Tag Archives: oceania

Residents in tears after looting in flood-hit Melbourne

A Maribyrnong resident has broken down in tears after discovering his flood-hit Melbourne property had been burgled early this morning.

A looter was reportedly seen fleeing the property on Burton Crescent, stealing thousands of dollars' worth of personal items, including a power tool, from Faraj Ghatas and his wife.

"I say the situation must be so bad to rob from us? Are they human? No," he said.

READ MORE: 'Too late to leave': Victorian homes under threat as floodwaters surge

Ghatas has lost nearly 30 years of memories after floodwaters inundated his home on Friday morning.

"Our house is completely damaged, my garage, my garden, my house is gone," he said.

"Twenty-seven years in this house, so many memories.

"We remember everything, so many toys, so many photos, so many memories and so many Christmases.

"What type of person does this?"

READ MORE: 'Frightened, wet and exhausted' native animals filmed desperately fleeing floodwaters

Meanwhile, suspected looters were nearly caught in the act by a camera crew early this morning.

Today weather presenter Tim Davies and his camera crew arrived at the corner of Oakland Street and Burton Crescent, where a "staggering" amount of possessions had been left behind by residents forced to flee the floods.

Davies said he saw three men in a navy blue Ford Territory, wearing face masks and hoodies, "fly out of the homes" as soon as he saw the news crew arrive.

"These guys got out of here quick-sticks because they knew we were media and here to tell the story and we had cameras to show what's happening at the moment," Davies said.

"But these guys are obviously up to no good, couldn't get out of here fast enough.

"Sickening sight to see people doing that sort of thing here in the streets of Melbourne early this morning with these residents already going through so much.

"As I said, we are in contact with Victoria Police at the moment to give them all the details we can about what we have just witnessed here."

READ MORE: ADF choppers to be sent in to help with Victorian evacuations

Homeowner Darren told The Age that the thieves took the few personal items that had avoided flood damage, including a laptop, iPads and an e-bike.

"I can't believe humanity can be so low. They've kicked us when we're already down," he said.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the behaviour of some people were extremely disappointing.

"During these very difficult times, we see the best of the Victorian spirit," he said.

"People looking out for each other. People looking out for each other. People doing quite extraordinary things.

"And then we see some other behaviour that is really, really poor."

Emergencies Minister Murray Watt labelled the actions of looters as "un-Australian".

"I met people in the last couple of days who have lost everything, and are really traumatised," he said.

"So, to have looting happen on top of that is completely unacceptable, and I'm sure that the police are doing everything they can to get that under control."

Victoria Police arrived at the home shortly after they were notified and have made contact with the owner, who was not home at the time.

READ MORE: Victorians impacted by floodwaters eligible for emergency payments

It comes as emergency call takers dealing with flood victims in the early hours of Sunday became victims of crime when their cars were broken into outside their workplace in Ballarat.

Police have confirmed about 15 cars were broken into at the carpark on Enterprise Grove in Mount Helen about 2am.

Windows were smashed before the vehicles were ransacked.

It is unknown what was stolen.

Police said they were investigating possible links to other thefts from cars in the Warrenheip and Mount Helen areas over the weekend.

Victorian Ambulance Union Secretary Danny Hill has taken to Twitter to slam the break-ins as "disgusting behaviour".

Former West Australian cop guilty of drugging and raping 13 women

A former West Australian cop has been found guilty of drugging and raping 13 women during his time as a serving officer.

It took the jury six hours to find Adrian Trevor Moore guilty of all 87 charges relating to the pattern of abuse, which spanned over a decade. 

The five-week trial heard from all 13 victims and the court was played videos Moore recorded of his vile and degrading acts – which included bestiality.

READ MORE: Former NRL star Brett Finch 'disgusted' by his child abuse messages

Many were unaware of what Moore had done to them.

Judge Alan Troy told the court he "greatly regretted" the jury had to see such graphic and confronting imagery, but it was "utterly unavoidable".

He said Moore's crimes "involve a degree of sadism that is unprecedented in my experience".

The 52-year-old will be sentenced in December.

https://twitter.com/lourennie9/status/1581869839940874240

Explosions rock Kyiv a week after Russian strikes

Several loud explosions rocked the centre of the Ukrainian capital Monday, a week after Russia orchestrated a massive, coordinated air strike across the country.

Kyiv city mayor Vitaliy Klichko said the central Shevchenko district of the capital had been hit, and urged residents to take shelter.

No further details were immediately known.

READ MORE: Victorian homes under threat as floodwaters surge

Multiple explosions rocked central Kyiv. Ukraine said kamikaze drones were responsible.

The explosions came from the same central Kyiv district where a week ago a missile struck a children's playground and intersection near the Kyiv National University's main buildings.

Social media posts showed a fire in the area of the apparently strike, with black smoke rising into the early morning light.

According to the BBC, Andriy Yermak, head of Zelenskyy's office, wrote on the social media platform Telegram that residential buildings had been badly damaged as a result of the strikes, which he says were carried out by so-called kamikaze drones.

Russian forces struck Kyiv with Iranian Shahed drones, wrote Andrii Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president's office, in a post on the Telegram social media site.

Russia has repeatedly been using the so-called suicide drones in recent weeks to target urban centres and infrastructure, including power stations.

