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AFP
2 days ago
- Politics
- AFP
Posts criticising Australian migration policy misuse decade-old picture
"Half of all recent refugees in Australia are on welfare and 44% can't speak English," reads a headline emblazoned on an image of women in burqas published on Facebook by The Noticer -- an online news site that Australian-based ABC News says "promotes white supremacist ideologies" (archived link). The post has been shared over 2,500 times since its publication on July 4, 2025. Image Screenshot of the false post, taken on July 21, 2025 It links to an article highlighting statistics the government released in late June about various types of permanent migrants who moved to Australia between 2012 and 2021. Among those surveyed are those classified as "humanitarian migrants", more commonly known as refugees and asylum seekers (archived link). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 44 percent of humanitarian migrants who were in the country for less than five years do not speak English very well, though the survey noted that proficiency "was higher for permanent migrants who had lived in Australia for longer". The image also spread on Facebook, X and Instagram by users criticising Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Labor government's migration policies. Some social media users appeared to think the women in burqas were in Australia. : "Their country has a rule that women's heads must be fully covered at all times, and usually their bodies too. Why aren't they told that that rule does not apply here and the law states that your face and head must be fully visible when entering any businesses?" Another user said: "Just look around the shops or your neighbourhood, these in Islamic and Indian garments walking and enjoying the streets whilst you are on the way to work. Yes, we are carrying them so wake up!" But the photo has been cropped and shared in a misleading context. A found a larger photo on the Flickr page for The Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion (IMTFI), which is part of University of California Irvine School of Social Sciences (archived here and here). Image Screenshot comparison between the false post (left) and the original image, with an orange box added by AFP denoting how it was cropped That picture reveals more clues that the women were not in Australia, as it shows the faces of the people around them and their attire, as well as a red shelter being held up with wooden poles. The Peace Research Institute Oslo published the same photo credited to researcher Jan Chipchase (archived link). He told AFP that he took it "a long time ago" in Afghanistan, and confirmed IMTFI's Flickr page information, which dated it as being shot on August 22, 2010. "That would be correct. I did a project for the IMTFI at that point," he said in an email on July 11. Since their return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have imposed an ultra-strict vision of Islamic law, modelled on their previous rule from 1996 to 2001. Women are required to have their bodies and faces covered (archived link).
ABC News
2 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Four day work week good - if pay stays the same
Those who reduced their work week by eight or more hours felt less burnout, and had improved mental health and job satisfaction. ( Flickr: Kompania Piwowarska )
The Wire
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Wire
'ED Not a Super Cop or a Loitering Munition to Attack at Will On Any Criminal Activity': Madras HC
The court added that there must be criminal activity coming within the schedule of the Act along with the presence of proceeds of crime based on which the ED will have jurisdiction to start a probe. The Madras high court. Photo: roadconnoisseur/Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0 New Delhi: The Madras high court has said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can take action only upon the existence of a predicate offence and the agency cannot conduct investigations on its own. A bench of Justices MS Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan reiterated the fact that ED is not a super cop for investigating anything and everything that came to its notice. 'The ED is not a super cop to investigate anything and everything which comes to its notice. There should be a 'criminal activity' which attracts the schedule to PMLA, and on account of such criminal activity, there should have been 'proceeds of crime'. It is only then the jurisdiction of ED commences,' said the court, reported LiveLaw. The court added that there must be criminal activity coming within the schedule of the Act along with the presence of proceeds of crime based on which the ED will have jurisdiction to start a probe. 'The terminus a quo for the ED to commence its duties and exercise its powers is the existence of a predicate offence. Once there exists a predicate offence, and the ED starts investigation under the PMLA, and file a complaint, then it becomes a stand alone offence,' said the court. The court said that if the agency was allowed to conduct an investigation merely on coming to know about any activity, the ED would be conducting roving enquiry. 