YouTube a new battle for schools
By Marcus Timothy,WNS Auckland CorrespondentAUCKLAND - Students from some of New Zealand's top colleges have posted horrific videos of school yard violence and bullying on the internet. The finding comes just days after a homemade DVD surfaced in Australia showed a group of 12 youths surrounding a 17-year-old girl with a mild developmental delay, bullying her, urinating on her and setting her hair alight.The school yard videos taken in New Zealand show two Tauranga Boys' College students fighting.Another student filmed it and then put it on YouTube for the world to see."It shows an episode in our playground that was unsatisfactory, that I regret occurred, that I'm embarrassed about...but it was dealt with," says principal Graham Young. But long after the fight ended the evidence lingered. YouTube removed the video on Friday afternoon, but for a month thousands watched it. Another school, Auckland Grammar, features in a number of clips. The principal says the fights were simulated and the school has disciplined those students involved. But schoolyard battles are popular on the internet and there is little schools or the victims can do. "The victim has the opportunity to take a civil action for breach of privacy but the cost of civil actions would probably be prohibitive," says Netsafe spokesperson Martin Cocker.
YouTube's guidelines say footage of real violence is not allowed and the company will remove it. But with about 70,000 new videos added daily the site's controllers cannot keep up. And without the capacity of YouTube to deal with what is now a worrying global craze, students wanting a bit of notoriety could up the ante."There's a danger is that people in their quest for internet fame film more and more extreme acts," says Cocker. While schools can take steps such as banning cell phones, they cannot control what happens outside the front gates. They are already struggling to cope with mobile phones, text bullying, and websites like ratemyteacher.com, and YouTube is yet another technological trial for schools to overcome.
Australia Muslim cleric suspended
By Samson Zahn,WNS Australia Senior CorrespondentSYDNEY - Australia's top Muslim cleric has been barred from preaching for up to three months, after comparing immodestly dressed women to "uncovered meat". Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali's comments, suggesting that women who did not wear a headscarf attracted sexual assault, have caused a storm of protest. Sydney's mosque association said the suspension would give the cleric time to consider the impact of his words. But Australian Premier John Howard said the action was insufficient. Many people - including some Muslim leaders - have called for the cleric to be dismissed from office. Sheikh Hilali sparked more controversy on Friday when, asked by reporters if he would resign, he responded: "After we clean the world of the White House first." His comments, made outside his mosque in Sydney after Friday prayers, prompted a round of applause from supporters. Sheikh Hilali's comments about women's dress were delivered in a sermon to some 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But it was not until they were published in The Australian newspaper on Thursday that a wave of anger was unleashed.
"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside... and the cats come and eat it... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat?" Sheikh Hilali is quoted as asking during the sermon. The uncovered meat is the problem, he went on to say. "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab [headscarf], no problem would have occurred," he added. Sheikh Hilali has since apologised for his comments, which he said had been misinterpreted and taken out of context. Muslim leaders decided to accept his apology and said that no action would be taken against the cleric.
Australian cleric in dress furore
By Samson Zahn,WNS Australia Senior CorrespondentSYDNEY - Australia's most senior Muslim cleric has prompted an uproar by saying that some women are attracting sexual assault by the way they dress. Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali said women who did not wear a hijab (head dress) were like "uncovered meat". But he has now apologised for any offence caused by his comments, The Australian newspaper reports. Leading Muslim women condemned the comments and PM John Howard said the remarks were "appalling". "The idea that women are to blame for rapes is preposterous," Mr Howard told reporters. In a statement released on Thursday, Sheikh Hilali said he had been quoting another, unnamed, source and did not mean his words to condone rape. "I unreservedly apologise to any woman who is offended by my comments. I had only intended to protect women's honour," the statement published in The Australian said. "Women in our Australian society have the freedom and the right to dress as they choose. "Whether a man endorses or not a particular form of dress, any form of harassment of women is unacceptable." A spokesman for Sheikh Hilali earlier said the quote had been taken out of context and referred not to sexual assault, but to sexual infidelity. The sermon was targeted against men and women who engaged in extra-marital sex and did so through alluring types of clothes, he said.
