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Aussies living longer 'disability free'

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 22 November 2012 | 23.44

AUSTRALIANS are living longer and the extra years are coming "disability free", new figures from the federal government show.

In the decade to 2009, life expectancy at birth jumped 3.4 years to 79.3 for men. Life expectancy for women rose 2.4 years to 83.9.

Over the same period the number of years men can expect to live without disability rose 3.7 to 61.6 years. For women the figure jumped 2.2 to 64.3 years.

"The good news is when it comes to these additional years many are disability free," Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) senior executive Brent Diverty told AAP.

The AIHW report "Changes in life expectancy and disability", released on Friday, notes that a large part of the growth in expected disability-free years occurred between 2003 and 2009.

That period saw disability rates decline for the first time in 30 years at the same time as there was a relatively slow growth in life expectancy.

The most recent life expectancy figures - for the 10 years to 2011 - were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics earlier in November.

They show a baby boy born today can expect to live 79.7 years. A girl can expect to live until she's 84.2.

The gap between the sexes is closing over time but, as Mr Diverty says, "it's difficult to say if it will ever completely close".

Life expectancy in Australia rose markedly from the beginning of the 20th century as a result of improvements in sanitation, healthcare and nutrition. Declining smoking rates helped later on.


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Dolphin dies during disputed flight

A dolphin being flown from the Philippines to Singapore has died in transit. Source: Supplied

ONE of 25 dolphins being transferred to a Singapore oceanarium despite protests from activists has died during its flight to the city-state.

Wen Wen, a male dolphin aged about 10, died suddenly less than an hour before the flight from the Philippines landed, a Marine Life Park spokesperson said.

The spokesperson of the park - which opened to the public for the first time yesterday and is part of the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino - said the dolphin appeared fine when medically examined before the flight.

"We are deeply saddened... he will be sorely missed," the spokesperson said.

The other 24 bottlenose dolphins had arrived and were acclimatising to their new home.

"No effort or resources will be spared in ensuring the health and well-being of our dolphins and all marine animals at Marine Life Park," the statement said.

Wen Wen is the third dolphin to die out of 27 which RWS acquired from the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific between 2008 amd 2009.

Wildlife activists in the Philippines - where the dolphins were kept and trained before being exported to Singapore - filed a lawsuit last month to stop them from being flown out.

They said the dolphins' capture violated an international treaty on the trade in endangered animals and plants.

A court in the Philippines initially agreed to a temporary ban on transferring the dolphins but another court overturned it.

A Singapore-based animal rights group also opposed the inclusion of the dolphins in the marine park, saying catching them from the Solomon Islands is detrimental to the survival of the species there.

The remaining 24 dolphins are due to make their public debut at the park's twin attractions the S.E.A Aquarium and Adventure Cove Waterpark only next year.

The aquarium is touted as the world's largest with 100,000 marine animals from over 800 species in 45 million litres of water.
 


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Kuwait bails tweeters after emir 'insults'

A KUWAITI court has freed three Twitter users on bail after detaining them for nine days for allegedly insulting the ruler of the oil-rich Gulf state, a rights activist says.

A fourth tweeter however remained in detention as his case will be heard by a court on Sunday, the director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights, Mohammad al-Humaidi, said on his Twitter account.

One of the tweeters was freed on bail of $US3550 ($A3440) and the other two on $US17,700 each, Humaidi said. Their trial is set for December.

The four were arrested on November 14 and held in police custody pending further investigation on accusations they wrote tweets deemed offensive to Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

Three other Twitter users, including a woman, had been arrested with them but only remained hours in custody before being each freed on bail of $US3550.

Kuwait has clamped down on opposition activists and Twitter users mainly on accusations of undermining the status of the emir as the country heads to general polls on December 1 amid a bitter political dispute.

Several former opposition MPs and activists are facing trial over similar charges. Public criticism of the ruler is illegal under the Kuwaiti constitution.


