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Woman “bullied” on plane over budget seating trick

A young woman has recalled a flight from hell when she was “bullied” by a couple who were trying to utilise a seating hack that went viral on TikTok. The solo traveller took to Reddit to recount the story and ask social media users if she was in the wrong for her action. The woman began by saying she usually pays more to select her plane seat ahead of time, but a medical emergency on another plane had her waiting on standby and left with no option other than to sit in a middle seat. When she was finally able to board, she was greeted by a couple who had purchased both the window and aisle seats in a bid to have more space, utilising a travel “trick” that has been popular on TikTok. The method, which has been dubbed the 'poor man's business class', usually leaves travellers with an empty middle seat and more space, and few travellers opt to pick a middle seat. “When I got to my row the man and woman were chatting and sharing a snack... it was obvious they were together. I mentioned to the man that I'm in the middle, and he got up to let me in,” the unsuspecting traveller wrote on Reddit. “I asked them if they would prefer to sit together, I said I was totally okay with that. The woman reacted rudely to this and said ‘you're not supposed to be sitting here anyway’.” After noticing how the plane was full, she offered to show the pair her new ticket with the correct seat number on it. “She flicked her hand at my ticket and made a disgusted sound. I offered again if they wanted to sit together to which she didn't reply, her partner said it's okay and... made some small talk,” she continued. The man’s girlfriend then interrupted their conversation to ask,”'Did you use one of those third party websites to book your flight? It's so frustrating when people cheap out to inconvenience others.” The American woman explained that she had booked her flight directly and she had been placed on standby like everyone else and didn't choose the middle seat - she was assigned it. She then tried to keep the peace by refusing to engage with the furious woman. “I was so done with her attitude, I put my headphones on and attempted to do my own thing,” she explained. But the “entitled” girlfriend wasn't letting it go, as the woman explained, “This woman kept reaching over me and tapping her partner and trying to talk to him in a way that was super intrusive.” “I could tell even her partner was trying to engage her less so that she would hopefully stop, but she didn't.” “I think they tried to pull that tactic where they don't sit together on purpose...hoping no one will sit between them. But on full flights it doesn't work. And even so - it's not the other person's fault.” The traveller's post was met with hundreds of comments slamming the girlfriend’s behaviour, as one person wrote, “It's like a toddler having a tantrum.” “She was disappointed and a total a**hole. Gross entitled people,” another added. Another person applauded the traveller’s level-headed behaviour, writing, “Wow! You are my hero for keeping it classy - I’m afraid I would not have been as kind as you.” Image credits: Shutterstock

Travel Trouble

"I am a woman": Boxer launches legal action after gold medal win

Imane Khelif has filed an official complaint over online bullying and harassment she has been subject to throughout the course of the Paris Olympics. The Algerian boxer, who took home the gold medal in the women's competition, has been at the centre of a wave of abuse over her gender, with misinformation circulating over her gender. According to Khelif's lawyer Nabil Boudi, the gold medallist has filed a legal complaint in France for online harassment. “The boxer Imane Khelif has decided to begin a new fight, a fight for justice, dignity and honour,” Boudi said in a statement, saying Khelif had filed the complaint for “aggravated online harassment … to Paris prosecutors”. He added, “The investigation will determine who was behind this misogynist, racist and sexist campaign, but will also have to concern itself with those who fed the online lynching.” The “iniquitous harassment” the boxing champion had been subjected to would remain “the biggest stain on these Olympic Games”, said Boudi. On Saturday, Khelif emerged victorious in the women’s 66kg final against China’s Yang Liu in a unanimous points decision, having been the focus of intense scrutiny in the French capital for the duration of the Games. After her victory, Khelif said the gold medal she had won was the best response to her critics. Asked by reporters about the row over her eligibility, she said, “I am fully qualified to take part, I am a woman like any other. I was born a woman, lived a woman and competed as a woman.” Image credits: Ulrik Pedersen/CSM/Shutterstock Editorial

Legal

Funding for refugees has long been politicized − punitive action against UNRWA and Palestinians fits that pattern

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nicholas-r-micinski-207353">Nicholas R. Micinski</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-maine-2120">University of Maine</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelsey-norman-862895">Kelsey Norman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rice-university-931">Rice University</a> At least a dozen countries, including the U.S., have <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145987">suspended funding to the UNRWA</a>, the United Nations agency responsible for delivering aid to Palestinian refugees. This follows allegations made by Israel that <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/at-least-12-u-n-agency-employees-involved-in-oct-7-attacks-intelligence-reports-say-a7de8f36">12 UNRWA employees participated</a> in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The UNRWA responded by <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-palestinian-refugee-agency-investigates-staff-suspected-role-israel-attacks-2024-01-26/">dismissing all accused employees</a> and opening an investigation. While the seriousness of the accusations is clear to all, and the U.S. has been keen to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/30/us/politics/aid-gaza-israel.html">downplay the significance</a> of its pause in funding, the action is not in keeping with precedent. Western donors did not, for example, defund other U.N. agencies or peacekeeping operations amid accusations of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/01/11/un-peacekeeping-has-sexual-abuse-problem">sexual assault</a>, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-un-general-assembly-president-and-five-others-charged-13-million-bribery-scheme">corruption</a> or <a href="https://www.hrw.org/legacy/summaries/s.bosnia9510.html">complicity in war crimes</a>. In real terms, the funding cuts to the UNRWA will affect <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/gaza-strip">1.7 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza</a> along with an additional 400,000 Palestinians without refugee status, many of whom benefit from the UNRWA’s infrastructure. Some critics have gone further and said depriving the agency of funds <a href="https://jacobin.com/2024/01/unrwa-defunding-gaza-israel">amounts to collective punishment</a> against Palestinians. Refugee aid, and humanitarian aid more generally, is theoretically meant to be neutral and impartial. But as experts in <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/reluctant-reception/558E2A93FF99B8F295347A8FA2053698">migration</a> <a href="https://www.routledge.com/UN-Global-Compacts-Governing-Migrants-and-Refugees/Micinski/p/book/9780367218836">and</a> <a href="https://press.umich.edu/Books/D/Delegating-Responsibility">international relations</a>, we know funding is often used as a foreign policy tool, whereby allies are rewarded and enemies punished. In this context, we believe the cuts in funding for the UNRWA fit a wider pattern of the politicization of aid to refugees, particularly Palestinian refugees. <h2>What is the UNRWA?</h2> The UNRWA, short for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, was established two years after about <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nakba-at-75-palestinians-struggle-to-get-recognition-for-their-catastrophe-204782">750,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled from their homes</a> during the months leading up to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent Arab-Israeli war. Prior to the UNRWA’s creation, international and local organizations, many of them religious, provided services to displaced Palestinians. But after <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">surveying the extreme poverty</a> and dire situation pervasive across refugee camps, the U.N. General Assembly, including all Arab states and Israel, voted to create the UNRWA in 1949. Since that time, <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/what-we-do">the UNRWA has been the primary aid organization</a> providing food, medical care, schooling and, in some cases, housing for the 6 million Palestinians living across its five fields: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, as well as the areas that make up the occupied Palestinian territories: the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The mass displacement of Palestinians – known as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nakba-at-75-palestinians-struggle-to-get-recognition-for-their-catastrophe-204782">Nakba, or “catastrophe</a>” – occurred prior to the <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/about-unhcr/who-we-are/1951-refugee-convention">1951 Refugee Convention</a>, which defined refugees as anyone with a well-founded fear of persecution owing to “events occurring in Europe before 1 January 1951.” Despite a <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/legacy-pdf/4ec262df9.pdf">1967 protocol extending the definition</a> worldwide, Palestinians are still excluded from the primary international system protecting refugees. While the UNRWA is responsible for providing services to Palestinian refugees, the United Nations also created the U.N. Conciliation Commission for Palestine in 1948 to seek a <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/4fe2e5672.html">long-term political solution</a> and “to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation.” As a result, the UNRWA does not have a mandate to push for the traditional durable solutions available in other refugee situations. As it happened, the conciliation commission was active only for a few years and has since been sidelined in favor of the U.S.-brokered peace processes. <h2>Is the UNRWA political?</h2> The UNRWA has been <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/palestinian-refugees-dispossession">subject</a> to political headwinds since its inception and especially during periods of heightened tension between Palestinians and Israelis. While it is a U.N. organization and thus ostensibly apolitical, it has <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">frequently been criticized</a> by Palestinians, Israelis as well as donor countries, including the United States, for acting politically. The UNRWA performs statelike functions across its five fields – including education, health and infrastructure – but it is restricted in its mandate from performing political or security activities. Initial Palestinian objections to the UNRWA stemmed from the organization’s early focus on economic integration of refugees into host states. Although the UNRWA officially adhered to the U.N. General Assembly’s <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/content/resolution-194">Resolution 194</a> that called for the return of Palestine refugees to their homes, U.N., U.K. and U.S. <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">officials searched</a> for means by which to resettle and integrate Palestinians into host states, viewing this as the favorable political solution to the Palestinian refugee situation and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this sense, Palestinians perceived the UNRWA to be both highly political and actively working against their interests. In later decades, the UNRWA <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">switched its primary focus</a> from jobs to education at the urging of Palestinian refugees. But the UNRWA’s education materials were <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">viewed</a> by Israel as further feeding Palestinian militancy, and the Israeli government insisted on checking and approving all materials in Gaza and the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967. While Israel has <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">long been suspicious</a> of the UNRWA’s role in refugee camps and in providing education, the organization’s operation, which is internationally funded, <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/east-mediterranean-mena/israelpalestine/242-unrwas-reckoning-preserving-un-agency-serving-palestinian-refugees">also saves</a> Israel millions of dollars each year in services it would be obliged to deliver as the occupying power. Since the 1960s, the U.S. – UNRWA’s primary donor – and other Western countries have <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">repeatedly expressed their desire</a> to use aid to prevent radicalization among refugees. In response to the increased presence of armed opposition groups, the <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">U.S. attached a provision</a> to its UNRWA aid in 1970, requiring that the “UNRWA take all possible measures to assure that no part of the United States contribution shall be used to furnish assistance to any refugee who is receiving military training as a member of the so-called Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) or any other guerrilla-type organization.” The UNRWA adheres to this requirement, even publishing an annual list of its employees so that host governments can vet them, but it also <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/east-mediterranean-mena/israelpalestine/242-unrwas-reckoning-preserving-un-agency-serving-palestinian-refugees">employs 30,000 individuals</a>, the vast majority of whom are Palestinian. Questions over the links of the UNRWA to any militancy has led to the rise of Israeli and international <a href="https://cufi.org/issue/unrwa-teachers-continue-to-support-antisemitism-terrorism-on-social-media-un-watch/">watch groups</a> that document the social media activity of the organization’s large Palestinian staff. <h2>Repeated cuts in funding</h2> The United States has used its money and power within the U.N. to block criticism of Israel, vetoing at least <a href="https://www.un.org/depts/dhl/resguide/scact_veto_table_en.htm">45 U.N. resolutions</a> critical of Israel. And the latest freeze is not the first time the U.S. has cut funding to the UNRWA or other U.N. agencies in response to issues pertaining to the status of Palestinians. In 2011, the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE79U5ED/#:%7E:text=WASHINGTON%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20The%20United,grant%20the%20Palestinians%20full%20membership.">U.S. cut all funding to UNESCO</a>, the U.N. agency that provides educational and cultural programs around the world, after the agency voted to admit the state of Palestine as a full member. The Obama administration defended the move, claiming it was required by a 1990s law to defund any U.N. body that admitted Palestine as a full member. But the impact of the action was nonetheless severe. Within just four years, UNESCO was <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1758-5899.12459">forced to cut its staff in half</a> and roll back its operations. President Donald Trump later <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/u-s-and-israel-officially-withdraw-from-unesco">withdrew the U.S. completely from UNESCO</a>. In 2018, the Trump administration paused its <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/31/us/politics/trump-unrwa-palestinians.html">US$60 million contribution to the UNRWA</a>. Trump claimed the pause would create political pressure for Palestinians to negotiate. President Joe Biden restarted U.S. contributions to the UNRWA in 2021. <h2>Politicization of refugee aid</h2> Palestinian are not the only group to suffer from the politicization of refugee funding. After World War II, states established different international organizations to help refugees but strategically excluded some groups from the refugee definition. For example, the U.S. funded the <a href="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/last-million-eastern-european-displaced-persons-postwar-germany">U.N. Relief and Rehabilitation Administration to help resettle displaced persons after World War II</a> but resisted Soviet pressure to forcibly repatriate Soviet citizens. The U.S. also created a separate organization, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ijrl/article-abstract/1/4/501/1598187">the precursor to the International Organization for Migration</a>, to circumvent Soviet influence. In many ways, the UNRWA’s existence and the exclusion of Palestinian refugees from the wider refugee regime parallels this dynamic. Funding for refugees has also been politicized through the earmarking of voluntary contributions to U.N. agencies. Some agencies receive funding from U.N. dues; but the UNRWA, alongside the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration, receive the majority of their funding from voluntary contributions from member states. These contributions can be earmarked for specific activities or locations, leading to donors such as the <a href="https://www.peio.me/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/PEIO12_paper_107.pdf">U.S. or European Union dictating which refugees get aid and which do not</a>. Earmarked contributions amounted to nearly <a href="https://unsceb.org/fs-revenue-agency">96% of the UNHCR’s budget, 96% of the IOM’s budget and 74% of UNRWA funding in 2022</a>. As a result, any cuts to UNRWA funding will affect its ability to service Palestinian refugees in Gaza – especially at a time when so many are <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/middleeast/famine-looms-in-gaza-israel-war-intl/index.html">facing hunger, disease and displacement</a> as a result of war.<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/222263/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nicholas-r-micinski-207353">Nicholas R. Micinski</a>, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-maine-2120">University of Maine</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelsey-norman-862895">Kelsey Norman</a>, Fellow for the Middle East, Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rice-university-931">Rice University</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/funding-for-refugees-has-long-been-politicized-punitive-action-against-unrwa-and-palestinians-fits-that-pattern-222263">original article</a>.

