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“Do not panic”: Passenger trapped in plane bathroom for entire flight

A passenger has received the ultimate downgrade on a plane after becoming trapped in the bathroom for an entire flight. The unnamed flyer was travelling from Mumbai to Bengaluru in India on budget airline SpiceJet, when his one-hour-and-45-minute night flight turned into a nightmare. Shortly after takeoff, the man went to use the lavatory and discovered he had become stuck in the bathroom when he attempted to leave. The crew and other passengers desperately attempted to free the flyer from the unfortunate position, but to no avail. As a result, he was relegated to the toilet in the sky for nearly the entire flight. In an attempt to calm the passenger during his in-flight solitary confinement, crew members slid a note under the door to reassure the man. “Sir we tried our best to open the door, however, we could not,” the letter read. “Do not panic. We are landing in a few minutes, so please close the commode lid and sit on it and secure yourself. As soon as the main door is open, an engineer will come. Do not panic.” After landing, two engineers boarded the aircraft and broke open the door, rescuing the captive who later received “immediate medical support.” The airline has since issued the flyer a full reimbursement and shared an apology for the unique flying experience. “SpiceJet regrets and apologises for the inconvenience caused to the passenger,” they said. “The passenger is being provided a full refund.” Image credits: Getty Images / X (Twitter)

Travel Trouble

Downsizing cost trap awaits retirees – five reasons to be wary

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/erika-altmann-361218">Erika Altmann</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a> It’s time to debunk the myth of zero housing costs in retirement if we want to understand why retirees resist downsizing. Retirees have at least five reasons to be wary of the costs of downsizing. Retirees living in middle-ring suburbs face frequent calls to downsize into apartments to free up larger allotments in these suburbs for redevelopment. Retirees who fail to downsize into smaller units and apartments are viewed as being a greedy, baby-boomer elite, stealing financial security from younger generations. It also makes sense to policymakers for retirees to move into less spacious accommodation and make way for high-density housing. Housing think-tank AHURI <a href="http://www.ahuri.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/14079/AHURI_Final_Report_No_286_Australian-demographic-trends-and-implications-for-housing-assistance-programs.pdf">fosters this view</a>. Yet seniors remain resistant to moving, in part because of the ongoing costs they would face. The concept of zero housing costs in retirement is based on a 1940s view of a well-maintained, single dwelling on a single allotment of land where the mortgage has been paid off. This concept is incompatible with medium- and high-density housing and refusing to acknowledge ongoing housing costs may cause significant poverty for retirees. <h2>Reason 1 – upfront moving costs are high</h2> When a house is sold the owner receives the sale funds minus the real estate and legal fees. When the same person then buys a different property to live in, they pay legal fees plus stamp duty. For cities such as Melbourne and Sydney, these costs are likely to exceed A$70,000. These high transfer costs may mean it is not cost-effective <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-older-australians-dont-downsize-and-the-limits-to-what-the-government-can-do-about-it-76931">for the person to move</a>. <h2>Reason 2 – levies are high</h2> Because apartment owners pay body corporate levies, people often assume this is just the same as periodic payment of rates, water, insurance and other costs. It is not. Fees remissions for low-income retirees for rates, power, insurance and water are difficult to apply within a body corporate environment. As a consequence, these are usually not applied to owners of apartments. The costs of maintaining essential services, such as mandatory fire-alarm testing, yearly engineering certification, lift and air-conditioning inspections, significantly increase ownership costs. When additional services are supplied, such as swimming pools, gyms and rooftop gardens, these also require periodic inspections. Garbage collection, cleaning, gardening, concierge and strata management services also <a href="https://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/users/home?screen=EPrint%3A%3AView&eprintid=23322">must be paid</a>. Owners of standard suburban homes choose whether they want these services, with those on fixed incomes going without them. Annual levies for apartment buildings vary, but expect to pay between $10,000 and $15,000. They <a href="https://www.strata.community/understandingstrata/faqs">may be more than this</a>. <h2>Reason 3 – costs of maintenance</h2> <figure class="align-right "><figcaption></figcaption></figure> Apartments are often sold as a maintenance-free solution for older people. The maintenance is not free. It needs to be paid for. Maintenance costs are higher in an apartment than a standard suburban home because there are more items and services to be maintained and fixed. Lifts and air conditioning need periodic servicing and fixing. This is in addition to the mandatory inspections listed above. <h2>Reason 4 – loss of financial security</h2> It is a mistaken belief that the maintenance costs that form part of the body corporate fee include periodic property upgrades. This relates to items that are owned collectively with other apartment owners. Major servicing at the ten-year mark and usually each five-to-seven years after that include painting, floor-covering replacement, and lift and air-conditioning repair or replacement. Major upgrades may also include garden redesign or other external building enhancement including <a href="https://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/users/home?screen=EPrint%3A%3AView&eprintid=23315">environmental upgrades</a>. All owners share these upgrade costs. Costs of upgrading the inside of an apartment (a bathroom disability upgrade, for example) are additional again. Once the body corporate committee members pledge funds towards an upgrade, all owners are required to raise their share of the funds, whether they can afford it or not. Communal choice outweighs an individual owner’s need to delay upgrade costs. Owners who buy apartments that are part of a body corporate effectively lose control of their future financial decisions. <h2>Reason 5 – loss of security of tenure</h2> Loss of security of tenure is usually associated with renters. However, the recent introduction of <a href="http://www.lpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/25965/Termination_of_a_strata_scheme_by_RG.pdf">termination legislation</a> in New South Wales gives other owners the right to vote to terminate a strata title scheme. When this occurs, all owners, including reluctant owners of apartments within that scheme, are compelled to sell. There are valid reasons why termination legislation is desirable, as many older apartment complexes are reaching the end of their useful life. Even so, as termination legislation is rolled out across the states, owner- occupiers effectively lose control of how long they will own a property for. They no longer have security of tenure, which means retirees may face an uncertain housing future in their old age. <h2>Downsizing raises poverty risks</h2> Because current data sets do not adequately take account of ongoing costs associated with apartment living, the effect of downsizing on individual households is masked. Downsizing retirees into the apartment sector creates ongoing financial stress for older people. Creating <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-will-take-more-than-piecemeal-reforms-to-convince-older-australians-to-downsize-51043">tax incentives to move</a> does not tackle these ongoing costs. Centrelink payments for of <a href="https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/age-pension">$404 per week</a> are well below <a href="http://acoss.wpengine.com/poverty-2/">the poverty line</a>. Yet we expect retirees to willingly downsize and to be able to cede most of their Centrelink payments to cover high body corporate costs. Requiring retirees to downsize for the greater urban good will shift poverty onto retirees who could barely manage in their previously owned standard suburban home. Failing to understand the effect of high ongoing costs associated with apartment living and reinforcing the myth of zero housing costs in retirement will continue to lead to poor policy outcomes.<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/80895/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/erika-altmann-361218">Erika Altmann</a>, Property and Housing Management Researcher, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/downsizing-cost-trap-awaits-retirees-five-reasons-to-be-wary-80895">original article</a>.

