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“Is that Snoop Dog?!”: Man caught with fake passenger in carpool lane

<p>A US motorist has been handed a traffic infringement after police found him using a dummy to drive in the carpool lane. </p> <p>Not only did his hilarious attempt to bypass morning traffic with the fake passenger whose goatee was "just a little too sharp" get him fined, he helped authorities answer the common question: “If I have a mannequin in the passenger seat, does that count as a second occupant in the vehicle? </p> <p>"The answer is simple… NO."</p> <p>According to an Instagram post shared by the California Highway Patrol Santa Fe Spring, authorities stopped the unnamed driver for crossing a double line when they noticed the plastic passenger. </p> <p>"Officer Kaplan made an enforcement stop on this vehicle for crossing solid double lines only to realise the driver was the only occupant in the vehicle with their plastic friend," they wrote. </p> <p>The mannequin in question had a human-like mask, sported a hoodie and sunglasses, and was seated upright with his seatbelt buckled in just like any other passenger. </p> <p>And he would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for the fake facial hair. </p> <p>"The goatee was sharp … just a little too sharp," they shared. </p> <p>"We've gotta give it to them, the appearance is next-level modelling but at the end of the day ... plastic is plastic." </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/C6K7Thkr2CO/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;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/C6K7Thkr2CO/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by CHP Santa Fe Springs (@chp_santa_fe_springs)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>The driver was issued with a number of citations for carpool violations, but many online commenters shared their amusement at the light-hearted nature of the traffic violation. </p> <p>"Is that snoop dog?!" wrote one commenter. </p> <p>"Leave Stevie wonder alone," joked another. </p> <p>"I really don’t see a problem here because most people are fake and have lots of plastic on them anyways," quipped a third. </p> <p><em>Image: Instagram</em></p> <p> </p>

Legal

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Don't get caught out: 6 holiday scams ripping off travellers

<p>If you’re planning to take a trip across the world soon, then be warned, as there is an influx of new holiday scams affecting tourists as they travel to their dream break.</p> <p>Holiday-makers have money to spend and relaxation on their minds, which is why they are seen as easy targets for con artists.</p> <p>UK-based consumer group <a href="https://www.which.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Which?</a> has listed the six most common frauds travellers need to be aware of, along with tips on how to avoid getting scammed, <em><a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Sun</a></em> reported.</p> <p>So, if you’re planning a trip abroad, here are the things you need to watch out for:</p> <p><strong>1. Accommodation booking scams</strong></p> <p>While the introduction of the internet has been a blessing in terms of ease, it’s also made it easier for scammers to lure you into their traps. With the growth of online holiday bookings, fraudsters often need nothing more than a few fake pictures to lure their victims.</p> <p>A common scam is one that includes picturesque photographs of holiday rentals that don’t seem to exist, advertised at affordable price points. The deals were often advertised on mainstream websites but asked those who were interested in booking to contact them via email, rather than use the site’s own booking system.</p> <p>Bookers were then sent a link to a convincing payment page, which suggested the payment hadn’t cleared. They then ask for a bank transfer instead.</p> <p><strong>How to protect yourself: </strong>Do your research. Google the property to see if it shows up on other reputable websites to check its authenticity. You could use Google Maps and Street View to see if the accommodation actually exists. Also, never pay by bank transfer.</p> <p><strong>2. Dodgy flight deals</strong></p> <p>Con artists have created fake airline websites that advertise budget deals on long haul flights that leave their victims high and dry.</p> <p>The UK government’s fraud agency has reported a recent surge of scams targeting those who are travelling to Asia, Africa and the Middle East.</p> <p>In many instances, tickets were purchased with stolen credit cards and then sold to unsuspecting victims, complete with a reference number.</p> <p>But tickets were then cancelled after the credit card was reported as stolen, leaving the victims out of pocket and nothing to show for it.</p> <p><strong>How to protect yourself:</strong> Book tickets through trusted agencies.</p> <p><strong>3. Wi-Fi hacks</strong></p> <p>It’s become human instinct to try and find Wi-Fi wherever you go, and the same applies when travellers land at airports.</p> <p>While it’s important to stay connected in order to get in touch with friends and family, there is a risk involved. Fraudsters have set up their own free networks in airports and use them to gain free information about anyone that logs on.</p> <p>Many passengers have been tricked into entering their credit card details before logging on.</p> <p><strong>How to protect yourself:</strong> Ask airport staff about the real Wi-Fi connection to make sure it’s the real deal and be on the lookout for connections that don’t ask for passwords straight away. Also, if you are asked for confidential information then provide fake details where possible.</p> <p><strong>4. “Free” holidays</strong></p> <p>This decade-long scam has been one that con artists have perfected throughout the years. Back in the day, people would be pressured into buying timeshares after accepting a complimentary break.</p> <p>Now, the con is conducted through scratch cards and other fake competitions.</p> <p>In one example of the scam, around 500 British travellers in Spain’s Costa del Sol have been scammed of around $27.5 million in the last year alone.</p> <p><strong>How to protect yourself:</strong> Refuse all offers of free holidays because if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.</p> <p>Do you know of any other travel scams? Let us know in the comments below.</p> <p><strong>5. Document fraud</strong></p> <p>Over the years, the internet has seen a growth in websites selling fake travel visas and other important documents needed to visit foreign countries.</p> <p>A few cases were found to not be conducting illegal activity but were responsible for reselling documents at a huge premium compared to official channels.</p> <p>Some common examples included websites selling the European Health Insurance Card and US visa (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation, or ESTA) documents.</p> <p>While the sites looked extremely convincing, they had nothing to do with the governments of the countries they claimed to represent.</p> <p>According to Which?, out of the top 20 search results for “ESTA visa” over half were unofficial.</p> <p><strong>How to protect yourself:</strong> Follow links to official government websites through the Department of Foreign Affairs website.</p> <p><strong>6. Fake tickets</strong></p> <p>It’s no secret that music concerts and major sporting events are on top of the list of potential scams, but travellers are now falling victim to fake packages to international events and are only finding out the true worth of their ticket once they arrive in the country.</p> <p>The FIFA World Cup in Russia was one example where countless websites offered travel packages including tickets when the only tickets that were considered valid and authentic were the ones purchased directly from FIFA themselves.</p> <p>Scammers love to lure desperate fans with fake tickets, as they know the demand is high and it’s easy to trap people who are willing to go the extra mile for a ticket to their chosen event.</p> <p><strong>How to protect yourself:</strong> Make sure the tickets you are purchasing are from legitimate websites and web pages that start with “https” and have the padlock symbol in the URL bar. And if you’re on the hunt for second-hand tickets, then do a quick check if whether or not resale is allowed, as some tickets are only valid for the original buyer.</p> <p>“Criminals are finding ever more sophisticated ways to dupe holiday-makers, both in the booking process and when they’re on the holiday itself,” Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said.</p> <p>“If something seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is. Don’t hand your money over until you can be sure it’s the real deal.”</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Cruise ship employee caught filming women in bathroom

