Tag Archives: oceania

Police still seeking unedited video of nurses making anti-Israeli threats

Police say they are yet to receive the unedited version of the video in which two NSW Health nurses appear to brag about killing Israeli patients.

Earlier today, Israeli influencer Max Veifer published what he says is the full footage, but NSW Police said this afternoon nothing had been directly provided to them.

Some media reported today that Veifer had been unable to send police the footage because the influencer had not been given the correct email details.

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Two NSW Health workers have been stood down from Bankstown Hospital and police are investigating after footage emerged of the pair allegedly making antisemitic remarks online.

"NSW Police provided the correct contact details to the influencer at the centre of this inquiry," police said in a statement.

"Investigators have requested a full and unedited version of the video as part of this investigation.

"Police are aware an extended version has been posted online, however nothing has been directly provided to NSW Police.

"Discussions between NSW Police and the influencer remain open and ongoing."

Police have been seeking the unedited footage as they investigated Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, the two nurses at Bankstown Hospital who have been stood down over the incident.

"The police are asking me for the unedited version," Veifer wrote on Instagram.

"I have nothing to hide," he said.

"Here it is and if they tell me where to send it I will send it to them."

The version posted by Veifer today began the same as previous versions of the footage but included previously unheard discussions about Veifer's service in the Israeli Defence Forces.

The nurses and Veifer have a heated exchange about the conflict in Gaza.

The rest of the footage had previously been seen.

The footage ends when the nurses appeared to hang up the call.

9News understands emergency services visited Nadir's home last night and took him to hospital for assessment.

Yesterday the NSW Nursing and Midwifery Board today suspended the nurses' registrations, triggering a chain reaction that saw the national nursing body Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) do the same thing.

It means the pair will not be allowed to work in any hospital in Australia effective immediately, regardless of whether the hospital is public or private.

READ MORE: Nurses allegedly caught making antisemitic comments barred from every hospital in Australia as police wait to speak to the pair

Nadir and Lebdeh were immediately stood down when their comments came to light on Wednesday.

Police swiftly interviewed other staff on shift at the time the video was recorded and seized CCTV from the hospital.

Initial Inquiries have shown that there is no indication of Jewish patients being mistreated at the hospital. 

Speaking on 2GB yesterday morning, Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the investigation would hinge on the full unedited video to be provided by Veifer.

"We need this to be watertight and critical to that is the evidence from the influencer," she said.

She said police had not spoken to either of the nurses seen in the video, but had been in contact with their lawyers.

Neither Nadir nor Lebdeh have been charged with any criminal offences, and Webb said the decision on whether to do so would depend on the evidence gathered.

Nurse offers apology via lawyer

Nadir's lawyer, Mohamad Sakr, issued a public apology on Wednesday and said his client was "very emotional".

"My client sends a very sincere apology to not only that individual but to the Jewish community as a whole," Sakr said.

"He understands what has happened, he's trying to make amends for what has happened.

"He has never appeared before the courts in relation to any criminal matters, he is a person of prior good character it is unfortunate to find himself in a situation like this.

"He is very emotional, I've suggested he seek some treatment.

"He has apologised for the action, for his words."

How did the video appear?

The original video that sparked the investigation was posted by Veifer on TikTok about 3am AEDT on Wednesday.

Veifer has more than 100,000 followers on the platform and often posts videos where he speaks to strangers through the online video chat program Chatruletka.

"The platform pairs people randomly for a video chat, with only a country and gender specified by the user," the eSafety website says. 

"No names, friend lists or conversation histories are stored, so finding people again is purely left to chance."

Their conversation is believed to have been filmed on Tuesday night while the nurses were working at Bankstown Hospital in Sydney's south-west.

‘Justice served’ after Maryam Hamka’s killer jailed for 28 years, family says

The brother of a woman who was killed by her abusive boyfriend says justice has been served after her murderer was jailed for 28 years.

Toby Loughnane, 45, looked up and nodded as he was sentenced in the Victorian Supreme Court today to a minimum of 20 years behind bars for Maryam Hamka's murder.

Hamka's brother Hassan said the family were happy with the outcome and felt like justice had been done after four years of waiting.

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The loved ones of Maryam Hamka want changes to bail laws after a friend of the man accused of murdering the Melbourne woman walked free.

"But the justice will never bring Maryam back," he told reporters outside court.

Loughnane claimed the 37-year-old died of a drug overdose in the early hours of April 11, 2021, and his only crime was not calling an ambulance.

But a jury rejected that theory, instead accepting the prosecution's case that Loughnane fatally assaulted Hamka with murderous intent.

Neighbours heard a woman screaming and sobbing from Loughnane's Brighton apartment for hours before the noises stopped about 3am on April 11.

Loughnane then sent two messages to Hamka's friend from her phone at 4.37am.

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The killer left Hamka's naked body in a bathtub for days before moving it into his friend's car and scrubbing his apartment clean with bleach.

