Daily News Roundup

April 4, 2018

Wednesday, April 4

President Donald Trump has claimed he will use United States military forces to protect the border with Mexico until a long-promised wall is completed and “proper security” is in place.

Speaking at a White House lunch with Baltic leaders, Trump said he’s been discussing the idea with his Defence Secretary, Jim Mattis, reports Reuters newsagency.

Trump, who earlier threatened to halt US foreign aid to Honduras and other countries unless they stopped a “caravan” of Central American migrants heading to the US, reiterated threats to derail the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) if the migrants are not stopped.

He called the use of the military at the southern border “a big step.”

“We will be doing things with Mexico, and they have to do it, otherwise I’m not going to do with the NAFTA deal,” Trump said.

He said if the “caravan” reaches the US border “our laws are so weak and so pathetic … it’s like we have no border.”

“Until we can have a wall and proper security we’re going to be guarding our border with the

In a post on Twitter earlier on Tuesday, Trump said the caravan “heading to our ‘Weak Laws’ Border, had better be stopped before it gets there

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An Australian paraplegic who lost the use of his legs as a teenager has climbed to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, using mostly his hands, and the occasional piggyback ride from a friend.

Everest Base Camp can only be reached by foot or helicopter, and the trek usually takes between nine to 12 days to complete.

Scott Doolan, 28, managed to do it in 10 days, becoming the first paraplegic to complete the feat with minimal assistance.

Using a technique he calls “wheelbarrowing”, Mr Doolan scaled steep ascents with the help of his friend, Matt Laycock.

“As we were trekking we had people stop and cry and tell us we were amazing, and that emotion is so raw, I think that was probably more of a highlight than reaching Base Camp,” he said.

Mr Doolan navigated the 65-kilometre track from Lukla to Base Camp, using a combination of a lightweight carbon-fibre wheelchair — walking on his hands while someone held his ankles, and sometimes being carried.

“I’d do as much as I could in a chair, and when there were sections of stairs I’d get out on my hands and sort of walk along on my hands or jump on the back of a sherpa or Matt,” he said.

Mr Doolan and Mr Laycock, both from Newcastle, trained for their expedition by climbing mountains in New South Wales.

While they prepared for altitude sickness by wearing oxygen-restricting masks during training, they both struggled to overcome the real thing.

“It feels like someone’s putting a hand over your mouth when you’re trying to breathe or sitting on your chest,” he said.

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A Sunshine Coast father whose daughter was killed in a car crash last week says defensive driving training as a standalone subject in high school is a “deadset no brainer”, reports the ABC.

Just days after 17-year-old Jade Dixson was killed her father Mark spoke out about his goal to change young drivers’ attitudes when behind the wheel.

“Educating the kids at a vulnerable age when they get their learners or their Ps about what to do when their vehicle is out of control,” he said.

Mr Dixson said compulsory defensive driver education was more important than teaching languages.

“They’re teaching Chinese and Japanese and all those other languages and 2 per cent of the kids use that through their lifetime,” he said.

“One term at the end of grade 11 to teach every kid what to do on a skid pad when they’re in trouble in a vehicle — it could save lives.

“I think it’s a deadset no brainer myself.”

Mr Dixson said children were taught how to swim at school, and it made sense to learn how to control what he referred to as “a loaded missile”.

“I’ve told my kids since they were trying to get their licence that they’re driving a loaded missile,” he said.

“When it gets out of control, bang it explodes! Shit hits the fan and this is the consequence.

“If we can drum that through to kids at a younger age at school … Jade would be stoked we’ve done a good job.”

The Sunshine Coast teenager died after the car she was a passenger in crashed into a tree on Dulong Road, near Nambour.

The driver, Adrian Fraser, remains in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in what the ABC understands to be a critical condition.

 

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