“First we have to establish if it is human, and if it is obviously the investigation will continue from there.”
— A NSW police spokesman, on the apparently severed penisdiscovered in a Central Coast park yesterday
New Zealand | For Five Eyes only
THE GIST. Leaked documents show that New Zealand has been spying on Pacific island nations, and sharing the info with the other countries in the 'Five Eyes' alliance - Australia, Britain, Canada and the US.
THE LEAK. The documents were only published yesterday, but were part of the 2013 'mass leak' of classified files by Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower/traitor/patriot/criminal/hero. Snowden is wanted by the US government but was offered political exile in Russia, so he's over there hanging out with Vladdy P. This week he announced that he isn't planning on heading home any time soon, because he doesn't think he'll get a fair trial.
THE TARGETS. The docs show that the NZ surveillance agency, the GCSB, has been doing a "full take collection" of all communications (i.e. recording everything) between countries like Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, then sending them on to the chaps at the NSA.
THE KEY. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key did not respond directly to the documents, but said the GCSB operated "in the best interests of New Zealand."
India | BBC airs 'India's daughter'
THE GIST. The BBC has aired its documentary, 'India's daughter', about the infamous 2012 gang rape of a woman in Delhi, despite protests from the Indian government.
THE ROW. The government banned the documentary from screening in India. The official reason was that the film-makers conducted interviews with the convicted men, inside prison - which is apparently against the law. However, critics say the real reason for the ban was protecting India's reputation abroad.
THE DOCO. The interviews with the various men involved are pretty harrowing. One of the convicted men appears on camera to say that a "girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy", and that they "shouldn't fight back." Then, one of his lawyers says that if his daughter or sister was "engaged in pre-marital activities...I would put petrol on her and set her alight."
THE QUOTE. Film-maker Leslee Udwin said, "I began this film with a narrow focus, 'Why do men rape?' I discovered that the disease is a lack of respect for gender. It's not just about a few rotten apples, it's the barrel itself that is rotten."
Small-talk
From a great height. Nepal's mountaineering association has complained that there is too much human waste accumulating on Mount Everest. The local community is conflicted: on one hand they lament the degradation of their heritage and environment, while on the other hand they are relieved to find out about faeces that, contrary to population opinion, it does not roll downhill.
In a box. A new reality show, called 'Sex Box', has debuted on US television. The show's premise is simple: a couple who are having relationship difficulties enter a soundproof and camera-free 'box' on a stage, and have sex. Afterwards, they have a post-coital de-brief with a panel of 'experts' and everyone pretends to wonder why the relationship is terminal.
Leave maternity. Southern Cross Austereo General Manager, Linda Wayman, hands out free condoms to stop staff members from getting pregnant. On the need for condoms, she reportedly said, "Staff pregnancies were never a concern in the old days, because of the company's natural in-built romance suppressant. But we had to find some way of replacing Kyle Sandilands."
The word
Deduction Noun. the drawing of a conclusion by reasoning: A Nebraska man has been cited by police for possession of marijuana after submitting to a search of his car. The contraband was apparently discovered hidden inside a container marked 'Not weed.' When asked how he cracked the case, the arresting officer suggested it was thanks to his expert powers of deduction.
