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‘It’s time to give up on normal’: what winter’s weird weather means for the warm months ahead

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-bowman-4397">David Bowman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a></em></p> <p>Heavy winds struck south-east Australia over the weekend as a series of cold fronts moved across the continent. It followed a <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-weather-update-nsw-and-victoria-damaging-winds-high-fire-danger-warnings/0f9b19d8-dc81-44c9-8df4-679cbb67c055">high fire danger</a> in Sydney and other parts of New South Wales last week, and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-28/fire-grass-emergency-warning-firefighter-horningsea-park/104281180">a fire in south-west Sydney</a> that threatened homes.</p> <p>The severe weather rounds out a weird winter across Australia. The nation’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/26/winter-heat-records-broken-as-australia-set-for-more-temperatures-over-10c-above-average">hottest ever winter temperature was recorded</a> when Yampi Sound in Western Australia reached 41.6C on Tuesday. Elsewhere across Australia, winter temperatures have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/28/nsw-weather-forecast-fire-danger-warnings-sydney-bom">way above average</a>.</p> <p>We can look to the positives: spring <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/26/australias-early-spring-brings-budding-flowers-chirping-birds-and-climate-alarm">flowers are blooming early</a>, and people have donned t-shirts and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/spring-comes-early-after-warm-winter-with-more-heat-on-the-way-20240828-p5k63i.html">hit the beach</a>. But there’s a frightening undercurrent to this weather.</p> <p>Earth’s climate has become dangerously <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/extreme-weather/">unstable</a>, and it’s only a matter of time before we get the bad combination of hot and dry weather, strong winds and a spark. None of this should come as a surprise. The sooner we stop expecting Australia’s weather to be “normal”, the sooner we can prepare for life in a wild climate.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/003XSg5AZBk?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>The green is deceiving</h2> <p>The landscape around Sydney – and in fact, across much of south-east Australia – is very green at the moment. That’s because we’ve had a couple of years of good rains which triggered an explosion of vegetation growth.</p> <p>The below NASA satellite image reveals the picture in stark detail. It’s certainly lush out there at the moment.</p> <p>But the problem with climate change is that weather conditions can turn on a dime. This August was a case in point. At month’s end, much of Australia was hit by a record-breaking heatwave and <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/synoptic_col.shtml">damaging winds</a> – conditions that can dry out a green landscape with devastating efficiency, turning it into fuel for a bushfire.</p> <p>The dangerous fire weather that struck Sydney this week came as a surprise to many. But in reality, these abnormal conditions are the new normal.</p> <p>We must open our minds to this, if we want to be prepared.</p> <h2>A climate off the rails</h2> <p>The year 2023 was Earth’s <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/2023-was-warmest-year-modern-temperature-record#:%7E:text=The%20year%202023%20was%20the,decade%20(2014%E2%80%932023).">hottest on record</a>. And <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the-climate-2024-now-very-likely-to-be-warmest-year-on-record/">2024 looks likely</a> to be hotter still.</p> <p>In Australia, the last 12 months have provided all the evidence we need that our climate is wobbling on its rails.</p> <p>In October 2023, Victoria’s Gippsland region suffered unseasonably early bushfires, then soon after battled <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-05/gippsland-fires-and-multiple-floods-breeding-resilience/103179368">heavy rain and flooding</a>.</p> <p>And Tasmania, where I live, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-07/tas-drought-conditions-as-dry-tasmania-looking-very-brown/103546058">has been gripped by drought</a>. This February was Hobart’s third driest in 143 years. But over the weekend we were hammered by a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-01/tas-flood-warnings-severe-weather-sunday/104296092">deluge of rain and wind</a>.</p> <p>This climate instability is setting up bad fire conditions. Not everywhere in south-east Australia will be hit by fire, but it will happen somewhere. It could be the hinterlands or the coast. It will depend on how our erratic climate behaves in the coming months.</p> <p>Let’s stick with the Tasmania example. Sure, the surface soils are now nicely saturated. But that will lead to a burst of grass and other vegetation in spring. If the dry weather returns and the temperatures heat up in summer, the fine fuels will dry out and become dangerously combustible.</p> <p>All we need then is a windy day and a spark, and a nightmare fire will soon be racing across the landscape.</p> <h2>Canada on fire</h2> <p>Of course, Australia is not the only country facing climate instability and a worsening fire risk.</p> <p>Canada suffered a catastrophic wildfire season in 2023 – one of the most severe on record. It burnt almost 15 million hectares and forced the evacuation of 232,000 people.</p> <p>Smoke produced by the fires affected communities up to 1,000 km away, such as in southern Canada and on the east coast of the United States.</p> <p>A <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02653-6">recent paper</a> in the journal Nature Communications outlined why. It pinpointed early snowmelt, early-season drought conditions and intense heat. In fact, the average temperature in Canada from May to October last year was 2.2°C higher than the 30-year average.</p> <p>The researchers said human-caused climate change exacerbated the fire’s effects. It went on:</p> <blockquote> <p>The disproportionate effect a few days of extreme weather can have on the total area burned is also evident in this fire season, leading to worrisome prospects given projected future conditions.</p> </blockquote> <h2>Normal no longer exists</h2> <p>It’s always been difficult to forecast fire seasons in Australia, due to our natural climate variability.</p> <p>But now we are seeing climate instability <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/research/environmental-impacts/climate-change/state-of-the-climate/previous/state-of-the-climate-2018/australias-changing-climate">layering over itself</a>: background dryness, wet seasons bringing a proliferation of fuels, and above-average temperatures.</p> <p>Eventually we’ll get unlucky and experience extremely strong winds thrown into the mix. That’s when catastrophic fires are most likely to occur.</p> <p>As we saw in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-black-summer-of-fire-was-not-normal-and-we-can-prove-it-172506">Black Summer of 2019–20</a>, and again in Canada last year, some fires are so intense they completely overwhelm fire suppression strategies.</p> <p>Under climate change, the likelihood of getting a bad combination of weather conditions is increasing. So what’s the remedy?</p> <p>Australia really must start making our communities more resilient. Serious and sustained adaptation is needed. As my <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.adi8066">research has outlined</a>, this requires the careful integration of:</p> <ul> <li>community education programs</li> <li>research and development to design fire-safe homes, gardens, communities and bushland</li> <li>incentives and penalties to ensure adaptation measures are implemented.</li> </ul> <p>As this winter has shown, Australia’s climate is entering a different phase. It’s time to give up on “normal” weather. The game is changing and we have to adapt.<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/237857/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-bowman-4397">David Bowman</a>, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-give-up-on-normal-what-winters-weird-weather-means-for-the-warm-months-ahead-237857">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Travel Trouble

Boeing Starliner astronauts: what six months stuck in space may do to their perception of time