<p>Some people are determined to ruin everything for everyone, but these adamant cruise ship passengers were not about to let that be the case for their holiday. </p> <p>While onboard what should have been a relaxing cruise with MSC, female passengers made the horrific discovery that a member of staff was hiding in a women’s bathroom stall and recording those who were in there. To make matters worse, the bathroom was located next to the ship’s Kid’s Club. </p> <p>One of the passengers, a woman named Saja, shared footage of the moment she and some others - along with a member of the ship’s housekeeping team - confronted the Peeping Tom.</p> <p>In the clip, the housekeeping employee can be seen knocking on the stall’s door, but after backing away, another passenger took it upon herself to continue the work of trying to lure the man out. </p> <p>It worked, and the man - dressed in an MSC employee uniform - eventually cracked open the door, admitting “I was wrong.” </p> <p>“You need to call security,” one passenger said, “because he’s an employee.” </p> <p>“He was filming you?” another passenger, who had come upon the scene, asked. Saja confirmed that he had been. </p> <p>“I just saw a camera pointing at me,” she went on to explain, before the footage wraps up after it was suggested she “get the guy’s name”. </p> <p dir="ltr">According to the text across the video, this was the third incident of unauthorised filming to occur that evening.</p> <div class="embed" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none !important;"><iframe class="embedly-embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620.262px; max-width: 100%; outline: none !important;" title="tiktok embed" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7204687670193163563&amp;display_name=tiktok&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40sajac4%2Fvideo%2F7204687670193163563&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fp16-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com%2Fobj%2Ftos-useast5-p-0068-tx%2F465b5429788641eaa988928e37f0ba1d_1677472083%3Fx-expires%3D1679050800%26x-signature%3DVsmd8k6pQzjCJ97oY%252FPC5fkh9H8%253D&amp;key=59e3ae3acaa649a5a98672932445e203&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=tiktok" width="340" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">Saja later shared an update to her TikTok account, writing that the man had been removed from the ship, and that her goal had not been to bring shame down upon the cruise line, but instead to raise awareness, in the hope of protecting anyone else who might consider such a situation on their next trip.</p> <p>“I have been contacted by authorities and have been informed that the gentleman in the video has been deported. My goal is NOT to disgrace a cruise line for the acts of one of their employees,” she stated, before going on to stress that she and her companions had had a great time otherwise, and that the rest of the ship’s crew had been wonderful, as “some of the best staff I had the privilege of meeting.”</p> <p>“I have not been compensated in any way shape or form, or had contact with the cruise line,” she wrote for the update, “nor am I interested. Just wanted to spread awareness.”</p> <p><em>Images: TikTok</em></p>

Cruising

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Jennifer Lopez caught chastising “miserable” Ben Affleck

