Guatemala’s Congress has voted in favour of a law which prohibits same-sex marriage. The law will also prohibit the teaching of sexual diversity in schools and raise the prison sentences for women seeking abortion. Abortion is banned in Guatemala except in cases where the woman’s life is at risk. In order to come into force, […]
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Pfizer begins antiviral treatment trials on kids © Pfizer via AP Pfizer on Wednesday announced it has begun the Phase 2 and 3 stages of its study into the use of its antiviral COVID-19 treatment in young children. The oral COVID-19 treatment called Paxlovid is currently one of two authorized SARS-CoV-2 antiviral treatments in the U.S. It is permitted […]
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By Will Fyfe
BBC News
Some military veterans have received cold call approaches about fighting in Ukraine, the BBC understands.
Private militias have reportedly been scouring social media to recruit ex-soldiers.
Ukraine has previously asked for volunteers to join its International Legion.
But the Foreign Office has said anyone who travels unlawfully to Ukraine for combat will be investigated on their return to the UK.
Afghanistan veteran Steve, not his real name, told the BBC Wales Live programme he had received at least 10 approaches, including one which offered him money.
“Whenever there’s conflict the chatter starts up, but there was a different tone to this, a more deliberate tone,” he said.
“There are private militias who’ve been scouring social media for veterans, so these private militias have been trying to recruit.”
Steve said he believed the offer of money wasn’t genuine, but many of the other contacts he’d received were from other veterans looking to organise groups in the UK before travelling to Ukraine.
“I did very well on my second tour of Afghanistan and obviously when you’re over there you make a lot of contacts,” he said.
“The more serious guys are trying to organise it here and go as a group of people that are people you’ve deployed with, served with, people who know each other’s skill set.”
However, Steve said he was increasingly concerned for the welfare of both veterans and civilian volunteers.
“A lot of guys want to go out and help, but some are jumping on the bandwagon and have no military experience. Some are veterans, but they’ve never deployed, so they’ve never been in combat,” he said.
“Veterans with mental health issues, physical issues, and people that go over there that can’t fight, that’s not actually a help that’s more of a hindrance.
“Who are you meeting at the border? Will you get good weapons systems? Will you get medical care? There are too many moving parts.”
Image source, Rab Grady, Despite doing his best to warn others of the dangers, Steve said many veterans would be vulnerable to offers, and the constant talk about going to fight had left his own mind racing.
“I did take myself off down to the beach early hours one morning,” he said.
“I needed to get some de-sensitisation away from radio, away from social media, and to just think it through.
“If I think with my brain and not emotion then that tells me I’ve fought – I’ve been somewhere and done something – and my priority now is my family.”
BBC Wales Live has heard from veteran support staff concerned that more vulnerable members of the community could be tempted by approaches.
Mark, not his real name, is an agricultural worker with no military experience. But he feels he can contribute to Ukraine’s war effort.
“I’ve spoken to a few people, but not many,” the 26-year-old said.
“They’ve all been telling me not to go, that I’m a bit crazy for wanting to go and there are different ways to help, but it feels like the best way to help is by being on the ground.
“I’m ready to book a flight, I’ve just got bits and bobs to get now and then I’ll be over there.”
Kirsty, who works in an Army surplus store, said it had almost sold out of its entire stock of combat helmets and vests.
“We’ve had people ringing up with lists, asking can we donate items. Things like helmets, plate carriers, any proper military protective gear,” she said.
“We’re a very small business, the things people want, we can’t just give them away.”
Robert McCartney, from charity Beyond the Battlefield, said he’d heard of veterans approaching each other about going out to Ukraine.
“Social media is full of it,” he said. “A lot of these guys are saying ‘right, I’m on my way – does anybody want to be there?’
“They see themselves as being able to go out there and recreate themselves as soldiers.
“They are approaching the guys who are in responsible positions, who are in relationships.”
Mr McCartney raised concerns for some vulnerable veterans.
“One of them came in here last week telling me that he was going on Sunday,” he said.
“I was able to talk him out of it. He’s got an eight-week-old baby and that was his biggest worry, so I was able to play on those worries.”
