oversight and document when they use restraints. Testifying at a February state Senate committee hearing in favour of the bill, Hilton told the committee that talking about such a personal subject “was and is still terrifying”. “But I cannot go to sleep at night knowing that there are children that are experiencing the same abuse that I and so many others went through, and neither should you.” Image: Getty Images

Relationships

Retired race horses on track to help troubled kids

Image: A Current Affair New charity ‘Rehab 4 Rehab' is saving the lives of children and retired racehorses on the Mornington Peninsula through a ground-breaking equine therapy program. Children struggling with mental health issues get paired up with clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and retired racehorses to accelerate therapy sessions. “We are seeing lots of children with anxiety, depression, self-harming, suicidal kids, lots of autistic kids,” found Alisha Griffiths told A Current Affair. “They are practicing exactly what they would do in the normal four white wall environments but they’re doing it on a farm with retired racehorses.” Ms Griffiths said she had been around horses all her life and now she wants to share them with others. “They also build a rapport with a psychologist a lot quicker, they trust the psychologist because they’re around a retired racehorse,” she said. Clinical psychologist Jo Paterson crossed path with Alisha’s charity when she was looking for somewhere to keep her own horse – and she ended up with a job. “When you’re talking about things that are distressing and through trauma, then you’ve got something there that can help regulate, when they get upset,” Ms Paterson said. There are 46 horses at Ms Griffiths property and most of them are retired racehorses. In order to train them for being a racehorse to a therapy horse, they settle their lives down and “show them a slower pace”. Head horse trainer Alex McDonough said she’s surprised by how well the horses have adjusted. “It’s almost like they know they’re around children,” she said.

Caring

New poll spells trouble for Prince Harry and Meghan

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are preparing to celebrate their third wedding anniversary as a poll has revealed more than four in 10 people think they should lose their titles. Harry and Meghan tied the knot during an extravagant ceremony on May 19, 2018, and are most likely to celebrate the milestone privately at their Californian home. The wedding was the beginning of a new chapter for the monarchy as it was welcoming a person of mixed race into the family for the first time in centuries. But 18 months later, the Sussexes moved to North America with their son Archie and have never permanently returned to their UK home. A UK poll carried out on Monday found 44 per cent of 4567 adults questioned thought the couple should no longer have the title of Duke and Duchess. While 20 per cent believed they should keep their titles but not use them, 17 per cent said they should not lose their titles or stop using them ad 20 per cent did not know. The past few months have been a tumultuous time for the couple after their bombshell TV interview with Oprah Winfrey. The pair let all their grievances out and came clean on what it was really like to be a part of the royal family. A few days after their wedding anniversary Harry and Meghan, who is expecting a daughter in the summer, will appear in the first episode of the duke's mental health documentary series with Oprah Winfrey.