<p>The prestigious Grammy Awards are never without their share of drama, and the 2023 show has proven to be no exception.</p> <p>American singer, actress, and dancer Jennifer Lopez was there to present the award for Best Pop Vocal Album, and brought her husband Ben Affleck along as her date. But it was their time in the audience that caught the attention of eagle-eyed viewers, and propelled an exchange between the pair to viral heights.</p> <p>Affleck, who is no stranger to being the subject of “miserable” internet memes, became the focus of such attention all over again with his attendance at the ceremony. While he was there to support his wife and celebrate the other artists at Crypto.com Arena, Ben spent his night appearing as though he’d rather be anywhere else.</p> <p>As one Buzzfeed editor put it, “however bad of a day you’re having, I promise you’re not as miserable as Ben Affleck at the Grammys right now.”</p> <p>“Someone please check on Ben Affleck,” Chicks in the Office podcast tweeted.</p> <p>Later in the night, that same podcast suggested a save for the struggling actor, “Ben Affleck, blink if you're okay.”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ben Affleck, blink if you're okay <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Grammys?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Grammys</a> <a href="https://t.co/qO6xBPAbXl">pic.twitter.com/qO6xBPAbXl</a></p> <p>— Chicks in the Office (@ChicksInTheOff) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChicksInTheOff/status/1622415690052272128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>As social media got to work making the most out of Ben’s bad situation, another clip from the evening was set to overshadow them all.</p> <p>The video, shared across Twitter and TikTok, sees Ben lean in to whisper something in Jennifer’s ear. While it’s unclear what was said, Jennifer can be seen jumping in her seat, tense, before she responds and ushers her husband back to his own chair. She quickly turns her attention to Trevor Noah, the show’s host, who was nearby with cameras.</p> <p>“Her face when she saw the camera,” a viewer wrote of Jennifer’s response, “LOL.”</p> <p>While some called for a little help from lip readers in figuring out what had transpired, most were in agreement: Jennifer was not impressed.</p> <p>Ben’s situation wasn’t set to improve, with viewer commentary following his journey on what seemed to be a long, long night for the actor.</p> <p>“Ben Affleck is every introvert everywhere,” tweeted one fan, “you can see his batteries draining in real time. Man is already at 23%.”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ben Affleck is every introvert everywhere. You can see his batteries draining in real time. Man is already at 23% 🪫 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GRAMMYs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GRAMMYs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaveBen?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SaveBen</a> <a href="https://t.co/Yv5zmzbPhr">pic.twitter.com/Yv5zmzbPhr</a></p> <p>— Dr. Kinda Decent Human (@amsi81) <a href="https://twitter.com/amsi81/status/1622426018265944069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>“Ben Affleck is so consistent in his misery,” one noted, sharing a clip of J-Lo dancing by a dour Ben, “I almost have to admire it.”</p> <p>“Ben Affleck wants to go home, Jen,” another agreed, adding that “everyone in this video looks like they are vibing to a different song.”</p> <p>“Whoever keeps cutting to Ben Affleck as he gets more and more exasperated,” one viewer tweeted on behalf of the masses, “thank you.”</p> <p>The couple, who have been together on-and-off since 2001 and married since 2022, skipped the event’s red carpet. But if Ben’s attitude is anything to go by, that isn’t all he would like to have missed out on.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p> <p> </p>

TV

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James Cameron caught giving fans the bird after being booed

<p dir="ltr">Legendary director James Cameron has been caught flipping off the fans who booed him for not signing autographs over the weekend.</p> <p dir="ltr">After the famed director attended a screening of his new film, Avatar: The Way of Water, in LA, he refused to stop for a crowd of autograph-seeking fans.</p> <p dir="ltr">Cameron, 68, powered past the group of people asking him to sign their items, which caused the crowd to turn on him and shout.</p> <p dir="ltr">“F**k Avatar,” one person yelled, as Cameron was escorted into a black car.</p> <p dir="ltr">As the cheering and jeering continued, the Titanic filmmaker slightly rolled down his tinted window to reveal his middle finger.</p> <p dir="ltr">Fans were divided over the interaction, with some calling him a “jerk” and “annoying.” Others dubbed him “a legend” and argued that the people booing him weren’t real fans.</p> <p dir="ltr">“They were fake fans ready to resell autographed stuff 100%. The embarrassing way they reacted to his refusal proves that. Jim was right for ignoring them let’s be serious,” one person wrote on Twitter.</p> <p dir="ltr">Check out the footage and see for yourself. </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">James Cameron flips off crowd who boos him for not signing autographs <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AvatarTheWayOfWater?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AvatarTheWayOfWater</a> <br /><a href="https://t.co/frDDoY4alM">pic.twitter.com/frDDoY4alM</a></p> <p>— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) <a href="https://twitter.com/CultureCrave/status/1604621184611471360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p><em>Images: Twitter</em></p>

Movies

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle caught out in another lie

<p dir="ltr">Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have once again had to bite their tongues after being caught out in another lie.</p> <p dir="ltr">At the beginning of their six-part Netflix series <em>Harry and Meghan</em>, a disclaimer hit the screen to say that all interviews were completed by August 2022 and that the royal family declined to comment.</p> <p dir="ltr">“All interviews were completed by August 2022. Members of the royal family declined to comment on the content within this series,” the statement read.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, sources have come out swinging to deny the claims, explaining that the royal family weren’t given an opportunity to comment.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Palace sources confirm Buckingham Palace nor Kensington Palace nor any Members of the Royal Family were approached for comment on the content of the series,” royal editor Robert Jobson tweeted.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Nor will be making any further comment on this or any other aspect of it.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Netflix claimed at the beginning of the series that they were.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Other family members who were targetted in the Netflix series include Prince William and Kate Middleton.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Duchess of Sussex was describing the first time she met the pair and how her outfit was “jarring” to them.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Even when Will and Kate came over and I met her for the first time. I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot,” Meghan said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m a hugger. I've always been a hugger. I didn’t know that could be jarring for a lot of Brits.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside, carried through on the inside.</p> <p dir="ltr">“That there is a forward facing way of being then you close the door and you go phew, great we can relax now.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But that formality continues on both sides and that was surprising to me.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Prince Harry also took a dig at his sister-in-law, the Princess of Wales saying how it was ideal for the men of the family to marry someone they approved of.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I think for so many people in the family, especially men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mould as opposed to somebody who you are perhaps are destined to be with,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Harry also then attacked his father, King Charles, after claiming that he has a “second family” following the death of his mother Princess Diana.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I was brought up by friends in Africa,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve got a second family out there. A group of friends that literally brought me up.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Netflix</em></p>

TV

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Caught in the act: supermassive black hole 8.5 billion light years away enjoys violent stellar snack