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ruth-ogden-1182467">Ruth Ogden</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/liverpool-john-moores-university-1319">Liverpool John Moores University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/daniel-eduardo-vigo-1631723">Daniel Eduardo Vigo</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/pontificia-universidad-catolica-de-argentina-5531">Pontificia Universidad Católica de Argentina</a></p> <p>Two astronauts marooned in space may sound like the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster, but for two <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">Nasa</a> crew members, it is now a reality. Commander Barry Wilmore and pilot Sunita Williams are currently in limbo on the International Space Station (ISS).</p> <p>They arrived in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft – the first test of the spaceship with astronauts. Wilmore and Williams were supposed to stay on the ISS for around eight days and return on the same spacecraft. But there is now debate about the safety of Starliner after it experienced <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6pp29gdwe6o">helium leaks and thruster problems</a> on its way to the ISS.</p> <p>In coming days, Nasa and Boeing may decide to clear Starliner to carry the astronauts back to Earth. This means their stay might not last too much longer. But if officials decide against Starliner, the astronauts face waiting an <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/update-nasa-boeing-to-stream-flight-test-mission-briefing-on-nasa/">additional six months in orbit</a> before returning. So how do astronauts cope with a potential six-month wait for a lift home?</p> <p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0022249685900203">Waiting for things is difficult</a> at the best of times. Under normal circumstances, it is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2043808718778982">frustrating, stressful and anxiety-provoking</a>. But in extreme situations, with high stakes, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05638.x?casa_token=jC_hT4wqbuIAAAAA%3AGTrJPmd496aDTdirdwYi7CvLK8Q1g_oR-Em2E3EpDP0AwRCs2ko13Jpqui15BlkPiAx7MMRqA0MC">waiting can be purgatory</a>.</p> <p>Part of the reason that waiting is difficult is that it distorts our sense of time. Think of last time you were waiting for a delayed train, test results or a text from a potential new partner. Did it fly by or drag? For most people, time spent waiting crawls at a glacial pace. As a result, delays and periods of anticipation often feel much longer than they actually are.</p> <p>Waiting slows our perception of time, because it changes the amount of time that we spend <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23324610?casa_token=KmtJWWmtHwQAAAAA%3AN_CUdtNakK46j4ItZaH_f__QcIGOjMnasX1NeMTRFH5YPpcmYx1JpigTfTb1bPYi5Fcus-IhtzDX0Jsz3xpqZRMDUxg0RWYhSr87V-zXz_pqS0zM&seq=2">thinking about time</a>. During normal daily life we often ignore time; our brains have a limited capacity. If time isn’t important, we simply don’t think about it, and this helps it to pass quickly.</p> <p>When we are waiting, our desire to know when the wait is over increases how much we think about time. This “clock watching” can make the minutes and hours feel like they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-2626(90)90026-K">passing at a snail’s pace</a>. Stress, discomfort and pain exacerbate this effect, meaning that waiting in difficult situations <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.2211">can seem even longer</a>.</p> <p>Waiting also slows our perception of time because it what we do and how we feel. Normal life is busy and full of ever-changing activities and interactions. The sudden need to wait halts the flow of life, often leaving us with nothing else to do, thus increasing levels of boredom and frustration.</p> <p>In general, time filled with activity <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-2626(90)90026-K">passes more quickly</a>. We all got a taste of this during <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235871">COVID lockdowns</a>. When we were stuck inside unable to see friends and engage in normal daily activities, the loss of routine and distractions caused time to drag for many.</p> <p>For the astronauts stuck on the ISS, anxiety about when they will return, limited opportunities for activities and fewer opportunities to contact friends and families combine to make their wait to return home feel significantly longer than six months – if it should come to that.</p> <p>However, as academics who research the effects of time on human psychology and biology, our ongoing work with crew members at research stations in Antarctica aims to shed light on whether waiting in extreme environments is different to waiting during normal daily life.</p> <h2>A year in Antarctica</h2> <p>While being stuck for six months on the ISS may sound like many people’s worst nightmare, it is not uncommon for scientists to spend long periods isolated and confined in extreme environments. Every year, organisations such as the Instituto Antártico Argentino (which uses the Belgrano II Antarctic station), the French Polar Institute and the Italian Antarctic Programme, in cooperation with the European Space Agency (which all use Antarctica’s Concordia station), send crews of people for up to 16 months to conduct research on the frozen continent.</p> <p>During the March to October <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/">polar winter</a>, teams spend six months in near darkness – and from May to August, in complete darkness – facing outside temperatures of up to -60C, wind speeds of 160 km/h (100 mph) and storms which prevent almost all outdoor activity. Limited internet coverage can also prevent constant communication with the outside world.</p> <p>For the last year, we have researched how life in Antarctica influences people’s experience of time. Each month, we asked crew members how time felt like it was passing in comparison to before their mission. Trapped on base, with limited contact with the outside world, you might expect time to drag. However, our results suggest the opposite may be true.</p> <p>Analysis of crew members’ experiences indicated that being constantly busy with complex tasks such as scientific research helped time to pass swiftly, according to 80% of crew responses. Only 3% of responses indicated that time actually dragged, and these reports occurred when nights were long and there was little to do.</p> <p>These experiences may provide hope for those stuck on the ISS. Like life on an Antarctic station, these Nasa astronauts have a busy and mentally demanding existence. These factors may help time to pass quickly.</p> <p>However, a key factor of their wait may be their ability to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2043808718778982">tolerate the uncertainty</a> of when they will return. Wilmore and Williams will spend their time in a space equivalent to the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-facts-and-figures/">inside a Boeing 747</a> plane. But better information about “when” things will happen and “why” delays are being incurred can help people to tolerate waiting and reduce its impact on their wellbeing.<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/236546/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ruth-ogden-1182467">Ruth Ogden</a>, Professor of the Psychology of Time, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/liverpool-john-moores-university-1319">Liverpool John Moores University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/daniel-eduardo-vigo-1631723">Daniel Eduardo Vigo</a>, Senior Researcher in Chronobiology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/pontificia-universidad-catolica-de-argentina-5531">Pontificia Universidad Católica de Argentina</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: NASA</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/boeing-starliner-astronauts-what-six-months-stuck-in-space-may-do-to-their-perception-of-time-236546">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Mind

Pet cat lost in the outback ends in purr-fect reunion months later

<p>A beloved pet cat who went missing in the South Australian outback while on a road trip with his owner has been miraculously returned to his family months later.</p> <p>In June, Murry Rantall was travelling from Warnambook Victoria to Darwin in a caravan when he made a pit stop on the Stuart Hwy so his Burmese cat Raj could use the litter box. </p> <p>Rantall went for a walk and came back assuming that his 14-year-old feline friend was still inside so he drove off. </p> <p>It wasn't until 200km later, when he went to check on Raj, that he realised the cat was missing. </p> <p>“I was just about bawling … I knew he was in trouble,” Rantall said.</p> <p>Rantall who had recently lost his wife said that Raj was the only loved one he had left at home. </p> <p>“We were sort of looking after each other more or less,” Rantall said.</p> <p>He turned back to search for Raj, and even had his daughter, Katrina drive from Victoria to South Australia to help find the cat, but they had no luck. </p> <p>The feline was lost but not fur-gotten as Rantall's children put up Facebook posts about Raj missing in the South Australian outback. </p> <p>Two months later, the outback cat-astrophe ended with the purr-fect homecoming when Raj was found in Port Augusta, about 50km from where he ran away. </p> <p>Raj was found in Milla Dey’s backyard on Thursday, August 8.</p> <p>“I just saw that he was there and covered in prickles. We got him some food and water and he spent probably 15 to 20 minutes just eating,” Dey said.</p> <p>He was taken to a local vet to scan his microchip, but the details were outdated. </p> <p>Locals managed to track down Rantall's family on social media after seeing the Facebook posts about Raj, and they were reunited over the weekend. </p> <p>Rantall said Raj had lost a lot of weight but was content to be back in his arms.</p> <p>“We’ll feed him up, he’ll be all right,” Rantall said.</p> <p>Port Augusta City Council animal control officer Kylie McKerlie said the reunion was thanks to the care and dedication of the local community.</p> <p>“It’s just a really good town and a really good feeling for everyone,” she said.</p> <p>Rantall also thanked everyone who helped saying, “it’s unbelievable, the help I’ve had.” </p> <p><em>Images: 7News</em></p>

Family & Pets

"It's been terrible": Relief for 102-year-old trapped in unit for over a month

<p>102-year-old Joan Mather had been stuck inside her home at the St Kilda Memorial Hall in Melbourne for 32 days after the lift broke down. and now she's finally free. </p> <p>Mather was trapped inside her third-storey apartment as she is unable to use the stairs due to her age. </p> <p>"It's been terrible. I used to love to go to the doctor," Mather told <em>A Current Affair</em>.</p> <p>"I can't even talk to the doctor. I've got to talk to him or her on the phone.</p> <p>"This is the second time this has happened. When are we going to have a lift which you rely on?"</p> <p>Concerned neighbours have been checking in on the centenarian, who was left "totally isolated" if it weren't for a few visitors who were able to walk up to the top floor. </p> <p>"She's been very lonely," fellow resident Gill said.</p> <p>"For a 102-year-old, Joan is very active.</p> <p>"She's used to coming down for a coffee and maybe a wine, and (she has been) totally isolated now except for people who can walk up to the top floor."</p> <p>Mather was born on June 17, 1922, and served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during WWII, before moving to Australia with her husband in the 50s. </p> <p>A spokesperson for Otis Elevators, who was working on the Memorial Hall issue said: "We will continue to work closely with the building management to alleviate the flooding issue and return the lift to service as soon as possible." </p> <p>"We apologise for any disruption caused to the residents."</p> <p>The elevator was finally fixed on Thursday afternoon and Mather celebrated with a glass of champagne at St Kilda's Heroes Lounge bar.</p> <p><em>Images: Nine/ A Current Affair</em></p>

Caring

"Beyond devastated": Four-month-old baby dies after family outing

<p>A four-month-old baby girl has died after being exposed to extreme heat during a July 4 outing with her family. </p> <p>Weather records show that temperatures in the region soared to 120°F (48<span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">°C) last Friday. </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">The infant, identified as T</span>anna Rae Wroblewski, had been out on a boat on Lake Havasu with her parents when she suddenly fell ill and lost consciousness on Friday evening. </p> <p>Her family performed CPR until first responders arrived and were able to rush her to a local medical centre. </p> <p>She was then airlifted to Phoenix Children's hospital, where she was pronounced dead. </p> <p>Her parents are struggling to come to terms with their daughter's death, with mum Tanya Wroblewski saying: “We are beyond devastated, heartbroken, there are just no words.” </p> <p>“I will never understand why you had to leave us, you were just too perfect. I love you endlessly and I will look for you everywhere angel,” she shared in a Facebook post. </p> <p>The medical examiner has yet to release the infant's official cause of death, but authorities suspect that her death was brought on by a heat-related illness according to local news outlet, <em>News 12</em>. </p> <p>Tannas mum has also shared how difficult it was trying to explain her death to the infant's older sister. </p> <p>“We don’t understand why you had to leave, how could she?” she wrote. </p> <p>“She’s left out toys for you and made sure your favourites were all in the bassinet before bed the last couple nights. We are so heartbroken without you baby girl.”</p> <p>Her death is still being investigated by local authorities. </p> <p><em>Images: Facebook / Alyssa Wolf Wroblewski/ NY Post</em></p> <p> </p>