Relationships

Double trouble: Worse to come for black summer

On a coastal holiday last summer, I was preoccupied. Bushfires were tearing through southeast Australia, and one in particular had me worried. Online maps showed it moving towards the last remaining population of a plucky little fish, the stocky galaxias. I’ve worked in threatened fish conservation and management for more than 35 years, but this species is special to me. The stocky galaxias was formally described as a new species in 2014. Its only known population lives in a short stretch of stream in Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales. A single event could wipe them out. On January 2 the bushfires forced my family and I to evacuate our holiday home. As we returned to Canberra, I was still worried. Fire maps showed the stocky’s stream virtually surrounded by fire. A few days later, I prepared for an emergency rescue. In critical danger The stocky galaxias is the monarch of its small stream; the only fish species present. I’ve been trying to protect the stocky galaxias before it was even formally recognised. Over the last century or more, the species has seen off threats from predatory trout, storms, droughts and bushfires. Snowy 2.0 is the latest danger. It’s listed as critically endangered in NSW and is being assessed for a federal threatened listing. Before the fires, there were probably no more than 1,000-2,000 adults left in the wild. As the fires burned, I knew we had to move quickly. I wanted to collect up to 200 stocky galaxias and take them away for safekeeping. Rainfall after bushfires is major threat to fish, because it washes ash and sediment into streams. Storms were forecast for the afternoon of January 15. So early that morning, myself and two colleagues, escorted by two staff from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, drove to the stocky galaxias stream. A colleague and I waded in and began electrofishing. This involved passing an electrical current through water, stunning fish momentarily so we could catch them. After 45 minutes we’d collected 68 healthy stocky galaxias. Woohoo! Further downstream we collected 74 more. By now, fire burned along the stream edge. We packed the fish into drums in the back of my car and drove out. We headed to the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ trout hatchery at Jindabyne, where we measured each fish and took a genetic sample. I felt immensely relieved and satisfied that we’d potentially saved a species from extinction. The fish have been thriving in the hatchery building. Stocky galaxias have never been kept in captivity before, but our years of field work told us the temperatures they encountered in the wild, so holding tanks could be set up appropriately. Back to the stream The captive fish can be used for breeding, but the species has never been captive-bred before and this is not a trivial task. When they’re reintroduced to the wild, the sites must be free of trout, and other invasive fish like climbing galaxias. Natural or artificial barriers should be in place to prevent invasive fish invasion. In late March I finally got back to the stocky galaxias’ stream to see whether they’d survived. At the lower stretch of its habitat, the fire was not severe and the stream habitat looked good, with only a small amount of ash and sediment. Upstream, the fire had been more severe. At the edge of the stream, heath was razed and patches of sphagnum moss were burnt. Again, sediment in the stream was not too abundant. But fish numbers were lower than normal, suggesting some there had not survived. The fight’s not over The stocky galaxias species might have survived yet another peril, but the battle isn’t over. Feral horse numbers in Kosciuszko National Park have <a href="https://theconversation.com/double-trouble-as-feral-horse-numbers-gallop-past-25-000-in-the-australian-alps-128852">increased dramatically</a> in the last decade. They’ve degraded the banks of the stocky galaxias’ stream, making it wider and shallower and filling sections with fine sediment. This smothers the fish’s food resources, spawning sites and eggs. Before the fires, plans were already afoot to fence off much of the stocky galaxias habitat to keep horses out. Fire damage to the park has delayed construction until early 2021. The biggest long-term threat to the species is the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro development. It threatens to transfer an invasive native fish, the climbing galaxias, to within reach of stocky galaxias habitat. There, it would compete for food with, and prey on, stocky galaxias – probably pushing it into extinction. Despite this risk, in May this year the <a href="https://theconversation.com/nsw-has-approved-snowy-2-0-here-are-six-reasons-why-thats-a-bad-move-139112">NSW government approved</a> the Snowy 2.0 expansion, with approval conditions that I believe fail to adequately protect the stocky galaxias population. The project has also received federal approval. Future in the balance The stocky galaxias is unique and irreplaceable. I want my grandchildren to be able to show their grandchildren this little Aussie battler thriving in the wild. The damage wrought by Snowy 2.0 may not be apparent for several decades. By then many politicians and bureaucrats now deciding the future of the stocky galaxias will be gone, as will I. But 2020 will go down in history as the year the species was saved from fire, then condemned to possible extinction. Written by Mark Lintermans. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/double-trouble-this-plucky-little-fish-survived-black-summer-but-theres-worse-to-come-139921">The Conversation.</a>

Cruising

Princess Beatrice opens up about troubled childhood: “They were so far ahead”

Princess Beatrice has everything to look forward to, but she has touched upon her childhood days in a heartfelt clip for charity. The royal opened up about her own “challenges” with dyslexia while studying in school in a new interview, where she admitted what she would want to tell her younger self. <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/CAQr0Q-HkiB/?utm_source=ig_embed&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/CAQr0Q-HkiB/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Royal Families_Turkey (@royal_families_turkey)</a> on May 16, 2020 at 12:36pm PDT </div> </blockquote> “I was very lucky, I got to go to a school that was very nurturing and supporting [but] I would describe the actual day-to-day learning side of things — very challenging,” the 31-year-old said. Princess Beatrice who is the Patron for Made By Dyslexia spoke on an experience she had as a child: "We had different coloured books to describe where your reading levels had got to, and I was always on the white books and my best friends were always on the yellow books or the green books, they were so far ahead. "And I think at that stage, those moments of doubt just pop into your head: 'I'm not good enough, I'm not smart enough, why am I not like the others?' I think when you're in the classroom those moments are very defining," she admits. <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/tv/CAp3u5fHjp8/?utm_source=ig_embed&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/tv/CAp3u5fHjp8/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by The British Royal Family (@the_mountbatten_windsors)</a> on May 26, 2020 at 7:23am PDT </div> </blockquote> Princess Beatrice continued on by admitting she would tell her younger self to take challenging experiences as “lessons.” "I think if I were to say to my younger self 'do not be defined by those moments that happened to you in that exam or that classroom, because they are life-long learnings'. They are lessons you carry with you and they build you up to be who you are." The royal finished the clip with an emotional sentiment: "It is not something that is wrong with you. "It's a great part of how your brain works and everybody's brain works incredibly differently. There is nothing wrong, there is just everything that is so right."

