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"We're giving them weapons": Charlotte O'Brien's parents call for social media ban

The parents of a young girl who took her own life after being bullied have joined a campaign to raise the age limit for social media. Charlotte O'Brien was a student at Santa Sabina College in Sydney’s inner west, where she dealt with relentless bullying which led to the 12-year-old's tragic death. Now, her parents Mat Howard and Kelly O’Brien appeared on 60 Minutes to ask “how many more Charlottes do we need to lose” before action was taken to protect kids from harm online. When asked if she believed Charlotte would still be alive if social media was off limits to young children, Ms O’Brien replied: “Absolutely”. “My personal opinion. Giving our kids these phones, we’re giving them weapons, we’re giving them the world at their fingertips,” the grieving mother said. In the days after the young girl's death, it was revealed her parents had pleaded with her school to address “friendship issues” Charlotte was facing. Mr Howard told 60 Minutes that despite her “ongoing struggles” the last two weeks of Charlotte’s life were “the best two weeks that I can remember with her”, adding, "We thought we were really turning the corner.” “You know she’d come home from school that day and she’d had a great day. Kelly had made her favourite dinner that night. And that night she skipped off to bed, literally skipped. And we never saw her again.” Her family revealed a “completely distressed” Charlotte spoke to a friend on her phone the night she died, and shared messages she had been sent online. “So we can’t say exactly what we’ve been told, but what I will tell you is what we’ve been told is some of the worst words that anybody should have to read, let alone a 12-year-old girl,” Mr Howard said. Recalling the heart-wrenching moment they found their daughter's body, Ms O'Brien said she pleaded for answers from police on how she would've taken her own life. “I just kept saying to the police that morning, ‘Where did she get the knowledge and the means? Where did she get the knowledge and the means?’,” she said. “I couldn’t wrap my head around it, and he (the police officer) just said to me, ‘This is the age of information. She just needed to Google it’. And for me, I’m so devastated by that because I gave her that phone.” Charlotte’s parents have travelled to Canberra to meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, ahead of legislation to raise the age of using social media from 13 to 16. “I intend to say, ‘Please, Mr. Albanese, raise the age of social media to 16, because 36 months could change a lifetime’. That’s what I’m going to say,” Ms O’Brien said. Mr Howard said, “Charlotte was not the first and she’s already not the last. And this will continue to happen unless we make the right decisions.” The controversial bill to raise the age on social media platforms is set to go before Australia’s federal parliament this week, with support from both major parties. Need to talk to someone? Don't go it alone. Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636 SANE: 1800 187 263; saneforums.org Image credits: 2GB / Kids Helpline

Caring

00-No: US traveller puts border security to the test with a golden gun

A 28-year-old traveller from the United States has been arrested after Australian Border Force officers allegedly discovered a firearm in her luggage. According to a report on the ABF website, the weapon - a 24-carat gold-plated handgun - was unregistered, and the passenger was not in possession of “a permit to import or possess the firearm in Australia.” If convicted, she will face up to 10 years of imprisonment. And while she was arrested and charged, she was released on bail at Downing Centre Local Court, and is expected to face court again in a month’s time. She remains subject to visa cancellation, and faces the likelihood of being removed from Australia. As ABF Enforcement and Detained Goods East Commander Justin Bathurst explained, the discovery was made with a combination of ABC officer skills and detection technology, one that served to prevent a dangerous weapon from entering the Australian community. “Time and time again, we have seen just how good ABF officers are at targeting and stopping illegal, and highly dangerous, goods from crossing Australia's border," he said. “The ABF is Australia's first and most important line of defence. ABF officers are committed to protecting our community by working with law enforcement partners to prevent items like unregistered firearms getting through at the border." Photos distributed by the ABF present the image of the gun in its case, as well as a scan of the passenger’s luggage, with the gun clearly visible among the rest of her possessions. While travellers on domestic flights within the United States are able to carry firearms in their checked luggage - granted they are unloaded and securely locked away, and the proper authorities have been informed - Australia has much stricter laws surrounding firearms. In the wake of a 1996 Tasmanian tragedy, in which 35 people lost their lives to a gunman, all automatic and semi-automatic weapons were outlawed in the country. Meanwhile, in the United States, a frightening sum of 6,301 were confiscated at checkpoints as of December 2022, according to the Transportation Security Administration. For many, the news was broken on social media, with comments sections reflecting the shock - and disapproval - of the masses, with the occasional 007 reference thrown in. “Smuggling firearms into Australia is a serious offence,” wrote one on Twitter, “and should be met with the full force of the law as it endangers citizen safety.” “That’s a fantastic bit of security work by our airport staff,” someone commended. Another had one very important question, asking “how did she get it out of the US to begin with...??? TSA should have caught that at the airport before she even left. Even if it was in a checked bag, it still had to be declared.” Images: Australian Border Force