Travel Trouble

"While I was home": Goldie Hawn robbed twice in four months

<p>Hollywood star Goldie Hawn recently opened up about a harrowing experience she and longtime partner Kurt Russell endured: two home invasions within the span of just a few months.</p> <p>Hawn shared the details of these incidents during a candid conversation on Kelly Ripa's podcast, "Let's Talk Off Camera".</p> <p>The first robbery occurred while Hawn and Russell were out for dinner. "I went up the stairs, I walked into my closet, and I just lost it," Hawn recalled, describing the moment they returned home to find their house had been burglarised. The intruders had broken in from the balcony, targeting their bedroom and closets. "They completely knocked down my door, which is a safe door, so they're very, very sophisticated, and they got a lot of my goodies," she added.</p> <p>Following the initial invasion, Hawn believed the chances of a repeat incident were slim. However, just four months later, she faced another terrifying experience – this time while she was alone at home. "I hear this big thump upstairs, and I was alone," she reflected. Initially dismissing it as a sonic boom or some other unusual noise, she later discovered that intruders "were trying to get in my bedroom while I was in the house". </p> <p>The dual invasions profoundly impacted Hawn, prompting her to enhance her home security measures significantly. Despite the increased safety precautions, the traumatic events have left a lasting impression.</p> <p>In light of these experiences, Hawn expressed a desire to relocate to Atlanta, where her family resides. "It's so lovely there, I said, 'Hey, guys, why don't we all move there?'" she shared. The idea of a family compound has always been a dream for Hawn and her loved ones. "We've always said if one moves, we all have to move together. That's what we've always said." </p> <p><em>Image: Instagram</em></p>

Legal

15,000 squares, 500 hours, 19 months: how I used embroidery to make sense of Australia’s catastrophic fires

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tracey-clement-1518268">Tracey Clement</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a></em></p> <p>I slip the needle through a small loop of black thread, pull it tight and snip. Done. I have just tied off the very last stitch on an embroidered scroll that has taken me more than 500 hours across 19 months to complete.</p> <p>All of my artwork is extremely labour-intensive. But I have to admit, this is a bit excessive, even for me. It’s not surprising that I have been asked more than once “why not just outsource the labour?” and even “what is the point?”</p> <p>I always sigh and think enviously of plumbers. I am 100% sure hardworking tradies are never asked to justify the point of <em>their</em> work.</p> <p>Why do I work so hard? There is no one easy answer, it’s different every time. The labour intensity of my processes adds time into the equation and this both carries meaning and can change the meaning of the work as it goes on (and on and on). I always learn something unexpected.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A finger points to a knot on the back of a messy abstract embroidery done in black, red, orange and yellow" /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">The last stitch!</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tracey Clement</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>I put my little scissors down and, before busting out the bubbles, I snap a picture for Instagram because #selfpromotion, but also because this is news, albeit of a very slow-breaking kind. This is what I’ve learned after stitching for seemingly endless hours: while no news may be good news, “slow news” is even better.</p> <p>My embroidered scroll is titled Impossible Numbers. It started as my attempt to memorialise <a href="https://wwf.org.au/what-we-do/australian-bushfires/in-depth-australian-bushfires">the estimated 3,000,000,000 non-human lives lost</a> in the devastating bushfires of 2019–20, a number impossible to actually comprehend.</p> <h2>Doomscrolling an emergency</h2> <p>During that long and awful summer Sydney was often shrouded in an eerie orange haze. You could smell smoke. Ash fell. But, like many Australians, I experienced the worst of it by <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/doomscrolling">doomscrolling</a> fast news.</p> <p>I was both horrified and fascinated by images of fires so huge and hot they generated their own weather, by pictures of houses reduced to smoking skeletal outlines that somehow remained standing, by headlines comparing the fires to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/31/mallacoota-fire-mayhem-armageddon-bushfires-rage-victoria-east-gippsland">armageddon</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/30/australia-must-prepare-for-future-shaped-by-extreme-climate-bushfire-royal-commission-report-warns">the apocalypse</a>.</p> <p>This hyperbolic language implies we are locked in a war of good versus evil. Even headlines in the vein of “Firefighters battle blazes” pit us (people) against them (the forces of nature). And in the heat of the moment the language of war feels right. <a href="https://traceyclement.com/2020/04/21/apocalypse-now">I’ve succumbed to it myself</a>. But it is dangerous. This language reinforces the idea we can dominate nature; it frames the fires as a conflict that we can end by winning.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1800&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1800&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A hand holds a phone taking a picture of a long abstract embroidery in black, red, orange and yellow." /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">Viewing the world through the phone.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tracey Clement</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>I will admit watching a goat-toting woman <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-03/scott-morrison-got-bushfire-welcome-he-deserved-says-liberal-mp/11838476">berate a sitting prime minister</a> left me with a short-lived, but mildly satisfying, feeling of shared righteous indignation. But mostly doomscrolling just fuelled my sorrow and left me feeling impotent as, inevitably, the fast news cycled on to the next crisis (and the next, and the next).</p> <h2>Slowing it down</h2> <p>In October 2022, I finally stopped trying to process the bushfires, and all their terrifying implications, through the fast-news language of war. I picked up a needle instead.</p> <p>Of course 3,000,000,000 stitches would be too many, even for me, so I decided to stitch a grid of some 15,000 squares, which I filled with innumerable stitches – a nod to the endless stream of pixels that usually deliver our news.</p> <p>I started wanting to honour the 3 billion dead, that impossible number, but after months of stitching I realised I was “writing” a kind of slow-news story. It may sound ridiculous, but this tactic has been used before. The <a href="https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-bayeux-tapestry">Bayeux Tapestry</a> is a slow-news story that documents the Norman conquest of England through embroidery. It took years to stitch, and some 950 years later it is still in circulation.</p> <p>As an alternative to doomscrolling easily digestible fast-news stories of good triumphing (or not) over evil, I have created an actual fabric scroll which depicts a stylised firestorm building in intensity until it becomes all-consuming.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A middle-aged white woman peeks out from behind a very long abstract embroidery in black, red, orange and yellow." /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">The artist with Impossible Numbers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tracey Clement</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>Despite mimicking pixels, Impossible Numbers is resolutely handmade. It is too messy, too crude, to be anything else. It is bleedingly obvious (and there was blood) the will of a person is inextricably stitched into this image of devastating fire. Human labour is literally entangled in this artwork; it shows us as part of the picture, part of nature. And this is good news</p> <p>Impossible Numbers doesn’t have a victorious ending, or any ending at all. The scroll is not fully unrolled. There is no end in sight: the story isn’t over, it’s ongoing.</p> <p>In this way it points to the future; a future in which we are not fighting nature. And this is good news too.</p> <p>If you don’t have a spare 500 hours to process the news into slow news, don’t worry. By the time I finally tied my last knot, I found I had transformed my fear and rage into something tangible, something both magnificent and beautiful (if I do say so myself), no longer about me.</p> <p>It is now a slow-news story that is no longer about a particular event; something everyone can share. This is why I do the work.</p> <p><em>Impossible Numbers is on display as part of <a href="https://www.casulapowerhouse.com/prizes/the-blake-art-prize">The Blake Prize</a> at the Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, until July 7.</em></p> <hr /> <p><em>This article is part of <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/making-art-work-126611">Making Art Work</a>, our series on what inspires artists and the process of their work.<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/227907/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></em></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tracey-clement-1518268">Tracey Clement</a>, Lecturer in Visual Art and McGlade Gallery Director, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/15-000-squares-500-hours-19-months-how-i-used-embroidery-to-make-sense-of-australias-catastrophic-fires-227907">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Art

Royal family mourns shock death just months after wedding

<p>Princess Rajwa of Jordan has found herself in mourning just eight months after her <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/kate-and-will-s-stunning-appearance-at-royal-wedding" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fairy-tale royal wedding</a> to Crown Prince Hussein.</p> <p>The sombre news of her father's passing was solemnly shared on Prince Hussein's social media accounts, accompanied by a heartfelt message and a poignant photograph capturing a tender moment between the Crown Prince and his father-in-law, Khaled bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz Al Saif.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C3fsAFooyLt/?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/p/C3fsAFooyLt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Al Hussein bin Abdullah II (@alhusseinjo)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>With heavy hearts, the announcement conveyed the depth of loss felt by the royal family. Prince Hussein's message, translated into English, reads: </p> <p>"With more sadness and sorrow, we mourn the death of my wife's father, my beloved uncle Abba Faisal.</p> <p>"We knew him as a generous person with good character and religion. We can only be satisfied with God's judgement and destiny. May Allah have mercy on him and dwell him in his spacious paradise and inspire us patience and solace.</p> <p>"With profound sadness and sorrow, we bid farewell to my beloved father-in-law.</p> <p>"We will always remember his kindness, generosity, and integrity. May God bestow mercy upon him and grant us patience and strength."</p> <p>Khaled bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz Al Saif, 71, served as the chairman and chief executive officer of the esteemed Al Saif Group, leaving behind a legacy of leadership and philanthropy. Survived by his wife, Azza Al Sudairi, and four children – Faisal, Nayef, Dana, and Rajwa – Al Saif's passing leaves a void not only in his family but also in the business and social spheres he influenced.</p> <p>Al-Saif's absence was notably felt during his daughter's wedding to Crown Prince Hussein on June 1, 2023. Though he couldn't walk Princess Rajwa down the aisle, his presence and support were evident as he stood alongside his wife and daughter to greet guests at the reception. The absence of Princess Rajwa's father during such a significant life event is undoubtedly a poignant aspect of her wedding day memories.</p> <p>The cause of Al Saif's death remains undisclosed, adding an air of mystery to the solemn proceedings. A statement from the royal family, shared on the official website, conveyed condolences and sympathies to the bereaved family members:</p> <p>"The Royal Hashemite Court mourns the passing of the father of Her Royal Highness Princess Rajwa Al Hussein, Khaled bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz Al Saif, may his soul rest in peace.</p> <p>"By His Majesty King Abdullah's orders, the Royal Hashemite Court has announced three days of mourning, as of Sunday, 18 February 2024.</p> <p>"The Royal Hashemite Court expresses its deepest sympathies and condolences to Their Majesties King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein and Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and Princess Rajwa Al Hussein, and to Al Saif family in these difficult times."</p> <p>The wedding of Princess Rajwa and Crown Prince Hussein was a momentous occasion, graced by the presence of dignitaries and royalty – including <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/kate-and-will-s-stunning-appearance-at-royal-wedding" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kate and William, the Prince and Princess of Wales</a>. Hosted at the Zahran Palace in Amman, the ceremony symbolised the union of two families and the beginning of a new chapter for the young couple. </p> <p>Since her marriage, Princess Rajwa has seamlessly integrated into royal life, representing her father-in-law, King Abdullah II, in official capacities. Her grace and poise have endeared her to the Jordanian people, even as she navigates the complexities of her newfound role.</p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Family & Pets

After 3 months of devastation in the Israel-Hamas war, is anyone ‘winning’?