'The essential ingredient for the ED to seize jurisdiction is the presence of a predicate offence. It is like a limpet mine attached to a ship. If there is no ship, the limpet cannot work. The ship is the predicate offence and 'proceeds of crime'. The ED is not a loitering munition or drone to attack at will on any criminal activity,' said the court. The observations were made by the court while hearing a plea filed by RKM Powergen Private Limited, which has challenged the ED's action of freezing its fixed deposits. The court added that as per Section 66(2) of the PMLA, if the ED comes across a violation of law during the course of the investigation, it cannot assume the role of an investigating agency and investigate those offences also. In June this year, Justice Ramesh had remarked that while courts often term the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002 as an 'evolving legislation' which throws up new legal questions, but it is actually the 'officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) who are evolving day by day by expanding their powers.' Justice Ramesh's remarks came as he wondered which provision of the PMLA empowers the ED officials to seal a residential/business premises if it was found to be locked when the officials go over there for a search and seizure operation. Following the remarks, the ED had told the high court that it did not have the power to seal premises if the same was locked at the time of making a search as per Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
The Irish Sun
03-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
The UK island where wallabies roam free with plans for new holiday lodge to open
DID you know there's an island in Scotland where wallabies roam free? Inchconnachan Island is surrounded by the fresh waters of Loch Lomon and it's unofficial name is Wallaby Island thanks to the animals that live there. 4 A colony have been living on the island for 85 years 4 It's possible to visit the island by boat, kayak and canoe Credit: Adobe Stock/Dominic Walter A colony of red-necked It was said that Lady Arran transported the animals from her home in Hertfordshire where she also kept pot-bellied pigs, llamas and alpacas. The wallabies, which are native to Australia, have survived on the island by eating oak, holly and birch trees. The number of wallabies on the island is not confirmed, some reports say there are as many as 60 with others as few as 7. Read More on Scottish Islands Over the years, in their 85 years on the island, wallabies have adapted to the Scottish climate. They've even been seen hopping across the frozen loch at certain times of the year. Visitors can visit Wallaby Island for free, but to get there comes at a cost. There are no public ferries that head over to the island, so anyone wanting to see the wallabies has to make their own way over. Most read in News Travel It's possible to get to the island via private boats, kayaks, paddleboards or canoes from the nearby village of Luss. Wild camping is permitted on Wallaby Island, as long as campers leave everything the way they found it. Bizarre Scottish Island mysteriously covered in Gnomes 4 There could soon be a holiday home on Wallaby Island Credit: Flickr/ FionaG999 However, in years to come, there could be a holiday home on the island. In 2020, Scottish TV and radio presenter And in January 2025, the pair were granted permission to build a holiday lodge on Wallaby Island. The plans were met with controversy from the public, with an online petition against the building work gaining over 100,000 signatures. A spokesperson for the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority said the planning permission "will have no implications for the wallabies on the island." The plans are to build a holiday lodge which will be for short-stay rentals as well as a new boathouse and a jetty so that guests can get onto the island. The old timber bungalow once owned by Lady Arran will be demolished. There will be a new natural wet woodland created during the works, which is to improve the biodiversity of the island. One man has been island hopping around Scotland, and And the group of 4 Inchconnachan Island is nicknamed Wallaby Island Credit: Getty
The Wire
01-07-2025
- General
- The Wire
'Found Ineligible': Delhi Govt to Discontinue Pension of Over 60,000 Women Beneficiaries
Officials said that a door-to-door verification drive launched in November last year revealed 'widespread discrepancies' which led to the removal of 60,000 beneficiaries. Representative image of activists who have worked to ensure pensions in Rajasthan. Photo: UN Women Asia and the Pacific/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED) New Delhi: More than 60,000 beneficiaries under the Delhi government's Women's Pension Scheme have been found to be ineligible after a large-scale verification exercise undertaken by the Women and Child Development (WCD). 'The verification revealed several instances where women no longer met the eligibility criteria but continued to receive the pension. These included remarried women claiming to be divorced, employed women drawing assistance despite a steady income and others who no longer resided at their registered addresses,' said an official, reported the Press Trust of India. Under the pension scheme, widowed, divorced, separated and destitute women get financial assistance of Rs. 2,500 each month. Officials said that a door-to-door verification drive launched in November last year revealed 'widespread discrepancies' which led to the removal of 60,000 beneficiaries who have been found to be ineligible. The verification drive was conducted by Anganwadi workers and covered around 4.25 lakh beneficiaries of the scheme. 'The verification drive has been completed in all districts and necessary corrections have been made to the database. Pension payments have been discontinued for those found ineligible and resumed for verified beneficiaries. At present, around 3.65 lakh women are receiving regular pension under the scheme,' said the official. The scheme was first introduced in 2007-08 to provide a regular source of income to economically weak widows but over the years the amount under the scheme was increased and eligibility expanded to include other categories of women as well. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