Retirement Income

Forcing people to repay welfare ‘loans’ traps them in a poverty cycle – where is the policy debate about that?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hanna-wilberg-1466649">Hanna Wilberg</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-auckland-1305">University of Auckland</a> The National Party’s <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/09/26/more-sanctions-for-unemployed-beneficiaries-under-national/">pledge to apply sanctions</a> to unemployed people receiving a welfare payment, if they are “persistently” failing to meet the criteria for receiving the benefit, has attracted plenty of comment and <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/09/26/nationals-benefit-sanctions-plan-cruel-dehumanising-greens/">criticism</a>. Less talked about has been the party’s promise to index benefits to inflation to keep pace with the cost of living. This might at least provide some relief to those struggling to make ends meet on welfare, though is not clear how much difference it would make to the current system of indexing benefits to wages. In any case, this alone it is unlikely to break the cycle of poverty many find themselves in. One of the major drivers of this is the way the welfare system pushes some of the most vulnerable people into debt with loans for things such as school uniforms, power bills and car repairs. The government provides one-off grants to cover benefit shortfalls. But most of these grants are essentially loans. People receiving benefits are required to repay the government through weekly deductions from their normal benefits – which leaves them with even less money to survive on each week. With <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/132980318/auckland-mother-serves-up-cereal-for-dinner-due-to-rising-food-costs">rising costs</a>, the situation is only getting worse for many of the 351,756 New Zealanders <a href="https://figure.nz/chart/TtiUrpceJruy058e-ITw010dHsM6bvA2a">accessing one of the main benefits</a>. <h2>Our whittled down welfare state</h2> Broadly, there are three levels of government benefits in our current system. The main benefits (such as jobseeker, sole parent and supported living payment) <a href="https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/benefit-rates/benefit-rates-april-2023.html">pay a fixed weekly amount</a>. The jobseeker benefit rate is set at NZ$337.74 and sole parents receive $472.79 a week. Those on benefits have access to a second level of benefits – weekly supplementary benefits such as an <a href="https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/a-z-benefits/accommodation-supplement.html">accommodation supplement</a> and other allowances or tax credits. The third level of support is one-off discretionary payments for specific essential needs. Those on benefits cannot realistically make ends meet without repeated use of these one-off payments, unless they use assistance from elsewhere – such as family, charity or borrowing from loan sharks. This problem has been building for decades. <h2>Benefits have been too low for too long</h2> In the 1970s, the <a href="https://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/12967">Royal Commission on Social Security</a> declared the system should provide “a standard of living consistent with human dignity and approaching that enjoyed by the majority”. But Ruth Richardson’s “<a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/124978983/1991-the-mother-of-all-budgets">mother of all budgets</a>” in 1991 slashed benefits. Rates never recovered and today’s <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/03/29/benefit-increases-will-still-leave-families-locked-in-poverty/">benefits are not enough to live on</a>. In 2018, the <a href="https://www.weag.govt.nz/">Welfare Expert Advisory Group</a> looked at how much money households need in two lifestyle scenarios: bare essentials and a minimum level of participation in the community, such as playing a sport and taking public transport. The main benefits plus supplementary allowances did not meet the cost of the bare essentials, let alone minimal participation. The Labour government has since <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-delivers-income-increases-over-14-million-new-zealanders">increased benefit rates</a>, meaning they are now slightly above those recommended by the advisory group. But those recommendations were made in 2019 and don’t take into account the <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/annual-inflation-at-6-0-percent">sharp rise in inflation</a> since then. Advocacy group <a href="https://fairerfuture.org.nz/">Fairer Future</a> published an updated assessment in 2022 – nine out of 13 types of households still can’t meet their core costs with the current benefit rates. <h2>How ‘advances’ create debt traps</h2> When they don’t have money for an essential need, people on benefits can receive a “special needs grant”, which doesn’t have to be repaid. But in practice, Work and Income virtually never makes this type of grant for anything except food and some other specific items, such as some health travel costs or emergency dental treatment. For <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/02/27/very-stressful-beneficiary-says-he-cant-afford-msd-debt/">all other essential needs</a> – such as school uniforms, car repairs, replacing essential appliances, overdue rent, power bills and tenancy bonds – a one-off payment called an “advance” is used. Advances are loans and have to be paid back. There are several issues with these types of loans. First, people on benefits are racking up thousands of dollars worth of debts to cover their essential needs. It serves to trap them in financial difficulties for the foreseeable future. As long as they remain on benefits or low incomes, it’s difficult to repay these debts. And the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2018/0032/latest/whole.html">Social Security Act 2018</a> doesn’t allow the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) to waive debts. <h2>Contradictory policies</h2> Another problem is that people on benefits have to start repaying their debt straight away, with weekly deductions coming out of their already limited benefit. Each new advance results in a further weekly deduction. Often these add up to $50 a week or more. MSD policy says repayments should not add up to more than $40 a week, but that is often ignored. This happens because the law stipulates that each individual debt should be repaid in no more than two years, unless there are exceptional circumstances. Paying this debt off in two years often requires total deductions to be much higher than $40. The third issue is that one-off payments can be refused regardless of the need. That is because there are two provisions pulling in opposite directions. On the one hand the law says a payment should be made if not making it would cause serious hardship. But on the other hand, the law also says payments should not be made if the person already has too much debt. People receiving benefits and their case managers face the choice between more debt and higher repayments, or failing to meet an essential need. <h2>Ways to start easing the burden</h2> So what is the fix? A great deal could be achieved by just changing the policies and practices followed by Work and Income. Case managers have the discretion to make non-recoverable grants for non-food essential needs. These could and should be used when someone has an essential need, particularly when they already have significant debt. Weekly deductions for debts could also be automatically made very low. When it comes to changing the law, the best solution would be to make weekly benefit rates adequate to live on. The government could also make these benefit debts similar to student loans, with no repayments required until the person is off the benefit and their income is above a certain threshold. However we do it, surely it must be time to do something to fix this poverty trap.<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/212528/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hanna-wilberg-1466649">Hanna Wilberg</a>, Associate professor - Law, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-auckland-1305">University of Auckland</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/forcing-people-to-repay-welfare-loans-traps-them-in-a-poverty-cycle-where-is-the-policy-debate-about-that-212528">original article</a>.