<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-parmeter-932739"><em>Ian Parmeter</em></a><em>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877">Australian National University</a></em></p> <p>The 19th century German war strategist and field marshal Helmuth von Moltke famously <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/strategy-9780199325153?cc=us&lang=en&">coined</a> the aphorism “No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy”. His observation might well be applied to the tragedy we are witnessing in Gaza.</p> <p>Three months after the current conflict began, civilians have borne the brunt of the violence on both sides, with the deaths of more than 22,000 Palestinians in Gaza and 1,200 Israelis. Some 85% of Gazans <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-01-03-2024-3b77b0c36bf2cd9922b7a484234bef5f">have also been displaced</a> and a quarter of the population is facing a famine, according to the United Nations.</p> <p>The conflict still has a long way to run and may be headed towards stalemate. From a geopolitical perspective, here’s where the main players stand at the start of the new year.</p> <h2>Israel: limited success …</h2> <p>Israel has so far failed to achieve either of its primary war aims: the destruction of Hamas and freedom for the remainder of the 240 Israelis taken hostage on October 7.</p> <p>Hamas fighters continue to use their tunnel network to ambush Israeli soldiers and are firing rockets at Israel, albeit in much lower volumes: 27 were <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/at-stroke-of-midnight-hamas-attacks-israel-with-heavy-new-year-rocket-barrage/">fired</a> at the start of the new year, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-9500-rockets-fired-at-israel-since-oct-7-including-3000-in-1st-hours-of-onslaught/">compared</a> with 3,000 in the first hours of the conflict on October 7.</p> <p>There are still around <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/12/20/israel-isnt-sure-what-to-do-about-the-hostages-in-gaza">130 Israelis</a> being held hostage, and only <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2023/12/five-potential-next-steps-for-the-hostage-situation.html">one hostage</a> has been freed by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), as opposed to releases arranged through Qatari and Egyptian mediators. Israeli society is divided between those who want to prioritise negotiations to release the hostages and those who want to prioritise the elimination of Hamas.</p> <p>Israel achieved an important symbolic success with the apparent targeted killing of Hamas deputy leader <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-lebanon-hamas-saleh-al-arouri-fears-widening-regional-conflict/">Saleh al-Arouri</a> in Beirut on January 2. Though Israel has not formally claimed responsibility, there is little doubt it was <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/01/02/hamas-saleh-arouri-killed-beirut-hezbollah-israel-gaza">behind</a> the killing.</p> <p>But the two Gaza–based Hamas leaders Israel most wants to eliminate, political leader Yahya Sinwar and military leader Mohammed Deif, are still at large.</p> <p>Israel still has US support in the UN Security Council, which has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/22/politics/un-security-council-resolution-israel-gaza-resolution/index.html">managed to pass</a> only one toothless resolution since the war began. But the Biden administration is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-israel-hamas-oct-7-44c4229d4c1270d9cfa484b664a22071">publicly pressuring</a> Israel to change its tactics to minimise Palestinian casualties.</p> <h2>…and facing a ‘day after’ conundrum</h2> <p>The Israeli government is also divided on how Gaza should be run when the fighting stops.</p> <p>Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-777731">said</a> he won’t accept Gaza remaining “Hamastan” (Hamas-controlled) or becoming “Fatahstan” (ruled by the Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by the secular Fatah party). US President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/biden-says-palestinian-authority-should-ultimately-govern-gaza-west-bank-2023-11-18/">prefers</a> a Gaza government led by a reformed Palestinian Authority, but Netanyahu has rejected this and has not articulated an alternative plan.</p> <p>Defence Minister Yoav Gallant this week <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/gallants-post-war-gaza-plan-palestinians-to-run-civil-affairs-with-global-task-force/">outlined</a> what seems to be his own plan for Gaza, involving governance by unspecified Palestinian authorities. His plan did not immediately have Israeli cabinet approval and has been <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4391112-dangerous-ideas-about-the-day-after-in-gaza/">slammed</a> by hard-right ministers.</p> <p>Two of these, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben–Gvir, have <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-minister-slams-smotrich-ben-gvirs-unrealistic-call-for-gazan-emigration/#:%7E:text=Ben%20Gvir%20hit%20back%20at,will%20protect%20the%20IDF%20soldiers.%E2%80%9D">called</a> for a solution that encourages the Palestinian population to emigrate and for Israeli settlers to return to the strip. That would be <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240103-us-condemns-far-right-israeli-ministers-call-for-palestinians-to-emigrate-from-gaza">unacceptable</a> to the Biden administration.</p> <p>Israel’s massive bombing campaign has also slowly turned international opinion against it, as expressed in the UN General Assembly <a href="https://apnews.com/article/un-assembly-israel-palestinians-hamas-vote-resolution-bffc37b2ecc444d906492008cde0aaf6">vote</a> last month in which 153 of the 193 member states called for a ceasefire.</p> <p>Are Netanyahu’s days now numbered? The current issue of The Economist <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/01/03/binyamin-netanyahu-is-botching-the-war-time-to-sack-him">features a headline</a> that reads “Binyamin Netanyahu is botching the war. Time to sack him”. Whether or not that’s a fair judgement, it’s clear that internal divisions and indecision within his government are hindering Israel’s prosecution of the war.</p> <h2>Hamas – still standing</h2> <p>The militant group has obviously been hurt. Israel claims to have <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/israel-gaza-latest-hamas-war-sky-news-blog-12978800?postid=6736630">killed or captured</a> between 8,000 and 9,000 of Hamas’ approximately 30,000–strong fighting force – though it has not explained how it calculates militant deaths.</p> <p>Hamas’ main achievement is that it is still standing. To win, the militant group does not have to defeat Israel – it needs merely to survive the IDF onslaught.</p> <p>Hamas can claim some positives. Its attack on October 7 has put the Palestinian issue at the top of the Middle East agenda.</p> <p>Citizens in the Arab states that have signed peace agreements with Israel are clearly angry. And an Israeli-Saudi agreement to normalise relations between the countries, which had been imminent before the conflict, is off the table for now.</p> <p>Opinion polling also <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-palestinians-opinion-poll-wartime-views-a0baade915619cd070b5393844bc4514">shows support</a> for Hamas has risen from 12% to 44% in the West Bank and from 38% to 42% in Gaza in the past three months. If it were possible to hold fair Palestinian elections now, they could produce results Israel and the US would not like.</p> <h2>United States – weakness in dealing with Israel</h2> <p>Biden embraced Netanyahu immediately after the Hamas attack, but US efforts since then to influence Israel’s war plans have not yielded any results.</p> <p>Secretary of State Antony Blinken failed in his effort to persuade Israel to end the war by the start of the new year. His <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-turkey-israel-greece-gaza-hamas-jordan-36e5e1be205d5200916fd447c8c8e455">current visit</a> to the region is unlikely to yield any major changes.</p> <p>Moreover, divisions in the US may hurt Biden in the lead–up to the presidential election in November. Young, college–educated progressives, who tend to vote Democratic, have taken part in demonstrations against Biden’s public support for Israel’s right to defend itself, if not its way of doing so.</p> <p>These progressives won’t vote for the almost–certain Republican candidate, Donald Trump. But they could stay home on election day, handing the election to Trump.</p> <p>US support for Ukraine has also become a casualty of the war. Republicans, taking their cue from Trump, are prioritising support for Israel and stopping the flow of migrants across the US-Mexico border. They are losing interest in Ukraine – which clearly benefits Russian President Vladimir Putin. Those benefits will be reinforced if Trump wins the presidency again.</p> <h2>United Nations – irrelevant</h2> <p>The UN has also failed in its mission of maintaining world peace. The only Security Council resolution on the war meant nothing, as Russia was pleased to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/22/un-security-council-gaza-aid-00133112">point out</a>.</p> <p>The recent UN General Assembly resolution illustrated Israel’s growing isolation, but has done nothing to change the course of the war. UN Secretary–General Antonio Guterres has been powerless to influence either Israel or Hamas.</p> <h2>Iran – watching for opportunities</h2> <p>The Hezbollah militant group will do a lot of huffing and puffing over the killing of al-Arouri in a Hezbollah-controlled part of Beirut. But it takes its orders from Tehran, which still shows no sign of wanting to become directly involved in the war.</p> <p>That said, Iran appears to have no problem with its proxies – Hezbollah in Lebanon and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-yemens-houthis-are-getting-involved-in-the-israel-hamas-war-and-how-it-could-disrupt-global-shipping-219220">Houthis in Yemen</a> – providing token support for Hamas through limited rocket, drone and artillery attacks.</p> <p>Iran is likely to be reinforced in this approach by the bombings at the tomb of former Quds Force commander <a href="https://theconversation.com/iran-vows-revenge-for-soleimanis-killing-but-heres-why-it-wont-seek-direct-confrontation-with-the-us-129440">Qassem Soleimani</a> last week, which killed almost 100 Iranians. The bombings have been claimed by the Islamic State, which will likely make Iran more focused on its internal security than on assisting Hamas.<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/220644/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-parmeter-932739">Ian Parmeter</a>, Research Scholar, Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877">Australian National University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-3-months-of-devastation-in-the-israel-hamas-war-is-anyone-winning-220644">original article</a>.</em></p>