The leader of Australia's largest Islamic organisation has threatened to ban the cleric from teaching at Lakemba Mosque in Western Sydney. Tom Zreika, president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, which owns the mosque, said he condemned Sheikh Hilali's words. "The board [of the LMA] has unlimited powers in respect of his teachings in the mosque. We can do anything that's required to prevent him from teaching in our mosque. If you haven't got the backing of Australia's largest and most established Islamic organisation then you are out on a limb," he is quoted as saying in The Australian. But Mr Zreika said the LMA had yet to fully review the contents of the sermon and Sheik Hilali should be offered the benefit of the doubt until any offence had been proved. A copy of the cleric's comments delivered in a sermon to some 500 worshippers in Sydney last month during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was initially published in The Australian.
Solomons mission to be reviewed
By Howart Dan,WNS Australia Bureau ChiefNADI - Leaders of the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum have agreed to review the operations of an Australian-led security force in the Solomon Islands. The move came as a result of complaints from Solomons leader Manasseh Sogavare. Ahead of the regional meeting, Mr Sogavare had threatened to expel the peace mission after Australian police took part in a raid on his office. The raid was in connection with a child sex abuse investigation concerning one of his ministers.Branding Australia as a regional bully, Manasseh Sogavare had demanded major reforms to the regional assistance mission, which was sent to the Solomon Islands in 2003 to put an end to years of communal violence. Angry over the office raid last week, Mr Sogavare wanted to weaken Australia's involvement in the 700-strong force, and hand more oversight to other members of the Pacific Islands Forum. Instead he has been granted a relatively small concession, with the forum agreeing to appoint a task force to review the peace mission but not to challenge Australia's control. Essentially it is a diplomatic fudge designed to defuse this acrimonious row.
The Australian government regards the security force in the Solomon Islands as crucial to its region-wide strategy of stamping out corruption, promoting good democratic governance and preventing nations from becoming failed states. But close neighbours like Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands deeply resent this approach, and have accused Canberra of arrogance and of acting like a colonial power.
Trouble brews in Pacific paradise
By Howart Dan,WNS Australia Bureau ChiefNADI - Swaying palm trees, flower-patterned shirts, white sands and exotic cocktails: Australian Prime Minister John Howard is experiencing all four this week as Pacific leaders meet for a regional summit in Fiji. But his most lasting memory of the trip may be of the frigid cold front coming from leaders of the Solomons, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Even if the setting is pure paradise, the outcome could be anything but. The Pacific Islands Forum comes at a particularly inauspicious time in Canberra's relations with its Melanesian neighbours.
At the heart of this diplomatic turmoil is the Julian Moti affair: Australia's so far thwarted attempts to extradite the Solomon Islands attorney general over child sex abuse allegations from the late-1990s. Much to Canberra's anger and displeasure, Australian-born Mr Moti escaped extradition by seeking refuge in the Solomons embassy in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. Then he was spirited away to a remote Solomons airport onboard a clandestine Papua New Guinea military flight. Canberra punished PNG by suspending ministerial contacts. But its greatest ire has been directed towards Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, a close friend and staunch supporter of Mr Moti.
Last Friday, Australian police officers took part in a raid on the offices of Mr Sogavare, purportedly to seize a fax machine which might throw more light on the Moti affair. To the Solomons, the raid represented a blatant assault on its sovereignty. Calling the raid "provocative and totally unnecessary", Mr Sogavare retaliated by threatening to oust the Australian-led peace mission which has provided much-needed stability and security since 2003. Australia has spent about A$800m (US$600m) in the Solomons since 2003, but is now threatening to pull the plug on its economic aid. Ahead of the summit, Mr Howard delivered a blunt warning: "If you want Australian aid, you've got to reduce corruption. If you want Australian aid, you've got to improve governance." The Moti affair has become emblematic of a much wider struggle between the Solomon Islands and Australia. The Sogavare government regards the Howard government as a regional bully, whose language and actions have a decidedly colonial feel.
