1. UPDATE: two further objects found by RAAF in search for missing flight MH370
Prime Minister Tony Abbott says two more objects have been located by the Royal Australian Air Force in the search for missing Flight MH370.
The PM told Parliament today that the objects were spotted by a RAAF P3 Orion in the south-west Indian Ocean, about 2500 km south west of Perth.
One of the objects was reportedly grey or green and circular, while the second was orange and rectangular.
The Australian reports:
The objects identified by the RAAF Orion were separate to others seen earlier by the crew of a Chinese Ilyushin IL-76 search aircraft, Mr Abbott said.
“(RAAF plane) HMAS Success is on scene and is attempting to located and recover these objects,” he said…
“We don’t know whether any of these objects are from MH370, they could be flotsam,” Mr Abbott said.
“Nevertheless we are hopeful that we can recover these objects soon and they will take us a step closer to resolving this mystery.”
Debris believed to be from the ill-fated airliner is set to be recovered from the ocean within hours, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald:
“(I)t is possible that the objects could be received within the next few hours or by tomorrow morning at the latest,” Malaysia’s acting transport minister Hussammuddin Hussein said on Monday night.
Mr Hishammuddin made the announcement after Prime Minister Tony Abbott had telephoned his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak with the news.
While HMAS Success is currently the only ship in the area, at least six Chinese ships are also reportedly now joining the search for the flight, which went missing on March 8.
Earlier today, Mamamia wrote:
Today four more jets, two from China and two from Japan, will join the reconnaissance team to search the Indian Ocean for the missing flight MH370.
Eight aircraft and one ship conducted yesterday’s search but frustratingly there were no sightings of significance. This was despite news earlier that a French satellite had shown “potential objects in the vicinity of the southern corridor” of the search area for the plane, Malaysia’s acting transportation minister said.
A wooden pallet spotted over the weekend was unable to be located again. Experts have said that these types of pallets are often used for cargo on planes, but can also be found in shipping containers.
The focus of media reports is now turning to a call the pilot received from a woman just before the plane took off. The woman was calling from a pay-as-you-go SIM card.
2. Warning on Russian build-up
The BBC reports that NATO’s military commander in Europe has issued a warning about the build-up of Russian forces on Ukraine’s border.
Russia said its forces east of Ukraine have complied with international agreements.
Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council chief Andriy Parubiy told a big rally in Kiev: “The aim of [President Vladimir] Putin is not Crimea, but all of Ukraine… His troops massed at the border are ready to attack at any moment.”
3. Cancer causing dyes in kids clothing
Parents are concerned, due to new reports, that children’s clothing containing cancer-causing dyes are being sold in Australia.
News Limited reports that clothing chains Rivers Australia and Just Jeans and bedding retailer Pillow Talk have recalled items, including children’s jeans coloured with “azo dyes”, known to break down into carcinogenic chemicals.
Rivers has recalled the jeans and Just Jeans said the company would no longer use the supplier responsible for the recalled Chinese garments.
4. Woman’s phantom quintuplet pregnancy
A woman convinced a whole town she was expecting quadruplets (then quintuplets) only for her ‘fake’ pregnancy to be revealed at the last minute when she went to hospital to have her babies.
Her devastated partner has spoken of his shock.
For more, read this post here. “She convinced her whole town she was having quintuplets. She wasn’t even pregnant.”
5. Sex with a child okay in Victoria
The Australian reports that an antiquated law, which states an adult can have sex with a child as young as 12 so long as they are married, still exists in Victoria.
A Victorian advocate group has said that as long as the state law remained on the books, Islamic men could believe it entitled them to marry child brides as the law often allowed in their traditional cultures.
According to the newspaper, Victorian Attorney-General Robert Clark says that the federal Marriage Act overrides the state law.
6. Radio host shamed for breastfeeding
A Sunshine Coast radio announcer has for the first time written about her experience of breastfeeding her newborn in public.
Jess Eva has written that she was abused last week by an elderly man in speedos telling her it was “disgusting”.
The new mum said she was ashamed and has stopped feeding her baby after the man’s comments.
She wrote that since the incident she has not left her house.