Travel Trouble

How an innocent meal led to a months-long health battle for a 9-year-old

<p dir="ltr">A mother has issued a dire warning about a common household item after her daughter’s innocent bacon and egg roll turned into a months-long health battle. </p> <p dir="ltr">Kristen Saunders has warned parents about wire barbecue grill brushes, after her nine-year-old daughter choked on a piece of the metal. </p> <p dir="ltr">At a venue in Newcastle in July, Kristen’s daughter ate a bacon and egg roll and started to feel like she was choking. </p> <p dir="ltr">Unbeknown to her parents, the nine-year-old had swallowed a piece of wire that had come off a barbecue grill brush and ended up in her roll.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I think like most parents, we’re like, ‘You’ll be fine, have some water, it’ll settle down’,” Saunders told <em><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/newcastle-breakfast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC Newcastle Breakfast</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Saunders took her daughter to the GP, who noticed she had a high temperature but nothing serious. </p> <p dir="ltr">However, over the next few days a sore throat worsened to the point she was unable to eat solid food, before she also started showing neurological symptoms.</p> <p dir="ltr">“There was this one particular day I was at home with her and all of a sudden she was a bit confused answering questions,” Saunders said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I was like, ‘Hang on, there’s something really problematic here’ and called the GP.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Saunders’ daughter was stumbling, disoriented and unable to recognise her own family, and was admitted to hospital. </p> <p dir="ltr">“They identified that there were some abscesses in the brain,” Saunders said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“They ended up at the last-minute doing a CT and identified there was this tiny bit of wire, sort of near her neck.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Saunders’ daughter was then airlifted to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, where it was discovered that the young girl had a major infection in one of her arteries after the wire pierced her oesophagus then pushed into the carotid artery.</p> <p dir="ltr">The girl had to undergo surgery, as Saunders said the experience was “awful” but her daughter was given “amazing care”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She is well on her way to recovery but it could have been so much worse,” Saunders said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Please protect your family and friends and throw out your wire barbecue grill brushes.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Facebook</em></p>

Caring

Football star's tragic loss just three months after wedding

<p>English football star Josh Vickers has shared the heartbreaking news that his wife Laura has passed away, just three months after their wedding. </p> <p>The Derby County goalkeeper, 27, took to Instagram on Sunday to share an emotional tribute to his late wife, with a bittersweet photo of the couple on their wedding day on June 1. </p> <p>"I have written and unwritten this so many times and still can't find the right words to say and don't know if I ever will," Vickers began his tribute. </p> <p>"On Tuesday evening my wife lost her long battle against cancer."</p> <p>"Laura is the strongest, bravest and most loving person I have ever met. </p> <p>"Even though everything she was going through, she continued to smile, never letting anything get in the way of having a good time and making a lifetime of memories," he continued. </p> <p>"I will cherish every moment we spent together from the first time we met to the moment you peacefully passed. </p> <p>"I know that you will be looking down on me and continuing to inspire me every day."</p> <p>He then thanked everyone who has supported him through the "incredibly difficult" time and praised his friends and family for being by his side. </p> <p>"I Love You Always & Forever 🤍" he concluded the heart-wrenching tribute to his wife. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CxkZoz6ICvo/?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/p/CxkZoz6ICvo/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Josh Vickers (@joshuavickers)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Friends and fans took to the comments to share their support for the grieving goalkeeper. </p> <p>Teammate and Derby forward Martyn Waghorn wrote: "We're all with you mate." </p> <p>"We’re all thinking of you, Josh," Arsenal's official Instagram page added. </p> <p>A few other team members and football players sent their love with a bunch of red heart emojis. </p> <p>"So very sorry to the loss of such a bright star - what a true inspiration she was , thinking of you, family and her friends ❤️" wrote one fan.</p> <p>"Thoughts are with you and with the family," wrote another. </p> <p>Although details of Laura's death and battle with cancer are not fully known, Vickers has previously shared how proud he was of his partner for <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BztT57OHRus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">undergoing chemo</a> in 2019. </p> <p>"I'm so proud of you!!!! 8 chemo sessions done and stage 1 completed," he captioned the collage of photos including one of Laura graduating, and another of her undergoing treatment. </p> <p>"These last 6/7 months have been far from ideal, but with everything you have been through, you have continued to smile and inspire me every single day," he added. </p> <p>The Derby team have shared their support for their fellow teammate by holding his "Vickers 31" shirt during a match against Carlisle yesterday, after the goalkeeper was absent from the game for personal reasons. </p> <p><em>Image: Instagram</em></p>

Caring

How some people can end up living at airports for months – even years – at a time