<p>A supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy some 8.5 billion years way has ripped apart a nearby star, producing some of the most luminous jets ever seen.</p> <p>When stars and other objects stray too close to a <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/how-big-is-a-black-hole-watch-how-it-eats/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">supermassive black hole</a> they are destroyed by the black hole’s immense gravity.</p> <p>These occurrences, known as <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/a-star-is-torn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tidal-disruption events (TDEs)</a>, result in a <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/the-sleeping-giant-black-hole-that-awoke-to-destroy-a-star/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">circling disk of material</a> that is slowly pulled into the black hole and very occasionally, as in the case of supermassive black hole AT2022cmc, ejecting bright beams of material travelling close to the speed of light.</p> <p>Luminous jets are produced in an estimated 1% of cases and are known as a type of astronomical occurrence known as a transient, because they are short-lived.</p> <p>Bright flashes from the jets were spotted in data from the <a href="https://www.ztf.caltech.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF)</a> in <a href="https://astronomerstelegram.org/?read=15232" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">February this year</a> using a special new technique which can comb through the equivalent of a million pages of information every night.</p> <p>Due to the rapid results produced by the novel data analysis method, a research team in the US was able to swiftly follow up on the transient event with multiwavelength observations of the system from different observatory facilities.</p> <p>The jets were visible across many wavelengths, from X-rays to radio, and follow-up observations enabled the European Southern Observatory’s <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/australia/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Very Large Telescope</a> to place AT2022cmc at a whopping distance of 8.5 billion light years away, while optical and infrared observation from NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hubble telescope</a> were able to precisely pinpoint AT2022cmc’s location.</p> <p>“The last time scientists discovered one of these jets was well over a decade ago,” said Michael Coughlin, an assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and co-lead on the paper <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05465-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published in <em>Nature</em></a>. “From the data we have, we can estimate that relativistic jets are launched in only 1% of these destructive events, making AT2022cmc an extremely rare occurrence.”</p> <p>Exactly why this behaviour is so rare remains an enigma, however, the research team believe that AT2022cmc’s rapid spin powers the jets, adding to the current understanding of the physics of these behemoth dead stars at the centres of galaxies.</p> <p>This detection – and the method used to discover it – are valuable as a future models for astronomers as they scour the skies for more events. “Scientists can use AT2022cmc as a model for what to look for and find more disruptive events from distant black holes,” says lead author Igor Andreoni, from the Department of Astronomy at UMD and NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre.</p> <p>This includes using ground-based optical surveys, as opposed to gamma-ray observatories in space – how previous jets were primarily discovered.</p> <p>“Our new search technique helps us to quickly identify rare cosmic events in the ZTF survey data,” says Andreoni.</p> <p>“And since ZTF and upcoming larger surveys such as <a href="https://www.lsst.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vera Rubin’s Large Synoptic Survey Telescope</a> scan the sky so frequently, we can now expect to uncover a wealth of rare, or previously undiscovered cosmic events and study them in detail. More than ever, big data mining is an important tool to advance our knowledge of the universe”.</p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=226753&amp;title=Caught+in+the+act%3A+supermassive+black+hole+8.5+billion+light+years+away+enjoys+violent+stellar+snack" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/supermassive-black-hole-stellar-snack/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on Cosmos Magazine and was written by Clare Kenyon. </em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

Technology

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Aussie octopuses caught on camera slinging mud

<p>Australia’s <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/social-sciences/when-octopuses-dont-want-any-trouble/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">‘Gloomy Octopuses’</a> have been caught throwing things. Sometimes at each other. </p> <p>Underwater footage, from Jervis Bay in New South Wales, shows Gloomy Octopuses (<em>Octopus tetricus</em>) throwing debris. Occasionally the material – mainly silt, shells and algae – was aimed at other octopuses, and even the camera recording them. </p> <p>Throwing is an uncommon behaviour in animals, an activity only observed in a handful, including elephants and chimpanzees.</p> <p><iframe src="https://players.brightcove.net/5483960636001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6315259579112" width="960" height="540" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p class="caption">A throw by a female octopus that hits a male attempting to mate with her / Credit: Godfrey-Smith et al, 2022, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0</p> <p>Twenty-four hours of footage gathered during 2015 and 2016 captures around 100 octopus throws among a group of roughly ten of the animals. Ninety throws were by females, and eleven by males. </p> <p>On 17 occasions, octopuses threw material which actually hit another octopus, often with ‘high vigour.’ In two cases, the throw hit a fish. Twelve meanwhile were directed at the camera.</p> <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p222798-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> </div> </div> <p>One female octopus was recorded throwing 17 times in the space of an hour, with nine throws hits on other octopuses (who sometimes ducked or raised their arms in the direction of the thrower). </p> <p>The gloomy octopus is common in Australian and New Zealand waters.</p> <p>Having gathered their ammunition, octopuses hurled their material by using a jet of water from their siphon (a tube-shaped structure that can eject water at speed) to propel it between their arms. Throwing under water requires greater force than throwing through air, and the octopuses often managed to throw their material several body lengths away.</p> <p>Given the octopuses had to move their siphon into an unusual position to perform the throws, the researchers believe the behavior was deliberate. </p> <p>The study by Australian and US researchers is the first-time throwing behaviour has been reported in octopuses. The research is <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0276482" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> in PLOS One.</p> <p><iframe src="https://players.brightcove.net/5483960636001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6315258284112" width="960" height="540" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p class="caption">A throw by a female octopus, hitting a male. The male ducks just before the material is released / Credit: Godfrey-Smith et al, 2022, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0</p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=222798&amp;title=Aussie+octopuses+caught+on+camera+slinging+mud" width="1" height="1" /></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/octopuses-caught-slinging-mud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on Cosmos Magazine and was written by Petra Stock. </em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