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We advise against travel to Ukraine and anyone who travels to conflict zones to engage in unlawful activity, should expect to be investigated upon their return to the UK.”
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Two more men have been charged over the alleged murder of Mejid Hamzy, who was gunned down outside his south-western Sydney home in October 2020.
Hamzy was the older brother of crime gang Brothers 4 Life founder and convicted killer Bassam Hamzy, who is currently jailed in Goulburn's supermax prison.
This afternoon two men, Bryce Williams, 34, and Christopher O'Brien, 30, were each charged with murder.
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Police will allege in court both men shot Hamzy at Condell Park in 2020.
The pair were also charged with supplying a prohibited drug more than a large commercial quantity and participating in criminal group.
The charges come after police executed search warrants early this morning at a number of homes across Sydney's south-west in East Hills, Panania, Bankstown and Padstow.
Three people were arrested.
A third man, 28, from Bankstown was charged with supplying a prohibited drug more than a large commercial quantity, two counts of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime and participating criminal group.
Police will allege in court the man supplied methylamphetamine on an ongoing basis between October last year and March.
All three men were refused bail to appear at Bankstown Local Court.
Hamzy's murder sparked a tit-for-tat gangland war between the Hamzy and Alameddine families which led to seven murders across Sydney.
However, today police revealed they would allege the execution was ordered by a high-ranking Comanchero bikie living overseas.
"(The killing) was sanctioned at the highest level of organised crime… the motivation for this murder relates to the theft of the large importation of narcotics that entered this country," Detective Superintendent Grant Taylor said.
Hamzy's mother Lola is also the mother of Bassam Hamzy and Ghassan Amoun, who was executed at Wentworthville in January.
"I am happy in a way, but I also lost in the end," she said after the arrests.
In July last year, police charged two other men – aged 38 and 44 – in relation to Hamzy's murder.
They both remain before the courts.
Police were called to Hamzy's home in Condell Park just after he was gunned down.
The 44-year-old was found with multiple gunshot wounds.
Despite the efforts of emergency services, he died at the scene.
Bassam Hamzy found out about his brother's death while watching the news in prison.
COVID-19 cases in New South Wales could double within weeks as a sub-variant of the Omicron strain sweeps across the state, according to new data.
The forecasted rise in cases comes after NSW recorded 16,288 new cases today, marking a significant increase from the 8782 daily cases recorded on Sunday.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told a NSW budget estimates hearing that preliminary data from the University of NSW has indicated COVID-19 cases could "more than double" within six weeks.
LIVE UPDATES: Jump in NSW coronavirus cases
He said the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron, which is believed to be more infectious than the BA.1 lineage, was becoming the dominant Omicron variant in the community.
"It's very preliminary and we need to do a lot more digging," Mr Hazzard said.
"But we are concerned at this point that BA.2 is amongst us and overtaking BA.1."
BA.2 has been known to be in Australia since late January.
Mr Hazzard said he was concerned about the state's low booster rate, which is at around 60 per cent.
READ MORE: Flood clean-ups underway after devastating deluge
"We're still sitting way off the booster doses that we need through the community," Mr Hazzard said.
"While the community has gone to sleep on the virus, the virus hasn't gone to sleep on the community.
"The virus is still out there and it can wreak havoc if we don't go and get our boosters fast."
Today just four COVID-19 related deaths were recorded in the state, compared to nine yesterday, and hospitalisations are also down.
There are 991 COVID-19 patients in hospital – down from more than 1000 at the start of the week, and 39 in intensive care.
Numbers are still far below the peak of the Omicron wave earlier this year.
READ MORE: What we know about BA.2 variant, the 'stealth' version of Omicron
Queensland has recorded 4571 new COVID-19 cases, and five deaths.
There are 252 people in hospital with the virus, 17 in ICU.
In the state 91.9 per cent of people are fully vaccinated.
https://twitter.com/qldhealth/status/1501724525053956099
The increase in cases has been steadier in Victoria, but numbers are rising there too.
The state recorded 7779 new COVID-19 cases today, up from 5046 on Sunday after several daily increases.