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/janet-bednarek-144872">Janet Bednarek</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-dayton-1726">University of Dayton</a></em></p> <p>In January 2021, local authorities arrested a 36-year-old man named Aditya Singh <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/man-living-o-hare-3-001000925.html">after he had spent three months living at Chicago’s O'Hare International Airport</a>. Since October, he had been staying in the secure side of the airport, relying on the kindness of strangers to buy him food, sleeping in the terminals and using the many bathroom facilities. It wasn’t until an airport employee asked to see his ID that the jig was up.</p> <p>Singh, however, is far from the first to pull off an extended stay. <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/history/bednarek_janet.php">After more than two decades studying the history of airports</a>, I’ve come across stories about individuals who have managed to take up residence in terminals for weeks, months and sometimes years.</p> <p>Interestingly, though, not all of those who find themselves living in an airport do so of their own accord. This group includes Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who famously lived in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport for 18 years and inspired the movie “The Terminal.” <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/12/1136307777/the-terminal-movie-merhan-karimi-nasseri-dies-paris-airport">Nasseri died</a> on November 12, 2022.</p> <h2>Blending in with the crowd</h2> <p>Whether it’s in video games like “<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/airport-city/9wzdncrfjchj?activetab=pivot:overviewtab">Airport City</a>” or scholarship on topics like “<a href="https://airporturbanism.com/">airport urbanism</a>,” I’ll often see the trope that airports are like “mini cities.” I can see how this idea germinates: Airports, after all, have <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-you-travel-pause-and-take-a-look-at-airport-chapels-87578">places of worship</a>, policing, hotels, fine dining, shopping and mass transit.</p> <p>But if airports are cities, they’re rather strange ones, in that those running the “cities” prefer that no one actually takes up residence there.</p> <p>Nonetheless, it is possible to live in airports because they do offer many of the basic amenities needed for survival: food, water, bathrooms and shelter. And while airport operations do not necessarily run 24/7, airport terminals often open very early in the morning and stay open until very late at night.</p> <p>Many of the facilities are so large that those determined to stay – such as the man at O'Hare – can find ways to avoid detection for quite some time.</p> <p>One of the ways would-be airport residents avoid detection is to simply blend in with the crowds. Before the pandemic, U.S. airports handled 1.5 million to 2.5 million passengers <a href="https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus/passenger-throughput">on any given day</a>.</p> <p>Once the pandemic hit, the numbers dropped dramatically, falling below 100,000 during the early weeks of the crisis in the spring of 2020. Notably, the man who lived at O'Hare for a little over three months arrived in mid-October 2020 as passenger numbers <a href="https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus/passenger-throughput">were experiencing a rebound</a>. He was discovered and apprehended only in late January 2021 – right when passenger numbers dropped considerably after the <a href="https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus/passenger-throughput">holiday travel peaks</a> and during <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54966531">the resurgence of the coronavirus</a>.</p> <h2>Living in limbo</h2> <p>Not all of those who find themselves sleeping in a terminal necessarily want to be there.</p> <p>Travel by air enough and chances are that, at one time or another, you’ll find yourself in the category of involuntary short-term airport resident.</p> <p>While some people may book flights that will require them to stay overnight at the airport, others find themselves stranded at airports because of missed connections, canceled flights or bad weather. These circumstances seldom result in more than a day or two’s residency at an airport.</p> <p>Then there are those who unwittingly find themselves in an extended, indefinite stay. Perhaps the most famous involuntary long-term resident was <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/merhan-nasseri-charles-de-gaulle-stuck">Mehran Karimi Nasseri</a>, the airport dweller whose story inspired “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362227/">The Terminal</a>.”</p> <p>Nasseri, an Iranian refugee, was en route to England via Belgium and France in 1988 when he lost the papers that verified his refugee status. Without his papers, he could not board his plane for England. Nor was he permitted to leave the Paris airport and enter France. He soon became an international hot potato as his case bounced back and forth among officials in England, France and Belgium. At one point French authorities offered to allow him to reside in France, but Nasseri turned down the offer, reportedly because he wanted to get to his original destination, England. And so he stayed at Charles de Gaulle Airport for nearly 18 years. He left only in 2006, <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0621/p11s02-almo.html">when his declining health required hospitalization</a>. Prior to his death in November 2022, he had returned to the airport on his own accord, and was staying in Terminal 2F when he suffered the heart attack that killed him.</p> <p>Other long-term airport residents include Edward Snowden, the NSA leaker, who spent <a href="https://www.theregister.com/2016/09/12/edward_snowden_wikileaks_sarah_harrison/">more than a month in a Russian airport in 2013</a> before receiving asylum. And then there is <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4673103.stm">the saga of Sanjay Shah</a>. Shah had traveled to England in May 2004 on a British overseas citizen passport. Immigration officials, however, refused him entry when it was clear he intended to immigrate to England, not merely stay there the few months his type of passport allowed. Sent back to Kenya, Shah feared leaving the airport, as he had already surrendered his Kenyan citizenship. He was finally able to leave after an airport residency of just over a year when British officials granted him full citizenship.</p> <p>More recently, the coronavirus pandemic has created new long-term involuntary airport residents. For example, an Estonian named Roman Trofimov arrived at Manila International Airport on a flight from Bangkok on March 20, 2020. By the time of his arrival, Philippine authorities had ceased issuing entry visas to limit the spread of COVID-19. Trofimov spent over 100 days in the Manila airport until personnel at the Estonian embassy <a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/travel-stories/man-trapped-in-manila-airport-for-100-days-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/news-story/09bfee03d3d1f23ca28f1fd97fa99109">were finally able to get him a seat on a repatriation flight</a>.</p> <p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>.]</p> <h2>The homeless find refuge</h2> <p>While most involuntary airport residents long to leave their temporary home, there are some who have voluntarily attempted to make an airport their long-term abode. Major airports in both the United States and Europe have long functioned – though largely informally – as homeless shelters.</p> <p>Though homelessness and the homeless have a long history in the United States, many analysts see the 1980s as an important turning point in that history, as many factors, including federal budget cuts, the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and gentrification, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519584/">led to a sharp rise in the number of homeless</a>. It is in that decade that you can find the earliest stories about the homeless living at U.S. airports.</p> <p>In 1986, for example, <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-12-12-8604020917-story.html">the Chicago Tribune wrote about Fred Dilsner</a>, a 44-year-old former accountant who had been living at O'Hare in Chicago for a year. The article indicated that homeless individuals had first started showing up at the airport in 1984, following the completion of the Chicago Transit Authority train link, which provided easy and cheap access. The newspaper reported that 30 to 50 people were living at the airport, but that officials expected the number could climb to 200 as the winter weather set in.</p> <p>This issue has persisted into the 21st century. News stories from 2018 reported a rise in the number of homeless at several large U.S. airports over the previous few years, including at <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2018/02/12/atlantas-homeless-fill-atrium-worlds-busiest-airport-overnight/328388002/">Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport</a> and at <a href="https://www.wbal.com/article/325387/3/growing-number-of-homeless-people-find-refuge-at-airport">Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport</a>.</p> <p>The coronavirus pandemic has added an additional public health concern <a href="https://saportareport.com/amid-pandemic-city-plan-directs-homeless-sleeping-at-airport-to-supportive-services/columnists/sean-keenan/seankeenan/">for this group of airport denizens</a>.</p> <p>For the most part, airport officials have tried to provide aid to these voluntary residents. At Los Angeles International Airport, for example, officials have deployed crisis intervention teams to work <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/lax-homeless-problem-bathrooms-waste/2278989/">to connect the homeless to housing and other services</a>. But it’s also clear that most airport officials would prefer a solution <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/local/homeless-spending-night-hartsfield-jackson-prompt-police-monitoring/XKhpdJ8QZliOtGYutCsZOO/">where airports no longer operated as homeless shelters</a>.</p> <p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on March 3, 2021.</em><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/154336/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/janet-bednarek-144872">Janet Bednarek</a>, Professor of History, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-dayton-1726">University of Dayton</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-some-people-can-end-up-living-at-airports-for-months-even-years-at-a-time-154336">original article</a>.</em></p>

International Travel

Rescued sailor speaks after being adrift for months with his dog

<p dir="ltr">Australian sailor Timothy Shaddock has spoken up about the three months he spent lost at sea with nothing but his dog Bella.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 54-year-old was rescued by a Mexican tuna boat in the Pacific Ocean after a helicopter spotted his incapacitated catamaran 1900 km from land.</p> <p dir="ltr">When he was found by the Maria Delia crew, which is part of the Grupomar fleet, Shaddock and his dog were in a “precarious” state after surviving three months without provisions and shelter.</p> <p dir="ltr">Shaddock, who was sailing from Mexico to French Polynesia lost contact because his boat’s electronic system was damaged during rough seas.</p> <p dir="ltr">When the helicopter first discovered him, they threw him a drink and flew away before returning with the tuna trawler to rescue him. This was his first contact with humans since early May.</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite the horrifying ordeal and the fear of not being able to survive an impending hurricane, the sailor remained positive and said that he enjoyed being out at sea.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I did enjoy being at sea. I enjoyed being out there," he told reporters during a news conference in Manzanillo, Mexico on Tuesday, after he safely made it back to land.</p> <p dir="ltr">"But when things get tough out there, you know, you have to survive. And then when you get saved, you feel like you want to live. So, I'm very grateful."</p> <p dir="ltr">Shaddock said that he passed the time by fixing things and tried to stay positive by going into the water to “just enjoy” it.</p> <p dir="ltr">The sailor survived on a diet of raw fish after the storm knocked out his electronics and ability to cook.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I did a lot of fishing,” Shaddock said. “There was a lot of tuna sushi.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The emaciated sailor who survived was immediately given food, water and medication upon being rescued.</p> <p dir="ltr">In one of the photos shared by the Grupomar, a thin and bearded Shaddock was pictured in the boat's cabin with a blood pressure cuff around his arm and a huge smile on his face despite the entire ordeal.</p> <p dir="ltr">In a few others, Bella was pictured lying on the deck and receiving pats for being the bravest pup. Shaddock expressed his gratitude for his loyal companion.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Bella found me in Mexico, she’s Mexican. She is the spirit of the middle of the country, and she wouldn’t let me go,” he said. “She’s amazing, that dog is something else.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m just grateful she’s alive. She’s a lot more brave than me.”</p> <p dir="ltr">He revealed that the hardest part of surviving was the fatigue, but this incident will not stop him from going into the ocean in the future.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ll always be in the water, I don’t know how far out in the ocean I’ll be,” he said.</p> <p><em>Images: ABC News/ 9news/ Facebook</em></p>

Travel Trouble

John Legend welcomes new baby only FIVE MONTHS after last one

<p dir="ltr">Chrissy Teigan and John Legend have announced the birth of their fourth baby, a son named Wren Alexander Stevens, who was born via a surrogate.</p> <p dir="ltr">The couple shocked fans with the surprise announcement since their third baby, a daughter named Esti, was born just five months before Wren.</p> <p dir="ltr">John posted a sweet family pic with the caption: “Wren Alexander Stephens, our new love.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The newborn’s middle name was inspired by his surrogate mum, Alexandra.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CuCuPVqpuMB/?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/p/CuCuPVqpuMB/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by John Legend (@johnlegend)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Chrissy also posted a lengthy Instagram update on their surrogacy process, and also mentioned her late son Jack.</p> <p dir="ltr">“For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted four children,” she began the post sharing that the desire has started from the time she was a little girl and would play pretend.</p> <p dir="ltr">“After losing Jack, I didn't think I'd be able to carry any more babies on my own.</p> <p dir="ltr">“To be honest, I've personally blocked out a lot of my mindset during that time, but one clear memory is being surrounded by people who wanted to make sure I wouldn't go through that pain and loss again,” she added about her late son Jack.</p> <p dir="ltr">Chrissy then proceeded to explain that she and John mutually agreed to give IVF another go, in hopes of making her dream of having four kids come true.</p> <p dir="ltr">“In 2021, we reached out to a surrogacy agency, with our first correspondence inquiring about perhaps having 2 tandem surrogates, to each bring us a healthy baby boy or girl.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“And so we restarted the IVF process, the same process that gave us our beautiful Luna and Miles. We made new embryos. We did my transfer, and were so happy to learn it worked - we were pregnant with our little girl, Esti.”</p> <p dir="ltr">She added that their IVF success coincided with the time they met Wren’s surrogate mum and shared the appreciation she had for Alexandra.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The first embryo we tried with Alex didn't survive, and I will never forget how hard she fought to get ready for a second transfer. How much she gave up of her own body - surgeries to get scar tissue cleared, the mental toll it takes to go through all of that for yourself, much less for other people,” she wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">And overtime, their patience paid off: “As we crept toward the safe zone of my own pregnancy, we were overjoyed to learn Alexandra had become pregnant with a little boy. Our little boy.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CuCsL8bJ0pd/?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/p/CuCsL8bJ0pd/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Chrissy shared how overjoyed she was pregnant with her “best friend” and how grateful she was.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We want to say thank you for this incredible gift you have given us, Alexandra.</p> <p dir="ltr">“And we are so happy to tell the world he is here, with a name forever connected to you, Wren Alexander Stephens. Our hearts, and our home, are officially full. And to our Jack, we know both their angel kisses are from you,” she ended the post.</p> <p dir="ltr">The happy news comes almost two years after the celebrity couple lost their son Jack 20 weeks into Chrissy’s pregnancy.</p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Family & Pets