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Girl, 17, dies after Schoolies balcony fall

The scene outside the Chevron Renaissance in Surfers Paradise after a person fell from one of the high rise towers. Picture: Glenn Hampson Source: The Courier-Mail

POLICE investigating the death of a 17-year-old girl who fell from a balcony at Schoolies celebrations on the Gold Coast say it's a "tragic end to a successful week".

The girl fell to her death last night from a balcony on Tower Three of the Cheveron Renaissance complex at 9.30pm.

Police said CPR was performed on the girl at the scene, but she could not be revived.

Speaking from Gold Coast Police Headquarters at midnight, Inspector Pat Swindells called for any witnesses to the fatal fall to come forward.

"We have no further information at this stage We're trying to ascertain what's happened," Insp Swindells said.

"It's a tragic end to a successful week."

Police said they were speaking to members of the girl's family.

The scene outside the Chevron Renaissance in Surfers Paradise after a person fell from one of the high rise towers. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The hotel was immediately placed in lockdown while some of its Schoolie residents took to social media to voice their initial reactions to the event.

They described a scene of panic as schoolies watched in disbelief while paramedics rushed to the girl.

A schoolie on the 24th floor wrote on Facebook: "Someone just jumped off the Chevron balcony 2 floors down from us! Can Freaking see them and oh god paramedics everywhere and the building is in lockdown. This is as scary as hell."

The death is a massive blow to Schoolies organisers, who had presided over a relatively quiet week until tonight's tragedy.

Up to 30,000 Year 12 graduates are in Surfers Paradise for the rite of passage Schoolies festival.

One witness told the ABC he saw the girl fall onto the pool area of the hotel.

The scene outside the Chevron Renaissance in Surfers Paradise after a person fell from one of the high rise towers. Picture: Glenn Hampson

"A girl fell off the balcony - just watched her fall," schoolie Seb Giorgio said.

"I didn't want to watch."

Rory, a barman across the road from the Towers Of Chevron Renaissance, said hundreds of schoolies were standing outside the hotel after the incident.

"I saw 200 schoolies out the front of the building, two ambulance (crews), there were cops everywhere," he told AAP.

Insp Swindells refused to speculate on what may have happened, unable to confirm if drugs or alcohol had played a part in the girl's fall from the high rise.

"Any incident in a high rise is a concern," he said.

The scene from the Chevron Renaissance in Surfers Paradise, with people looking on after a person fell from a balcony in Tower Three. Picture: Glenn Hampson

He warned the class of 2012 to take care while partying for the remainder of the week.

"This week of schoolies has been a fantastic week. The young people who have been coming to Surfers Paradise have been exemplary in their behaviour."

Police said investigations into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy were ongoing.

The tragedy comes just days after 18-year-old Cameron Cox was photographed sleeping on a ledge on the 11th floor of the Surfers Hawaiian Holiday Apartments. The photo, taken by a fellow schoolie and posted on Instagram, sparked national safety discussions.

The Courier-Mail reported this month police were planning a balcony blitz to target high-rises, as debate raged over whether high-rise balconies should be locked off during the annual party.

Three people fell to their deaths from Gold Coast skyscrapers last month.

Police have previously ordered some balconies be closed, but pressure was mounting in the lead up to this year's festival for a full balcony lock-up.

It is understood coast unit managers have considered the move, but didn't follow through.

Matt Lloyd, who runs the accommodation website schoolies.com, told The Courier-Mail this month any decision to lock balcony doors could not be made hastily.

"A lot of students book a year in advance and they are paying for rooms they expect to have balconies," he said.

-- with AAP


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Malala's wounded friends back in school

FOR one month the dreams kept coming. The voice, the shots, the blood. Her friend Malala slumped over.

Shazia Ramazan, 13, who was wounded by the same Taliban gunman who shot her friend Malala Yousufzai, returned home last week after a month in a hospital, where she had to relearn how to use her left arm and hand. Memories of the Taliban bullets that ripped into her remain, but she is welcoming the future.