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Eight further deaths were recorded today.
Like NSW, Victoria's hospitalisations are falling, with 188 patients currently, compared to 219 on Sunday.
For years, Rodney Galvin's family believed he had simply left them to start a new life.
In April 1987, the 21-year-old walked out his parents' front door on Rice Street in Ballarat. He has not been seen or heard from since.
Thinking Mr Galvin had made a choice, his family did not report him missing.
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However, in 1995, police received an anonymous tip-off from a member of the public about Mr Galvin's disappearance.
The person made it clear that foul play was involved and that there were people in the community with information about what happened to him and why.
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Despite a long-running investigation, Victoria Police say they have been unable to find any trace of Mr Galvin or track his movements on the night he disappeared.
A keen sportsman, Mr Galvin was a member of several local sports clubs, including the Ballarat East Football Club, Golden Point Football Club, Miners Ice Hockey Club, Millbrook/Black Hill Cricket Club and Lucas Cricket Club.
Detective Acting Inspector Tony Combridge from the Missing Persons Squad said police believed Mr Galvin was no longer alive, but they wanted to help bring closure to his family.
"While it has been well over three decades, police still believe there will be people out there who can help us solve the mystery of what happened to Rodney," Acting Inspector Tony Combridge said.
"When he walked out the door that night, his family would never have known it would be the last time they would see him.
"Sadly, they have lived all this time without answers as to what has happened to Rodney.
"Investigators strongly believe that there are still people out there who know what happened to Rodney, why and who was responsible.
"It is our belief that he met with foul play, but we are really calling on those people with any knowledge of the matter to come forward and help us fill in the gaps."
New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet today provided an update on the state's flood crisis from the Northern Rivers, where many residents remain in dire situations.
Mr Perrottet said there are more than 1200 people currently in temporary emergency accommodation in the region.
There have been 9200 assessments of houses, and of those, 5500 are damaged with 2834 not habitable.
LIVE UPDATES: Huge jump in NSW COVID-19 numbers
Mr Perrottet announced an additional funding package for people unable to live in their homes.
The government will provide 16 weeks of rental support in the form of $6000 for single person households and more than $18,000 for families.
He said the government will bring in motorhomes and look into longer-term housing solutions.
It comes as some Western Sydney residents have today been forced to flee their homes in the face of rising floodwaters.
Many are facing a long wait to begin the clean-up as flash-flooding is yet to ease.
Floodwaters peaked yesterday with the Hawkesbury River reaching 13.8 metres, higher than the level of the 2021 disaster.
Before 6am today it had subsided to 13.2 metres, leaving hundreds of residents still stranded away from their homes.
NSW SES Assistant Commissioner Nicole Hogan said the main areas of concern included the Hawkesbury-Nepean area and the Lower Hunter, with crews focusing on a number of hard-hit communities, including Singleton and Windsor.
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https://twitter.com/BOM_NSW/status/1501649327093129226
The suburbs are set to be hampered with major flash-flooding for the next 24 to 48 hours.
"We are not expecting those floodwaters to recede any time soon in some of those communities, and at this stage, we have a number of evacuation orders out," she told Today.
"We're urging people who are under evacuation orders to really just stay away from those floodwaters because, even though it appears the rain has eased, those floodwaters most certainly not have yet and they have not yet begun to recede."
In the past 24 hours, NSW SES received 1000 requests for assistance.
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Despite a hopeful forecast of sunny skies today, it's expected residents in the Hawkesbury and Nepean regions will not be able to get back home before the weekend.
Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino said flash-flooding in New South Wales and Queensland was the result of a "prolonged rain event" caused by a few different weather systems.
"There were two upper-level lows moving over eastern Australia and they were drawing in huge amounts of moist infrastructure from the Tasman and Coral seas and it was held by a high-pressure system over New Zealand," he told Today.
"This is a very unique weather pattern that lasted for two weeks and kept dumping rain over the eastern seaboard."
The highest rainfall total over the past two weeks reached in excess of 2.5 metres over South-East Queensland, Mr Domensino said.