Money & Banking

"Impunity for macho actions is over": Why the entire Spanish World Cup team has quit

Luis Rubiales, the head of Spanish soccer, has rejected calls for his resignation despite facing widespread backlash for his actions following Spain's Women's World Cup victory. Rubiales came under fire after he was seen grabbing star player Jenni Hermoso's head and kissing her on the lips during the medal ceremony. The incident has led to a revolt among 56 national team members and condemnation from the government for what they deemed to be "macho actions". A collective statement, issued through their union, was signed by all 23 members of the winning squad, including Hermoso, as well as 32 other team members. In the statement, they declared their refusal to participate in international matches as long as Rubiales remains at the helm of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). Within the same statement, Hermoso refuted Rubiales' assertion that the kiss was consensual (see below for the statement in full). The controversial kiss occurred at the medal ceremony after Spain's victory over England in the World Cup final in Sydney. Rubiales' elderly mother, Angeles Bejar, has now taken an extreme stance in support of her son, initiating a hunger strike and seeking refuge in a church, citing a perceived "inhumane witch-hunt" against him. In parallel, the regional presidents of the Spanish football federation have called for Rubiales' resignation. This series of events coincided with Spanish prosecutors' announcement of a preliminary investigation into Rubiales' conduct during the World Cup final, focusing on the kiss with Hermoso. The Spanish national court stated that the investigation would explore whether Rubiales' actions could be considered sexual assault. Despite facing pressure to step down, Rubiales has resisted these calls and maintained that the kiss was just a “little peck” that was “spontaneous, mutual, euphoric and consensual”. He also claimed that he asked Hermoso if he could kiss her and that she said “OK”. The Spanish government, lacking the authority to directly remove Rubiales from his position, has sought legal avenues to suspend him using a sports tribunal. Victor Francos, the head of the state-run sports council, emphasised the government's determination to ensure accountability in this matter, comparing it to a Spanish soccer "Me Too" movement. Criticism of Rubiales' behavior has escalated since Spain's victory, with Acting Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz condemning his actions as "unacceptable." The government has been urged to take swift action against such behaviour and ensure that those responsible are held accountable. “The government must act and take urgent measures: impunity for macho actions is over. Rubiales cannot continue in office,” Diaz wrote on social media. In response, FIFA initiated disciplinary proceedings against Rubiales, prompted by Hermoso's statement expressing her union's commitment to defending her rights and condemning acts like the one she experienced. The situation remains tense as Rubiales continues to face demands for his resignation, while he remains defiant and resolute in his position as the head of Spanish soccer. Hermoso’s full statement: “After achieving one of the most desired successes of my sports career and after a few days of reflection, I want to wholeheartedly thank my teammates, fans, followers, the media and all of you who have made this dream come true; Your work and unconditional support have been a fundamental part of winning the World Cup. “In reference to what happened today. Although it is true that for my part I do not want to interfere with the multiple legal processes in progress, I feel compelled to denounce that the words of Mr. Luis Rubiales explaining the unfortunate incident are categorically false and part of the manipulative culture that he himself has generated. “I clarify that at no time did the conversation to which Mr. Luis Rubiales referred to take place and that, far from it, his kiss was consented. In the same way I want to reiterate as I did at the time that this fact had not been to my liking. “The situation caused me a shock due to the context of the celebration, and with the passage of time and after delving a little deeper into those first feelings, I feel the need to denounce this fact since I consider that no person, in any area work, sports or social should be a victim of this type of non-consensual behaviour. “I felt vulnerable and the victim of aggression, an impulsive, sexist, out of place act and without any kind of consent on my part. I just wasn’t respected. I was asked to make a joint statement to take the pressure off the president, but at that moment in my head I only had the idea of enjoying the historic milestone reached together with my teammates. “For this reason, at all times I informed the RFEF and its different interlocutors, as well as the media and people I trust that I would not make any type of individual or joint statement on this matter, since I understood that, if I did, I would still remove more prominence to such a special moment for my colleagues and me. “Despite my decision, I have to state that I have been under continuous pressure to come up with a statement that could justify the act of Mr. Luis Rubiales. Not only that, but in different ways and through different people, the RFEF has pressured my environment (family, friends, colleagues, etc.) to give testimony that had little or nothing to do with my feelings. “It is not up to me to evaluate communication and integrity practices, but I am sure that as the World Champion National Team we do not deserve such a manipulative, hostile and controlling culture. This type of incident joins a long list of situations that we players have been denouncing in recent years, so this fact, in which I have been involved, is just the straw that breaks the camel’s back and what everyone has been able to see, but attitudes like this have been part of the day-to-day life of our team for years. “For all these reasons, I want to reinforce the position I took from the beginning, considering that I do not have to support the person who has committed this action against my will, without respecting me, at a historic moment for me and for women’s sport. from this country. “In no case can it be my responsibility to assume the consequences of transmitting something in which I do not believe, which is why I have refused the pressures received. ZERO TOLERANCE with these behaviors. I want to close by making it very clear that although I am the one expressing these words, it is all the players in Spain and the world who have given me the strength to come out with this statement. “Faced with such a show of disrespect and inability to recognise one’s own mistakes and assume the consequences, I have made the decision not to play for the National Team again as long as the current leaders continue. Thank you all for the messages of support and words of encouragement received. I know I am not alone and thanks to all of you we will get ahead more united. I leave this issue to the people I trust TMJ and FUTPRO and they will continue working on the next steps based on recent events.” Image: Channel 7