Money & Banking

Stepson of billionaire trapped on sub called out for gross behaviour

The stepson of the billionaire trapped onboard the OceanGate Titanic submersible has been called out online for attending a rock concert while his step-father remains missing in the Atlantic Ocean. Brian Szasz is the stepson of billionaire Hamish Harding, who is trapped on the missing vessel along with four others, days after the group left on an expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic. While rescue efforts continue to locate the group, Szasz has caused a stir online after being spotted with a beaming smile attending a Blink-182. Among those furious and confused by Szasz's actions was rapper Cardi B, who slammed the man on Instagram to her 167 million followers. "One of the billionaires that's missing underwater from that submarine s–t …Their stepson is at a concert, right?" Cardi B starts. The rapper noted that she felt that attending a concert, and post about it online amid the search and rescue of a loved one felt tone deaf. "People is like, um, 'What is he supposed to do? Be sad at the house? Is he supposed to go look for him himself?' Yes," she said. "Isn't it sad that you a whole f—ing billionaire and nobody gives a f–k about you?" the rapper asks. "That's crazy. I'd rather be broke. I'd rather be broke and poor, but knowing that I'm loved." Szasz fired back at the rapper, telling her to "show some class for once in your life", while he responded to the media storm after he claimed his family "would've wanted him to go" to the concert. "Yes, I went to @Blink182 last night. What am I supposed to do, sit at home and watch the news? Not sorry this band has helped me through hard times since 1998." Just hours after the online backlash over attending the concert, Szasz was once again being slammed online for flirting with an OnlyFans model on Twitter. Szasz retweeted an image of Only Fans it-girl Brea flashing her backside in a G-string with the caption, “can i sit on u” on the social media site, with Szasz responding, “Yes please!” The post came just minutes after he asked followers to “please keep my family in your prayers.” One commenter wrote of the unusual behaviour, “Lmao quote tweeting a thirst trap while your stepdad is lost at sea is wild business”, as another slammed, “Unreal to be tweeting this [right now.]” Another user added, “This guy loves blink-182 and having ladies sit on his face and he’s not afraid to let the world know.” Image credits: Facebook / Action Aviation

Family & Pets

Outrage after dog seen trapped in car cloaked in barbed wire

One dog owner has become the subject of the internet’s ire when an image of their dog inside of a car lined with barbed wire circulated on social media. The German shepherd was spotted by someone walking by the carpark of Caves Beach’s southern end, who snapped a picture of the “disturbing” scene, and posted it to a local Facebook page for assistance. “A German Shepherd inside a car full of barbed wire,” they captioned the series of images. “Unfortunately the car left before authorities arrived.” As their friend informed Yahoo News Australia, the dog had seemed “visibly distressed” and that’s what had drawn the witness over, and that they’d only left the area in order to get reception to call for police aid. People were quick to speak up, condemning the owner and voicing their concern for the shepherd, with one declaring it to be “the most f***ed up thing I've seen”. “I would have smashed the car after taking the photos,” another said. “This is such strange behaviour and very distressing to see. To be done in the middle of the day in a public place where people will clearly see,” someone else wrote. “I really hope [the] police can still contact them and have a word.” “I am completely dumbfounded that someone thought that this was ok. That poor dog - god only knows the environment it is subjected to at 'home',” one added. And, as another put it, “this is so disturbing”. Some didn’t immediately assume the worst of the owner, however, suggesting that perhaps they were in a challenging living situation and left with few other choices, writing “I wonder if the owner is homeless and living out of their car. The wire could be some type of safety measure. Poor dog, though.” Those requesting to know more didn’t have to wait long, with updates soon coming in to inform everyone that NSW Police had confirmed officers had attended the scene, but that upon finding the car space empty, they were “making arrangements to speak to the registered owner”. The owner was eventually located by the police, with a spokesperson sharing that “they have checked the dog and confirmed there were no injuries and that [it] is being well cared for. “They have also been assured the wire has been permanently removed from the car.” They could not, however, reveal why the owner had lined the vehicle with the dangerous wire, or why the dog had been left in there. Nor could RSPCA NSW, who noted that the matter was under police investigation. Images: Facebook

Family & Pets

How to make your own mosquito trap

Nothing ruins a good time like a swarm of hungry mosquitos. Keep the outdoor fun going longer with this easy DIY mosquito trap. You will need: <ul> <li>An empty 2 litre plastic bottle</li> <li>A marker</li> <li>A box cutter</li> <li>A tape measurer</li> <li>¼ cup of brown sugar</li> <li>1 cup of hot water</li> <li>1 gram of yeast</li> <li>Duct/electrical tape</li> </ul> How to: 1. About 10cm from the lid, make a mark around the bottle. 2. Using your box cutter, cut the bottle in half at your mark. 3. In a saucepan, boil your water until steaming. 4. In the lower half of the bottle, add brown sugar and boiling water. Let cool. 5. Once cooled, add yeast. Stirring isn’t necessary. 6. Take the top of the bottle, flipping it upside down, and fit it into the base of the bottle, leaving enough room above the mixture for mosquitos to enter. If there isn’t, pour out some mixture. 7. Use tape to secure the cut edges at the top. 8. Place wherever your mosquito problem resides. The mosquitos will be attracted to the sugar mixture and not be able to fly back out of the trap. Image: Getty Images

Domestic Travel

"This is shocking": Police slammed over sneaky trap

A New Zealand man has clashed with police after he accused an officer of posing as a window washer to catch drivers using their mobile phones. While he was stopped at a traffic light in Manurewa, South Auckland, the man began filming after noticing an undercover cop in a hoodie standing nearby. "He's the cop who gave me the ticket!" he can be heard telling a friend sitting in the car with him. "This is bad, man. He's pretending to be a window washer!" The passenger then gets out of the car and makes his way toward the officer to “let the public know” what was happening. "Alright guys so we've got police here hiding, pretending to be window washers," he says while standing next to the police officer. "So what they do is they stand here and they dress up in hoodies with a window washer thing and they're looking and trying to get people tickets for fines, maybe phones, seatbelts." Within moments, several other officers approach the man. One officer confirms that the “window washer” was an undercover cop, and when the man questions whether the tactic was “saving lives”, an officer says it was. The man is then told by police that he could film but has to do it from the opposite side of the road so that the undercover operation isn’t interfered with. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> 😂😂😂 wish one of your cousins is the undercover cop lmao? <a href="https://t.co/5QWvlg2hYy">pic.twitter.com/5QWvlg2hYy</a> — Danny (@disndatnz) <a href="https://twitter.com/disndatnz/status/1577420707008417816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2022</a></blockquote> The hoodie-wearing officer is then encouraged to return to his spot by the side of the road. The clip has since been shared on TikTok and by Today FM, with morning talk show host Duncan Garner speaking to the man’s friend, Neil, who was in the car during the incident. “I've driven up and down the country all the time and I’ve never seen any sort of act like this anywhere apart from there," Neil said. "And the fact that he put on clothes to sort of fit into that area is really quite rude." Stuff reported that NZ Police Inspector Tony Wakelin said the impersonation was inappropriate and that the operation would cease. Meanwhile, social media users have been slamming the police for their “sneaky ways”. "You cannot tell me this isn’t insanely deceptive," one commented. "This is shocking," another shared. "Isn't this entrapment?" a third said. Others defended the operation, saying that the police were just trying to prevent people from doing the wrong thing. "Lord. Get off your phone while you're driving. End of story," one wrote. "No this is good, I have been rear-ended by someone texting and driving," another added. "They are trying to prevent crime and save lives but at the same time they are distracting drivers which can cause accidents," one person shared on Reddit. “So it’s not a good method". Images: Today FM

Legal

"Someone give them a raise": Hilarious way ground crew entertained trapped passengers

