Australia’s military was yesterday hit by a fresh sex scandal, with a female sailor claiming she was sexually assaulted by a crewmate on board a mine-hunting ship.
The 21-year-old Able Seaman alleged that a fellow sailor, 24, had confronted and then sexually assaulted her aboard HMAS Diamantina while it was docked in Sydney last month, defense officials said.
“Military authorities were made aware of the complaint on Friday 9 September 2011, when the complainant reported the alleged incident to HMAS Diamantina’s Naval Police Coxswain, who immediately informed his chain of command,” a spokeswoman told reporters.
The matter was referred immediately “and with sensitivity” to Sydney police, and both sailors were given medical, legal and professional support, she added.
The female sailor was still at work and the male was also on duty, though he had been moved to a different location “pending the outcome of ongoing investigations.”
“Defense is awaiting the outcome of the NSW [New South Wales] Police investigation and will undertake the appropriate action upon completion of the investigation,” the spokeswoman said.
The accusation renewed debate about the treatment of women in Australia’s military, currently being examined by an independent inquiry set up after a sex scandal at the nation’s elite defense academy earlier this year.
The case, in which a female cadet was unwittingly filmed and broadcast via the Internet without her consent having sex with a male classmate, also sparked a review of sex and other abuse in the military.
More than 1,000 claims have been made involving sexual abuse, beatings and other misconduct within the armed forces stretching back decades. Australia’s military has gained a reputation for drinking and sexist attitudes, with a report into incidents on board the supply ship HMAS Success this year finding a sexually predatory and boozy culture, concealed through silence and fear.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of