Legal

Qantas slapped with class action lawsuit

Qantas is staring down the barrel of a class action lawsuit, after being accused of prioritising its financial interests over its contractual commitments to customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The legal action was initiated on Monday August 21 in response to the airline's failure to provide refunds totalling more than a billion dollars to its customers. Echo Law, the plaintiff firm, contends that Qantas deceived customers and essentially held their funds, effectively treating them as interest-free loans. Andrew Paull, a partner at Echo Law, asserts that Qantas acted unlawfully by introducing a flight credit program in response to border closures caused by the pandemic. Instead of promptly refunding customers for cancelled flights, the airline, in numerous instances, retained the funds for an extended period to bolster its financial performance. Paull notes that Qantas' own terms and conditions stipulate refunds when cancellations occur outside their control. He points out that the magnitude of the claim has grown due to Qantas' prolonged inaction in addressing these issues. The class action is not only aiming to secure redress for pending refunds but also seeks compensation for delayed reimbursements. Paull alleges that Qantas has been "unjustly enriched" by withholding money owed to its customers. He equates the interest accrued on these retained funds over the past three years to a substantial sum. This legal action marks the latest episode in a series of challenges faced by Australia's largest airline due to the pandemic's far-reaching repercussions, which severely disrupted its operations. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has expressed concern and pressured the company to simplify the refund process following a surge in customer complaints. Consumer advocates have also criticised Qantas for delays in refunding customers. Choice, a consumer advocacy group, even bestowed a "shonky award" upon Qantas due to reports of customers using credits being required to pay extra. Paull estimates that approximately $400 million in refunds remains outstanding to date. He asserts that Qantas prioritised safeguarding its financial position over honouring its commitments to customers during the pandemic, potentially misleading customers by presenting the travel credits as acts of goodwill rather than a fulfilment of contractual obligations. Responding to the lawsuit, a Qantas spokesperson stated on Monday that the airline had not yet received the lawsuit. The spokesperson categorically rejected the allegations, asserting that Qantas had already processed over $1 billion in refunds arising from COVID-19-related credits for customers impacted by lockdowns and border closures. Moreover, the spokesperson refuted claims that Qantas derived financial gains from delaying refund disbursements, highlighting the substantial revenue loss of $25 billion and $7 billion in losses due to the pandemic. (Qantas has subsequently repaid significant portions of its pandemic debts and recently reported substantial profits after receiving substantial financial support from taxpayers during the pandemic period.) Qantas also dismissed allegations of delayed refund payments to affected customers. The spokesperson emphasised that the airline has consistently communicated the refund process to customers when flights were canceled. However, Paull contends that Qantas has created formidable barriers for customers seeking to exercise their consumer rights, including unfulfilled promises of callbacks and refunds that were granted but never processed.

Legal

Resistance to mega-tourism is rising in the South Pacific – but will governments put words into action?

With COVID-19 travel restrictions largely a thing of the past for Australian and <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/travel/2022/12/fiji-more-popular-with-kiwi-tourists-than-it-was-pre-covid-19.html">New Zealand tourists</a>, Pacific destinations are enjoying the return of visitors – albeit at a <a href="https://devpolicy.org/the-pacific-emerging-from-covid-slowly-20221019/">slower pace</a> than in other parts of the world. Tourism in Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and the Cook Islands was <a href="https://www.imf.org/-/media/Files/Countries/ResRep/pis-region/small-states-monitor/pacific-islands-monitor-issue-17-october-2022.ashx">hit hard by the pandemic</a>, but <a href="https://www.massey.ac.nz/about/news/pacific-islands-resilient-as-covid-19-topples-tourism/">patience and resilience</a> are starting to pay off. Foreign dollars are once again circulating in those small economies. Recently, <a href="https://www.mvariety.com/business/kiribati-welcomes-first-cruise-ship-visit/article_30ca4be0-b0f7-11ed-9b9d-93619a4dfba6.html">Kiribati welcomed</a> its first international cruise ship since 2020. But this isn’t a simple case of returning to normal. The past three years have allowed time for reflection, leading to a rising awareness of <a href="https://southpacificislands.travel/pacific-sustainable-tourism-leadership-summit-calls-on-pacific-leaders-to-work-together-to-build-resilient-futures/">possible alternatives</a> to pre-pandemic tourism models. From senior levels within governments to grassroots tourism operators and citizens, there has been serious discussion about the resumption of business as usual, including several <a href="https://southpacificislands.travel/2021-ends-on-a-high-with-pacific-islands-tourism-research-symposium/">regional symposiums</a> hosted by the South Pacific Tourism Organisation. Issues of sovereignty and future resilience have been very much to the fore – quite untypical in a global tourism industry largely focused on <a href="https://etc-corporate.org/news/europes-tourism-rebound-predicted-to-continue-into-2023/">boosting numbers</a> as soon as possible. Questions remain, however, about the gap between rhetoric and reality. <h2>Flipping the narrative</h2> The <a href="https://southpacificislands.travel/2022-pacific-sustainable-tourism-leadership-summit/">Pacific Sustainable Tourism Leaders Summit</a> in November 2022 brought together tourism ministers and industry stakeholders to discuss the future of regional tourism. This led to a <a href="https://southpacificislands.travel/pacific-sustainable-tourism-leadership-summit-calls-on-pacific-leaders-to-work-together-to-build-resilient-futures/">regional commitment</a> signed by 11 countries focused on promoting sustainable tourism. Essentially, the aim is to flip the narrative: rather than Pacific nations being seen as dependent on tourism, regional tourism itself depends on the Pacific and its people surviving and thriving. Accordingly, Pacific countries are calling for fairer and more meaningful relationships with tourism partners. Cook Islands’ associate minister of foreign affairs and immigration, Tingika Elikana, urged other Pacific leaders at the summit to rebuild tourism in a way that was <a href="https://www.fijitimes.com/inclusive-pacific-summit-calls-on-regional-leaders-to-work-together/">equitable and inclusive</a>, "[it] is crucial that lessons are learned from recent crises and that steps are taken to embed long-term inclusivity, sustainability, and resilience into our tourism offering as it faces evolving challenges and risks." Vanuatu has been heading in this direction since early in the pandemic, when it made “destination wellbeing” <a href="https://www.traveldailymedia.com/vanuatu-tourism-adopts-well-being-approach-for-covid-19-recovery/">central to its tourism recovery</a>. The aim of “moving beyond solely measuring visitor arrivals and contribution to GDP” then fed into the country’s <a href="https://tourism.gov.vu/images/DoT-Documents/Presentations/Vanuatu_Sustainable_Tourism_Strategy_2020-2030-2020_.pdf">Sustainable Tourism Strategy</a>, launched at the height of the pandemic. <h2>Push-back on resorts and cruise ships</h2> This reappraisal of scale and priorities has perhaps been most evident in Fiji where there has been <a href="https://www.fijitimes.com/project-unoriginal/">strong opposition</a> to a US$300 million mega-project proposed by Chinese developers. The hotel, apartment and marina complex would be built in an area containing one of the last remaining remnants of mangrove forest near the capital, Suva. Conservationists and local residents have been critical of the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/484141/conservationist-calls-on-fiji-govt-to-preserve-rare-mangrove">environmental</a> and <a href="https://www.fijitimes.com/how-can-fiji-supply-water-to-project/">infrastructural</a> impact of the proposed development, as well as the <a href="https://www.fijitimes.com/project-unoriginal/">authenticity of its design</a>. There is <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/484710/costly-development-of-suva-forest-may-now-not-happen">now doubt</a> about whether the government will renew the developer’s lease, due to expire in June. The minister for lands and mineral resources has said “there’s been a lack of transparency” from the developers, and that he “will continue to monitor the remaining conditions of the development lease”. A leading opponent of the project, Reverend James Bhagwan, <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/484710/costly-development-of-suva-forest-may-now-not-happen">told Radio New Zealand</a>, "we'’re not anti-development, but what we’re saying is we need to look at development from a perspective that places the environment at the centre, not at the periphery. There is a precedent here: approval for a multi-million-dollar resort and casino development on Malolo island was revoked in 2019 after another Chinese developer, Freesoul Investments, destroyed part of a reef, dumped waste and disrupted traditional fisheries. In 2022, the High Court fined the company <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/resort-developers-found-guilty-over-fiji-island-disaster-1">FJD$1 million</a>. It was the first time a developer had been punished for an “environmental crime”. Environmental concerns are also causing other Pacific countries to resist a return to mass tourism. In Rarotonga, Cook Islands, annual visitor numbers before the pandemic were ten times the island’s local population. The ability to cope with that level of tourism has since been <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/443141/cook-islanders-considering-how-much-tourism-is-too-much">seriously questioned</a>. And in French Polynesia, the government has <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/french-polynesia-the-latest-country-to-ban-mega-cruise-ships/RXY2PDLCWPAIZRVNENLHJ6Z2N4/">banned port calls</a> for cruise ships with a capacity greater than 3,500 passengers. The decision was based on concerns about air pollution, stress on the marine environment and social impacts. Daily cruise arrivals to Bora Bora are now restricted to 1,200 passengers, much to the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/407885/bora-bora-calls-for-ban-on-large-cruise-ships">relief of locals</a>. <h2>A new kind of tourism?</h2> In the face of uncertainties due to climate change and geopolitical tensions in the region, it’s encouraging to hear local voices being heard in debates about the future of Pacific tourism – and political leaders appearing to respond. The Pacific Island Forum leaders’ retreat in Fiji late last month discussed the tourism industry. The forum’s signature <a href="https://www.forumsec.org/2050strategy/">Blue Pacific Strategy</a> for regional co-operation recognises tourism is an important component of national development, and the need to balance economic pressures with environmental and cultural protection. But despite the apparent political will and regional focus on building resilience, tourism development will undoubtedly continue to challenge the desires and initiatives of Pacific peoples seeking more sustainable futures. While the policy rhetoric sounds good, it remains to be seen whether Pacific governments will remain steadfast and united under mounting pressures from major cruise operators, Chinese commercial interests and large hotels looking to maximise occupancy rates. Many Pacific people reported the natural environment – along with social, spiritual, physical and mental wellbeing – <a href="https://www.internationaljournalofwellbeing.org/index.php/ijow/article/view/2539">improved during the pandemic pause</a> in tourism. But the reality of putting local wellbeing ahead of profits and increased tax revenue is yet to be fully tested as tourism bounces back. Images: Getty <em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, 'system-ui', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;">This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/resistance-to-mega-tourism-is-rising-in-the-south-pacific-but-will-governments-put-words-into-action-201071" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