Two very creative ground-crew air marshalls have enjoyed a brush with instant viral fame after hilarious footage of them entertaining passengers stuck on a delayed plane was shared to TikTok. Fortunately for the poor passengers stranded on the British Airways plane last month due to engineering issues, two nearby air marshalls were determined to pass the time and distract them following the tediously long delay, using their glowing marshalling wands to put on an entertaining performance. Air Marshall Quinten Moshy posted a video of his antics on TikTok, which quickly racked up close to 1 million views. "Put this in every ramp agent's job description," he joked in the caption. The video showed the two airport workers using their marshalling wands as if they were light sabres and acting out dramatic battle scenes. Committed to the performance, the marshalls ducked and weaved, while one pretended to die after he was 'struck'. Other antics included creating glowing smiley faces and hearts on the tarmac and dancing the moves to the song 'Y.M.C.A'. <blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@quintenmoshy/video/7117811535212301614" data-video-id="7117811535212301614"> <section><a title="@quintenmoshy" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@quintenmoshy?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@quintenmoshy</a> Put this in every ramp agent’s job description <a title="airport" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/airport?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#airport</a> <a title="airplane" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/airplane?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#airplane</a> <a title="travel" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/travel?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#travel</a> <a title="rampagent" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/rampagent?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#rampagent</a> <a title="pilot" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pilot?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#pilot</a> <a title="bayarea" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bayarea?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#bayarea</a> <a title="california" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/california?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#california</a> <a title="london" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/london?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#london</a> <a title="787" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/787?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#787</a> <a title="vacation" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vacation?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#vacation</a> <a title="work" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/work?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#work</a> <a title="fyp" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#fyp</a> <a title="ymca" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ymca?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#ymca</a> <a title="minions" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/minions?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#minions</a> <a title="starwars" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/starwars?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#starwars</a> <a title="lightsaber" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/lightsaber?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#lightsaber</a> <a title="happy" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/happy?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#happy</a> <a title="aviation" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/aviation?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#aviation</a> <a title="love" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/love?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#love</a> <a title="♬ Y.M.C.A. - The Minions" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/YMCA-6795407731260917762?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ Y.M.C.A. - The Minions</a></section> </blockquote> TikTok users really enjoyed the goofy act and one person said they should find a video from someone stranded on the plane so we could see what THEY were seeing out their windows. "Someone find the passengers POV," they wrote. Sure enough, fellow viewers pulled through and pointed to TikTok user Abi Smith, who had created her own video of the dramatic antics of the air marshalls. "POV: [Point of View]: Your plane gets delayed so the marshalls put on a performance." she captioned the video. <blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@abi_smithxxx/video/7117374061935676678" data-video-id="7117374061935676678"> <section><a title="@abi_smithxxx" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@abi_smithxxx?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@abi_smithxxx</a> <a title="britishairways" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/britishairways?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#britishairways</a> <a title="delayed" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/delayed?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#delayed</a> <a title="marshallers" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/marshallers?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#marshallers</a> <a title="♬ Angeleyes (Sped Up Version) - april aries bae (SVT)" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Angeleyes-Sped-Up-Version-7089425867910236954?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ Angeleyes (Sped Up Version) - april aries bae (SVT)</a></section> </blockquote> People commented, saying the entertaining pair deserved a reward for their dedication. "Give the performers an applause," wrote one person. "Someone give them a raise," another added. Image: TikTok

Travel Trouble

Police slammed for speed trap outside flooded town

An image of a NSW police car has sparked outrage as residents in northern NSW beg for help in the wake of devastating floods. The photo, taken by The Australian journalist Liam Mendes just outside the NSW town of Mullumbimby, depicts a highway patrol officer sitting in a car with a speed gun, according to <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/locals-volunteers-and-one-officious-cop-in-floodhit-northern-nsw-town/news-story/925fad7154bfab208b69523906a05d05" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the publication</a>. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Thread: Heading towards one of the worst-hit areas in northern NSW, I spot a cop with a speed gun. Just 30 mins away, residents are trapped inside their communities. They say they’ve had no assistance from emergency services and are relying on helis and volunteers. <a href="https://t.co/6uqIDzMx6O">pic.twitter.com/6uqIDzMx6O</a> — Liam Mendes (@liammendes) <a href="https://twitter.com/liammendes/status/1499906439275773953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2022</a></blockquote> It comes as the town has been left without power, fuel or running water, as well as severely limited communication due to recent flooding. Locals have taken to social media to ask for help from the army and other government services as roads blocked by mud and downed trees trap residents in the town. “To the Government Services: We need you to rescue people still trapped and missing… houses in landslides, roads turned into rivers, people trapped in mountain areas with no power, food or capacity to escape,” one woman from Mullumbimby wrote on Saturday. “We need you to pass uncrossable roads, to rescue people, then start the road clean up and longer term recovery. “The locals are alone doing it themselves. “Some of my friends in the mountains are running out of clean water and have no food. Power generators provide an hour of time to access [the] internet and communicate.” Another post circulating on social media read: “There are landslides, and regular people trying to scale cliffs to rescue pregnant people, babies and families. “We need the army, we need police, we need services. “There’s still no phone reception and no one knows the full depth of what’s going on here … it’s apocalyptic.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Just went to donation center in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mullumbimby?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#mullumbimby</a> - region is running out of petrol, no internet + mullum has run out of water. They need help on ground with delivering goods. Still need clean mattresses, bottled water. This relief effort has been run by the community. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NSWFloods?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NSWFloods</a> <a href="https://t.co/P7k5lJrrXz">pic.twitter.com/P7k5lJrrXz</a> — Mia Forrest (@miaforrestphoto) <a href="https://twitter.com/miaforrestphoto/status/1498854285500551169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2022</a></blockquote> After Mendes’ photo emerged online, many shared their fury on social media and questioned why police were checking speeds while nearby residents needed help. “If you’re asking me, ‘Protect and Serve’ shouldn’t mean ‘fine people speeding whilst residents of said town are suffering’,” one man tweeted in response to the photo. “There’s far more important matters over revenue raising in that area and it’s so obvious the police and Government do not care.” “That is seriously f****d up,” another wrote. “People rushing to help people in danger and the [government] wants to make money out of it.” A third person shared their own encounter with police as they delivered supplies to family members. “I drove into Ballina… to drop supplies to two boats going upstream to my relatives cut off in Empire Vale,” they wrote. “Surreal to drive past police pointing speed cameras at me on the way down.” According to The Australian, emergency services were yet to arrive after a landslide cut off the road to Main Arm and Wilsons Creek, two localities within 10 minutes of Mullumbimby. “It’s an appalling use of public resources in the middle of a crisis,” local Saul Fitton told the publication. Meanwhile, NSW Police told <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw-police-savaged-over-appalling-act-near-flooded-town-052806501.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yahoo Australia</a> that hundreds of officers had been deployed across the region, and that part of their efforts included keeping people safe on the roads. “Motorists need to drive to the conditions to avoid any unexpected hazards due to the weather conditions and abide by road rules for their own safety and the safety of other road users,” a spokesperson said. Five thousand ADF personnel are due to be deployed to clean up northern NSW, with 900 arriving on Monday and another thousand deployed next week, per AAP. Images: @liammendes (Twitter)