READ MORE: NATO and Russia to hold nuclear exercises

Police block the perimeter at the scene of Russian shelling in Kyiv on Monday, October 17.

The strike on Kyiv comes as fighting has intensified in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in recent days, as well as the continued Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south near Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last night in his evening address that there was heavy fighting around the cities of Bakhmut and Soledar in the Donetsk region.

The Donetsk and Luhansk regions make up the bulk of the industrial east known as the Donbas, and were two of four regions annexed by Russia in September in defiance of international law.

On Sunday, the Russian-backed regime in the Donetsk region said Ukraine had shelled its central administrative building in a direct hit.

No casualties were reported.

Cancer symptoms missed by GPs for two years before woman's death

Doctors have been ordered to apologise to the family of a New Zealand woman who died after multiple GPs at different medical facilities missed opportunities to diagnose her with colorectal cancer.

The woman visited multiple GPs on 25 separate occasions in a single year seeking treatment, yet was not diagnosed until she was overseas.

On Monday, a report released by New Zealand's Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Deborah James found one GP in breach of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights for failures in its care of the woman, referred to as Mrs A.

READ MORE: Thousands more Victorian homes under threat as floodwaters surge

sinus tumour surgery

In 2016, Mrs A, who was in her 20s, first visited the medical centre where she was treated for anaemia.

Mrs A visited the centre a further three times between 2016 and 2017, continuing to suffer from low iron.

In 2018, Mrs A returned to the medical centre.

This was the first of 22 appointments, where she would be seen by multiple doctors, and nurses.

Throughout 2018, she continued to receive iron injections, however, no further efforts were made to investigate the cause of the anaemia.

Fifteen months after she first went to the medical centre, Mrs A presented to A&E complaining of back and abdominal pain.

A few months later, Mrs A returned to A&E via an ambulance with abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea.

READ MORE: Serial killer suspect arrested while 'hunting'

She visited A&E for a third and final time with flu-like illness and haemorrhoids – at the time she described her pain as being "severe".

Throughout the year Mrs A would continue to be seen by two doctors, Dr C and Dr D, at the medical centre for symptoms including persistent anaemia, abdominal and pelvic pain, and diarrhoea.

On her final visit, Dr C referred her for a non-urgent ultrasound to investigate her chronic abdominal pain.

The ultrasound was booked outside of the four-week timeframe requested.

But, while overseas in 2018, Mrs A was admitted to a hospital with sudden abdominal pain, and diagnosed with stage four terminal cancer.

Due to the inoperable and advanced nature of Mrs A's cancer, she was discharged into hospice care, where she died a few weeks later.

James acknowledged "the complexity and chronicity of the woman's medical conditions" made it a "difficult background upon which to provide care and diagnosis".

But she was critical Dr C did not investigate the cause of Mrs A's persistent and unexplained anaemia more thoroughly and said opportunities to diagnose the cancer several months earlier had been missed.

She was also critical Dr D had not brought the results of the blood test to the attention of the first GP.

READ MORE: 'More rain on the way': Looming weather system stokes flood fears

However, as the majority of the care provided by Dr D was appropriate she was not found in breach of the Code.

"I consider the deficiencies in the first doctor's care were individual failures, and I am also critical of the lack of clarity as to which GP had the primary responsibility for the woman's care."

James noted the need for providers to use critical thinking to reassess possible diagnoses when patients repeatedly presented with persistent and significant symptoms that failed to respond to treatment.

She recommended both GPs provide written apologies to the woman's whānau, or extended family.

She also recommended both GPs review the health pathways guidance on iron deficiency and undertake an audit of patients treated in the last 12 months.

This story originally appeared on Stuff and has been reproduced with permission. 

Scott Morrison signs with international speaking group

Former prime minister Scott Morrison has signed with a global talent group that charges up to $100,000 for speaking assignments.

Morrison has joined the US-based Worldwide Speakers Group (WWSG), the company announced.

"After extensive research and due diligence, I am excited to be joining Worldwide Speakers Group who will help facilitate my growing relationships within the private sector," Morrison said in a media release.

READ MORE: Victorian homes under threat as floodwaters surge

Scott Morrison secretly swore himself into various ministries.

"WWSG's roster of distinguished thought leaders, their truly global customer base, and personal attention have already made our relationship special."

The former PM, now a Coalition backbencher, will join other former politicians, medical experts, celebrities and business figures who WWSG describe as "global thought leaders".

They include former US vice president Mike Pence, former US defence secretary Mark Esper, famed photographer Annie Leibovitz and medical expert Sanjay Gupta.

WWSG principal Dan Sims described Morrison as "a respected leader in Australia, throughout the APAC region and around the world," in a statement.

Morrison's Coalition government was defeated in the May election by Labor, losing 19 seats.

READ MORE: NATO and Russia to hold nuclear exercises

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Florida chapter of the Federalist Society's annual meeting.

He remained as MP for the NSW seat of Cook but hit the headlines again in August when it was revealed that Morrison had secretly appointed himself to five ministerial roles during the pandemic while prime minister.

What became known as the secret portfolio scandal is now the subject of an independent inquiry set up by the federal government.

It will report its findings by November 25.