Loughnane then drove to Cape Schanck in Melbourne's south-east and dumped Hamka's body in a shallow grave.

When police knocked on his door, Loughnane claimed he had not seen his girlfriend and even said it was disgraceful Hamka's family were not helping officers more.

He was arrested and charged with her murder in August 2021.

Loughnane finally told police where Hamka's remains were two years later after his friend implicated him in the murder.

But Loughnane continued to maintain his innocence, claiming his only crime was not calling an ambulance when Hamka overdosed on drugs.

Justice Christopher Beale rejected that story today as he sentenced Loughnane to 28 years behind bars.

He will be eligible for parole after 20 years but has already served nearly four years of pre-sentence detention.

Justice Beale said the murder happened in the context of protracted family violence, which was an aggravating feature.

"The fatal violence you inflicted on her was not an isolated incident," he said on Friday.

Family and friends reported seeing Hamka with bruises during the couple's 15-month relationship, and the 37-year-old disclosed his threats to kill her.

Justice Beale noted the "torrent of highly abusive" text messages and voicemails Loughnane sent Hamka, where he threatened to shoot her, drown her, set her on fire or slice her face off.

"You told her you would make her scream in agony," the judge noted.

"The text messages made for appalling reading."

Loughnane also filmed Hamka while she was drug-affected in the hours before her death and made degrading comments to her, Justice Beale said.

He noted Loughnane had an extensive history family violence against Hamka and other partners, as well as prior convictions for drug offences.

He found Loughnane's prospects for rehabilitation were guarded and there was no evidence of remorse.

"I am not satisfied that you are truly remorseful as opposed to feeling sorry for yourself and those around you," Justice Beale said.

But Loughnane should receive some discount on sentence because he revealed the location of Hamka's body to police, the justice said.

Loughnane will be aged in his 60s before he is eligible for parole.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

Why this asteroid is unlikely to hit Earth in 2032

The threat of a newly discovered asteroid has risen slightly in the past few weeks, as the world’s telescopes rush to track its course. But the chance of an impact is still quite slim.

New calculations suggest there's a 2 per cent chance the space rock 2024 YR4 will smack Earth in 2032.

This also means there's a 98 per cent chance it will safely pass our planet.

READ MORE: Nurses caught in antisemitic tirade barred from every hospital in Australia

Near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 was observed with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in January.

The odds of a strike will almost certainly continue to go up and down as the asteroid’s path around the sun is better understood, and astronomers said there's a good chance the risk likely will drop to zero.

NASA and the European Space Agency's Webb Space Telescope will observe this near-Earth asteroid in March before the object disappears from view. Once that happens, scientists will have to wait until 2028 when it passes our way again.

What's an asteroid?

Asteroids are space rocks orbiting the sun that are considerably smaller than planets. Scientists believe they're the leftovers from the solar system's formation 4.6 billion years ago.

There are so many asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter — millions of them — that this region is known as the main asteroid belt. They sometimes get pushed out of the belt and can end up all over the place — like this one.

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How do scientists track potentially dangerous asteroids?

A telescope in Chile discovered the asteroid 2024 YR4 in December. It’s estimated to be 40 metres to 90 metres across. Observations by the Webb telescope should provide a more precise measurement, according to NASA.

NASA and the European Space Agency initially put the odds of a strike at just over 1%. By Thursday, it had risen to roughly 2 per cent. NASA describes that as still “extremely low.”

Until scientists have a better understanding of the asteroid's path around the sun, they caution the odds will continue to fluctuate — and quite possibly fall to zero.

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“You don’t have to be worried about anything. It’s a curiosity,” said Larry Denneau, senior software engineer with the University of Hawaii's asteroid impact alert system that first spotted the asteroid.

“Don’t panic. Let the process play out, and we’ll have a for-sure answer.”

In 2021, NASA gave the all-clear to another potentially worrisome asteroid, Apophis, after new telescope observations ruled out any chance of it hitting Earth in 2068.

Should we worry about asteroid 2024 YR4?

It's way too soon to fret over this asteroid, according to the experts.

“No one should be concerned that the impact probability is rising. This is the behaviour our team expected,” Paul Chodas, director of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, said in an email.

"To be clear, we expect the impact probability to drop to zero at some point.”

Since the asteroid's size and orbit are uncertain, it's unclear where it might hit and what the possible impacts would be should it strike Earth.

If the asteroid is on the smaller end, ESA said any potential impacts would be local similar to the Tunguska event that flattened thousands of square miles of forest in remote Siberia in 1908.

But if it's close to 100 metres, "the consequences would be significantly worse."

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Chodas said once Webb pinpoints the asteroid's size, NASA can predict “how serious an impact this asteroid could produce and how difficult a task it might be to deflect this asteroid.”

NASA already has some experience nudging an asteroid. The space agency's Dart spacecraft deliberately rammed a harmless asteroid in 2022 in the first planetary defence test of its kind, altering its orbit around its larger companion asteroid.