Travel Trouble

Tragic last words of five-year-old trapped in well

The final words of a five-year-old boy have been <a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/world-gripped-by-tragic-story-of-fiveyearold-rayan-who-fell-down-well-in-morocco/news-story/c4d4dd221d46589028437e3cdb75323e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> by family members, following the young boy’s death after being trapped in a Moroccan well for days.A male relative told Reuters news agency that Rayan Awram called out begging to be saved while waiting to be rescued.He said the family first realised Rayan was missing when they heard sounds of muffled crying, using the camera light on their phone to find him.“He was crying ‘lift me up’,” the relative said.Rayan fell into a 32-metre shaft outside his home in Ighran, a village in northern Morocco, on Tuesday evening.On Sunday, footage emerged showing Rayan being carried out of a tunnel constructed by rescuers, before the boy was rushed to an ambulance where his parents waited.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Photos the moments when Rayan,5, was removed from the 32 meter deep well in northern Morocco before he was announced dead. Innalillah. Rest in peace Rayan 💔<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaveRayan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SaveRayan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D9%81%D9%84_%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#الطفل_ريان</a> <a href="https://t.co/Cx8t79imxK">pic.twitter.com/Cx8t79imxK</a>— Tun Fadzil 🇲🇾🇵🇸 (@FAZHAJAZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/FAZHAJAZ/status/1490091910861848577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2022</a></blockquote>It was later reported that the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, confirmed that Rayan was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital.The monarch expressed his condolences to the boy’s parents, Khaled Oram and Wassima Khersheesh.Reports from Moroccan media said resuscitation specialists entered the tunnel alongside rescue crews, fearing Rayan may have needed life-saving medical care.AFP correspondents reported that rescue teams moved at a snail’s pace for fear of triggering a landslide.The risky earth-moving operation saw drill teams work by hand to avoid any vibrations that could bring soil down on the stricken child, according to local authorities.“Eighty centimetres (less than three feet) separate us from Rayan but the drillers are working painstakingly to avoid any mishap,” engineer Mounir al-Jazouli told a local broadcaster.Abdelhardi Tamrani, an official in charge of the rescue, said a camera inserted into the well where Rayan was stuck had shown him lying on his side.<img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/02/tribute-rayan.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" />Tributes to the five-year-old have flooded social media after the news of his passing on Sunday night. Image: @ShaykhAshiq (<a href="https://twitter.com/ShaykhAshiq/status/1490230757759107073" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>)The efforts of the rescue teams gripped Moroccan residents, attracting onlookers who encouraged rescuers with applause, sang religious songs or prayed, chanting “Allahu akbar” (God is great) in unison. The operation even sparked sympathy in neighbouring Algeria, a regional rival.Though rescuers had tried to get oxygen and water down to the five-year-old, AFP correspondents reported that it was unclear whether he was able to use them.As night fell, they continued to work non-stop, using powerful floodlights that gave a gloomy air to the scene.“I keep up hope that my child will get out of the well alive,” Rayan’s father told public television 2M on Friday evening. “I thank everyone involved and those supporting us in Morocco and elsewhere.”The rescue mission sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan beginning to trend.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Thank you, everyone who worked to rescue little Rayan. We will not forget your efforts and work. God bless Morocco 🇲🇦. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rayan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rayan</a> <a href="https://t.co/GKJNwx64EK">pic.twitter.com/GKJNwx64EK</a>— Younes JEDDI (@YounesJeddi) <a href="https://twitter.com/YounesJeddi/status/1490305077453721604?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2022</a></blockquote>One person paid tribute to the rescue team working non-stop for days on end, saying, “they are real-life heroes”.A volunteer at the site simply said he was there to help.“We’ve been here for three days. Rayan is a child of our region. We won’t leave until he’s out of the well,” he said.Image: Twitter

Travel Trouble

Trapped pensioners told to repay $16,000

Two New Zealand pensioners stuck in Australia face potentially having to repay their super, after receiving a letter including a $15,000 ($NZD 16,000) from the Ministry of Social Development.“We have stopped your payments and you will need to pay back the money you owe,” the government ministry told the pensioners.Maureen and Rob Wardle, both in their 80s, were shocked to receive the bill after being stuck abroad for nearly a year.“Our New Zealand super was stopped on November 9,” Maureen told the <a style="background-image: initial;background-position: initial;background-size: initial;background-attachment: initial;margin: 0px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;vertical-align: baseline" href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/covid-19-miq-lockout-ministry-of-social-development-wants-16k-back-from-kiwi-couple/IRUE3RPBORGTI5S574DDQQK2WQ/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Zealand Herald</a>, explaining the couple’s resulting financial and emotional distress.However, the bigger blow came on December 6, with the delivery of the letter demanding the Wardles repay all the money they received from New Zealand while they were in Australia.Having left New Zealand last April, the couple have exceeded the maximum 26 weeks New Zealand pensioners are allowed to be overseas while continuing to receive their super.As a result, Mr Wardle now owes $7139.81 and Mrs Wardle owes $7936.76, totalling $15076.57.With no super coming from the New Zealand government over the last three months and no Australian support for people in similar situations, the couple say all their money has been spent surviving abroad, leaving none to repay their debt.“As you can imagine, all this has been a huge worry for us. We are in our 80s and not computer savvy,” Mrs Wardle said.“We just want to go home to go into Work and Income and talk to someone in person.”The couple received the December 6 letter from an international customer service officer based in Wellington.The letter read: “We always want to make sure we get it right for people so we recently reviewed your payments after we found you’d left the country on 25/04/21 on flight number NZ149.“Because you received New Zealand superannuation, we can continue to pay you for the first 26 weeks you’re overseas as long as you return within 30 weeks. If you don’t return within the 30 weeks, we will have to stop your New Zealand superannuation from the day after you left the country.“We wrote to you about this on 27/10/21 and I’m getting back in touch to let you know we paid you too much. You need to pay some money back. From 26/04/21 to 09/11/21, unfortunately, you received money from us you didn’t qualify for because you were overseas.”To make the situation more stressful, Mrs Wardle said she is worried about how the couple will continue to afford to live, with the closed New Zealand borders meaning they still can’t go home.New Zealand opposition revenue spokesman Andrew Bayly expressed deep concern about the couple, saying that situations like theirs should never have been able to occur.Mr Bayly has been working with a number of Kiwi pensioners in similar situations to the Wardles, with some trapped in Australia and one couple in Morocco.“The issue of superannuitants who are stuck overseas and have been unable to get a spot in MIQ (Managed Isolation and Quarantine) is widespread. In fact, I would imagine virtually all electorate MPs have been approached by superannuants caught in this difficult situation,” he said.“Given many seniors rely on their super to pay for their living costs, it is appalling that there is such a merciless approach that many superannuitants face the prospect of having their super cut off or, in some cases, having to refund their super.”The Wardle's situation comes after news of New Zealanders in similar situations who are struggling to return home via the country’s quarantine system, which enables Kiwis to book spots in government-run quarantine facilities.In their case, Mrs Wardle said they went to Australia so her husband could undergo surgery.While he was recovering, the borders unexpectedly closed.They were able to return to New Zealand for just one week in April, before flying back to Australia for more surgery.When asked whether they could have returned while the trans-Tasman bubble was in operation in July, she said sickness prevented them from leaving the country.“Unfortunately my husband has an aortic aneurysm which has caused multiple surgeries. He had another endoleak and went into hospital again on July 21 for transcatheter therapy for embolisation with angiography.“Our New Zealand pension is our main source of income as the interest rates are so low on investments so we have become dependent on it [and] you can imagine our distress when it was cut off for no fault of our own,” she said.“We have found it physically impossible to get back to New Zealand in the time frames due to Covid.”George van Ooyen, the ministry’s client service support group general manager, said applications for super to extend beyond 26 weeks were being considered on a “case-by-case basis”.“This is available to people whose absence from New Zealand is solely linked to the travel bubble closure, and it will continue as long as it is needed,” he said.“We encourage New Zealanders overseas to contact us and discuss how we may be able to help within the parameters of discretion legislation allows us.”Image: The New Zealand Herald

