UK's Afghan cover-up shows why no one trusts politicians
That perception was not helped this week by the disclosure that the migration of 4500 Afghans was in progress, the entire operation conducted secretly.
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Sky News AU
3 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
British mother sexually ‘violated' by parasailing operator while mid-air in Tunisia
A British mother of three was sexually assaulted mid-air while parasailing in Africa, according to a report. Michelle Wilson, 52, said she was strapped into a harness with a parasail operator when he pressed himself against her and groped her while they soared through the sky off the beach in Sousse, Tunisia. 'I could feel the back of my bikini bottoms being pulled, and he was pulling the strap,' she told The Sun. 'He must have been tightening the harness to get me closer. 'His legs straddled around me, he had one hand up on the parachute, the other wasn't. Then I felt him touch my leg.' 'He was groping me and moving back and forth into me and talking to me in Arabic,' Wilson said. 'I felt him pressing against me. I kept arching my back. I felt violated and dirty and was scared. He was only a young lad, maybe around 20.' She originally planned to take the ride with a friend but was told it was too windy and that she and her pal would have to go separately accompanied by an operator. The friend 'had a great time with no problems,' Wilson said. Wilson said that as soon as she was back on the ground, she burst into tears and reported the incident to local police. She said the incident ruined her vacation. 'As women you expect a bit of banter from men in these countries, but this wasn't banter, it was a sexual assault,' she said. Wilson spent $8,000 for the trip to Tunisia wither her 17-year-old daughter, her friend and her 16-year-old twin sons. She believes the man has since been arrested. British authorities and Wilson's insurance company are assisting in the case, she said. EasyJet, with whom Wilson booked the trip, are looking into the assault as well. Originally published as British mother sexually 'violated' by parasailing operator while mid-air in Tunisia
Sydney Morning Herald
5 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Trump's efforts to control information echo authoritarian playbook
Washington: An old rule in Washington holds that you are entitled to your own opinions, but you are not entitled to your own facts. President Donald Trump seems determined to prove that wrong. Don't like an intelligence report that contradicts your view? Go after the analysts. Don't like cost estimates for your tax plan? Invent your own. Don't like a predecessor's climate policies? Scrub government websites of underlying data. Don't like a museum exhibit that cites your impeachments? Delete any mention of them. Trump's war on facts reached new heights on Friday when he angrily fired Erika McEntarfer, the Labour Department official in charge of compiling statistics on employment in America, because he did not like the latest jobs report showing that the economy wasn't doing as well as he claims it was. Trump declared that her numbers were 'phony'. His proof? It was 'my opinion'. And the story he told supposedly proving she was politically biased? It had no basis in fact. The message, however, was unmistakable: government officials who deal in data now fear they have to toe the line or risk losing their jobs. Career scientists, long-time intelligence analysts and nonpartisan statisticians who serve every president regardless of political party with neutral information on countless matters, such as weather patterns and vaccine efficacy, now face pressure as never before to conform to the alternative reality enforced by the president and his team. Trump has never been especially wedded to facts, routinely making up his own numbers, repeating falsehoods and conspiracy theories even after they are debunked and denigrating the very concept of independent fact-checking. But his efforts since reclaiming the White House to make the rest of the government adopt his versions of the truth have gone further than in his first term and increasingly remind scholars of the way authoritarian leaders in other countries have sought to control information. 'Democracy can't realistically exist without reliable epistemic infrastructure,' said Michael Patrick Lynch, author of the recently published On Truth in Politics and a professor at the University of Connecticut. 'Antidemocratic, authoritarian leaders know this. That is why they will seize every opportunity to control sources of information. As Bacon taught us, knowledge is power. But preventing or controlling access to knowledge is also power.' British philosopher Sir Francis Bacon published his meditations on truth and nature more than four centuries before Trump arrived in Washington, but history is filled with examples of leaders seeking to stifle unwelcome information. The Soviets falsified data to make their economy look stronger than it was. The Chinese have long been suspected of doing the same. Just three years ago, Turkey's autocratic leader fired his government's statistics chief after a report documented rocketing inflation.
Perth Now
7 hours ago
- Perth Now
Lions' Sheehan banned for reckless Lynagh clearout
An illegal ruck clearout of Australia's Tom Lynagh in Sydney has earned British and Irish Lions hooker Dan Sheehan a four-match suspension. Leinster's Sheehan was cited for charging into a ruck and hitting Lynagh's head on Saturday in the third Test, which the Wallabies won 22-12. Lynagh, 22, kicked a penalty before later leaving the field after failing a head injury assessment, but the incident was not looked at by officials. Replays showed the 26-year-old's elbow appearing to make contact with Lynagh's head. At his disciplinary hearing, Sheehan disagreed that foul play occurred. But the panel found it was reckless with a high degree of danger. The panel suspended him from four club matches in September and October, but allowed him to be available for the fourth match if he completed World Rugby's tackle school. World Rugby deemed that his actions were "reckless" and went against the law that relates to charging into a ruck or maul. If he completes the coaching intervention, Sheehan will miss a pre-season game against Cardiff and two United Rugby Championship matches against South African sides Stormers and Sharks.