Travel Trouble

Man arrested after spotted with an ‘AK-47’

A man has been spotted walking in a Sydney street with what appeared to be an AK-47 assault rifle, however, police later discovered the “weapon” in question was far from a gun. Several people were quick to dial triple zero after spotting the man who appeared to be armed, as police rushed to the address in response. Officers then discovered the “gun” was actually a bong, shaped like a rifle. Officers watched CCTV from nearby businesses and helicopters were flying over the surrounding area to track down the man. The footage led officers to a vehicle in a church car park, while the helicopter search found the man nearby. "He was arrested and taken to Castle Hill Police Station where he was charged with possessing an unauthorised firearm and intimidation," police said. "The 50-year-old man was refused bail to appear before Parramatta Local Court today.” Image credit: Shutterstock

Legal

Aspirin could be our next weapon against aggressive breast cancer

Aspirin may be used in future treatments of breast cancer, with doctors saying it can make hard-to-treat tumours more responsive to anti-cancer drugs. A new trial is starting in Manchester, England, with triple-negative breast-cancer patients, run by a team at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust. The team suspects aspirin’s anti-inflammatory properties may be what boost the effectiveness of anti-cancer drugs, rather than its analgesic effect. Though animal studies have shown encouraging results and there is some evidence aspirin may help prevent other cancers, more research is needed before it is recommended as a treatment. Around 15 percent of breast cancers are triple negative, which is a more aggressive type of breast cancer and frequently affects younger women and black women. Triple negative cancer tumours lack some of the receptors that other breast cancers have, which means they can’t be treated with drugs such as herceptin. But other treatments could work. In the Manchester trial, some patients will be given aspirin and immunotherapy drug avelumab before they undergo surgery and chemotherapy. If the trial is successful, further clinical trials could start to test the effectiveness of aspirin and avelumab on incurable secondary triple-negative breast cancer - the stage where cancer cells start to spread to other parts of the body. “Not all breast cancers respond well to immunotherapy,” trial lead Dr Anne Armstrong said. “Trialling the use of a drug like aspirin is exciting because it is so widely available and inexpensive to produce. “We hope our trial will show that, when combined with immunotherapy, aspirin can enhance its effects and may ultimately provide a safe new way to treat breast cancer.” Co-researcher Dr Rebecca Lee said their findings suggest that aspirin may be preventing the cancer from making substances that weaken the body’s immune response, in turn increasing the effectiveness of certain types of immunotherapy. “We hope aspirin can dampen down bad inflammation so the immune system can get on with the job of killing cancer cells,” she said.

Body

Unlikely new weapon in the war on COVID

A new study in the UK has shown that mouthwash has been shown to kill coronavirus in just 30 seconds. Scientists at Cardiff University found that there were "promising signs" that over-the-counter mouthwashes may help to destroy the virus. Dr Nick Claydon said the study could lead to mouthwash becoming an important part of people's routines. Dr Claydon, a specialist periodontologist, said: "If these positive results are reflected in Cardiff University's clinical trial, CPC-based mouthwashes... could become an important addition to people's routine, together with hand washing, physical distancing and wearing masks, both now and in the future." Dr Richard Stanton, lead author on the study, said: "This study adds to the emerging literature that several commonly-available mouthwashes designed to fight gum disease can also inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (and other related coronaviruses) when tested in the laboratory under conditions that are designed to mimic the oral/nasal cavity in a test tube. "This study is not yet peer reviewed and published which means it has not yet been scrutinised by other scientists as is the usual process with academic research. It has now been submitted for publication in a journal. "People should continue to follow the preventive measures issued by the UK government, including washing hands frequently and maintaining social distance." Prof David Thomas, from the university, said the initial results were encouraging, but the clinical trial would not produce evidence of how to prevent transmission between patients. "Whilst these mouthwashes very effectively eradicate the virus in the laboratory, we need to see if they work in patients and this is the point of our ongoing clinical study," he said to the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-54971650" target="_blank" class="editor-rtflink">BBC</a>. "The ongoing clinical study will, however, show us how long any effects last, following a single administration of the mouthwash in patients with Covid-19."We need to understand if the effect of over-the-counter mouthwashes on the Covid-19 virus achieved in the laboratory can be reproduced in patients."