Family & Pets

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Women caught with 105 live animals smuggled inside suitcase

<p dir="ltr">Two women have been accused of trying to smuggle live animals from Thailand to India.</p> <p dir="ltr">The women, Nithya Raja, 38, and Zakia Sulthana Ebrahim, 24, were due to travel from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport to Chennai, India.</p> <p dir="ltr">Their bags were placed on the conveyor belt to be scanned by x-ray when the animals were discovered, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said. </p> <p dir="ltr">Inside the bag were two white porcupines, two armadillos, 35 turtles, 50 lizards and 20 snakes.</p> <p dir="ltr">The women have since been charged with violating the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act of 2019, the Animal Disease Act of 2015 and the Customs Act of 2017.</p> <p dir="ltr">This is not the first time travellers have tried to smuggle through live animals. </p> <p dir="ltr">Back in 2019, a man arrived in Chennai from Bangkok and reportedly had a month-old leopard cub in his bag. </p> <p dir="ltr">Wildlife trade monitoring agency TRAFFIC released a report in March 2022 claiming that 70,000 native and exotic wild animals, including their body parts or derivatives, were discovered in 140 seizures at 18 Indian airports between 2011 and 2020.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Chennai International Airport, Tamil Nadu, recorded the highest number of wildlife seizure incidents, followed by Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai and Indira Gandhi Airport New Delhi," the report read.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Nine News</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Terminally ill nurse caught in desperate waiting game

<p dir="ltr">A nurse who has months to live as a result of her diagnosis of motor neuron disease (MND) is “virtually paralysed” and waiting for the NSW government to decide how she will die.</p> <p dir="ltr">Sara Wright had been a nurse for 33 years before she was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - a subtype of MND - two years ago, and is now dependent on a carer 24 hours a day.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The disease started as a weakness in my right foot, travelled up my right leg, then my left foot and leg,” the 54-year-old told <em><a href="https://7news.com.au/news/public-health/virtually-paralysed-nurse-waits-for-nsw-parliament-to-decide-how-she-will-die-c-6699939">7NEWS.com.au</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Then it travelled up my torso affecting my upper body, firstly my abdominal muscles, and now it affects both of my arms and hands, my lungs and my swallowing and speaking muscles.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Wright, who shared her story via dictation since speaking is difficult and painful, is waiting to see whether voluntary assisted dying laws (VAD) will be passed in the NSW Upper House next week.</p> <p dir="ltr">If they don’t pass, she says she will likely “have to deal with suffocating or choking to death”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s a terminal illness and the average life expectancy is three to five years,” she explained.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Given I have already been living with the disease for three years, and the progression has been faster than I ever could have expected, I don’t know how long I will live.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I don’t think that I will live for more than another six to eight months, as my breathing capacity is reducing very fast and I do not wish to have a tracheostomy (an operation where a breathing hole is cut into the front of the neck and windpipe).”</p> <p dir="ltr">ALS/MND is more common among adults aged between 40 and 70 years, with 384 people diagnosed each day according to the <a href="https://www.als-mnd.org/what-is-alsmnd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Wright’s career as a nurse made her all too aware of the “limitations of palliative care in the final stages of terminal illness”, so she initially planned to book into Dignitas, a non-profit organisation in Switzerland that offers a range of end-of-life services.</p> <p dir="ltr">But, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed her plan with the closure of international borders.</p> <p dir="ltr">She then considered moving interstate, where VAD is legal, but she worried about uprooting her 15-year-old daughter, Ester, from her home and friends, especially since most of their family is UK-based.</p> <p dir="ltr">“(Ester) is now 15 and she needs to have her community around her for support when I die,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Obviously this is an incredibly difficult conversation to have with your own child.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We have not specifically spoken about what could happen to me if the laws aren’t passed … but I have tried to assure her that family in the UK will fly out to be with her as soon as they can if I die unexpectedly.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Wright’s fate is tied to the voluntary assisted dying bill, which passed through the NSW Parliament’s lower house last year and is legal or will soon be legal in <a href="https://end-of-life.qut.edu.au/assisteddying" target="_blank" rel="noopener">every other state</a> except NSW.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I know that all my family, my parents, my brothers, my ex-husband are all in support of voluntary assisted dying and helping me relieve my suffering,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But none of us want to break the law or risk anyone being imprisoned if they helped me.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Since the bill entered the upper house last March, it has been debated passionately and passed through a second reading stage last week.</p> <p dir="ltr">It has even divided the state’s core leadership, with Premier Dominic Perrottet opposing the bill in favour of improving palliative care and Health Minister Brad Hazzard supporting it - despite opposing euthanisia for 29 years.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Wright, a strong supporter of VAD laws, has been brought close to the death of others during her nursing career and said she was “pretty certain” that if members debating the bill had seen people die uncomfortable, drawn-out deaths like she had, they would support the bill.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I have seen far too many people, elderly people, in the middle of the night in a ward without anyone there to hold their hand because nobody knew that was going to be their time to die,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I think that most people don’t think enough about death because we are all frightened of it.</p> <p dir="ltr">“And this could be the reason that some people are refusing to consider VAD laws, because it’s a topic that is deeply uncomfortable and taboo.</p> <p dir="ltr">“If we as a society were more mindfully aware and thoughtful about death, as it is the only certain outcome of life, then perhaps people would develop more compassion.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Though the laws could still be passed at some point if it fails to pass in next week’s final vote, Ms Wright said it would affect her whole family if it was too late for her to take advantage of it.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This will not only cause suffering to me but also to all of my family,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I wonder how many people have really stopped to think about what they would like, if they were in a position where they were going to die of (an) unpleasant and drawn-out death.”</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-efb8451b-7fff-fb48-8f9b-0af951ee000d"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: 7News</em></p>

