‘Keep hope alive': Family of Adelaide hiker last seen in Albania reveal major update after eight month ordeal
'Keep hope alive': Family of Adelaide hiker last seen in Albania reveal major update after eight month ordeal
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The Age
20 minutes ago
- The Age
The TV star who would make the ideal Beijing cellmate
MEMOIR Cheng Lei: A memoir of freedom Harper Collins, $35.99 Not that it's anyone's Plan A, but if you had to be locked up in Beijing you could do worse than having Cheng Lei as a cellmate. She'd be good company, if her memoir recounting her three years at the mercy of China's justice system is anything to go by. And she can fashion a birthday cake out of buns and some leftover snacks. Her creativity and resilience in the face of adversity are admirable, but the tragedy of Cheng's three years in detention is that she should never have endured them. The Chinese-Australian TV presenter's crime, as she describes it, was texting the government's economic growth targets to a friend at another news organisation seven minutes before an embargo she was oblivious to. That the premier did not set a growth target was the news, an understandable choice given the COVID-19 pandemic but a break from decades of precedent. Eight words were sent at 7.23am, from the host of a business program on the state-run CGTN network to a reporter for the Bloomberg newswire. It hardly seems a sackable offence, let alone a capital one. In the hands of the Ministry of State Security, it was twisted into an espionage case; any and all of Cheng's contacts with business figures, diplomats and politicians were trawled through to find anything remotely incriminating. It was all a pretext: the ministry had her and others under surveillance shortly after the Australian government demanded an independent inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the outside, we knew more was going on; trade restrictions on Australian exports, journalists expelled from the country. Now we have Cheng's view from the inside. 'This is not hostage diplomacy,' one of Cheng's interrogators tells her early on with a smirk, confirmation served in the form of a denial. Only later did Cheng come to realise her part in a game of 'human chess' where people are locked up for diplomatic gain. Cheng's memoir peels away like an onion of oblivion, as each chapter explores how she was so wronged for so long. She was kept in the dark about her case, coerced into accepting a prison term and mistreated in myriad ways from blunt to subtle. Through it all, Cheng managed to keep her humanity and strength intact, found unlikely friends and allies, and thought desperately of her children, partner, parents and the diplomats who worked to free her.
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Greece arrests woman for fuelling fire with cigarette
Greece has arrested a Georgian woman suspected of discarding a cigarette that helped trigger one of several wildfires razing land and threatening homes on the island of Chios. Blazes broke out on Chios in the Aegean Sea on Sunday and tore through 40 square kilometres of mainly bush and pasture land in three days, Greece's climate crisis and civil protection ministry said on Wednesday. The fire brigade said the woman was arrested on Tuesday night and authorities were still investigating the cause of the fires. The Georgian was charged with unintentional arson, two fire brigade officials told Reuters on condition anonymity. Witnesses saw her drop a cigarette, one of the officials said. Though the wildfires were largely contained by Wednesday, hundreds of firefighters remained on Chios to prevent rekindling and bring all fronts under control, the Greek fire brigade said. At Europe's southernmost tip, Greece is often hit by wildfires during its hot and dry summers, but authorities say the fast-changing climate is fuelling more destructive blazes. The Greek government has paid hundreds of millions of euros in damages related to extreme weather to households and farmers and to update firefighting equipment. It has upped firefighter numbers to a record 18,000 in 2025 in anticipation of a challenging fire season. They will be assisted by 294 firefighters from five European countries from July 1 to September 15.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘May his soul rest in peace': Sick post after pigeon attacked with golf club by trio of Western Australian men
WARNING: Distressing content A trio of men have been fined for their roles in the 'despicable' bashing of a pigeon with a golf club, with a court being told a vile video of the ordeal was published online. The sick clip which became the subject of an RSPCA WA investigation depicts one man, 25, hitting the bird with the club, launching it more than a metre through the air. A screenshot from further in the video shows the attacker mid-swing as he brings the golf club down on the defenceless bird as it flaps its wings. The 25-year-old hit the bird four times, with its feathers falling out with each subsequent hit. After the assault, the pigeon was picked up, still alive, and tossed into a nearby skip bin. The 25-year-old was fined $48,000 for his role, while the two other offenders – both 30-year-old men, were fined $39,000 for their part in producing the video. The trio were all working on a gold mining project in Western Australia at the time of the 2023 offence. The video, posted to one of the offender's Snapchat stories, was captioned 'May his soul rest in peace' followed by a crying laughing emoji. The pigeon was alive throughout the sinister attack, and the men could be heard laughing throughout the video. The men were sentenced on Monday in the Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court where magistrate William Yoo labelled the attacker's 'abominable' conduct as a 'disgusting and despicable thing to do'. He said the act 'was absolutely disgusting, vile and reprehensible,' and the 'innocent and vulnerable' pigeon's distress was evident throughout the assault. Mr Yoo described the men as having 'egged each other on' and betraying their 'own humanity'. RSPCA WA inspector manager Kylie Green said the behaviour of the men in the video was disgusting. 'There is never an excuse to torment or abuse an animal,' she said. 'The fines handed down today are profoundly significant and it is hoped the message is loud and clear to those who think that cruelty towards animals is OK.'