International Travel

"Mateship in action": NZ survivors of helicopter crash praise Aussie compassion

Two couples from New Zealand who survived the deadly helicopter collision on the Gold Coast have shared their condolences for those who died during the accident. Edward and Marle Swart along with Riaan and Elmarie Steenberg spoke of how the "fun five-minute joy ride on vacation to Australia turned into a nightmare" and said their "hearts are so heavy" for those who died in the other aircraft that fell to the ground. "Our deepest sympathies and sincere condolences to the injured and the deceased and their families," they said in a joint statement released on Wednesday night. "We are grateful and blessed to have been spared but very sad for the people who lost loved ones and the little ones and mum fighting for their lives in hospital. "Our hearts are so heavy for them." The couples also praised the 52-year-old pilot who managed to land their damaged helicopter safely "through all the chaos", while also commending the actions of witnesses who rushed to help on the scene. "Our gratitude goes out to every bystander who ran to help, every police officer and emergency services personnel who helped us with our immediate needs keeping us calm and making us comfortable," they said. "We saw mateship in action. Australians come together to help in time of need." "We would like to extend our great thanks to the hospital staff taking care of us for their kindness and compassion during this traumatic experience." The New Zealand couples, all in their 40s, were among the six people in the second helicopter who all survived the crash with minor injuries. <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/helicopter-crash-victims-identified" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Four people</a> on the first helicopter died while the remaining three survivors remain in hospital. Image credits: Nine News

Travel Trouble

Iran protest at enforced hijab sparks online debate and feminist calls for action across Arab world

Iranian authorities have cracked down on protests which erupted after the death in custody of a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by the morality police for not wearing the hijab appropriately. The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-62986057" target="_blank" rel="noopener">death of Mahsa Amini</a> who was reportedly beaten after being arrested for wearing her hijab “improperly” sparked street protests. Unrest has spread across the country as women burned their headscarves to protest laws that force women to wear the hijab. Seven people are reported to have been killed, and the government has almost completely <a href="https://twitter.com/netblocks/status/1572651793355603972" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shut down</a> the internet. But in the Arab world – including in Iraq, where I was brought up – the protests have attracted attention and women are <a href="https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1RDGlaVekMMJL/peek" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gathering online</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/EsraaMAA1/status/1572373663164538882?s=20&t=sP2kn4dJ7RZUSqWT6GDr6w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offer solidarity</a> to Iranian women struggling under the country’s harsh theocratic regime. The enforcement of the hijab and, by extension, guardianship over women’s bodies and minds, are not exclusive to Iran. They manifest in different forms and degrees in many countries. In Iraq, and unlike the case of Iran, forced wearing of the hijab <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/constitutional-and-legal-rights-iraqi-women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is unconstitutional</a>. However, the ambiguity and contradictions of much of the constitution, particularly <a href="https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Iraq_2005.pdf?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Article 2</a> about Islam being the primary source of legislation, has enabled the condition of forced hijab. Since the 1990s, when Saddam Hussein launched his <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/24/iraq.rorymccarthy1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Faith Campaign</a> in response to economic sanctions imposed by the UN security council, pressure on women to wear the hijab has become widespread. Following the US-led invasion of the country, the situation worsened under the rule of Islamist parties, many of whom have close ties to Iran. Contrary to the claim in 2004 by US president <a href="https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040312-5.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">George W. Bush</a> that Iraqi people were “now learning the blessings of freedom”, women have been enduring the heavy hand of patriarchy perpetuated by Islamism, militarisation and tribalism, and exacerbated by the influence of Iran. Going out without a hijab in Baghdad became a daily struggle for me after 2003. I had to put on a headscarf to protect myself wherever I entered a conservative neighbourhood, especially during the years of sectarian violence. Flashbacks of pro-hijab posters and banners hanging around my university in central Baghdad have always haunted me. The situation has remained unchanged over two decades, with the hijab <a href="http://www.idu.net/modblank.php?mod=news&modfile=print&itemid=25626" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly imposed</a> on children and little girls in primary and secondary schools. A <a href="https://www.bbc.com/arabic/trending-62985885" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new campaign</a> against the enforced wearing of the hijab in Iraqi public schools has surfaced on social media. Natheer Isaa, a leading activist in the <a href="https://twitter.com/Nathereisaa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Women for Women</a> group, which is leading the campaign, told me that hijab is cherished by many conservative or tribal members of society and that backlashes are predictable. Similar campaigns were suspended due to threats and online attacks. Women posting on social media with the campaign hashtag #notocompulsoryhijab, have attracted <a href="https://twitter.com/am_m_zhs/status/1571931577491275782?s=20&t=Y9fneuMxJufMq7RgcRMsSg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reactionary tweets</a> accusing them of being anti-Islam and anti-society. Similar accusations are levelled at Iranian women who defy the regime by taking off or burning their headscarves. Iraqi Shia cleric, Ayad Jamal al-Dinn <a href="https://twitter.com/hiba_alnnayib/status/1572696301363666944?s=20&t=n1UixEREr2gur81vBChBgA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lashed out</a> against the protests on his Twitter account, labelling the protesting Iranian women “anti-hijab whores” who are seeking to destroy Islam and culture. <h2>Cyberfeminists and reactionary men</h2> In my <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/research/projects/internationalrelationssecurity/cyberfeminisms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">digital ethnographic work</a> on cyberfeminism in Iraq and other countries, I have encountered numerous similar reactions to women who question the hijab or decide to remove it. Women who use their social media accounts to reject the hijab are often met with sexist attacks and threats that attempt to shame and silence them. Those who openly speak about their decision to take off the hijab receive the harshest reaction. The hijab is linked to women’s honour and chastity, so removing it is seen as defiance. Women’s struggle with the forced hijab and the backlash against them challenges the prevailing cultural narrative that says wearing the hijab is a free choice. While many women freely decide whether to wear it or not, others are obliged to wear it. So academics need to revisit the discourse around the hijab and the conditions perpetuating the mandatory wearing of it. In doing so it is important to move away from the false dichotomies of culture versus religion, or the local versus the western, which obscure rather than illuminate the root causes of forced hijab. In her academic <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0141778919849525" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a> on gender-based violence in the context of the Middle East, feminist academic Nadje al-Ali emphasises the need to break away from these binaries and recognise the various complex power dynamics involved – both locally and internationally. The issue of forcing women to wear the hijab in conservative societies should be at the heart of any discussion about women’s broader fight for freedom and social justice. Iranian women’s rage against compulsory hijab wearing, despite the security crackdown, is part of a wider women’s struggle against autocratic conservative regimes and societies that deny them agency. The collective outrage in Iran and Iraq invites us to challenge the compulsory hijab and those imposing it on women or perpetuating the conditions enabling it. As one Iraqi female activist told me: “For many of us, hijab is like the gates of a jail, and we are the invisible prisoners.” It is important for the international media and activists to bring their struggle to light, without subscribing to the narrative that Muslim women need saving by the international community. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/iran-protest-at-enforced-hijab-sparks-online-debate-and-feminist-calls-for-action-across-arab-world-191178" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Twitter