Caring

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Three reasons you haven’t caught Covid yet

<p dir="ltr">Most of us have been in close contact with someone who contracted Covid but never tested positive ourselves.</p> <p dir="ltr">It raises questions as to why you would not test positive yourself despite being in the same room as a positive case, sharing food and drink despite how infectious the virus is.</p> <p dir="ltr">There are three possible reasons as to why you still haven’t caught Covid, despite the situation leaving doctors stumped. </p> <p dir="ltr">Australian National University lecturer and epidemiologist Dr Katrina Roper helps explain the three main reasons why some don’t test positive. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Common cold</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Before Covid, we’d all be exposed to the common cold which would help build immunity against other viruses. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Having a prior infection to another cold virus can confer some protection to Covid, or other respiratory viruses,” Dr Roper told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/a-doctor-explains-why-you-havent-caught-covid-yet/news-story/d57a08a08278abf27f43c29fcfe87196" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">”Exposure to other respiratory viruses can prime parts of the immune system, leading to better defence against infection by the SARS CoV-2 infection”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Research published in the Nature Communications journal in January 2022, confirmed the theory that being exposed to Covid won’t always cause an infection.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Being exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus doesn’t always result in infection, and we’ve been keen to understand why,” lead author Dr Rhia Kundu wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We found that high levels of pre-existing T cells, created by the body when infected with other human coronaviruses like the common cold, can protect against COVID-19 infection.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Immunologist Professor Stuart Tangye insists that there’s also a possibility that you were infected with Covid but you didn’t know it. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Your immune system</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">When it comes to avoiding Covid it could be that your immune system is pretty strong, or the vaccine worked better for you. </p> <p dir="ltr">Dr Roper however did point out that it could also all depend on the individuals’ circumstance - such as their age, weight and how healthy they are.</p> <p dir="ltr">She noted that even the healthiest of people could still have weakened immune systems - citing professional athletes who push themselves and in turn feel worse afterwards. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>The exposure</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Again, everyone has been exposed differently to Covid and while some may have contracted it, you didn’t. </p> <p dir="ltr">The circumstances of where you are could be affected such as a large house but only two people living there, giving you ample space to stay away despite sharing the same areas.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Genetics</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Professor Tangye suggested a fourth reason as to why you haven’t contracted Covid despite your exposure.</p> <p dir="ltr">Put simply, your genetics. </p> <p dir="ltr">“There are going to be people who are less susceptible to viral infection because they have differences in their genes, such as genes that are important for viral entry into your cells,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Caring

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BBC journalist shares stories of Ukrainian children caught in crossfire

<p dir="ltr">A <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60814913" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC journalist</a> reporting from the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia has shared the horrifying stories of those injured by Russian shelling in Mariupol.</p> <p dir="ltr">Journalist Wyre Davies visited the Regional Children’s Hospital in Zaporizhzhia, where hundreds of people have been evacuated and continue to be treated by doctors.</p> <p dir="ltr">The children there include Artem, a two-year-old who was wounded by shrapnel from a Russian shell that also injured his parents and grandparents as they tried to flee Mariupol.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e2478cd7-7fff-157d-4ee8-0c9b4b4b278e"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">15-year-old Masha (pictured above), who lies next in the bed next to Artem, is being treated after a shell tore apart her leg, forcing doctors to amputate it.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Meanwhile … in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ukraine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ukraine</a>, there’s still a war going on. Civilians are suffering &amp; cities are being flattened. With no ceasefire in sight, join me &amp; my bbc colleagues this week across <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BBCNews</a> for continuing coverage on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tv?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#tv</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/radio?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#radio</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/online?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#online</a>.</p> <p>— Wyre Davies (@WyreDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/WyreDavies/status/1508293872551698438?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Davies spoke to Dr Yuri Borzenko, the head of the Children’s Hospital, and is one the several doctors who asked the journalist to tell their stories.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I hate Russia,” Dr Borzenko said. “The girl who lost her leg (Masha) was so traumatised she wouldn’t eat or drink for days. She couldn’t mentally handle what had happened. We had to feed her intravenously.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Another boy, a six-year-old with shrapnel in his skull described - without any tears or emotion - watching his mother burn to death in their car after it was hit. Two days later he said ‘dad buy me a new mum, I need someone to walk me to school’.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Davies also met Vladimir, a “grief-stricken” father who lost his 26-year-old daughter and four-year-old granddaughter after a shell landed near the shelter where they were seeking refuge.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I looked at the ground and there lay my little granddaughter with her head completely torn to pieces,” Vladimir told Davies.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She lay there without a single breath and right next to her was my daughter with her legs fractured, open fractures.”</p> <p dir="ltr">But he has tried to stay strong for his second daughter, Diana, who was also critically wounded but was able to undergo emergency surgery.</p> <p dir="ltr">Davies’ story comes as other survivors continue to speak out about their experiences with journalists and through social media, including young people such as <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@valerisssh">Valerish</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Ukrainian photographer is among the many young women taking to TikTok to share their experiences during the ongoing crisis while also educating others on how to help.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Every day I live with a hope that tomorrow war will end, but everything is getting worse,” she captioned <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CayB1GdLsh9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one video</a> of her in front of a shelled apartment building.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I see how my city was wiped out of existence and how Russian troops killed Ukrainian civilians.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-ca6416a7-7fff-88ad-72d1-b2516629db5c"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">In another post, she wrote about meeting the mayor of Milan and about her native city of Chenihiv.</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/CbhjcSpNzoy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;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/CbhjcSpNzoy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Photographer Valerish (@valerisssh)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“We talked about our ‘love’ for Russia and how we can help my native city Chernihiv,” she wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I believe that the volunteer organisation ‘Palyanitsya’ (which Valerish volunteers with) from this moment have more power than before.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-cbc988fb-7fff-a012-07aa-c976421b5c3c"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Caring

