SYDNEY // An Australian teenager accused of discussing packing a kangaroo with explosives and setting it loose on police is facing life behind bars after pleading guilty on Thursday to planning a terrorist act.
Sevdet Besim was arrested in Melbourne last year when he was 18 and accused of planning to run down police officers with a car, behead them and then shoot other people at an April 25 Anzac Day parade for Australia’s soldiers.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of “doing an act in preparation for or planning a terrorist act”, a Supreme Court of Victoria spokeswoman said, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
A British boy, who was 14 when accused of masterminding the plot via encrypted messages with Besim from his home in northern England, became his country’s youngest person convicted of terrorism when sentenced to five years in jail last year.
Australian prosecutors have alleged Besim also had online conversations about using the kangaroo during an attack.
“They have a general discussion around animals and wildlife in Australia including a suggestion that a kangaroo could be packed with C4 explosive, painted with the ISIL symbol and set loose on police officers,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported, citing court documents.
Canberra has been increasingly concerned about home-grown extremism and raised the terror threat alert level to high in September 2014.
Authorities have conducted a series of counter-terrorism raids in various cities, while the government has passed new national security laws.
Besim is due back in court in August.
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.