Money & Banking

Aldi customer gets trapped inside store

Image: TikTok A customer has revealed how he became trapped inside his local Aldi store and had to be rescued by police. Sharing on Tiktok, the shopper said he and another person were perusing the aisles of a store in the US when staff accidentally locked them inside. In the video, the man claimed the store was meant to close at 9pm. However at 8.45pm, he was stunned to see that the doors had been deadbolted with no warning. “During the pandemic, ALDI closed early and the cashier neglected to make sure no customers were left in the store,” he said, adding the hashtag #youhadonejob. In the video, the TikTok user said he was forced to call police for help. “Oh my gosh, this is no s***,” he said in the video. “Check this out - I just got locked inside ALDI. It doesn’t close till 9pm. OMG. “Can anyone hear me? I’m locked in an ALDI. So I had to call 911 because the alarm was activated and I can’t get out.” He went on to say that he’d helped himself to a six-pack of beer and wine to pass the time. “I don’t have to worry about starving to death because there’s plenty of food and there’s also a bunch of alcohol on that rack,” he said. After enjoying some beer, he said: “Still waiting to be let out. Upgrading to wine since I feel like I own the place.” After a 30 minute wait, the shopper said police eventually arrived and arranged for a manager to open the door. “Thirty minutes and a bottle of wine later, help arrives.” The shopper’s video has since gone viral, attracting 4.5 million views more than 300,000 likes and comments. Most TikTok users were amused by the shopper’s experience. “Party at ALDI!” said one. Added another: “All the food and alcohol. And ALDI usually has blankets. I would have camped out and surprised the opener the next day!”

Travel Trouble

Quick thinking man uses ALDI trolley to rescue trapped koala

The man filmed pushing a koala in an ALDI trolley has explained how he came to find himself in such an unusual situation. Peter Elmore, from Hastings, Victoria, <a rel="noopener" href="https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/trapped-and-scared-aldi-shopper-reveals-the-heartwarming-story-behind-his-koala-trolley-rescue--c-5355061" target="_blank">spoke to 7NEWS </a>about the TikTok video a stranger recorded that shows him pushing a koala in a trolley in an ALDI carpark, explaining that he and his wife Kelly were on holiday in Portland he visited the local ALDI. His grocery run quickly turned into an animal rescue attempt, however, when he noticed a koala that had become trapped in the parking lot. He told 7NEWS, “There was only one way in and out of the carpark, and the koala was cornered. She was trying to climb the high wooden fence and kept falling. And because koalas can’t put their arms out to protect themselves when they fall, she kept landing on her head and bashing her face. “Then I saw an elderly man nearly run over her and I knew I had to get her out of there.” <div class="embed"><iframe class="embedly-embed" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7053328668852014338&display_name=tiktok&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40cherrymaeferrer%2Fvideo%2F7053328668852014338&image=https%3A%2F%2Fp16-sign-sg.tiktokcdn.com%2Ftos-alisg-p-0037%2F6c50fd26b66d41b19531c433c8486680_1642231055%7Etplv-tiktok-play.jpeg%3Fx-expires%3D1643151600%26x-signature%3DbWEJBaYxRx%252F9rgRUpvsXwP%252FCbUk%253D&key=59e3ae3acaa649a5a98672932445e203&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=tiktok" width="340" height="700" scrolling="no" title="tiktok embed" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> Peter and his wife are wildlife volunteers and have experience with rescuing koalas, telling 7NEWS, “We have a few koalas around where we live, so I’ve done it before.” As for why he put the koala in the shopping trolley, he explained, “I would’ve put her in the back of my car, but I had my dog with me. And I would’ve carried her, but then I saw the ALDI trolley and thought that would be a bit easier! Fortunately, according to Elmore, “She was very happy to be picked up and rescued. Male koalas can be a little more feisty, but she was relaxed in the trolley and was happy for me to move her around. “I only had to push her about 100 metres until we got to a bit of bushland. Then she went into someone’s backyard and up a tree. “It was a happy ending.” As for the video, Elmore said, “I didn’t even know I’d been photographed until I saw the video! I can see that it would’ve looked a little unusual. “But the trolley was just there to help out the koala, it was very handy!” Image: TikTok/Peter Elmore

Family & Pets

"Stuck for hours": Removal of stairs traps woman in her home

Image: TikTok A woman was shocked to find the stairs for her apartment complex had been removed without warning, leaving her, and other tenants trapped inside. She shared her story on TikTok, shocking over 1.2 million people over the strange decision that left her “stuck for hours”. Olivia Crump thought it was just an ordinary morning, opening her door to start her day, however as she peered outside, she realised something was terribly wrong. The stairs were gone. Olivia lives on the third floor of her apartment building with no way to leave without climbing over the ledge. She grabbed her camera to film the incident, later posting it to TikTok where it went viral. Olivia said in the video: “When your apartment removes the stairs without warning and you’re stuck for hours.” She posted it alongside the song ‘hell to the no’ and comments were quickly encouraging Olivia to contact a fire marshall. In an interview with the Daily Dot, the TikToker explained that “it was impossible to get down without climbing over the ledge with a ladder or scaling the side with a decent drop below”. “My apartment complex didn’t notify any of the residents beforehand (and still hasn’t reached out since this happened),” she said. Olivia revealed that she and her neighbours were stuck for nearly four hours before a worker granted her permission to go down the unfinished steps. The TikToker shared that she called her neighbours and they too were unaware the stairs were being removed. Olivia wrote in reply to a comment, “these complexes run by huge housing companies just mess with people’s lives and get away with it because people need places to live”. Comments were filled with people sharing similar stories and encouraging Olivia to take action. “Definitely a fire hazard. They should have had everyone leave or made a temporary alternative route,” one user wrote. “Building Code, Fire and Lease Violations. Hefty, hefty fines,” another said.