Second MAS*H star to pass away in just one month

<p dir="ltr">Actress Eileen Saki, best known for her role as bar owner Rosie in the hit series <em>M*A*S*H</em> has died.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 79-year-old had been fighting pancreatic cancer, and “passed away peacefully in Los Angeles” on May 1, according to <em>PEOPLE</em>. Eileen’s <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/entertainment/tv/m-a-s-h-star-passes-away" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fellow <em>M*A*S*H</em> star, Judy Farrell, had died</a> just one month prior on April 2. </p> <p dir="ltr">Eileen’s manager, Camilla Fluxman Pines confirmed the devastating news in a statement to the publication, writing that “she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January. </p> <p dir="ltr">"She was a lung cancer survivor in 2004.She got a second chance at auditioning and working in the industry that she loved so much - she shot a couple big commercials shortly before her diagnosis.</p> <p dir="ltr">"She was often recognized by face or even just voice by people who knew they knew her 'from somewhere' - and loved talking to young actors about the journey."</p> <p dir="ltr">Suki’s former co-star Jeff Maxwell, who brought the character Igor Straminsky to life on <em>M*A*S*H</em>, honoured his late friend with a social media post, sharing the news of her passing on the official page for his <em>MASH Matters </em>podcast.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Our sweet Eileen. Our sassy Rosie,” he wrote, before going on to extend his appreciation - as well as that of her husband, Bob - to Eileen’s devoted fans and followers who offered her their love and their support in her final days, before promising to share more on Eileen as the day went on, and encouraging others to do the same. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Our sweet, sweet Eileen. How we love you,” he concluded. “How we will miss you.”</p> <p><iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmashmatterspodcast%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0LmjyFaQF6dHNoWfZKNqRpBEqzgyNKSsf41AZxkg9kjKCuSJaisowUawFowusyacyl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="719" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p dir="ltr">True to his word, Jeff went on to post a few favourite Eileen moments, from her most recent work in advertisements, to time on screen with the likes of Mickey Rooney and Dom Deluise, and last - but certainly not least - as “a scene with a certain sassy bartender”. </p> <p><iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmashmatterspodcast%2Fvideos%2F1531503437375801%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="314" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p dir="ltr">Saki had actually been the third actress to portray Rosie, having taken over from Frances Fong and Shizuko Hoshi for her eight episode stint. In the end, she was the final and longest-running owner of Rosie’s Bar, and remains dear to her co-workers and fans for it. </p> <p dir="ltr">“You will forever be in our hearts!” one commented, in a sentiment shared by many. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Sorry to hear of her passing. Great memories at Rosie’s,” said another. </p> <p dir="ltr">“She was the best Rosie of them all and such a great actress,” one declared. “So sorry to hear she passed on.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“One of the finest roles ever played,” someone agreed, before requesting that she “say hello to Col. Blake, Trapper, Major Burns”. </p> <p dir="ltr">And as one said on behalf of them all, “you fought the great fight, Eileen. Now, rest easy, for your burdens and struggles are behind you. Love and strength to the entire family during these hard days ahead.”</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Facebook</em></p>

Caring

Six-month-old children to receive COVID-19 vaccine in new recommendations

<p>The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has updated its 2023 immunisation schedule for children and individuals under the age of 18.</p> <p>COVID-19 vaccinations were included in the new recommendations for routine children inoculations in the United States, but it remains to be seen whether or not Australia will take the same measure into consideration - one leading infectious diseases physician is doubtful. </p> <p>For children in the United States, the schedule comes only as a recommendation and not as a mandate. The COVID-19 vaccinations will now feature alongside the likes of other common vaccinations for the measles, MMR, mumps, polio, chickenpox, and the flu. </p> <p>It was last year in 2022 that the CDC first recommended COVID-19 vaccination for children of six months and up, but it has only now been formalised. </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">US vaccine schedule kids 0-6 years <a href="https://t.co/n3X0vQEGUm">pic.twitter.com/n3X0vQEGUm</a></p> <p>— Irene Tosetti, MD MBA MPH (@itosettiMD_MBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/itosettiMD_MBA/status/1624741715134357506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>Professor Robert Booy from the University of Sydney’s Infectious Diseases Institute spoke to <em>SBS News</em> about the United State’s approach to their vaccination recommendations, suggesting they may be “a bit gung-ho”. </p> <p>“They're recommending vaccinations even for children who are at mild risk," he said, “they're recommending vaccinations to all children."</p> <p>Professor Booy went on to add that he does not believe Australia will follow in the US’ footsteps, and that the vaccination is unlikely to be recommended for babies here. </p> <p>"We're taking the approach that vaccination is for children who are vulnerable - children who are at high risk and who have multiple medical problems or disability,” he explained. </p> <p>On the subject of Australia’s childhood vaccinations, he stated that the country is “not standing out”, as the United Kingdom is “more conservative” and equally unlikely to adopt the new US recommendations. </p> <p>“We're just doing similar to other countries,” he said. “The US is standing out by being a bit 'gung-ho' in recommending vaccination to all children under five."</p> <p>Dr Deepti Gurdasani, a clinical epidemiologist and statistical geneticist from the United Kingdom, took to Twitter to share her belief that the UK and Australia were unlikely to follow. </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">The US has added COVID vaccines to their routine childhood immunisation schedule from 6 months onwards. Will other countries follow? Feel little hope that this will happen in the UK or perhaps even Australia. <a href="https://t.co/NvFB8gK2I7">https://t.co/NvFB8gK2I7</a></p> <p>— Dr. Deepti Gurdasani (@dgurdasani1) <a href="https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1624758319188692993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>At this stage, Australians aged five and up are recommended to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. However, the vaccinations are still recommended for children from six months to five years who are immunocompromised, have a disability, or have health conditions that increase their risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty </em></p>

Caring

Man fined after beating four-month-old puppy

<p dir="ltr">A man from Perth has been found guilty of beating his pet puppy and unleashing verbal threats at an animal welfare inspector.</p> <p dir="ltr">The man, 44, slapped the four-month-old Boerboel named Hank on the head and just five minutes later punched the puppy as many as five times across the face, Joondalup Magistrates Court was told.</p> <p dir="ltr">The two attacks unfolded at the offender’s home in Butler.</p> <p dir="ltr">A witness report and <a href="https://7news.com.au/news/court-justice/butler-man-fined-over-savage-attack-on-pet-boerboel-puppy-threatening-rspca-worker-c-9067569" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video evidence</a> were enough for an RSPCA WA inspector to obtain a warrant and enter the man’s home alongside WA Police.</p> <p dir="ltr">The owner admitted losing his cool at his pet after it had been to the toilet inside the house.</p> <p dir="ltr">Hank was taken into care at the RSPCA’s Malaga animal care centre. Inspector manager Kylie Green said there was never an excuse to physically harm an animal.</p> <p dir="ltr">The man was fined $3000 for the attack on his pet and banned from being in contact with animals for five years.</p> <p dir="ltr">He has also been fined $800 for verbally abusing and threatening an RSPCA inspector and ordered to pay costs of $615.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: RSPCA WA</em></p>

Legal

Couple arrested over death of seven-month-old baby

<p dir="ltr">A man and a woman have been arrested following the death of a seven-month-old baby. </p> <p dir="ltr">Detectives from Inner West Child Protection and Investigation Unit (CPIU) and Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) were called to a home in Yugar on November 3 about 6.45am to investigate the death of the infant. </p> <p dir="ltr">A crime scene was declared and police took Reinhardt (Ryan) Bosch, 33, and his partner, Noemi Kondacs, 22, both known to the child, into custody. </p> <p dir="ltr">It is alleged that the couple were praying over the child’s body as they waited for the ambulance to arrive, The Courier Mail reported.</p> <p dir="ltr">Following inquiries and questioning, the police charged the pair with one count each of murder and torture.</p> <p dir="ltr">The couple’s religious beliefs will also be part of the investigation. </p> <p dir="ltr">Inner West Crime Group Detective Inspector David Jackman said there were “visible” injuries on the child. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve been a Detective for 30-odd years and it’s one of the most confronting scenes that I’ve seen,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Both the man and woman are not known to police, neither is that address,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The investigation has uncovered injuries to the child that are enough for us to charge (the pair) with murder.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The circumstances leading to the death we will allege have happened in the last 24 hours.</p> <p dir="ltr">“From what I have seen the child wasn’t neglected in terms of nourishment and such, but it’s quite confronting.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The couple are due to appear before Brisbane Magistrates Court on November 4. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Sunrise</em></p>