Caring

“I still cannot get over it”: Nuclear weapons ban comes after 75 years since Japan atomic bombs

The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will finally come into force after the 50th country (Honduras) <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/nuclear-weapons-ban-treaty-to-enter-into-force-united-nations-says-20201025-p568du.html">ratified it</a> over the weekend. The treaty will make the development, testing, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons illegal for those countries that have signed it. This is an extraordinary achievement for those who have suffered the most from these weapons — including the hibakusha (survivors) of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the islanders who lived through nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific. Since 1956, the hibakusha in Japan, South Korea, Brazil and elsewhere have been some of the most strident campaigners against the use of these weapons. Among them is a group of Japanese Catholics from Nagasaki whom I interviewed as part of my <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Memory-Nagasaki-Narratives-Transformations/dp/0367217759">research</a> collecting the oral histories of atomic bomb survivors. A 92-year-old hibakusha of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 and a brother in a Catholic order, Ozaki Tōmei, explained the significance of the treaty to survivors like him. He was orphaned from the bombing at 17 and never found his mother’s body. “The Germans made tools for war including poisonous gas, which was [eventually] banned […] However, when the USA made an atomic weapon, then they … wanted to try it out. It was a war […] they were human. “And so this is why we say we have to eliminate nuclear weapons […] They said they did it to end the war, but for the people who were struck, it was horrific […] there was no need to use it.” Treaty does not have support of nuclear powers The treaty was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/07/treaty-banning-nuclear-weapons-approved-un">adopted</a> at the United Nations in 2017 by a vote of 122 nations in favour, one against and one abstention. Sixty-nine nations, however, have not signed it, including all of the nuclear powers such as the US, UK, Russia, China, France, India, Pakistan and North Korea, as well as NATO member states (apart from the Netherlands who voted against), Japan and Australia. Since the treaty was adopted, it needed ratification by 50 countries to come into force. This will now happen in 90 days. The campaign for the treaty has relied heavily on civil society and organisations such as the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). And from the beginning, it has exposed political fault lines. The United States has been <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-urges-countries-to-withdraw-from-un-nuke-ban-treaty/2020/10/21/21918918-13ce-11eb-a258-614acf2b906d_story.html">particularly outspoken</a> in its opposition to the treaty, warning last week the treaty “turns back the clock on verification and disarmament and is dangerous” to the 50-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The <a href="https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/npt/">NPT</a> sought to prevent the spread of nuclear arms beyond the five original weapons powers (the US, Russia, China, UK and France). It has been signed by 190 countries, including those five nations. The head of ICAN, Beatrice Fihn, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-urges-countries-to-withdraw-from-un-nuke-ban-treaty/2020/10/21/21918918-13ce-11eb-a258-614acf2b906d_story.html">says</a> the new treaty banning nuclear weapons merely builds on the nonproliferation treaty. “There’s no way you can undermine the nonproliferation treaty by banning nuclear weapons. It’s the end goal of the nonproliferation treaty.” States like Japan and Australia have opposed the treaty on the grounds their security is boosted by the US stockpile of nuclear weapons. Japan’s former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2018/08/japan-holds-firm-against-nuclear-ban-treaty-on-anniversary-of-nuclear-bombings/">has said</a> the treaty “was created without taking into account the realities of security.” The efforts of hibakusha