"For a long time it seemed fear was in my heart. I couldn't stop it," she said. "But now I am not afraid," she added, self-consciously rubbing her left hand where a bullet pierced straight through just below the thumb.

Now Shazia and her friend Kainat Riaz, who was also shot, return to school for the first time since the October 8 attack when a Taliban gunman opened fire on Malala outside the Khushal School for Girls, wounding Shazia and Kainat in the frenzy of bullets.


The Taliban targeted Malala because of her outspoken and relentless objection to the group's regressive interpretation of Islam that keeps women at home and bars girls from school.

Malala is still undergoing treatment and unable to come back. But among her friends in her hometown of Mingora in the idyllic Swat Valley, she is a hero.

"Malala was very brave and she was always friendly with everyone. We are proud of her," said the 16-year-old Kainat, wrapped in a large purple shawl and sitting on a traditional rope bed. Her mother Manawar, a health worker, sat by her side, praised her daughter's bravery and with a smile said: "She gets her courage from me." Although conservative and refusing to have her picture taken, Kainat's mother slammed attacks on girls' education and warned Pakistan will fail if girls are not educated.

Quick to laugh, Kainat - who comes from a long line of educators in her family - looked forward to returning to school. "I want to study. I am not afraid," she said.

The authorities however are not taking any chances. Armed policemen have been deployed to both Shazia's and Kainat's home and will escort them both to school.

Kainat's home is hidden behind high walls with 2.4m-high steel gates, tucked away in a neighborhood of brown square cement buildings. A foul smelling sewer runs the length of the street where armed policemen patrol, eyeing everyone suspiciously.

Outside Shazia's home, a policeman wearing a bullet proof vest sits on a plastic garden chair with a Kalashnikov resting across his knees. Three policemen patrol a nearby narrow street that is flanked by roaring open fires where vats of hot oil boil and sticky sweets are made and sold.

Shazia, who has ambitions to become an army doctor, is a stubborn teenager. She doesn't want the police escort.

"They say I need the police. But I say I don't need any police," she said, pushing her glasses firmly back on her nose. "I don't want the police to come with me to school because then I will stand out from the other students. But I shouldn't."

At their school, the students are quick to attack the Taliban and display a giant poster of Malala. The school, which has more than 500 students, only closed its doors briefly at the height of the Taliban's hold on the region in 2008 and early 2009. It was then that Malala began to blog, recording her unhappiness with Taliban edicts ordering girls out of school.

Although she was barely 9 years old then, Shazia remembers those days.

"Times were very bad. Girls were hiding their books under their burqas. Compared to then, now is a very good time," she said, her pink shawl covering her head. "We are strong."

Both the army and the police are deployed outside the school, whose name means "happy," and journalists were not permitted to pass its black iron gate until last week when an Associated Press reporter and photographer were allowed inside. Authorities feared drawing attention, but the students within seemed unconcerned, often offering words of support for Malala and saying they weren't afraid to come to school.

Even the most shy among them would whisper in a friend's ear to say: "Tell her I will not stop studying."

Each morning the school principal gave the students a progress report on Malala's condition.

"She is getting better every day and she asks about all of us and what we are doing," said 15-year-old Mahnoor, one of Malala's close friends. "When it happened we just cried and prayed. We weren't worried for ourselves. We were just worried for her."

Twelve-year-old Emar said of the Taliban: "They are thinking that she is a girl and she cannot do anything. They are thinking that only boys can do things. They are wrong. Girls can do anything."

In a strong voice and speaking in English, Gulranga Ali, 17, said students have "gotten courage from her (Malala) and everyone is attending school. No one is staying home." She said the attack has turned the country against extremists and "now every girl and child is saying 'I want to be Malala.'"

Malala's father says the family will return to Pakistan after his daughter is well enough.

But even her classmates worry for her safety.

