Personal Safety
Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) have declared Monday’s stabbing at a Sydney church a religiously motivated “terrorist act” while declining to publicly state the faith of the alleged attacker.
The definition means counter-terrorism investigators – a joint team comprising NSW and federal police as well as the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) – now have extraordinary powers under NSW laws to investigate the attack, the BBC reports.
They can also conduct searches to prevent any further suspected attacks.
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Read MoreHealth-care advocates say patients are unnecessarily paying thousands to private medical clinics for procedures covered by provincial insurance plans. They say many patients are falling for doctors engaging in ‘predatory upselling’ of services.
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Read MoreThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing a $7 million fine against Cerebral, a mental telehealth firm that it says not only was careless with patients’ data but actively shared it with third parties for advertising purposes. The company and its CEO, Kyle Robertson, are also accused of lying to customers about how their data is shared and of having a misleading cancellation policy.
The FTC notes that Cerebral shared the sensitive data “of nearly 3.2 million consumers” with third parties like LinkedIn, TikTok, and Snapchat through trackers on its website or apps — something the company admitted to last year. That apparently included details like home and email addresses, phone numbers, pharmacy and health insurance details, and medical history. Many of Cerebral’s ads were misleading, promoting ADHD treatment by, for instance, linking ADHD to obesity.
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Read MoreNormand Meunier, a quadriplegic man in Quebec, sought assisted suicide after he developed bed sores due to a lack of specialized care at a hospital in Saint-Jérôme, Que.
According to Radio-Canada, who originally reported the story, Meunier’s arms and legs had been paralyzed since 2022 after experiencing a spinal cord injury.
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Read MoreWhile delivering a sermon, a Bishop in an Australian Church has been attacked by a man with a knife.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was delivering a sermon at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, Sydney when a man was seen casually walking up to him as seen in the livestream footage.
The man then raised his arm and repeatedly attempted to stab Bishop Mar Mari with what appears to be a small knife. The congregation screamed in the background as they came to the bishop’s rescue.
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Read MoreCompanies are increasingly using fast-track approval processes to get unproven treatments to patients.
One ALS drug made $400 million in sales for its maker. It doesn’t work. A cancer treatment brought in $500 million. That one turned out to have no effect on survival. A blood cancer medication made nearly $850 million before being withdrawn for two of its uses. That drug had been linked to patient deaths years prior.
All of them were allowed to be sold to Americans because of the US Food and Drug Administration’s drive to get new drugs to patients
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Read MorePaintCam Eve also offers a teargas pellet upgrade.
It’s a bold pitch for homeowners: What if you let a small tech startup’s crowdfunded AI surveillance system dispense vigilante justice for you?
A Slovenia-based company called OZ-IT recently announced PaintCam Eve, a line of autonomous property monitoring devices that will utilize motion detection and facial recognition to guard against supposed intruders. In the company’s zany promo video, a voiceover promises Eve will protect owners from burglars, unwanted animal guests, and any hapless passersby who fail to heed its “zero compliance, zero tolerance” warning.
The consequences for shrugging off Eve’s threats: Getting blasted with paintballs, or perhaps even teargas pellets.
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Read MoreThe federal government is advising Canadians not to travel to Israel, the Gaza Strip, or the West Bank, saying there is a highly unpredictable security risk in the region.
“Following recent developments in the region, there is a heightened risk of attacks on Israeli territory,” the April 12 travel advisory said. “The regional security situation remains highly volatile and could escalate without notice.”
Iran launched dozens of drones toward Israel on April 13 in retaliation for the death of senior officers in Iran’s embassy in Damascus, although Israel hasn’t taken responsibility for the incident.
Warplanes bombed Iran’s consulate in Syria on April 1, killing seven military advisers, including Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Israel should be punished for the act.
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Read MoreNearly 3,000 Ford SUVs are being recalled over problems with the fuel injector, according to Transport Canada.
Bronco Sports from 2022–2023, and 2022 Ford Escapes are included in the recall, with about 2,955 vehicles affected, the recall notice says.
“On certain vehicles, a fuel injector may crack. If this happens, fuel could leak into the engine compartment,” Transport Canada said, noting that a fuel leak creates the risk of fire.
“Ford will notify owners by mail and advise you to take your vehicle to a dealership to update the engine control software to detect fuel injector leaks,” it said.
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Read MoreAnother Boeing employee has come forward with allegations of major safety issues at the airline company.
An engineer who worked on Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, Sam Salehpour, provided a whistleblower statement to The New York Times.
Salehpour alleges that the airplane manufacturer is connecting some sections of the plane’s fuselage in an extremely unsafe way.
The engineer warns the situation could lead to planes breaking apart in midair over time.
Salehpour said during a conference call involving his lawyers that he “literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the airplane to get them to align,” reports CNN.
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