in advocating for a treaty Making the bomb illegal turns an old US justification for the weapon on its head. Harry Stimson, the former US war secretary, <a href="https://www.atomicheritage.org/key-documents/stimson-bomb">argued</a> in 1947 the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were necessary to compel the Japanese to surrender at the end of the second world war. “The atomic bomb was more than a weapon of terrible destruction; it was a psychological weapon.” The damage from the bombings was colossal. It is unknown how many people were killed, but <a href="https://thebulletin.org/2020/08/counting-the-dead-at-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/">estimates</a> range from 110,000 (the US army’s toll) to <a href="https://www.icanw.org/hiroshima_and_nagasaki_7_things_you_should_know">210,000</a> (the figure accepted by ICAN and others). At the forefront of the campaign to support the nuclear weapons ban treaty have been the voices of hibakusha who experienced the carnage firsthand. Another Catholic hibakusha, Nakamura Kazutoshi, told me the stockpiling of nuclear weapons enables states to carry out genocide. “In war, we are at a level below animals. Among monkeys, or chimpanzees, there are no animals who would carry out a genocide.” A third hibakusha, 90-year-old Jōji Fukahori, told me about how he lost his mother and three younger siblings in the Nagasaki bombing. His younger brother, Kōji, died an excruciating death around a week after the bombing, walking in the hot ash with no shoes and complaining to his brother, “I’m so hot!” At the site where Fukahori’s brother was exposed, the temperature was about 1,000 degrees Celsius. Fukahori said, “You would have thought everyone would have turned into charcoal.” For Fukahori, the lasting effects of radiation exposure is a major reason why nuclear weapons must be banned. He continued: “the terror of radiation has to be fully communicated … The atomic bomb is unacceptable. I still cannot get over it.” Since 2009, Fukahori has been speaking out at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and on the <a href="https://peaceboat.org/english/project/hibakusha#:%7E:text=Peace%20Boat%20has%20long%20worked,%3A%20Peace%20Boat%20Hibakusha%20Project%E2%80%9D.">Peace Boat</a>, a non-governmental organisation that organises cruises where passengers learn about the consequences of using nuclear weapons from hibakusha. Pressure building on Japan The Japanese government is now under <a href="http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13522651">mounting pressure</a> to ratify the treaty. Major Japanese financial institutions and companies have said they will no longer fund the production of nuclear weapons and nearly a third of all local assemblies have adopted proposals calling on the government to act. The government, however, has been unmoved. In August, Abe <a href="https://twitter.com/AbeShinzo/status/1292325885849137157?s=20">gave a speech</a> at a memorial service in Nagasaki, in which he suggested the effects of the bombings had been overcome. “Seventy-five years ago today, Nagasaki was reduced to ashes, with not a single tree or blade of grass remaining. Yet through the efforts of its citizens, it achieved reconstruction beautifully as we see today. Mindful of this, we again feel strongly that there is no trial that cannot be overcome and feel acutely how precious peace is.” A Japanese atomic researcher, who knows how Fukahori and other hibakusha have not been able to move on, told me Abe’s words don’t go far enough: “Rather than placing a ‘full-stop’ at the end of damages such as this, we have a necessity to make our claim that the damages are not finished.” The nuclear weapons ban treaty offers a moment of hope for all the hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still with us after 75 years. It is certainly their hope the ratification of the treaty now moves us one step closer to a world free of nuclear war. Written by <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gwyn-mcclelland-305943">Gwyn McClelland</a>, University of New England. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-still-cannot-get-over-it-75-years-after-japan-atomic-bombs-a-nuclear-weapons-ban-treaty-is-finally-realised-147851">The Conversation.</a>