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Dog poo dumper caught on camera

<p dir="ltr">A Canadian woman has made a shocking discovery after dog poo started mysteriously appearing on her driveway.</p> <p dir="ltr">Sasha Poldmaa, who lives in New Zealand and owns three dogs of her own, had been coming home from work to find the poo scattered across her driveway for three days straight in mid-February.</p> <p dir="ltr">She told <em>news.com.au</em> and confirmed in a now-viral <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@sashapoldmaa/video/7063336925414853889?is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1&amp;lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok video</a> that she has never had issues with her pets or received complaints about them from her neighbours - making the discovery all the more baffling.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I thought it was strange for it to happen two days in a row - someone was definitely putting it there. Then when it happened a third time, I was like, ‘I am going to set up a camera and catch who’s doing it’.”</p> <p dir="ltr">After setting her iPad up directly in front of her dogs’ kennel, along with a second at the top of her driveway, Sasha reviewed the footage after work and uncovered the culprit: her neighbour.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The way she did it - she was just throwing them right where I get out of the car,” Sasha told <em><a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/nz-neighbour-caught-throwing-dog-poo-on-womans-driveway/news-story/e9a9b43d6c67a1eaea0d1619ceed4a25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a></em>.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d937197f-7fff-9ba5-5c9f-26d3e3b2ae0f"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“I don’t even walk [the dogs] past her house - I go the other way and there are other dogs in the neighbourhood.”</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/CRGbaDmr1zl/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;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/CRGbaDmr1zl/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Sasha Poldmaa (@sashapoldmaa)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">After making the discovery, she wrote a stern letter to her neighbour.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-2e3babb1-7fff-ba3a-f698-eccc00249250"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“Dear Neighbour, I was shocked to find out after reviewing the video surveillance of my house, it was because of your arrogant and frightening assumptions on my negligent animal ownership that led to three consecutive days of driveway dog poo dumping,” her letter read.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/03/tiktok3.png" alt="" width="530" height="936" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Sasha penned a letter to her neighbour after discovering they were behind the mysterious appearance of dog poo on her driveway. Image: @sashapoldmaa (TikTok)</em></p> <p dir="ltr">“Now firstly I took the opportunity to return the faeces to your property using my own doggie poo bags which you’d see me walking with IF I ever did actually walk down your direction in the street.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Because this is something that I refuse to ignore as a result of your repeated and deliberate acts of bitterness towards my family … you should expect a friendly visit from the local police in the coming days as you are not only chargeable under the nuisance laws but I am genuinely concerned for the safety of my pets because of your hatred towards them.</p> <p dir="ltr">“P.S. An apology would be welcomed in exchange for not demanding costs for damages,” she ended the letter.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-e329196b-7fff-d916-0f4a-f82ca08e4e0d"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Several days after placing the letter in her neighbour’s letterbox, Sasha revealed in a follow-up video that the neighbour had knocked on her door to apologise.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/03/tiktok.png" alt="" width="530" height="933" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Sasha’s neighbour came to apologise after she placed a letter in her letterbox. Image: @sashapoldmaa (TikTok)</em></p> <p dir="ltr">It seemed the neighbour had found the faeces on her lawn and assumed it came from Sasha’s dogs, to which Sasha said there are many other dogs in the area it could belong to.</p> <p dir="ltr">Sasha captured parts of the conversation she had with the neighbour, including their apology.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I am so sorry, I’d rather you had have come to me in the first place,” the neighbour said in the clip.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I must admit I’m very sorry but I’ve thrown the dog poo bags over the back corner. It was an assumption I guess.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I felt quite sick and horrible afterwards. I really do apologise. Ah well the laugh’s on me so let’s face it.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Sasha said the encounter ended well and praised her neighbour’s courage for coming over to apologise.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I told her next time you have an issue just come and talk to me about it,” Sasha said.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-302601a2-7fff-fc5a-fc76-6add8750b064"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: @sashapoldmaa (TikTok)</em></p>

Family & Pets

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Smile for the camera!: Man caught trashing Bunnings van