Caring

“It seems like you’re looking for trouble”: John McEnroe hangs up on radio shock jock

Tennis legend John McEnroe and Melbourne radio host Neil Mitchell went toe-to-toe about McEnroe’s protest to rename Margaret Court Arena. McEnroe and Martina Navratilova protested with a sign that called for a rename from Margaret Court Arena to Evonne Goolagong Arena in honour of the Aussie 24-time grand slam champion. The pair were forced to apologise after breaking Tennis Australia protocols for their protest, but Mitchell made sure it was addressed when he spoke to McEnroe on the radio. Neil Mitchell: Do you regret doing it? John McEnroe: I think it could have been done better and more effectively. But in terms of regret doing it, no. I apologised because I haven’t been one to have perhaps read the rule book as good as I could have. I was unaware there were certain protocols that needed to be followed. I get where Tennis Australia is trying to … handle this as non-vocally as possible. But in this particular case, I believe there’s been a lot of give and take both ways. I loved Evonne Goolagong when I was a kid and I think she represents to me everything positive about what you’d want a stadium to be named. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> NOW | Former tennis star and commentator John McEnroe says he doesn't regret his protest against Margaret Court. "I think it could've been done better and more effectively but in terms of regretting doing it... no." — 3AW Melbourne (@3AW693) <a href="https://twitter.com/3AW693/status/1222646707541819393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2020</a></blockquote> Neil Mitchell: A lot of the letter writers and reaction from the public is ‘this insulted Australia’. What’s your reaction to that? John McEnroe: I think that’s a little going overboard, personally. Tennis Australia and I have had an excellent relationship – they’ve done a fantastic job with this tournament and made it bigger and better each and every year. To say that I’m insulting Australia – I don’t see where you can take it to that level. That certainly wasn’t what we were planning on doing. I’ve had a lot of history in Australia. Australia is a great sporting country and a great place to visit for the players, and myself. That would not be intentional and I’d be quite surprised if people felt that way. The conversation continued, with the pair discussing whether or not a ban to some countries would be appropriate, but McEnroe clarified that he never used that wording. The conversation became heated once Mitchell asked McEnroe if his accreditation was threatened by Tennis Australia. Neil Mitchell: Did Tennis Australia threaten your accreditation or did they just ask you to apologise? John McEnroe: As far as I know, that wasn’t threatened. Perhaps if there is more people like you, maybe they will reconsider it, I don’t know. Neil Mitchell: What do you mean more people like me? John McEnroe: You seem to have a view that you completely disagree and either subtly or forcefully you’re not agreeing with which is OK. It also sounds like you’re insinuating, to me at least, maybe I’m overreaching here but it seems like you’re looking at perhaps they (Tennis Australia) should do more. Neil Mitchell: I’m not. And I can tell you I’ve been one of the strongest supporters of marriage equality in this country. John McEnroe: Well that I don’t know because I don’t…. Neil Mitchell: I know, OK fair enough. John McEnroe: I hope that’s true. Neil Mitchell: What do you mean you hope that’s true? Of course it is true. John McEnroe: Listen mate, I’ve got a match in a little bit. It’s OK to disagree with me but you don’t have to try to like, you know, with the way you’re talking to me, it seems like you’re looking for trouble. But that’s OK. It wouldn’t be the first time. Neil Mitchell: Well you’re the one that questioned me there about whether I was telling the truth. John McEnroe: I said I don’t know. I didn’t say whether you did or did not. That is a perfect example. I don’t know. Whatever. Whatever makes you happy is fine. Neil Mitchell: Enjoy the tennis and thank you very much for speaking to us. It was here that McEnroe hung up. The morning seemed to get worse for the American tennis legend, where sports presenter Tony Jones tried to make a joke and it fell flat. The pair were watching a young girl play tennis and McEnroe said that he wished he had footage of me when he was that age. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS! Chompers gets completely shut down by John McEnroe after sledging the great man 🤣 Watch: <a href="https://twitter.com/Channel9?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Channel9</a> Stream: <a href="https://t.co/VLoDqoHZ5m">https://t.co/VLoDqoHZ5m</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/9WWOS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#9WWOS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AusOpen?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AusOpen</a> <a href="https://t.co/fQ76cq0jV3">pic.twitter.com/fQ76cq0jV3</a> — Wide World of Sports (@wwos) <a href="https://twitter.com/wwos/status/1222667754840514560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2020</a></blockquote> Jones quickly swiped back, saying that “I don’t think it would’ve been [in] colour”. McEnroe laughed and tried to recover, explaining that the remark was “harsh but probably true”. When Jones wished him luck for his game on court three, McEnroe said that he should “go get my wood racket, along with the black and white tv you apparently used to watch me on”. McEnroe then explained that it had been a “tough couple days, I guess, and have to keep taking those punches in and stay tough.”