News

Sam Mac’s emotional tribute to one-month-old daughter

<p dir="ltr">Sam Mac has shared a heartwarming one-month tribute to his baby daughter Margot.</p> <p dir="ltr">The <em>Sunrise</em> weatherman and his girlfriend, Rebecca James, welcomed Margot Grace McMillan on September 10 following a whirlwind pregnancy.</p> <p dir="ltr">One month on since her arrival, Sam shared a new photo of baby Margot in the bath with a beautiful tribute, jokingly describing her as a “wrecking ball”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Dear Margot, You’re 1 month old today! & my goodness, you came in like a wrecking ball!” Sam’s post read.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It was always going to take a lot to see me relegated to 2nd biggest diva in the house, but you managed that in your first few hours. When you want something, oh my, do you let us know!</p> <p dir="ltr">“Your face turns redder than Barnaby Joyce & your scream reaches 2 octaves higher than Jimmy Barnes.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Sam then described the realities of being parents when babies “shoot out” of their mouths and bottoms, calling Margot a “mini Bellagio fountain”.</p> <p dir="ltr">He went on to thank Margot for picking him and Rebecca to be her parents, saying they are “just so eternally grateful”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You are the most important person in our world. We both can’t stop staring at you. Your tiny fingers, your little ear lobes, the fat rolls on your neck. Every part of you is perfect to us. We even stare at you while you’re sleeping (an activity that would normally have us placed on a watch-list).</p> <p dir="ltr">“Your Mum is giving you absolutely everything she’s got right now. Sometimes she’s exhausted & in pain, but she doesn’t let you see that. She shows you nothing but love. It’s a privilege to see both of you grow together. You’ll be tough like your Mum one day, I have no doubt.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CjfPcw2u2le/?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/p/CjfPcw2u2le/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Sam Mac (@sammacinsta)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Sam continued to get more candid with his post, confessing that he is unable to do as much as his partner but that he is trying.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Think of me as best supporting actor. I’m 2IC for Nappy Duties, Head Pram Steerer (setting lap records & already off-roading) & my favourite role of all… is Bath Boss. Everyday, 5pm, just you & me at Daddy’s Day Spa (tm).</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s very early days. We’re a brand new family working it all out together, bit by bit. It’s daunting, it’s tiring, but it’s mostly exhilarating.</p> <p dir="ltr">“So much fun ahead for the 3 of us. & do you know what, I feel like you already have more in common with your dad than you might think. We’re both extremely grumpy when woken up & we both have an unhealthy fixation on boobs. That’s my girl.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Happy 1 Month Margot X</p> <p dir="ltr">“(Bec just informed me that 1 month olds can’t read & apparently Margot isn’t even on insta yet, so I’ll store this here in safe keeping & read it to her in a few years).”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

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A heated steering wheel for $20 a month? What’s driving the subscriptions economy

<p>From gym memberships to music and movies, to razors, toilet paper, meal kits and clothes, there’s seemingly no place the subscription economy can’t go.</p> <p>Having conquered the software market – where it gets its own acronym, SaaS (Software as a Service) – the subscription model is now moving into hardware.</p> <p>Car makers are among the first cabs off the rank, using software to turn on and off optional extras.</p> <p>German auto maker BMW is offering “<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/12/23204950/bmw-subscriptions-microtransactions-heated-seats-feature" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in-car microtransactions</a>” to access options for car buyers in Britain, Korea, Germany, New Zealand and South Africa. A heated steering wheel, for example, has a monthly cost of NZ$20 in New Zealand, and £10 in the UK.</p> <p>Other markets <a href="https://www.drive.com.au/news/bmw-australia-monthly-subscriptions-detailed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">including Australia</a> will soon follow.</p> <p>In the UK, seven of 13 “digital services” – from heated seats to automatic high beam and driving assistance – are now available in subscription form.</p> <p>“Welcome to microtransaction hell” is how <a href="https://www.pcgamer.com/welcome-to-microtransaction-hell-buy-a-bmw-pay-monthly-for-the-cars-features/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one headline</a> put it.</p> <p>But that’s probably overselling the onset of a corporate dystopia where “you will own nothing”. BMW’s motives are pretty straightforward – as is most of what’s driving the subscription economy.</p> <p><strong>What is the subscription model?</strong></p> <p>The subscription model means paying a fee for periodical access to a service or product. Until a decade or so ago, it was largely confined to a few select industries, such as the delivery of milk, newspapers and magazines.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="From milk and magazines, subscription services have proliferated with digital technology." /><figcaption><span class="caption">From milk and magazines, subscription services have proliferated with digital technology.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>Other business models had similarities – such as rental businesses – but the point of the subscription model was different.</p> <p>It was not about meeting a demand for a service someone only wanted to use temporarily or could not afford to own outright. It was about locking in a continuing relationship, to maximise “customer lifetime value”.</p> <p>As <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042715/how-do-subscription-business-models-work.asp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Investopedia puts it</a>, the subscription model’s focus is on customer retention over customer acquisition:</p> <blockquote> <p>In essence, subscription business models focus on the way revenue is made so that a single customer pays multiple payments for prolonged access to a good or service instead of a large upfront one-time price.</p> </blockquote> <p>This in large part explains why subscription services are now being adopted in markets outside their more obvious fit for things such as streaming news and entertainment.</p> <p>In a broad sense, consumers can now be divided into two groups. One group comprises the “transactional shopper”, who interacts with the vendor once or twice, then disappears.</p> <p>The other group comprises customers whose connection and “investment” in the brand is maintained through their subscriptions.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="The subscriptions model emphasises customer retention over customer acquisition." /><figcaption><span class="caption">The subscriptions model emphasises customer retention over customer acquisition.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p><strong>E-commerce and access</strong></p> <p>Part of the growth in the subscription economy has come from companies riding the e-commerce wave, delivering goods such as meal kits, wine, coffee, baby supplies, pet food, cleaning products, razors and toilet paper.</p> <p>Consultant firm McKinsey has estimated the subscription e-commerce market is <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/thinking-inside-the-subscription-box-new-research-on-ecommerce-consumers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doubling in value</a> every year – though that was before the pandemic. It could be well be more now.</p> <p>The other part of the market is represented by BMW’s approach, offering extra features to customers that can only be accessed for a fee.</p> <p>In some cases this may involve standard “upsell” techniques. For example, when you buy a new Peloton exercise bike you’ll be enticed with <a href="https://www.onepeloton.com.au/membership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subscription offers</a>, such as virtual classes and “customised” training programs, to “reach your goals”.</p> <p>Or increasingly, as with BMW’s heated seats and steering wheels, it can be done with software turning actual bits of hardware on or off.</p> <p><strong>What is BMW’s game?</strong></p> <p>Is BMW’s purpose to gouge its customers for more money through getting them to pay an ongoing fee for something instead of owning it outright?</p> <p>This is not what its subscription structure indicates. The opposite, in fact.</p> <p>Customers can still buy these options outright. A heated steering wheel in the UK, for example, costs <a href="https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/shop/ls/dp/Steering_Wheel_Heating_SFA_gb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">£200</a>, and in New Zealand <a href="https://www.bmw.co.nz/en/shop/ls/dp/Steering_Wheel_Heating_SFA_nz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NZ$350</a>. But now they can also pay a subscription – for three years (£150, NZ$250), annually (£100, NZ$250) or monthly (£10, NZ$20).</p> <p>These prices represent a strong signal – that the cost of outright ownership is the most economical. It’s unlikely BMW expects anyone to sign up for the annual or three-yearly options. These are probably just to make the outright cost look more attractive.</p> <p>The monthly offering, on the other hand, may lure owners to try out a feature they would otherwise have rejected buying outright at the time of purchase.</p> <p>Indeed, car makers argue the reason they offer so many options as extras is because most owners don’t want them. So this mostly looks like BMW offering a “try before you buy” option.</p> <p><strong>The pitfalls of over-subscribing</strong></p> <p>That said, companies don’t need to have sinister motives for us to have concerns about the spread of the subscription model.</p> <p>The more things we pay for with “micro-payments”, the harder it becomes to keep track of payments.</p> <p>Many of us continue to pay for products and services we don’t use. A survey of 1,000 Australian adults in 2021, for example, found about a third wasted money on unused subscriptions or memberships – losing an average of about <a href="https://www.savings.com.au/savings-accounts/unused-lockdown-subscriptions-are-costing-aussies-200-a-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A$200 a year</a>.</p> <p>Deep psychological associations can influence these decisions. Experiments by US marketing professors Jennifer Savary and Ravi Dhar suggests people with lower “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/46/5/887/5498871" target="_blank" rel="noopener">self-concept</a>” are less likely to sign up for subscriptions – but also less likely to cancel subscriptions they are not using.</p> <p>We may see the subscription model increasingly used in other sectors – including the health and justice systems.</p> <p>For example, a subscription payment may provide a better level of nutritious food for a resident in an aged care facility, or a hospital or even a prison. This is not dissimilar to the way private health insurance premiums are managed, but still presents important justice and equity concerns.</p> <p>So while there’s no reason to exaggerate the dangers of the subscription economy, it’s also prudent for consumers, advocacy groups and governments to ask “What next?”.<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/186913/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/louise-grimmer-212082" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Louise Grimmer</a>, Senior Lecturer in Retail Marketing and Associate Head Research Performance, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Tasmania</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-heated-steering-wheel-for-20-a-month-whats-driving-the-subscriptions-economy-186913" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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A heated steering wheel for $20 a month? What’s driving the subscriptions economy

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‘It’s time to give up on normal’: what winter’s weird weather means for the warm months ahead

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A heated steering wheel for $20 a month? What’s driving the subscriptions economy

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