7. Racist Australians
A survey from Monash University has shown that migrants settled over the past two decades often feel singled out because of their skin colour or faith.
Over the last 12 months, more than 40 per cent of recent arrivals from a number of Asian countries reported of experiencing discrimination.
The migrants regularly reported a fear of walking alone at night or becoming a victim of crime.
The Age reports that when asked to nominate what they ”least like” about Australia, racism and discrimination are often the first choice of recent migrants.
8. International student filmed women
An international student who was caught secretly filming his female housemates in his shared bathroom has been suspended by his university and sent back to his country of origin, 18 weeks shy of completing his medical degree. He was charged with stalking, and failed a working with children check.
The Herald Sun reports that the man appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal but lost.
9. George Pell to take stand
Cardinal George Pell will appear today at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
It is expected he will face tough questions over the Catholic Church’s handling of the church’s treatment of John Ellis, who sought damages for abuse by Father Aidan Duggan at the Sydney Archdiocese’s Bass Hill parish between 1974 and 1979.
10. South Australia election
The Labor party will form a minority government in South Australia after a deal between Independent MP Geoff Brock and Premier Jay Weatherill was announced yesterday.
11. Turkey shoots Syrian jet
A Turkish fighter jet has shot down a Syrian warplane after it violated Turkey’s airspace, Turkey’s Prime Minister has said.
Reuters reports that a spokesman for Syria’s military confirmed the incident. The spokesman quoted on Syrian state TV called the act a “blatant aggression,” and said the pilot safely ejected from the aircraft.
What news are you talking about today?
Top Comments
Umm, most people regardless of race have fear walking alone at night, or becoming a victim of crime and chances are of a night it wouldn't be because of your race.
Statistically, there is probably an increased risk of physical assault if you have a certain ethnic background, in the same way that there is an increased chance of sexual assault if you're a woman.
Sure, no one is 100% safe, but different groups experience different risks.
7.
I think there are some cultural misunderstandings that cause conflict with Asians in Australia.. E.g. Simple stuff like train/bus ettiquete. I have on many occassions told off Asians for their lack of train ettiquete (also a handful of indians and an anglo) in frustration. I feel that my frustration could very easily have been mistaken for racism and I feel really bad about that. It's just that 90% of the time someone has done something wrong on a train IN FRONT OF ME, they have been Asian. My best friend is Chinese and she said that in their culture they just sort of keep their head down and don't acknowledge others, so if they accidentally bump into you while walking, they just keep going.. whereas in Australian culture that is considered very rude and I've seen quite a few Asians get yelled at for doing that. Similar with moving up a train, waiting for passengers to get off and not standing for disabled, elderly or pregnant passengers. Since she told me that, I've tried very hard not to react so aggressively to what I consider a lack of politeness as it's just a different culture... They don't realise that what they are doing is considered rude.
In China, people openly and loudly fart at the dinner table and it's not considered gross or rude! Different people, different cultures, different behaviours.
I get what you're saying, but I think that when cultural frustration is expressed, it becomes racist (even though I don't think for a second you would mean to be).
We are a multicultural country (supposedly), and our culture (which was developed from an amalgamation of other cultures) is not the 'right' culture, or the 'best' culture. Sure, when anyone is in a country that's not their own, they should try to abide by the cultural rules and not be offensive - but there's a difference between being offensive (eg trying to practice FGM or child marriage) and just being *annoying* (eg not looking where you are going, not making eye contact, etc).
If someone is being annoying for cultural reasons, I would be very weary of *correcting* them, because you are telling them that they have to enact your cultural behaviours, not theirs - which is probably offensive. Politely let them know they're being rude in a quiet, friendly way that doesn't embarrass them, if the 'correction' is necessary. But even if you're really irritated by someone, and think they're being rude and just don't realise it, it's NEVER okay to be rude about it to them. (Not that I think you would be)
Fair point but it sounds like you are trying. I found the same on buses in uni. There would be these huge crushes of people and because I was taller than many people, I had them ducking under my arm to get in front of me. i missed buses many times because of this. I think the problem is not so much telling off someone, if you correct them politely its fine. Its when there is neutral situation and someone treats someone differently, unfairly, cruelly or even violently solely for being different.