Travel Trouble

Meet the woman who’s been trapping lobsters since before World War II

Virginia Oliver, 101-year-old resident of Rockland, Maine, started trapping lobsters when she was just 8 years old, right before the Great Depression hit, and she’s been going ever since. She’s been a trailblazer her entire life: when she started, few women were trapping lobsters, and now she’s the oldest lobster fisher in the coastal northeastern state best known for its lobsters, and most likely one of the oldest lobster fishers in the world. She tends to her traps with her 78-year-old son Max, having learned about the business from her father, a lobster dealer. Lobsters, which used to be considered a cheap food primarily eaten by working class families, fetched 28 cents/pound when she started trapping; now, having become a delicacy, they fetch 15 times that. Perhaps most surprisingly, she isn’t sick of eating lobster yet – she enjoys a lobster dinner of her own roughly once a week. <img style="width: 500px; height: 332.79220779220776px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7844167/gettyimages-1234361930.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/99b6ddc285094a56b437a724f25c8637" /> Oliver catches lobsters by loading small fish called menhaden, or ‘pogeys’ in lobster-speak, into wire traps, and drives a boat that once belonged to her late husband that bears her name, ‘Virginia’. She said she has no intention of stopping, but she is concerned about the health of Maine’s lobster population, which is subject to heavy fishing pressure. Of her decision to continue working, Oliver said, “I’ve done it all my life, so I might as well keep doing it.” Even after a scare where a crab snipped her finger, requiring seven stitches, she never considered retirement. According to family friend Wayne Gray, the doctor admonished her, asking, “Why are you out there lobstering?” with Oliver responding with a simple, “Because I want to.” “I like doing it, I like being along the water. And I’m going to keep on doing it just as long as I can.” Images: Joseph Prezioso/AFP

Retirement Life

“Heroic” officers and bystanders free trapped baby

Shocking footage has captured the moment police officers and bystanders lifting a car to save a trapped baby. The incident happened in the town of Yonkers in New York on Friday, when a 43-year-old driver allegedly crashed into a car then careened across the road and into the front of a local barber shop. As the car moved across the road, a woman was crossing the street with her eight-month-old daughter in her arms. The pair were hit by the car and landed on the bonnet as it crashed into the shop. Two police officers, who were nearby ordering breakfast, rushed to the scene to investigate. Once it was discovered the baby was trapped underneath the car, the officers and several bystanders worked together to lift the car and free the baby. “Luckily, two veteran officers of Yonkers’ finest just happened to be getting breakfast next door and quickly took action along with members of the community to rescue a child trapper under the vehicle and render aid to her mother,” Police Commissioner John Mueller said in a statement. “The actions taken are nothing short of heroic.” The mother and daughter were left with serious injuries but are expected to survive. The mother suffered a fractured femur and the baby had a fractured skull and third-degree burns on her back and foot, according to police. The driver, David Poncurak, was uninjured. He was charged with several offences, including second-degree vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated, and second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle. Image: Yonkers Police Department

Travel Trouble

Avoid these three things to maximise your retirement income

Everyone wants to start their retirement with enough funds to live as comfortably as possible. One of the biggest sources of many Australians’ retirement incomes will be their super funds. But, the banking royal commission found that super funds have some problems and don’t always serve our best interests as customers. Here are three traps to avoid that could potentially save you tens of thousands of dollars. Falling for bigger returns Switching from an industry super fund to a retail fund might sound appealing, but the large returns these retail funds offer also come with high and potentially costly risks. Appearing on 7.30, Michelle Bradley-Smith detailed how a cold-call from a smooth talking financial advisor put her retirement at risk. “They were very persuasive,” she told the program. With just $120,000 in her industry super account and rapidly approaching retirement, Ms Bradley-Smith was convinced to move her super from the industry fund into a higher-risk AMP account. “He said that his company could make me another $24,000 as opposed to what the company I was with at the time could make me,” she said. “And it sounded like $24,000 extra when I only had seven years of work left. It sounded good.” After the 2018 banking royal commission started repeatedly calling out AMP’s conduct, Ms Bradley-Smith realised she made a grievous error. She paid more than $4,000 upfront to transfer her super and had committed thousands more in annual fees. Over the next six months, she watched as super balance began to shrink. “After them telling me that they were there to make money, I lost … $7,000 and that’s not what I was there for,” she said. “I thought, ‘I’m going to be losing money. By the time I’m 67 I might not even have $100,00’.” Having multiple accounts Approximately a third of Australian super accounts are known as “unintended multiples”, totalling about 10 million accounts. Despite campaigns aimed at reducing the problem, nearly 40 percent of Australians have more than one super account. Not consolidating existing funds can mean you pay more in fees across all of your accounts, ultimately reducing the amount of money available when you retire. Unnecessary insurance Most super accounts come with multiple forms of insurance such as life insurance, and total and permanent disability insurance. When combined with multiple accounts, each coming with their own insurance, this can become a problem. “One in four Australians are not aware whether or not they have life insurance through their superannuation,” the Productivity Commission chairman Michael Brennan told 7.30. “And one in six have duplicate accounts, which means they’re paying premiums on more than one account.” Though this might not seem like much of a problem, it comes with some unintended consequences. “They can’t claim on both [accounts],” Mr Brennan said. This means that you might be paying for multiple forms of insurance and only gain some of the benefits when it comes to claiming them.

Retirement Income

Three-year-old rescued after 65 hours trapped underground

Two little girls have made it out alive after an apartment building in the Turkish city of Izmir collapsed due to a colossal earthquake. Felt throughout Turkey and Greece, U.S. Geological Survey rated it 7.0, while Istanbul’s Kandilli Institute put it at 6.9 and Turkey’s emergency management agency said it measured 6.6. The overall death toll in Friday’s quake reached 85 after teams found more bodies overnight amid toppled buildings in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city. Onlookers applauded in relief as the two young girls were pulled from wreckage and debris before they were rushed off to hospital. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Rescuers in Turkey have pulled a three-year-old girl from the rubble of her apartment block 65 hours after it was destroyed by an earthquake. Elif Perincek was pulled alive from the rubble early this morning. <a href="https://t.co/6DXQ6upzeQ">pic.twitter.com/6DXQ6upzeQ</a> — RTÉ News (@rtenews) <a href="https://twitter.com/rtenews/status/1323184542031761408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2020</a></blockquote> They are two out of over 1,000 people who were injured in the quake that was felt mostly in Turkey, Rescue workers clapped in unison Monday as 14-year-old Idil Sirin was removed from the rubble. She was trapped for 58 hours. Her 8-year-old sister, Ipek, did not survive. Rescuers also found 3-year-old Elif Perincek seven hours after Sirin. She spent 65 hours in the wreckage of her apartment before she was extracted. Eli’s mother and two sisters had been rescued two days earlier. Muammer Celik of Istanbul’s search-and-rescue team told NTV television that he thought Elif was dead when he found the young child. “There was dust on her face, her face was white,” he said. “When I cleaned the dust from her face, she opened her eyes. I was astonished.” Celik said: “it was a miracle, it was a true miracle.” The girl would not let go of his hand throughout the rescue operation. Celik added: “I am now her big brother.”