News

Trouble in paradise? Kate Middleton shrugs off hand on shoulder from Prince William

Duchess Kate set tongues wagging in her and Prince William’s latest TV appearance on A Berry Royal Christmas. She appeared to shrug off her husband’s hand when he placed it on her shoulder as they were speaking with volunteers on the show. The pair hosted a Christmas party for charity workers and volunteers who will spend their holiday period working with former Great British Bake Off judge Mary Berry for the BBC. <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/B6GlHWlJYEW/?utm_source=ig_embed&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> <a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B6GlHWlJYEW/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A Berry Royal Christmas.🎄The Duchess of Cambridge has revealed that one of 19-month-old Prince Louis' first words was Mary because he recognised Mary Berry in a cookbook. William and Catherine have joined the former Bake Off presenter in a Christmassy TV special. Click the link in our bio to find out more.👆#MaryBerry #RoyalFamily #bake #bbcnews</a> <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 post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/bbcnews/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> BBC News</a> (@bbcnews) on Dec 15, 2019 at 10:16am PST </div> </blockquote> Fans were quick to point out how awkward the encounter was. “She moved with a quickness,” commented one fan on Twitter, while a second wrote: “Awkward! Too awkward!! They should have cut it out!” Another noted: “Kate shaking off William’s hand on her shoulder during #ABerryRoyalChristmas.” Another added: “What just happened here???? Ouch!” “I really can’t stop watching this,” said another Twitter user, while a second penned: “Very awkward indeed.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> Kate shaking off William's hand on her shoulder during <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ABerryRoyalChristmas?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ABerryRoyalChristmas</a> <a href="https://t.co/NyzjdKC3rk">pic.twitter.com/NyzjdKC3rk</a> — Caitlin McBride (@mcbride_caitlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcbride_caitlin/status/1206688540991655936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">16 December 2019</a></blockquote> However, some other Twitter users had another theory. “I like the way they interact, it’s professional. I don’t want to see excessive hand holding and back rubbing. It’s awkward, like you’re intruding on a private moment,” commented one, while a second added: “They’re not supposed to show PDA.” ”Why can’t people just be content with the fact that she didn’t feel a PDA was appropriate at that moment/at that event,” said another via social media. “It wasn’t about them, it was about all the volunteers.” Kate also shared a sweet story about how she stays up late to bake a cake before each child's birthday. “It’s become a bit of a tradition that I stay up until midnight with ridiculous amounts of cake mix and icing and I make far too much,” said Kate. “But I love it.”

Relationships

Mum runs into trouble with naming her fourth child as the name choice might be ILLEGAL