More than a metre of rain saturated northern NSW, with 775mm falling in just one day – the highest daily rainfall total anywhere in the state on record.
The weather system then moved further south and hammered Sydney.
Sydney broke records with 617mm recorded over 16 days, as well as Brisbane with 677mm of rainfall over just three days.
The death toll from the NSW floods rose to eight yesterday after police confirmed the body of a delivery driver was found on Tuesday night.
The 50-year-old man's truck was found submerged in floodwaters at Greendale in Sydney's west.
His body was discovered at about 9pm on Tuesday.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been slammed for the federal government's flood relief response, with residents in northern NSW saying some regions had been left out.
Mr Morrison yesterday declared the east coast flood crisis a national emergency, during a visit to Lismore.
But residents of flood-hit areas such as Mullumbimby, the Tweed Shire, and Murwillumbah said they've been left out in the cold.
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Richmond MP Justine Elliot said the response had been insulting to the region.
"We've got people here now who have no homes, they have no food, they have no money. We desperately need assistance right here," Ms Elliot said.
"We need Scott Morrison and the NSW Premier to start acting and help our region."
In Queensland, anger towards insurance companies is mounting with flood-affected residents accusing assessors of long delays in inspecting damaged homes.
More than 70,000 claims worth a billion dollars altogether have been lodged so far.
The state government has flagged the possibility of subsidies for people looking to flood-proof their homes.
READ MORE: Full list of NSW schools closed and areas under evacuation orders
The body of cricket legend Shane Warne will land in Australia tonight, almost a week after his shock death in Thailand.
After some delays, the body of the 52-year-old is being flown back to Melbourne in a private jet.
The privately funded charter flight is due to land at Essendon Airport around 8.30pm, where his family will be waiting.
READ MORE: Thousands to farewell Shane Warne at MCG state funeral
Thai police escorted the ambulance carrying his casket from the hospital to the airport in Bangkok.
The casket was seen covered in an Australian flag.
Following an autopsy earlier this week, Thai authorities confirmed Warne had died of natural causes, following a suspected heart attack at a holiday villa on the island of Koh Samui last Friday.
A state funeral will be held to farewell the sporting great at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 30.
It is likely to be held at twilight to allow more people to attend.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed that as many people as possible would be allowed to attend.
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"There will be no limits on crowds and that sort of stuff," he said.
"It will be a very big event, it will be a celebration of his life as it should be."
It is expected several of Warne's celebrity mates will be in attendance, including Coldplay's Chris Martin and singer Ed Sheeran.
A private ceremony involving family and loved ones could take place as early as next week.
A builder sacked by text message has been awarded $29,000 in lost wages and compensation after his boss blamed poor reception for not phoning him with the news.Paul Woods was employed as a builder and handyman by Pahiatua based…
A Brisbane woman charged with fraud for paying another woman to get the COVID-19 vaccine on her behalf has been fined $2000 after facing court in south-east Queensland today.
Chloe Kavanagh, from Redcliffe, was a casual teacher working for Education Queensland who faced losing her job when the vaccine mandate came into effect last year.
Using an online classified site, she met another woman willing to get the vaccine in her place in exchange for $1000.
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The plan came unstuck at the Kippa Ring Vaccination Hub in December when the woman pretending to be Ms Kavanagh was unable to pronounce her surname or recall her date of birth without referring to the drivers licence.
Turned away, the pair were successful later that day, obtaining a vaccination at a pharmacy in a nearby shopping centre.
Reading from a psychological report tendered to the court, Magistrate Mark Bucknall noted Ms Kavanagh had formed an obsession with the pandemic, adding "(people) are entitled to their views, but they're not entitled to undermine the public health directives."
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Ms Kavanagh's defence lawyer told the court she had a genuine fear the COVID-19 vaccine could kill her, but her doctor had declined to give her a medical exemption.
But the magistrate said the mandate for teachers had been based upon health advice.
"These are serious and concerning charges that undermine the whole public health policy… to protect not only people working in the system but children," Magistrate Bucknall said.
The other woman involved faced court for her role earlier this year.
Ms Kavanagh was fined $2000 with no conviction recorded.