"I don't think she will come for education anymore in Swat. She will not be safe here. Now she is a celebrity," said Gulranga.

There is also a deepening concern that Malala's attacker has not been arrested, that the outrage her shooting generated throughout Pakistan has subsided without substantive changes and that fear will prevent real change.

Ahmed Saeed, a close friend of Malala's father, said politicians and Pakistan's military establishment still have to decide if they will support Malala's worldview or that of the Taliban. Saeed said the teenager will have another operation in three months to reconstruct her skull but that she is talking and walking "and gossiping with her family."

In what has been cheered as a first step toward compulsory education for both boys and girls in Pakistan, Parliament last week introduced legislation making it a crime to keep a child at home. Offending parents can be fined upward of $500.

Still, earlier this month the Taliban attacked on a busload of girls returning from school in the tribal regions, throwing acid in their faces. In a statement, the Taliban accused the girls of embracing the West through education.

"I don't know if this has changed Pakistan," Shazia's father said of the shooting. Still, he wants his daughter to continue at school.

"Now I want to be an example to other girls," Shazia said. "They (Taliban) can't stop us from going to school."


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Israeli soldier dies of rocket wounds

AN Israeli reserves officer has died of wounds sustained in a rocket attack that occurred hours before a truce to end eight days of violence in and around Gaza was agreed between Israel and Hamas.

A statement from the Israeli army named the casualty as "Lieutenant Boris Yarmulnik, 28 years old from Netanya", who "died of his wounds ... after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit the Eshkol Regional Council (Wednesday) afternoon".

His death on Thursday raises the toll of Israelis killed by rocket fire from Gaza to six since November 14, two of them soldiers.

A total of 163 Palestinians died in the eight-day Israeli air operation directed against Gaza militants firing rockets into the Jewish state.

The truce to end the fighting was announced in Cairo on Wednesday evening, with both sides expected to stop cross-border fire and Gaza rulers Hamas expected to enforce its terms on the various militant groups in the Palestinian territory.

During the eight eight-day operation, the army said it hit more than 1500 targets, as Gaza militants fired 1354 rockets over the border, 421 of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.


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Girl dies in schoolies balcony fall

A TEENAGE girl has died after falling from the balcony of a high-rise hotel on the Gold Coast during schoolies celebrations.

The girl, believed to be a schoolie, fell from the Chevron Renaissance tower in Surfers Paradise.

Police will only say a woman has died after falling off the balcony of a Gold Coast Highway high rise at 9.30pm (AEST) on Thursday.

They are speaking to members of the family and could not immediately confirm whether she'd been part of schoolies festivities.

One witness told the ABC he saw the girl fall onto the hotel's pool deck.

"A girl fell off the balcony and (I) just watched her fall," schoolie Seb Georgio said.

"I didn't want to watch."

Rory, a barman across the road from the Towers Of Chevron Renaissance, said hundreds of schoolies were standing outside the hotel following the incident.

"I saw 200 schoolies out the front of the building, two ambulance (crews), there were cops everywhere," he told AAP.

This is the sixth death from a balcony fall on the Gold Coast in the past 12 months.

Earlier this week, a photo of a drunk schoolie lying on the ledge of a Gold Coast high rise sparked renewed warnings.

Cameron Cox, 18, took a nap on the unfenced 11th floor ledge on Monday and photos of the incident were posted online.

He told the media he was drunk at the time and climbed out a window for the thrill, and to get some fresh air.

But if he'd rolled over he would have plummeted to his death.

The prank ended his end of school celebrations, with the Hawaiian Holiday Apartments at Surfers Paradise telling AAP he'd been ordered to leave.

But police inspector Pat Swindells said the girl's death was a tragedy during an otherwise good week of schoolies festivities.

"Young people who've come to Surfers Paradise have been exemplary in their behaviour and this is a very tragic incident that has occurred during what has been a very good week," he told reporters.


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