Save water - 'sing short songs'
By Margaret Hilda,WNS Sydney CorrespondentSYDNEY - Australians have been told to stop singing in the shower in an attempt to save electricity and water. Energy Australia, one of the country's leading power suppliers, has conducted research which showed the average shower length is seven minutes. For Australians who like to begin each day by belting out their favourite song under a steady stream of hot water, this study will come as jolting news.
Energy Australia wants customers to choose shorter songs. Long showers are also soaking up electricity like a sponge, the company says. Other shower time activities are also being frowned upon - shaving, brushing one's teeth, playing with toys, even day-dreaming. The emphatic message from Energy Australia is: "Don't use the shower, use the sink." The company is distributing 500,000 shower timers in the Sydney area to remind consumers to be more energy efficient and presumably in the hope that shower-time singers will choose shorter songs.
Australia faces showdown with Pacific neighbours at summit
By Robert Hudson,WNS Canberra CorrespondentCANBERRA - Australian Prime Minister John Howard can expect a chilly reception from his Pacific Island neighbours despite the tropical surroundings at a regional summit in Fiji this week. Attempts to increase regional integration between Australia, New Zealand and 14 Pacific island members of the Pacific Island Forum are likely to be overshadowed by a crisis in relations between Australia and its neighbours Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The atmosphere at the forum at a luxury resort near Fiji's tourism capital Nadi has been made more tense after renewed threats by outspoken Fijian military commander Voreqe Bainimarama to force Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's government to step down. Australia's attempts since the end of last month to extradite newly appointed Solomons Attorney-General Julian Moti on child sex charges have been frustrated by both the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea in a bizarre chain of events. Australia provides around 300 million Australian dollars (US$225 million) a year to Papua New Guinea and has spent around 800 million dollars in the Solomon Islands since it led an armed intervention in mid-2003 to end five years of civil strife. Howard is frustrated that despite the lavish aid, both countries are thumbing their nose at Canberra and he is going to Nadi with a blunt message. "If you want Australian aid, you've got to reduce corruption. If you want Australian aid, you've got to improve governance," Howard said last week. The relationship between Australia and the Solomon Islands soured after Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare expelled Canberra's ambassador last month for alleged meddling in local politics. But New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has defended Howard from charges of having a "colonialist" attitude to his Pacific island neighbours. "Australia has pretty firm views, as we do, about democracy and governance and so on, and in the Solomon Islands those views haven't been welcomed by the new administration. "So I do feel there's been quite a lot of maligning of Australia's intentions around that." The future of RAMSI, which was created under the forum and is widely recognised as having done a good job in restoring order in the Solomon Islands, is sure to be on the agenda during the forum Tuesday and Wednesday.
NZ vicar in 'knickers-run' rescue
By Marcus Timothy,WNS Auckland CorrespondentAUCKLAND - A New Zealand clergyman has been dubbed the "knicker-vicar" for coming to the aid of women in his town who found themselves with a brief problem. Concern was raised when the only clothing shop in the small North Island town of Inglewood stopped selling women's underwear. So the Reverend Gary Husband proposed starting a regular "knickers-run" to the nearby city of New Plymouth. "We get all the essentials here - apart from the ladies' essentials," he said.
The first run is planned before Christmas and, if successful, could be become a regular monthly event, he added. He said he came up with the idea after the problem was brought to his attention by women in his congregation. "Someone came up with the point that it was a bit difficult that ladies' essentials were not able to be bought in Inglewood," he told National Radio. "So we're going to have what's been called a knickers run." Volunteers will take anyone without transport the 20km (12 miles) from Inglewood to New Plymouth. Rev Husband said the scheme was open to all, regardless of faith. "This is for the community... the response has been positive, we've had one (other) denomination get in touch with us, so it's spreading."