Travel Trouble

4 alternatives to legal action

Legal action can be costly and time consuming. That being said, whenever you encounter legal problems there are some options around. We’ve taken a look at some of the alternatives to legal action that can see you achieve 1. Mediation This involves a trained mediator facilitating a negotiation, but not making binding decisions and is usually a good way of solving a dispute with lawyers present or not. Advantages: <ul> <li>Introduction of a third party to appraise the case and a reflective approach to disputes</li> <li>Focused on interests of parties rather than legal rights and conciliatory in nature</li> <li>It can be quick, cheap and confidential with scope for non-monetary remedies</li> </ul> Disadvantages: <ul> <li>No appropriate when a court remedy is necessary</li> <li>Rarely produces, and mediator has no power to impose binding decision</li> </ul> 2. Early neutral evaluation This is a non-binding process where a neutral party gives non-binding evaluations of the merits and flaw of a dispute in general, generally involving the opinion of a QC/retired judge. Advantages: <ul> <li>Can be useful and assist parties that need to break a deadlock.</li> </ul> Disadvantages: <ul> <li>Process is non-binding and parties can ignore an opinion they disagree with.</li> </ul> 3. Expert determination An independent third party with recognised expertise in the subject matter in dispute, assists the parties and helps them resolve the dispute. Advantages: <ul> <li>Quick, cheap and confidential and gives parties a greater knowledge of how the factual evidence is likely to be decided if the case goes to trial.</li> <li>Can be effective where the parties anticipate a specific type of technical dispute.</li> </ul> Disadvantages: <ul> <li>Expert has no power to force his findings on the parties.</li> <li>The parties may provide that the determination of the expert is final and binding upon them, but recourse to the Courts is still necessary to enforce any determination.</li> </ul> 4. Arbitration This is when the matter is determined by a professional arbitrator given power to impose a binding decision on both parties. Arbitration can, in that sense, be seen as a direct replacement for litigation. Advantages: <ul> <li>Avoids using the courts and is confidential.</li> <li>Speedier and more informal than litigation.</li> <li>Potential for limited discovery.</li> </ul> Disadvantages: <ul> <li>Costs with arbitrations potentially taking a similar amount of time to litigation.</li> <li>An arbitrator's award may only be appealed on the limited grounds of manifest error of law on the face of the award, where the question is one of the general public importance.</li> </ul> Image: Getty

Legal

Kate Middleton to face Roger Federer in tennis

The Duchess of Cambridge will go head-to-head with Roger Federer in a tennis match for a special charity event. Kate Middleton will go against the Swiss 20-time Grand Slam tennis champion to help raise money for disadvantaged and vulnerable children. All funds raised will go toward two organisations backed by the Duchess, Action for Children and the Lawn Tennis Association. Children between the ages of 8-15 will have the opportunity to meet the professional tennis player and enjoy a game or two with him. The exciting match, which was reportedly suggested by Kate, will go ahead on September 22 as part of the Laver Cup which was co-founded by Federer. “Her Royal Highness is passionate about supporting grassroots tennis and encouraging young people from all backgrounds to become involved in the sport,” a statement from the Palace read. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Excited to announce that Laver Cup is partnering with The Duchess of Cambridge this year to raise funds for two incredible charities – @actionforchildrenuk and the <a href="https://twitter.com/LTA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LTA</a> Tennis Foundation. Thank you for your support, and I look forward to seeing you in London! <a href="https://t.co/7B82Gkj5EE">https://t.co/7B82Gkj5EE</a> — Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) <a href="https://twitter.com/rogerfederer/status/1559843493610246145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2022</a></blockquote> The Laver Cup is a three day tournament which sees six of the best tennis players across Europe go against six of the best tennis players from the rest of the world. Federer is no stranger to the royal family, having played tennis with Prince George, nine, and attended Pippa Middleton’s wedding. "Her Royal Highness is passionate about supporting grassroots tennis and encouraging young people from all backgrounds to become involved in the sport," the palace said in a statement. The Laver Cup will see Federer’s <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/health/caring/federer-sends-tennis-world-in-a-spin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">return to the court</a> after struggling with his right knee after undergoing three operations to help repair damage to his meniscus and cartilage. Images: Twitter/Getty

Beauty & Style

Trainee nurse sprints into action to save toddler

A trainee nurse on his way to work has been hailed a hero after jumping into action and saving a toddler. Nicholas Jensen did not think twice when he heard a mother screaming for someone to help her two-year-old daughter who was turning blue and foaming from the mouth. The 44-year-old nurse grabbed the motionless toddler and placed her in the recovery position before rushing to the Princess Alexandra Hospital emergency room in Brisbane. CCTV from the hospital carpark captured the heroic moment he ran to the hospital with the girl’s mother following behind. Inside, he is seen running through the emergency department where he is directed by a fellow nurse through a door where he is met by seven other nurses. They rush him into a room where the toddler is placed on a bed and resuscitation begins to save the child. The nurses saved the toddler’s life and found she had suffered an atypical febrile convulsion which can be caused by a viral infection and fever, <a href="https://7news.com.au/news/qld/incredible-moment-trainee-nurse-saves-motionless-toddler-in-brisbane--c-6007072" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7News</a> reported. Doctors ordered the toddler to stay for two days for observation and is now doing well, thanks to Nicholas’s quick thinking. “In the moment adrenalin and my training kicked in,” he said. “This is why I got into this job, great job satisfaction. It is a meaningful career.” Images: 7News

Caring

It’s a boy! Doctor leaps into action to deliver baby mid-flight

A pregnant woman has unexpectedly given birth mid-flight, prompting a fellow passenger and doctor to set up a temporary maternity unit to help deliver the baby.The Ghanian woman, who gave her name as GG, was on board a flight from Ghana to the US on January 29 when she prematurely gave birth. After a Ghanian doctor delivered her baby, converting the plane’s business class area into a temporary maternity ward. The woman was then met with “shock and applause” from those around her.However, she was expecting to give birth later in February, an eye witness told the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-60219964" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC</a>.Journalist Nancy Adobea Anane, who was also on the flight, told BBC News Pidgin that an on-board announcement for medical assistance initially prompted confusion among passengers.“Most of them heard the call for assistance from medical personnel but didn’t know what was going on,” she said.“I became anxious for the safety of the baby and mother, and the possibility of a detour for an emergency landing.”<img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/02/doctor-baby.jpg" alt="" width="976" height="549" />Dr Stephen Ansah-Addo (left) helped deliver the baby on route to the US. Image: Nancy Adobea Anane (BBC)Dr Stephen Ansah-Addo, who practises in the US, heard the request for help and set about delivering the baby.“Myself, a nurse and the flight attendants … took [the mother] slowly through the process and she delivered a beautiful baby boy,” Dr Ansah-Addo said.Ms Anane recalled that the birth was quite quick, with the baby boy entering the world within 45 minutes of the birth process starting.“Her delivery was quick, like 30 to 45 minutes,” she said, which was then followed by “screaming and the familiar cry of the baby”.Paramedics met the new mother and baby once the plane landed in Washington, where they received further care.With the chances of going into labour naturally higher after 37 weeks of pregnancy according to the UK’s National Health Service, some airlines prohibit pregnant women from flying after this point.Image: Nancy Adobea Anane (BBC)

Caring

How Māori knowledge could help New Zealanders turn their concern for the environment into action