A Byron Bay mother-of-four has run into a bit of trouble while naming her newborn son. Claire Alexander-Johnston from Byron Bay is a mummy blogger known as JetSetMama and has named her three other children Atlas, Everest and Zephyr. Following the trend, it makes sense that her fourth son would have a unique name. She posted on Instagram and apologised to her 117K strong audience for the delay in letting them know about the name. She wrote: "Sorry this naming business has taken so long! We had a bit of a curveball when we announced your name to our family, as someone pointed out, it's possibly illegal to name you that in Australia, as it falls loosely under the category of 'title' like 'King', 'Duke', 'Lord' or 'Captain'. <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/B3rAu8llYHT/?utm_source=ig_embed&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> <a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B3rAu8llYHT/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">Welcome to the family 💙 Citizen Sage Alexander-Johnston. 🌿 You are ten days old. Four delicious kilos already. My favourite child [as long as you never answer me back or disagree with me at all ever 🤪]. You have the colouring of your brother Atlas. The face of your brother Everest [Sochi], and ...well nothing of your sister Zephyr right now 😆 but she’s kind of her own person... [and actually the self-titled Boss of You] ...you’ll work that out pretty fast, don’t worry, I got you. Sorry this naming business has taken so long! We had a bit of a curveball when we announced your name to our family, as someone pointed out, it’s possibly illegal to name you that in Australia, as it falls loosely under the category of ‘title’ like “King” “Duke” “Lord” or “Captain”. We tried to change it. ‘Disco’ even came back into play! 😆 But nothing else felt right for you as a Libra, with a [very sensible and grounded] Capricorn moon. ⚖️ So Citizen you are, and always will be- a Citizen of the world. And amazing Sage 🌿- burning, cleansing, and healing. And in Ancient Greece- a wise man [but you know, no pressure 🤪]. And look, if you have some rough teenage years, and you just wanna hang in the garage punching bongs with “Benji and the crew”, you can always roll out “Zen” as a nickname, and I’ll bring you all snacks and we’ll get through it. Because I’m already so proud, and so in love with you Citizen Sage. You complete me. Welcome to the family, we’re so glad you’re here. ❤️ #citizensage</a> <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 post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/jetsetmama/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Claire Alexander-Johnston</a> (@jetsetmama) on Oct 16, 2019 at 1:16am PDT </div> </blockquote> "We tried to change it. ‘Disco’ even came back into play! But nothing else felt right for you as a Libra, with a [very sensible and grounded] Capricorn moon. So Citizen you are, and always will be- a Citizen of the world." According to legislation in Australia, there are a number of names that are considered unacceptable by Births, Deaths and Marriages. These include swear words, unpronounceable names and names that include numbers or symbols. Another category is names that could be considered a title, which includes “Commissioner”, “Bishop”, “Queen” or “Prime Minister”. Claire spoke to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7592289/Mother-three-reveals-unusual-fourth-child-ILLEGAL.html" target="_blank">The Daily Mail</a> , saying that her and her partner had put names through a test before choosing it. 'When thinking about names we like, Rich and I would put it through the "can they be a rockstar or an accountant?" test. [not that I particularly want either of these professions for any of my children, but you get the drift- "an adaptable name"!],' she said. If they pass the test, the name sticks. Fans of Claire were thrilled, but very curious as to how it passed the BDM. "So has it been approved by the BDM!? Such a cool name and so hope it gets approved if its not already," one woman wrote. "Wonderful name for a beautiful boy. Very happy for you that you were allowed the name you had your heart set on," another wrote. "Is this his registered name or was it not approved but you're calling him it anyway? Just wondering!!"

Family & Pets

“Completely drunk”: Woman banned for life from Disney World after attacking taxi driver

Walt Disney World has taken action against an intoxicated woman for slapping a cab driver as well as kicking a police officer. Ellen McMillion, 53, from Florida slapped unsuspecting cab driver Adel Mahmoud after she asked him for a cigarette. When he said he didn’t smoke, she slapped him several times. “A minute or two after I told her I don’t have a cigarette, she hit and slapped me,” Mr Mahmoud told <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/drunk-florida-woman-banned-from-disney-world-for-assault-130639643.html">Yahoo Lifestyle</a>. “She didn’t have control, she was completely drunk, out of her mind.” Disney security guard Barbara Somoano observed the assault and said to police that McMillion caused a disturbance at the Hollywood Studios entrance. An Orange County police officer stationed at Disney World told Ms McMillion to sit down, but she became “verbally belligerent...She had bloodshot eyes, an unsteady gait, was slurring her words, and had a strong odour of alcohol emanating from her facial area. She also verbally stated she was drunk multiple times.” After McMillion was asked for her driver’s licence, she threw her small black purse on the ground and said “HERE”. She was also yelling profanities as families passed by and was led into a squad car, where she kicked a female officer in the leg twice. She was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and disorderly intoxication. The police report obtained by Yahoo Lifestyle said that Disney Security asked for McMillion to be banned from all Walt Disney World Properties. A Disney spokesperson tells Yahoo Lifestyle, “We have no tolerance for violence.”