<p dir="ltr">A vandal has been caught red-handed interfering with the windscreen wiper of a parked Bunnings vehicle over the weekend.</p> <p dir="ltr">The act was caught on the car’s dashboard camera on Sunday, and shared to the Facebook page Dash Cam Owners Australia on Tuesday. The video shows a man approach the car from the passenger side before starting to tamper with the wiper, bending it back onto itself and then twisting it around. The man was dressed in a brown New York Yankees cap, grey shirt, blue board shorts and thongs. He then left the scene, walking in the opposite direction.</p> <p dir="ltr">The incident took place while the car was parked on Victoria Avenue in the Sydney suburb of Concord West. The video garnered over 70,000 views in less than four hours, as well as hundreds of comments.</p> <p dir="ltr">Many commenters were happy the culprit was caught, with one person writing, “Smile for the camera you angry little man! I hope he’s been identified,” while another wondered what prompted the attack, asking, “Makes you wonder why people actually do this. Crazy. I wonder if he is known to the dashcam owner? Seems like it’s revenge for something possibly?”</p> <p dir="ltr">Others wondered whether it was part of a vendetta against the hardware store, with someone suggesting, “Vandalism to a Bunnings van? Probably worked for Mitre10,” while another wondered if the man wasn’t just hungry, writing, “Hangry for a Bunnings snag! Maybe they should do a snag van like Mr Whippy.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Another commenter pointed out that the attack wasn’t particularly effective, writing, “If you’re gonna be a vandal, at least be an intelligent one and do that to the driver’s side wiper. All he achieved there is made it ever so slightly more difficult to see out the extreme left of the windscreen, and some minor inconvenience by needing to replace it.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Dash Cam Owners Australia</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Caught out! Leaked audio as Channel 7 stars slam Novak

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Comments from Channel 7 newsreaders Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern slamming Novak Djokovic have emerged, after footage of an off-air exchange in the studio <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/lying-ahole-leaked-video-shows-seven-stars-trashing-novak-djokovic/news-story/190c9cb29e21723f12ab233883000af6" target="_blank">was leaked online</a>.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The clip shows the Melbourne-based presenters talking about Djokovic’s bid to stay in the country and compete in the Australian Open, calling him an “a***hole” and accusing him of faking his border entry forms.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Whatever way you look at it, Novak Djokovic is a lying, sneaky a**hole,” Maddern told her co-host. “It’s unfortunate that everybody else stuffed up around him.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“To go out when you know you’re Covid-positive - well, I don’t think he was even Covid-positive…”</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">“Novak Djokovic is a lying, sneaky arsehole, whatever way you look at it…” Off-air footage of Australian news anchors Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern giving their thoughts on the Djokovic saga leaked <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AusOpen?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AusOpen</a> <a href="https://t.co/GR2GYdJ4C8">pic.twitter.com/GR2GYdJ4C8</a></p> — Auskar Surbakti (@AuskarSurbakti) <a href="https://twitter.com/AuskarSurbakti/status/1481006565666824197?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2022</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Amor also called the world No.1 an “a**hole”, adding: “You’ve got a bulls**t f***ing excuse and then he fell over his own f***ing lies, which is what happens right? That’s what happened.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maddern questioned the truth behind Djokovic’s recent travel movements which he included in his Australian Travel Declaration form, while Amor said: “I think he’s going to get away with it”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img style="width: 500px; height:281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846747/novak3.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/68194194a1f8403fbfb840334b7b7237" /></span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Off-air footage has emerged of newsreaders Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern hitting out at Novak Djokovic and his visa troubles. Image: Twitter</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think most fair-minded people would say, ‘This bloke’s an a**hole’. Did they do the right thing by him? I don’t know. They f***ed up. That’s the problem, isn’t it,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The fact is life is never fair. Some people fly first class… it’s never fair,” Maddern added.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The presenters’ comments come as the tennis champion continues to be investigated by Border Force officials to determine whether he </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/new-visa-twist-as-more-novak-accusations-emerge" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">lied on his entry form</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some have suggested Djokovic incorrectly answered a question asking whether he had travelled in the 14 days prior to flying to Australia, with social media posts emerging accusing him of being in Serbia for Christmas before flying to Spain to prepare for the year’s first grand slam.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Although the decision to cancel Djokovic’s visa </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/round-1-goes-to-novak-as-ugly-scenes-unfold-on-melbourne-streets" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">was overturned</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in the Federal Circuit Court on Monday, there is still the possibility Djokovic could be forced to leave Australia.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Immigration Minister Alex Hawke - who has personal power to cancel Djokovic’s visa - has confirmed he is considering whether to do so or not.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“In line with due process, Minister Hawke will thoroughly consider the matter,” Mr Hawke’s office said on Tuesday.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Twitter</span></em></p>

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Flight attendant caught using dead man’s identity for 20 years

<p dir="ltr">A Brazilian flight attendant has been accused of stealing a dead boy’s identity and using it for more than 20 years.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ricardo Cesar Guedes, 49, who works as a flight attendant for United Airlines, has been accused of stealing the identity of William Ericson Ladd, an Atlanta boy who died in a car crash in Washington in 1979. He allegedly used it to apply for a passport in 1998, and has renewed the document six times since then. In addition, he has also been accused of using Ladd’s identity while getting married and taking out a mortgage in Houston. There is no record of him applying for US citizenship or naturalisation using the false identity.</p> <p dir="ltr">Investigators uncovered Mr Guedes’ real identity by comparing fingerprints he submitted for his Brazilian national identity document in the 1990s, and he was arrested at Houston Airport in September after entering a secure area for crew members.</p> <p dir="ltr">William Ladd’s mother Debra Lynn Hays confirmed to investigators last July that her son died in 1979, and she did not recognise the social security number issued to Mr Guedes in her son’s name some 17 years after his death.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Guedes has been charged with aggravated identity theft, making false statements on a passport application, and other counts. He allegedly worked on 40 flights for United Airlines in 2020 while using Ladd’s name, and remains detained pending trial.</p> <p dir="ltr">A United Airlines spokesperson confirmed his prior employment, but added that he was no longer employed by the company.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Guedes had no prior criminal record, and upon being presented with evidence of his fraud, reportedly told the arresting agents, “I had a dream, and the dream is over. Now I have to face reality.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Eric Ladd/Twitter</em></p>

Travel Trouble