As world leaders continue negotiations at the <a href="https://ukcop26.org/">COP26 climate summit</a> in Glasgow, several <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/07/so-what-has-cop26-achieved-so-far">agreements</a> reached so far have acknowledged the connection between climate change and the global loss of biodiversity. Half a world away, we might feel somewhat smug. Almost a third of Aotearoa New Zealand is protected as conservation land, but we nevertheless have the highest number of threatened species worldwide, with 79% of birds, bats, reptiles and frogs at <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/conservation-status-of-indigenous-land-species">risk of or threatened with extinction</a>. The threat to wildlife is entirely due to <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/PC130256">human impacts</a>, including the introduction of mammal predators and land-use practices that threaten Indigenous biodiversity. Despite more than 40,000 people in 600 community <a href="https://www.newzealandecology.org/nzje/3234">conservation groups</a> working throughout the country, these efforts and gains are tenuous, not yet arresting the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03036758.2019.1599967?journalCode=tnzr20">decline in biodiversity</a>. <a href="https://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10182/14097/Perceptions2019_Final_LowRes_jan2020.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">Surveys</a> show New Zealanders are increasingly aware of the state of our environment, but knowledge on its own does not spur action. We suggest <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310472991_Matauranga_Maori-the_ukaipo_of_knowledge_in_New_Zealand">mātauranga Māori</a>, a traditional system of understanding the natural world, could help take people from awareness to action. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430665/original/file-20211107-10121-4tn6ry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Conservation status of native species in New Zealand. <a href="https://statisticsnz.shinyapps.io/conservation_status_land/" class="source">Stats NZ</a>, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/" class="license">CC BY-ND</a> Te Mana o te Taiao is New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/biodiversity/aotearoa-new-zealand-biodiversity-strategy/te-mana-o-te-taiao-summary/">national biodiversity strategy</a> and lays out conservation priorities for the next three decades. It promotes the braiding of Western science and mātauranga Māori and emphasises a focus on people as much as the environment. Regular <a href="https://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10182/14097/Perceptions2019_Final_LowRes_jan2020.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">surveys</a> show a marked shift in public perception of the state of New Zealand’s environment. Twenty years ago, a majority believed the environment was in good health, but today, most people believe it is in poor health. The survey also asks if respondents had participated in environmental advocacy or volunteer work, but the percentage of people who have has remained steady over two decades. <h2>From awareness to action</h2> People feel increasingly <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.1225">disconnected from the natural world</a> for a few key reasons, including: <ul> <li> a rise of individualism and the erosion of community </li> <li> distraction by technology and entertainment </li> <li> increasing urbanisation and inequality leading to an “extinction of experience” </li> <li> poorer urban populations with fewer opportunities to connect with nature. </li> </ul> Awareness alone does not spur action, but research shows people who feel more <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40362-014-0021-3">connected with nature</a> have a stronger sense of environmental responsibility. If we wish to ensure the survival of our Indigenous biodiversity, we need to ask how we get from awareness to action. Indigenous peoples have played a strong role in conserving biodiversity over many centuries, and mātauranga Māori could hold some answers. There are three main strands to how mātauranga Māori can turn knowledge into action. <ol> <li> Ecological science has increased our understanding of the inter-connectedness of ecosystems and has brought us closer to a mātauranga Māori concept of human relationships with the natural world. Within this concept, if the environment is not in good health, people can’t be in good health either. Seeing ourselves as inter-connected and inter-dependent with the natural world <a href="https://www.pnzmemberhub.org.nz/single-post/2013/01/01/indigenous-m%C4%81ori-knowledge-and-perspectives-of-ecosystems">engenders reciprocity and care</a> for the natural world. </li> <li> By embedding values and beliefs into facts, knowledge becomes more memorable, meaningful and relatable. This helps people to form an identity of belonging within the natural world and a connection to place. We are far more likely to care for a place if we feel a <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12398">connection</a> to it. </li> <li> Awareness of our inter-connections and dependence on the natural world helps us see the dissonance between stewardship and practices that threaten other species. </li> </ol> <h2>Community conservation as the answer</h2> Community conservation groups could play a central role in achieving New Zealand’s national biodiversity strategy through use of mātauranga Māori concepts. Ecosanctuaries like <a href="https://www.visitzealandia.com/">Zealandia</a> already provide opportunities to connect with the natural world, through education and <a href="https://www.visitzealandia.com/Volunteer">volunteering</a>. There are more than 80 <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03036758.2019.1620297">sanctuaries</a> throughout the country, providing opportunities for people to acquaint themselves with the natural world and become involved in conservation activities. Ecosanctuaries demonstrate environmental restoration is possible and conservation is everyone’s responsibility, not just the role of the state. They effectively build a constituency for conservation within the community. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430957/original/file-20211109-23-1y907yi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A conservation volunteer releases South Island saddlebacks, or tīeke in an ecosanctuary." /> A conservation volunteer releases South Island saddlebacks, or tīeke – one of New Zealand’s endangered native birds – in an ecosanctuary. Andrew MacDonald/Getty Images, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/" class="license">CC BY-ND</a> Zealandia identifies its role as an enabler of transformation in the way people engage with the natural world. Their <a href="http://www.visitzealandia.com/livingwithnature">20-year strategy</a> emphasises mātauranga Māori and inspiring change through shared passion. <blockquote> The biodiversity strategy is fundamentally about people […] the task that we have in front of us is fundamentally about changing the way people value the natural world. </blockquote> Māori continually straddle two worlds, navigating the Māori world view and the Tauiwi (Western) world. Non-Māori rarely step into the Māori world, and its unfamiliarity can cause discomfort. Incorporating mātauranga Māori should not mean appropriating knowledge from Māori or glossing over legitimate Māori grievances. Instead, being able to hold <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13412-012-0086-8">two world views</a> can be likened to gaining binocular vision – people discern more depth and detail than by seeing the world through a single lens. To maintain and improve our biodiversity, we need to practise conservation everywhere rather than only in conservation spaces. Embracing mātauranga Māori concepts could help New Zealanders to develop an identity of ecological belonging to become better kaitiaki (guardians) of our biodiversity. This article is based on a presentation given at a <a href="https://www.sanctuariesnz.org/projects.asp">Sanctuaries of New Zealand</a> workshop earlier this year on the theme of iwi and conservation.<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; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168831/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/scott-burnett-1280153">Scott Burnett</a>, Research assistant, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/massey-university-806">Massey University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/apisalome-movono-1108178">Apisalome Movono</a>, Senior Lecturer in Development Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/massey-university-806">Massey University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/regina-scheyvens-650907">Regina Scheyvens</a>, Professor of Development Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/massey-university-806">Massey University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-maori-knowledge-could-help-new-zealanders-turn-their-concern-for-the-environment-into-action-168831">original article</a>. Image: Guo Lei/Xinhua via Getty Images

Domestic Travel

Billionaires taking action on climate change are part of a long tradition

If governments won’t act quickly enough on climate change, who will? Enter the new breed of (mostly young) <a href="https://www.bcg.com/publications/2016/innovation-strategy-how-tech-entrepreneurs-are-disrupting-philanthropy">billionaire philanthropists</a>. Their goal is to use their influence and money to push the boundaries of science and technology for society’s benefit. One example is Mike Cannon-Brookes, billionaire co-founder of software developer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlassian">Atlassian</a> and his partner Annie Cannon-Brooke who this month pledged <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/mike-and-annie-cannon-brookes-pledge-1-5b-to-limit-global-warming-20211019-p591d7">A$1.5 billion</a> to invest in climate projects by 2030. $1 billion will be in financial investments and $500 million in philanthropic and advocacy work, with the aim of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees. He wants other executives to follow suit. In the US the world’s largest funds manager Blackrock has injected funds into billionaire Bill Gates’ <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/climate-crisis-an-existential-threat-fink-20211020-p591oi">Breakthrough Energy</a>, which is using philanthropic money to accelerate investments in new technologies. Breakthrough has reportedly secured US$1 billion in investments from Microsoft, General Motors, American Airlines, Boston Consulting Group, Bank of America and ArcelorMittal. In India, in Denmark, in Australia In India, its richest citizen <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/the-aim-is-to-become-a-net-zero-carbon-company-by-2035-ambani-11594859016543.html">Mukesh Ambani</a> has pledged to take his energy giant net-zero by 2035, an undertaking he will fulfil by switching to renewable sources and converting carbon dioxide emissions into useful products and chemicals. Australia’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/16/business/energy-environment/green-energy-fortescue-andrew-forrest.html">Andrew Forrest</a> has established <a href="https://ffi.com.au/">Fortescue Future Industries</a> as part of Fortescue Metals with a mandate to invest billions in Green Hydrogen projects in Queensland and NSW and to take the mining group carbon-neutral by <a href="https://www.fmgl.com.au/docs/default-source/announcements/target-to-achieve-net-zero-scope-3-emissions.pdf?sfvrsn=195d0b1f_4">2040</a>. Elsewhere a Danish sceptic on carbon pricing Bjørn Lomborg has made a case for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEjNVWV5jbs">innovation in energy research</a> in energy research as the way to limit carbon emissions, citing a parallel from the 1860’s when whales were hunted to near extinction for oil that was used to light homes. He says the solution was not to tax whales, it was the invention of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene">kerosene</a> that undercut the cost of whale oil. What’s happening isn’t new In 1919 businessman <a href="https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/people/hall-of-fame/detail/raymond-orteig">Raymond Orteig</a> offered US$25,000 for the first person to fly non-stop from New York to Paris. The prize was won by an unknown 25-year-old US Army Reserve officer, <a href="http://www.charleslindbergh.com/history/">Charles Lindberg</a>, spurring enormous advances in aviation. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428171/original/file-20211025-27-14o7oi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428171/original/file-20211025-27-14o7oi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Le Journals’ coverage of Charles A. Lindbergh’s 33 hour flight from New York to Pariswhich won him US$25,000 in prize money. Today, the X Prize Foundation and the Musk Foundation are offering a US$100 million <a href="https://www.xprize.org/prizes/elonmusk">X Prize for Carbon Removal</a> funded by billionaire Elon Musk. The prize will go to the team from anywhere on the planet who can invent a machine that extracts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or oceans at gigatonne-scale. Previous X Prizes have been awarded for the application of artificial intelligence to global issues, turning carbon dioxide into useful products, developing cheaper methods of mass testing for COVID, and <a href="https://www.xprize.org/past-prizes">creating water from thin air</a>. Horses for courses There is a sound argument that important pledges and projects should be the responsibility of governments rather than individuals. Billionaires often get where they are by acting on self-interest, so it isn’t reasonable to expect them to act in the interest of the entire public. On the other hand, some problems are too important and time sensitive to leave in the hands of governments that can’t act with agility. If an individual loses their money, it’s their loss. If the government loses the money, its the taxpayer’s loss. So governments have to be cautious. It’s probably not a matter of one or the other. Governments shouldn’t abandon their responsibility to act in the public interest. On the other hand, wealthy philanthropists throughout history have been prepared to help.<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; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170463/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-tuffley-13731">David Tuffley</a>, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> 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/billionaires-taking-action-on-climate-change-are-part-of-a-long-tradition-170463">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Money & Banking

How the new human right to a healthy environment could accelerate New Zealand’s action on climate change