Travel Trouble

7 innocent mistakes that put your kidneys in trouble

If your kidneys aren’t working properly, you could raise your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Here are seven things you may be doing that could jeopardise the health of your kidneys. 1. You’re a fan of packaged food Most processed food is chock-full of sodium, which isn’t just bad for your heart, it can lead to kidney problems. When you’re showing signs that you eat too much salt, your body needs to flush the sodium out when you wee, and it takes calcium with it. In turn, having too much calcium in your urine increases your risk for kidney stones, says nephrologist Dr James Simon. In Australia, the National Health and Medical Research Council has set an ‘Adequate Intake’ of sodium at 460–920 mg per day (equivalent to about 1.15-2.3 g of salt), however because on average we consume about 10,000 mg of sodium, the suggested dietary target is 1600 mg (equivalent to about 4 g of salt). One teaspoon of salt equals 2300 mg of sodium – 700 mg higher than the dietary target. Check the nutritional label on processed food, you’ll be surprised just how quickly sodium can add up. In fact, processed and fast food is where more than 75 per cent of the sodium we consume comes from. “People look at carbs and fat and kilojoules, but they don’t pay attention to sodium,” says Dr Simon. 2. Your blood pressure is out of control High blood pressure is hard on your whole body, including your kidneys. “Kidneys are basically one big set of blood vessels with urine drains,” says Dr Simon. “If you have high blood pressure in your big blood vessels, you have high blood pressure in your smaller blood vessels.” Letting high blood pressure go unchecked could damage the blood vessels leading to your kidneys, plus scar the organs themselves. 3. You haven’t kicked your smoking habit If you thought lung cancer was the only reason to put down the cigarettes, think again. A 2012 study found that quitting smoking for 16 or more years cut the risk of renal cell carcinoma (the most common form of kidney cancer in adults) by 40 per cent. Plus, smoking can damage the blood vessels and increase your risk of high blood pressure. “It’s another reason smoking is just bad on the body,” says Dr Simon. 4. You never drink when you’re thirsty Contrary to popular belief, you don’t necessarily need to down a full eight glasses of water to keep your kidneys working well. Even with just four to six glasses of water a day, your kidneys are probably fine, says Dr Simon. But sticking with just a cup or two a day could challenge the organ. Not only will you not have enough water flushing out your system to keep your sodium levels in check, but a dehydrated body will have a harder time keeping blood pressure steady. “The kidney is very sensitive to blood flow,” says Dr Simon. “It won’t like it if you are so dehydrated that your blood pressure drops and the blood flow to your kidneys drops.” You probably won’t need to worry about that level of dehydration every day, but make sure you drink enough water if you’re exercising a lot or outside on a hot day, he says. 5. You pop painkillers constantly Watch out if you take over-the-counter medication for chronic pain. Anti-inflammatory drugs, which include ibuprofen and aspirin, reduce blood flow to the kidneys, and cause scarring because they’re directly toxic to the organ, says Dr Simon. Nobody’s saying you need to suffer through a throbbing headache, but popping anti-inflammatory pills too often can increase your risk of kidney problems. “The people at risk are taking them on a daily basis for long periods of time,” says Dr Simon. But if you already have kidney damage, he recommends avoiding these drugs altogether. 6. You assume supplements are safe Just because a product is marketed as ‘natural’ doesn’t mean it’s good for you. “There are plenty of herbal medicines out there that are harmful,” says Dr Simon. Case in point: a plant-based ingredient called aristolochic acid can be found in ‘traditional medicines’, but it can cause scarring in the kidneys. Consumers are warned to stay away from products listing Aristolochia, Asarum or Bragantia on the label, because they probably contain the harmful ingredient. Unless you’re taking a regular multivitamin, always check with your doctor before starting any kind of supplement, advises Dr Simon. 7. Your weight is pushed to the side No surprises here: extra kilos are hard on your body. Being overweight puts you at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which in turn can increase your chances of developing kidney disease. Insulin issues from both type 1 and type 2 diabetes cause inflammation and scarring in the kidneys, says Dr Simon. “Anybody with diabetes should be getting their kidney function and urine checked on a fairly regular basis,” he says. Written by Marissa Laliberte. This article first appeared in <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/conditions/7-innocent-mistakes-that-put-your-kidneys-in-trouble" target="_blank">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.com.au/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRA93V">here’s our best subscription offer.</a> <img style="width: 100px !important; height: 100px !important;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7820640/1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f30947086c8e47b89cb076eb5bb9b3e2" />

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