News

Hundreds of Aussies trapped in Wuhan as coronavirus death toll rises

As the death toll rises, hundreds of Aussies and their families are stranded in China after being caught up in the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The federal government has vowed to evacuate nationals in the coming days, but more than 100 Australian children and their families are stuck in the city of Wuhan, which is the epicentre for the outbreak. Rui Zeverino, a Melbourne horse trainer, spoke to <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/australians-trapped-in-wuhan-as-death-toll-continues-to-rise-20200128-p53vfs.html" target="_blank">The Sydney Morning Herald</a> about how the outbreak is being contained. "We have to walk through a pool of disinfectant, which they change every day, for our feet, to clean them," he said. "They also make us go into a special ultraviolet room in order to disinfect us. We have to stay there for four minutes before we can leave." "Anyone who has a temperature higher than normal, you get reported and you get taken away," he explained. The city of Wuhan has a population of 11 million people now resembles scenes from a disaster Hollywood film, with people barricading themselves indoors. "It is ground zero here," Mr Severino said. "Everyone is extremely fearful and that is why we must follow the measures enforced by the Chinese government very strictly." Sydney man Daniel Ou Yang visited his grandparents in Wuhan earlier this month and is now stranded due to the virus. "We are being advised to not even open our doors," the 21-year-old said. "I’m really worried for my grandparents and the younger kids here. The situation is pretty bad over here. I think it’s worse than the government is letting on. The hospitals are completely overwhelmed and obviously long term it’s going to get more stressful." "A lot of residents from other countries and students have been evacuated from China already," he said. "It is frustrating not knowing." Five infections have been confirmed in Australia so far, but the number is expected to rise.

Travel Trouble

Growing numbers of renters are trapped for years in homes they can't afford

Low-income tenants in Australia are increasingly likely to be trapped in rental stress for years. <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/renhters/private-renters.pdf">New evidence</a> from the Productivity Commission shows almost half of such “rent-burdened” private tenants are likely to remain stuck in this situation for at least half a decade. Rental stress is where a low-income tenant faces housing costs that leave them without enough income for food, clothing and other essentials. The scale of the problem – <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/1370.0%7E2010%7EChapter%7ERental%20stress%20(5.4.2.1)">commonly defined as when rent eats up more than 30% of income</a> – is usually presented as a “point in time” or snapshot statistic. As the Productivity Commission report reveals, the snapshot number in this situation has increased from 48% of low-income renters in 1995 to 54% in 2018. That’s around 1.5 million people pushed into poverty by high housing costs. For some, of course, this will be only a temporary problem. On this basis, it is sometimes argued that concerns over Australia’s high rate of rental stress are overstated. However, the Productivity Commission report, <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/renters/private-renters.pdf">Vulnerable Private Renters: Evidence and Options</a>, highlights longitudinal survey evidence showing that a low-income tenant’s experience of rental stress is increasingly likely to be long-term – not a passing problem. As the commission notes: <blockquote> […] a growing number of households find themselves stuck in rental stress. </blockquote> What is the evidence for this? This conclusion stems from a comparison of two different tenant cohorts experiencing rental stress as revealed by survey data for 2001 and 2013. Less than a third (31%) of the 2001 cohort remained in stress five years later. But almost half (46%) of the 2013 cohort were. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296994/original/file-20191015-98657-1evkw2.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296994/original/file-20191015-98657-1evkw2.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> While many people exit rental stress quickly, the proportion of private. low-income renters in long-term rental stress has increased significantly. <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/renters/private-renters.pdf" class="source">Vulnerable Private Renters: Evidence and Options, Productivity Commission</a>, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" class="license">CC BY</a> So, it’s not just that more low-income earners are paying unaffordable rents at a particular point in time. This is increasingly a situation that affected private tenants cannot escape. Beyond the obvious welfare impacts, <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/documents/515/Full_Report_Final_edited_logos.pdf">recent work</a> argues that excessive rent burdens may also damage human capital and, as a result, reduce economic productivity. The commission’s findings seem to suggest the ongoing restructuring of Australia’s labour market and housing system is eroding socioeconomic and/or housing mobility. The report notes the significant fall in the numbers who manage to move from renting to owning – from 13.6% of renters in the period 2001-04 to 10.0% from 2013-16. Perhaps slightly more surprising is the commission’s explanation for the rising rate of (point in time) rental stress for all low-income tenants. According to the report, this results not from increasing unaffordability for the private renter cohort specifically, but from the growing dominance of private rental housing as the tenure in which low-income households live. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296993/original/file-20191015-98661-b2ne0v.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296993/original/file-20191015-98661-b2ne0v.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> The number of private renters has grown as the proportions of owner occupiers and public housing tenants have fallen. <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/renters/private-renters.pdf" class="source">Vulnerable Private Renters: Evidence and Options, Productivity Commission</a>, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" class="license">CC BY</a> This, of course, results from the post-1990s <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-to-reboot-affordable-housing-funding-not-scrap-it-72861">failure of Australian governments</a> to expand the supply of social housing to match population growth. By 2018, well over two-thirds (71%) of low-income tenants were <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/renters/private-renters.pdf">renting in the (relatively expensive) private market</a> – rather than from a (rent-limiting) social landlord. Back in 1996, barely half (52%) of them were renting privately. What does this mean for policy? The report presents some useful discussion of possible policy directions. For example, while dismissing rent control as liable to advantage existing tenants at the expense of potential tenants, the report is implicitly critical of residential tenancy laws in most states and territories. The report advances the broad case that <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-open-letter-on-rental-housing-reform-103825">tenancy law reforms</a>, “if well designed”, can enhance tenant welfare “without substantially increasing the cost of renting”. Longer notice periods are particularly favoured because these will “provid[e] vulnerable families more time to find new accommodation and prepare for the move”. Slightly more controversially, the commission strongly hints at support for outlawing no grounds evictions. The landlord power to end a tenancy without any need to justify the move persists across most states and territories. Discussing this power the report states: <blockquote> It increases the bargaining power of landlords […] and decreases that of tenants. Landlords’ incentives to carry out obligations, such as repairs and maintenance, decrease when no grounds evictions are available, since this provides them with an avenue to terminate leases in the event of a dispute. </blockquote> However, having highlighted a private rental affordability problem that is both growing in scale and becoming demonstrably more entrenched, the report is timid on solutions beyond modestly improving tenancy conditions. It argues in general terms for an increase in <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/housing-support/programmes-services/commonwealth-rent-assistance">Commonwealth Rent Assistance</a> but – beyond tentatively floating a 10% rise in maximum payments – advances no specific proposal. Expanding the social housing stock as part of the broad-ranging housing strategy Australia badly needs is scorned as “an expensive option”. This is a reference to the narrowly scoped analysis in the commission’s <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/human-services/reforms/report/human-services-reforms.pdf">2017 Human Services report</a>. It favoured market solutions to provide low-income housing – on efficiency grounds. The “expensive option” assertion is out of line with the more broadly framed analysis of the Productivity Commission’s predecessor, the Industry Commission. The latter <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:%22publications/tabledpapers/HPP032016005137%22;src1=sm1">concluded</a>: <blockquote> Public housing and <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/policy/ahuri-briefs/what-is-head-leasing">headleasing</a> [when social housing providers sublease private rental properties] are assessed to be more cost-effective than cash payments and housing allowances. </blockquote> While the Industry Commission report admittedly dates from 1993, the subsequent failure of overwhelmingly private provision for low-income renters surely presents compelling reasons to revisit the investment case for social housing. Written by Hal Pawson, Associate Director - City Futures - Urban Policy and Strategy, City Futures Research Centre, Housing Policy and Practice, UNSW. Republished with permission of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/growing-numbers-of-renters-are-trapped-for-years-in-homes-they-cant-afford-125216" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.

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