Last week’s formal recognition by the United Nations Human Rights Council that the <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1102582">right to a healthy environment</a> is an essential human right has been heralded as a historic victory for environmental protection and an important step forward for the world’s most vulnerable people. It’s also significant for coming on the eve of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow next month, billed as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/22/boris-johnson-to-tell-un-that-cop26-must-be-turning-point-for-humanity">last best chance</a> to pledge emissions reductions large enough to head off the worst consequences of global heating and associated ecological harm. On the other hand, UN recognition doesn’t make the right to a healthy environment legally binding. No New Zealander can now claim a remedy from the courts because our environment doesn’t meet the standard of being clean, healthy and sustainable. So, what does a human right to a healthy environment really mean? Is it largely rhetorical, or will its adoption have tangible consequences both internationally and in Aotearoa New Zealand? <h2>Better global standards</h2> Despite its limitations, this new human right is certainly not useless. It’s the first time a right to a healthy environment has been explicitly recognised at the global level. The right <a href="http://www.srenvironment.org/sites/default/files/Reports/2018/Boyd%20Knox%20UNGA%20report%202018.pdf">obliges states</a> to protect against environmental harm, to provide equal access to environmental benefits and to ensure a minimum standard of environmental quality for everyone to enjoy. Arguably, this paves the way for better global standards, bolder climate litigation, and even for more equitable sharing of the burdens and benefits of climate change. It also creates a Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change, focused on tackling the effects of climate change on people’s enjoyment of their human rights. And it’s likely other global and regional bodies, including the UN General Assembly and the Council of Europe, will soon acknowledge the right to a healthy environment. Developments like this would make the right more credible and more visible, transforming it into an effective tool for challenging states and corporations to do more on environmental protection. <h2>Enshrining the right in law</h2> Overall, the right to a healthy environment reflects a new urgency to push environmental issues back up the international agenda. For example, plans to adopt a “<a href="https://www.iucn.org/commissions/world-commission-environmental-law/resources/wcel-important-documentation/global-pact-environment">Global Pact for the Environment</a>” next year are gaining momentum. Proponents are describing the pact as the most comprehensive international text ever on environmental rights, essential for protecting everyone and everything from the “<a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sgsm20422.doc.htm">triple planetary emergency</a>” of climate change, pollution and nature loss. Already, in places where a right to a healthy environment is part of domestic law, court decisions are resulting in stronger climate action. The Colombian Supreme Court, for example, <a href="http://climatecasechart.com/climate-change-litigation/non-us-case/future-generation-v-ministry-environment-others/">recently decided</a> that deforestation of the Amazon violated a right to a healthy environment for present and future generations, and required the government to put protections in place. Meanwhile, the Nepalese Supreme Court has held that the government <a href="http://climatecasechart.com/climate-change-litigation/non-us-case/shrestha-v-office-of-the-prime-minister-et-al/">must take action</a> on climate change as part of its citizens’ constitutional right to a clean environment. From these and many more national examples, we can be confident that recognising a right to a healthy environment will help improve the <a href="http://www.srenvironment.org/sites/default/files/Reports/2018/Boyd%20Knox%20UNGA%20report%202018.pdf">implementation of environmental laws</a>, help fill gaps in legislation and support respect for human rights generally. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427110/original/file-20211018-165556-11t4yrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> <h2>Implications for New Zealand</h2> New Zealand’s courts and policymakers look to international human rights for <a href="https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/constitutional-issues-and-human-rights/human-rights/international-human-rights/">guidance and standards</a>. As recognition of the right to a healthy environment grows internationally, we can expect to see greater reliance on it here. But there is one specific area where I anticipate this right may provide a new approach: climate-change mitigation. When it comes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and New Zealand, the elephant in the room – or the cow in the field – is the dairy industry. Between 1990 and 2018 New Zealand’s GHG emissions <a href="https://environment.govt.nz/assets/Publications/Files/new-zealands-greenhouse-gas-inventory-1990-2018-vol-1.pdf">rose by 24%</a>. The increase was driven largely by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/16/the-fight-against-climate-change-goes-beyond-reducing-co2-emissions">methane</a> from livestock and <a href="https://theconversation.com/nitrous-oxide-a-powerful-greenhouse-gas-is-on-the-rise-from-ocean-dead-zones-162812">nitrous oxide</a> from fertilisers. Both of these GHGs are many times more potent than carbon dioxide. Continuing to operate with this level of GHG emissions will make it extremely difficult for New Zealand to do its fair share of <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/new-zealand/">climate change mitigation</a> or meet its <a href="https://haveyoursay.climatecommission.govt.nz/comms-and-engagement/future-climate-action-for-aotearoa/supporting_documents/CCCADVICETOGOVT31JAN2021pdf.pdf">international climate change obligations</a>. <h2>Protecting people and nature</h2> The right to a healthy environment, then, could become a new lever for achieving big changes in a small window of time. A rights-based approach to the environment will encourage a conversation around what a healthy environment means and who should enjoy it. It may even provide a fresh vocabulary for discussing broader issues, such as land use, transport and power. As we battle COVID-19 at home, it’s tempting to take our eye off the grave environmental challenges ahead. To do that would be a mistake. The full potential of a human right to a healthy environment remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that a healthy environment is essential for human health and well-being – and that protecting people and protecting nature are always interconnected.<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; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170187/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nathan-cooper-749971">Nathan Cooper</a>, Associate Professor of Law, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-waikato-781">University of Waikato</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-new-human-right-to-a-healthy-environment-could-accelerate-new-zealands-action-on-climate-change-170187">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Domestic Travel

Kate and William to take legal action against magazine for “cruel and disgusting” story

Kate Middleton and Prince William are taking legal action against UK magazine, Tatler, for publishing a “cruel, sexist and woman-shaming” about the Duchess. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have legal letters to the magazine demanding its profile of Kate be removed from the internet, <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8372889/Kate-William-sue-Tatler-cruel-sexist-woman-shaming-article.html" target="_blank">the Mail on Sunday newspaper claims.</a> As of Sunday, however, the story which was headlined Catherine The Great, remained online. While the article does initially appear as flattering, Kensington Palace issued a rare statement bashing the publication for its “inaccuracies and false representations.” <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7836329/kate-middleton.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/962562a548a941bc914524b1033fa32d" /> Tatler Magazine It is widely reported the royal family felt particularly enraged by the suggestion that Duchess Catherine was feeling exhausted and trapped by an increased workload after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle withdrew from being senior members for The Firm. They were also infuriated at the “disgusting” line about her being “perilously thin.” The story compared the Duchess’ figure to eating disorders Princess Diana suffered from. “That is such an extremely cruel and wounding barb,” a royal source told the UK paper. “It’s sexist and woman-shaming at its very worst.” The source says that the William and Kate were only taking legal action because the article was “full of lies.” “It’s ironic that the Royals’ favourite magazine is being trashed by them,” the source noted. “Tatler may think it’s immune from action as it’s read by the Royals and on every coffee table in every smart home, but it makes no difference.” Tatler’s Editor-in-Chief, Richard Dennen says he “stands behind the reporting” although Kensington Palace slammed the UK magazine for its “inaccuracies”.

Legal

“We are going to be OK”: Doctor pulled over for speeding amazed by policeman’s actions

A US doctor received a meaningful present after she was pulled over by a police officer for speeding. Dr Sarosh Ashraf Janjua, a cardiologist at a coronavirus quarantine unit in Duluth, was pulled over by State Trooper Brian Schwartz for speeding on her way to work on March 21. But instead of a fine, the strooper gave her a firm warning along with five N95 filtering face masks that were allocated for him by the state of Minnesota. “He … firmly told me it was very irresponsible of me to be speeding, especially since I would not only take up resources if I got into an accident, but would also not be in a position to help patients,” Janjua wrote on a Facebook post. “I waited for him to write me a ticket. Instead, he told me he was going to let me off with a warning. “He reached in to hand me what I assumed was my license back … Five N95 masks, from the supply the state had given him for his protection.” Janjua said she has been having fears that supplies of adequate protective equipment would dwindle, putting emergency responders and healthcare workers like her at greater risk. “This complete stranger, who owed me nothing and is more on the front lines than I am, shared his precious masks with me, without my even asking,” Janjua wrote. “We are going to be OK.” Schwartz gave Janjua his masks after noticing “what appeared to be two used N95 masks in Ashraf’s purse that he assumed she was reusing”, the Minnesota State Patrol told <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/30/us/minnesota-trooper-n95-masks-doctor-trnd/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2pmshjw-aJEXrUvO_HehR7fnP3pejsu3L3rB9tOSX4Q8NCzvO3wFliWZU">CNN</a>. In early March, officials from the US Department of Health and Human Services said the country had only about <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/30/3m-scrambles-to-meet-coronavirus-demand-for-face-masks.html">35 million of the 3.5 billion N95 masks needed in the event of a full-blown pandemic.</a> The White House is forecasting that <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-01/coronavirus-update-spain-uk-death-tolls-putin-doc/12108700">between 100,000 and 240,000 people in the US will die</a> from the coronavirus. “As sobering a number as that is, we should be prepared for it,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