Beauty & Style

“Dancing was my secret weapon in managing diabetes!”

Dubbed the ‘Silent Pandemic’ of our times, type 2 diabetes is a huge health issue in our country – and around the world. So many have it, but don’t realise it. Currently, 1 in 4 adults are living with diabetes or pre-diabetes – with the largest proportion of Australians with type 2 diabetes in the 50-79 age bracket according to the National Diabetes Service Scheme. The good news is, diabetes can be managed – if you educate yourself, take steps to change your diet and shoehorn more activity into your day. Here’s how Yvonne Appleby, ambassador for Diabetes NSW / ACT, changed her life after being diagnosed with type 2 in 2011. “I was ill on and off for a long time before I discovered I had type 2 diabetes. I kept getting sore throats, and earaches, and I gained 20 kilos over 4 years, which was significant as I’d been a size 8-10 most of my life. I was getting really bad headaches and migraines and I felt something wasn’t right. “One early blood test showed my blood glucose levels were a bit high, but my GP just said if I dieted and exercised it would go down. I know now that I was pre-diabetic then, but I trusted my doctor. She did ask if I was peeing a lot or thirsty all the time and I wasn’t, so she told me ‘it couldn’t be diabetes’. It didn’t occur to me to get a second opinion. I just assumed she knew what she was talking about. “Finally I couldn’t handle being so unwell anymore and asked for another blood test. It then showed up that I had type 2 diabetes and at that point I had been sick on and off for 6 or 7 years. I know now that not everyone gets typical symptoms. Some people have zero symptoms. If I had my time again, I wouldn’t have left it so long. I would’ve gotten a second opinion, or changed doctors (I have now). I know you can take steps to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. “When I was diagnosed, I didn’t know much about diabetes. I’d heard the horror stories, but I didn’t know it was common in the older age group – like 50 and over. And my doctor wasn’t a lot of help. She just said, ‘You’ve got diabetes, go to the chemist and get a blood glucose monitor’. I also went on Metformin and as soon as I was on that, I started feeling better within three days. “At first, I had no idea what I was doing. I was testing my glucose levels for about a week thinking, ‘I’m writing all these numbers down but what do they mean? Are they low? High? Normal?’ I remember one time my sugar dropped to 4.3mmol and I panicked and started eating nuts and it just went lower. I rang the Diabetes NSW customer care line and they said, ‘Oh no. Nuts will just lower your glucose levels – you need a bit of orange juice or some lollies to bring it back up’. It was all very trial and error getting to know what worked for me. I was lucky to know a lady who works at Diabetes NSW and I rang her and told her I’d just been diagnosed. She asked me to come in and talk to someone. “I did an 8-week education course there, which was hugely helpful. We had an exercise physiologist, a dietitian and a diabetes educator talk to us. They taught us how to read nutritional panels, which is something I never did before. We had to put cereal boxes in a line according to how much sugar they had in them and Nutrigrain was something like 46 per cent sugar! That’s really stuck with me. “My diet before was bad. Lots of sugar. Now, I make much more sensible choices. Lots of vegies and swaps to low-GI foods. I’ve totally changed how I think about food. I no longer skip meals either, which I’d had a tendency to do. “I also took up dancing and at one stage I was dancing 9-10 hours a week, doing rock’n’roll and Latin dance. I became an assistant dance teacher and I lost 15kg just from dancing and eating well. I even got to dance with Robbie Kmetoni, former winner of So You Think You Can Dance Australia, for the Move4Diabetes campaign. Two years after being diagnosed, my sugars were stable, I was the fittest I’d ever been and I was even off my meds. My doctor was very pleased. “I’ve had some health problems since including a serious respiratory infection and some knee issues. As a result I’ve been on steroids and haven’t been able to exercise as much, but my HbA1c levels were still that of a non-diabetic person – around 5.5mmol when I was last tested. When I was diagnosed they were 9mmol! I’m back on the meds to keep my glucose levels stable, but when I’m better I’ll be getting back into dancing and getting back on track. “My advice to anyone who’s newly diagnosed is to go to the Diabetes NSW and ACT webpage. Ring the customer care line. They saved my skin a lot of times because I had no idea where to turn. They also have amazing recipes and advice. You can ask questions and talk to an expert. I also think it’s important for everyone to get routinely tested because there are so many people out there with diabetes who don’t know they have it. If you have prediabetes, losing just 10 percent of your body weight can stop you developing type 2 diabetes. So early diagnosis is really important.” Written by Rachel Smith. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.wyza.com.au/articles/health/secret-weapon-in-managing-diabetes.aspx">Wyza.com.au.</a>

Retirement Life

The Queen's secret weapon for getting out of conversations

The Queen has a schedule that is jampacked with social engagements that even the best chatterbox could feel a little tired sometimes. To help her out when the conversation gets awkward when she is hosting guests, the Queen has a trick that she is reported to use time and time again. According to The Express, the Queen’s method is known as the “dog mechanism” to members of her family and involves Her Majesty ducking her head under the table to feed her dogs. If the Queen needs an escape from the dinner conversation, she ducks her head under the table and no one thinks anything of it because she is known to love her corgis. The Queen’s corgis are known to be treated to a very lavish life at Buckingham Palace and they are reportedly served fish, steak, rabbit or chicken for dinner. In an interview with Town & Country magazine, Dr Roger Mugford revealed how dinner is served to the Queen’s dogs. “At feeding times, each dog had an individually designed menu, including an array of homeopathic and herbal remedies. “Their food was served by a butler in an eclectic collection of battered silver and porcelain dishes. “As I watched, the Queen got the corgis to sit in a semi-circle around her, and then fed them one by one, in order of seniority. The others just sat and patiently waited their turn.”

Mind

JB Hi-Fi’s secret weapon in fight against Amazon

JB Hi-Fi says suppliers and consumers appreciate how the electronic retailer “brings products to life”, which is key to their fight against Amazon. The retailer’s boss comments come as the company’s shares slump as predictions mount about Amazon’s arrival in Australia. Although not confirmed, it is believed the US e-commerce giant could launch by the end of the year. However, JB Hi-Fi chief executive Richard Murray told the Fairfax Media that it was committed to its cheap prices and it had significant leeway with suppliers. "Suppliers see us as the destination for 'new'," Mr Murray told Fairfax Media on Monday after handing down the company's full-year results. "JB hasn't always been the largest account with a particular supplier, so what we focus on is what we bring to the table. How we bring their products to life, they absolute value us for that. "We feel comfortable that if we remain relevant to our suppliers, that we'll be rewarded for that relevance." Retailers such as JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman have the most to lose from Amazon, say analysts, although how big a slice it will take is still to be seen.

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