Solomon Islands PM offices raided
By Samson Zahn,WNS Australia Senior CorrespondentSYDNEY - Australian peacekeepers in the Solomon Islands have raided the office of the country's prime minister looking for evidence in a controversial sex case. Witnesses say police officers forced their way in after kicking down a door, and seized a fax machine. The Solomons government is accused by Australia of harbouring a prominent lawyer wanted on child abuse charges. The raid is likely to further strain relations between Australia and its tiny South Pacific neighbour.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare was not in his office during the raid, but one of his ministers was and said the police used "excessive force". Officers have insisted they were simply executing a legitimate search warrant. Both governments have been locked in a dispute over Julian Moti, an Australian lawyer suspected of child abuse who was recently appointed attorney-general by Mr Sogavare. The Solomon Islands is refusing to hand him over.
Mr Moti was arrested earlier this month on a trip to Papua New Guinea. He managed to escape back to the Solomon Islands before he could be extradited to Australia. Investigators believe the fugitive lawyer may have been helped to flee by senior members of the Solomon Islands government in the capital Honiara. International peacekeepers were sent to Honiara in April when violent disturbances again threatened the country's stability after years of ethnic fighting. Mr Sogavare has threatened to expel Australian forces during this diplomatic stand-off.
Australia drought sparks suicides
By Howart Den,WNS Australia Bureau ChiefSYDNEY - Australia's severe drought has led to an alarming rise in the number of suicides among farmers. One farmer takes his life every four days, according to the national mental health body Beyond Blue. The group has called for psychologists to tour agricultural areas to combat anxiety, stress and depression. Earlier this week, PM John Howard tried to address the growing problem of rural poverty by announcing a $263m aid package for farmers. With the drought now in its sixth year, Australia's big dry is the worst in over a century. Farmers have been hardest hit, forced to make a living sometimes in dustbowl conditions, raising emaciated cattle. With no prospect of significant rainfall before the New Year, the situation has reached crisis point and hope is as scarce as rainfall. Many farmers are being forced to sell up, leaving land which often their families have worked on for generations. The suicide rate among farmers is already twice the national average. Now, Beyond Blue has produced new figures showing that one farmer commits suicide in the country every four days. It also estimates that more than 300,000 rural Australians experience depression each year, but only a small number seek help. Australian farmers have long been known for their toughness and resilience, the very qualities which make them more reluctant to acknowledge any psychological problems. Loneliness, family breakdown and alcohol abuse are all common in rural communities. But given their geographic isolation, there is very limited access to counselling and help.
Sex abuse trial resumes
By Marcus Timothy,WNS Auckland CorrespondentAUCKLAND - No reason has been given as to why the trial of a former Salvation Army captain on historical sexual abuse charges was adjourned.John Gainsford is being tried in Timaru on sexual abuse charges from the time he worked at the Bramwell Booth Salvation Army Children's Home in the 1970s.Gainsford, 69, pleaded guilty to four charges, including three of indecently assaulting girls under 12, and is facing a further 23 charges involving seven complainants.
The trial began on Monday and was adjourned on Tuesday. It restarted on Wednesday morning. A female complainant has been giving evidence that Gainsford raped her during her time in the home. The court has been told Gainsford has decided to give evidence during the trial.
Bindi Irwin gets own wildlife show
By Margaret Hilda,WNS Sydney CorrespondentSYDNEY - Bindi Irwin, the 8-year-old daughter of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, will star in a wildlife series to air on the Discovery Kids network early next year. The show's working title: "Bindi, The Jungle Girl."Her father, animal lover and conservationist Steve Irwin, died from the poisonous jab of a stingray September 4. Besides Bindi, he left behind her mother, Terri, and 2-year-old brother, Bob.
The show, now in the early stages of production, was originally "going to be a father-daughter thing," starring the nature-loving duo, Discovery publicist Annie Howell told the Associated Press on Monday. "Steve and Bindi were very enthusiastic about doing the show together." Irwin will appear with Bindi in scenes filmed before his death, his manager, John Stainton, said in an interview on People magazine's Web site."Some people think that I would be afraid of them, but I'm never ever afraid of an animal," Bindi said in an interview Monday on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's "Australian Story. I just get excited and some that are dangerous I just think, 'Oooh! What's going to happen?' and things like that."
By Marcus Timothy,