News

Why New Zealand needs to continue decisive action to contain coronavirus

With some of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/nzs-decision-to-close-its-borders-will-hurt-tourism-but-its-the-right-thing-to-do-133707">toughest border restrictions</a> and a newly-announced <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/backing-our-health-services-combat-covid-19">NZ$500 million boost to health services</a>, New Zealand is among a small number of countries with a strategy to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. New Zealand is also fortunate in having a brief window of opportunity to refine and roll out an effective response to COVID-19. At the time of writing, there were <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/412042/eight-new-cases-of-coronavirus-in-nz-health-ministry-confirms">20 confirmed cases in New Zealand</a>, all related to overseas travel. There is no evidence of community transmission. This situation could change rapidly as mild cases may not seek medical attention, effectively resulting in “<a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/03/13/science.abb3221">silent transmission</a>”. This process has seen other countries slip into widespread community transmission. New Zealand is vulnerable until our testing rates and contact tracing capacity increases, potentially to the levels used successfully in <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/coronavirus-cases-have-dropped-sharply-south-korea-whats-secret-its-success">South Korea</a>. To guard against this risk New Zealand should consider a short “pulse” (a few weeks) of intense social distancing, including bringing forward the school holidays and temporary closures of most businesses, social meeting places and public transport. Doing this now has the potential to slow undetected chains of transmission while containment measures are being ramped up. If containment is sustained, there may be the chance of avoiding the prolonged lock-downs seen in many countries. New Zealand’s effort to contain COVID-19 will also help <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nzs-tough-coronavirus-travel-rules-are-crucial-to-protecting-lives-at-home-and-across-the-pacific-133779">protect Pacific Island</a> nations. Samoa in particular has a terrible history of devastating pandemics, notably <a href="https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/2018/11/07/a-100-years-ago-today-a-death-ship-from-nz-arrived-in-samoa-a-reminder-of-nzs-responsibilities-to-its-south-pacific-neighbours/">influenza in 1918</a> and more recently measles. Intensive containment can work Like other countries, New Zealand has relied on advice from the World Health Organization, whose pandemic plan, originally developed for influenza, focuses on managing spread <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/new-zealand-influenza-pandemic-plan-framework-action">through successive phases</a>. But <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30567-5/fulltext">COVID-19 is not influenza</a>. Its longer incubation period (median of five to six days, compared to influenza with one to three days) means we have a better chance of case identification and isolation, but probably only if <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(20)30074-7/fulltext">done swiftly and effectively</a>. By introducing border restrictions and maintaining a focus on stamping out chains of transmission, New Zealand has joined countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan that rigorously pursue containment of COVID-19. The strongest evidence that containment works comes from the remarkable success of China in <a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-china-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-report.pdf">reversing a large outbreak</a>. Also relevant are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/opinion/coronavirus-best-response.html">examples of smaller Asian jurisdictions</a>. Planning for the next phase if containment fails New Zealand needs to continue planning for the scenario where containment fails and we move into widespread community transmission. With COVID-19, it seems impossible to spread demand for treatment sufficiently to manage it through <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf">existing health sector capacity</a>. At this point, we would need additional social distancing measures to suppress the epidemic to ensure <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf">New Zealand’s hospital and intensive care capacity</a> are not overwhelmed. We also need to strengthen other critical components of the national response, notably hospital capacity to treat large numbers of critically ill patients with pneumonia while also ensuring high standards of infection control. And it is vital to support vulnerable populations to reduce their risk of infection. As with influenza, the risk of COVID-19 infection is particularly concentrated in older people and those with <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jid/article-abstract/221/2/183/5611323">chronic medical conditions</a>. This makes Māori and Pacific peoples particularly vulnerable – as <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/1/11-0035_article">seen in past pandemics</a>. Support with social distancing, hygiene and home isolation in a way that is consistent with tikanga (Māori customary practices) is particularly important for protecting these groups. Services for community diagnosis and treatment need to be responsive to these populations, as well as those with disabilities and the elderly. Strategic challenges ahead Countries have consistently underestimated the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of its global spread and intensity. They now seem to be diverging markedly in their strategic responses. New Zealand is among those countries and territories committed to containment, but elsewhere, the aim in most high-income countries seems to be to mitigate the effects. Across much of the rest of the world, including the United States, it is unclear whether there this is an agreed goal to guide the national response. The possibility of uncontrolled outbreaks in some regions means countries that pursue containment will face long-term challenges, until a vaccine or treatment is available. All of these approaches have uncertainty and risks and we will only understand the net societal benefits and costs in hindsight. Certainly in New Zealand, the containment approach appears to have widespread public support, particularly across the health sector. Many of us are working to monitor and evaluate it so that we can learn how to better manage such threats in the future, some of which may be far worse as biotechnology advances open up new hazards.<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; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133714/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-baker-169808">Michael Baker</a>, Professor of Public Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-otago-1304">University of Otago</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nick-wilson-133898">Nick Wilson</a>, Professor of Public Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-otago-1304">University of Otago</a> 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/why-new-zealand-needs-to-continue-decisive-action-to-contain-coronavirus-133714">original article</a>.

International Travel

First class mistake: Greta Thunberg caught out on German trains slip-up

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg has been hit with a new wave of criticism online after a recently made speech and social media post were called out online. The new attacks on the 16-year-old teenager came after she shared a picture of her journey home to Sweden after months of travelling the world calling for climate action. Ms Thunberg shared a photograph of herself sitting on the floor of a train, surrounded by a heap of luggage onto her social media accounts. She has kept vocal about her decision not to travel by plane, as they are considered major contributions to climate change. "Traveling on overcrowded trains through Germany. And I'm finally on my way home!" the caption accompanying the image said. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> Traveling on overcrowded trains through Germany. And I’m finally on my way home! <a href="https://t.co/ssfLCPsR8o">pic.twitter.com/ssfLCPsR8o</a> — Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1205969006982815751?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">14 December 2019</a></blockquote> The German railway company she was travelling with, Deutsche Bahn, quickly responded to Ms Thunberg’s post, wishing the young teen a safe journey home. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> Noch schöner wäre es gewesen, wenn Du zusätzlich auch berichtet hättest, wie freundlich und kompetent Du von unserem Team an Deinem Sitzplatz in der Ersten Klasse betreut worden bist. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Greta?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Greta</a> 2/2 — Deutsche Bahn AG (@DB_Presse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DB_Presse/status/1206182674949382145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">15 December 2019</a></blockquote> Deutsche Bahn added the company were working hard on improving connections, trains and seats. However, the German railway company later released a statement saying Ms Thunberg had a first-class seat between Kassel and Hamburg. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> OMG even German Rail companies are now dunking on the fraud that is <a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GretaThunberg</a>! 🤣 <a href="https://t.co/aAQjJJNWAt">pic.twitter.com/aAQjJJNWAt</a> — Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) <a href="https://twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/1206290440523255808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">15 December 2019</a></blockquote> The statement revealed further that other members of her team were sitting in first class from Frankfurt onwards. Deutsche Bahn also took to twitter twice more to speak on Ms Thunberg's train travels through Germany. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> It seems Greta is now telling a few untruths to further her agenda. The German National train service were forced to publicly correct her untruths after they were condemned on twitter because Greta suggested she was forced to sit on the foor, when in fact she was in 1st class. <a href="https://t.co/IYl4g8YYjY">pic.twitter.com/IYl4g8YYjY</a> — The Niall Boylan Show (@Niall_Boylan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Niall_Boylan/status/1206394630738251776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">16 December 2019</a></blockquote> "Dear #Greta, thank you for supporting us railroad workers in the fight against climate change! We were pleased that you were on the ICE 74 with us on Saturday. And with 100 per cent green electricity," the company posted. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> So, young <a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GretaThunberg</a> has apologized for saying something awful. Welcome to life. Forgive her. Hope she thinks twice. Also, I'm doubting these posts are hers alone. Greta has a movement behind her. This all feels sculpted. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Skeptical?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Skeptical</a> Consider this tweet and the reaction. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/THNA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#THNA</a> <a href="https://t.co/Bn6BOAglky">pic.twitter.com/Bn6BOAglky</a> — Mike Opelka (@stuntbrain) <a href="https://twitter.com/stuntbrain/status/1206272060433084417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">15 December 2019</a></blockquote> Ms Thunberg later clarified that while she had initially been sitting on the floor, she later got a seat. The teenager also added that while she did sit on the floor, it was not an attack against the railway line. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> Our train from Basel was taken out of traffic. So we sat on the floor on 2 different trains. After Göttingen I got a seat.This is no problem of course and I never said it was. Overcrowded trains is a great sign because it means the demand for train travel is high! — Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1206203503363985408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">15 December 2019</a></blockquote> "This is no problem of course and I never said it was. Overcrowded trains is a great sign because it means the demand for train travel is high!" she said.

Travel Trouble

“My little Louis”: Kate Middleton shares sweet story about the one-year-old prince

During a recent engagement with the Duchess of Cambridge, she revealed a very sweet story about her son Prince Louis. The one-year-old reportedly “wants to go everywhere with her”, according to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/10483618/kate-middleton-sweetly-reveals-prince-louis-wants-to-come-with-me-everywhere-during-childrens-farm-visit/" target="_blank">The Sun</a>. According to the Daily Mail’s Rebecca English, the Duchess of Cambridge laughed at one boy who was trying to get her attention by saying “me, me”. “Inside the farm’s Elves Enchanted Forest Kate laughed at one boy who held his hand up to get her attention, saying: ‘Me, me.’ “Kate stroked his cheek and said: “You remind me of my little Louis, he keeps saying: “Me, me, me and he wants to come everywhere with me.” Sweet!” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> Inside the farm’s Elves Enchanted Forest Kate laughed at one boy who held his hand up to get her attention, saying: ‘Me, me.’ Kate stroked his cheek and said: “You remind me of my little Louis, he keeps saying: “Me, me, me and he wants to come everywhere with me.” Sweet! <a href="https://t.co/UJC5kX8XaN">https://t.co/UJC5kX8XaN</a> — Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) <a href="https://twitter.com/RE_DailyMail/status/1202256271409385474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">4 December 2019</a></blockquote> The festive visit marked her taking on the Family Action patronage from the Queen, who held it for more than 65 years after Queen Mary passed it onto her in 1953. Kate appeared in good spirits as she joined families and children supported by Family Action for Christmas activities. The families and Kate picked Christmas trees for Family Action pre-schools and chatted as they decorated the trees. Scroll through the gallery to see photos of the Duchess of Cambridge at the event as well as sweet photos of Prince Louis. Photo credits: Instagram @<a rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/kensingtonroyal/?hl=en" target="_blank">kensingtonroyal</a>

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