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☆ Australia Wanted to Catch Chinese Spies. Is This Really Whom It Had in Mind?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The police officers asked the man what he meant when he said that involving an Australian government minister in a charity event could benefit “us Chinese.” Was he talking about mainland China and the Chinese Communist Party, or the local Australian Chinese community? Depending on the answer, he faced up to 10 years in prison. “You are understanding the Chinese is China. We always say, ‘I’m Chinese,’ that not mean, ‘I’m mainland China,’” said the man, Di Sanh “Sunny” Duong, who was brought in for questioning. Blockbuster prosecutions revealing sophisticated tactics seemed to be just around the corner.

Persons: ”, ’ ”, Di, Duong, “ Organizations: Chinese Communist Party, Blockbuster Locations: China, Mainland China, United States

☆ Was He Secretly Working for China? This Is What He Told Us.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Yan Zhuang | More About Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

So why would he not get into trouble with the authorities? He believed that it would be embarrassing for Australia to accuse of him of spying because he had been an active member of a major political party. Less than two years later, in 2020, he became the first person to be charged under Australia’s broad foreign interference laws. He was among the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Chinese who fled that country in the 1970s. He settled in Australia and grew a business making tombstones, secured a middle-class life and got enmeshed in local Chinese community groups.

Persons: ”, Di, Duong Locations: Australia, China, Beijing, Vietnam

☆ Family Goes Missing After Heavy Rains Drench Western Australia
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Natasha Frost | More About Natasha Frost | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

One car was driven by an “elderly driver” on his own, while the other is believed to have had “an elderly driver and five other occupants of which four are children” aged between 7 and 17, according to a statement from the police. The missing people, a family, are understood to have been returning home to the remote Aboriginal community of Tjuntjuntjarra, 400 miles to the northeast. “Concerns are held for the occupants of these two vehicles due to serious weather conditions” that have hampered the search effort, with low clouds occluding an aerial search, a spokesman for the police said. Photographs posted to social media by the Rawlinna station, Australia’s largest sheep ranch, showed submerged farm equipment as Craig Chandler, an overseer at the station, took to a kayak to salvage homestead chickens and get around the property. “The Nullarbor is soaking it in and will be totally rejuvenated from this deluge, but I’m not so sure our buildings, belongings and bits and bobs will be so lucky,” according to a post on the station’s Facebook page on Monday.

Persons: ”, Craig Chandler Organizations: Meteorology Locations: Tjuntjuntjarra, “

☆ Australian farmers rip out millions of vines amid wine glut
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

About two-thirds of Australia’s wine grapes are grown in irrigated inland areas such as Griffith, its landscape shaped by vine-growing techniques brought by Italian migrants arriving around the 1950s. That would destroy more than 20 million vines across 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres), Reuters calculations based on Wine Australia data show, or about 8% of Australia’s total area under vine. “If half the vines in Australia were ripped out, it still might not solve the oversupply,” said a wine maker in Western Australia. When China blocked imports during a political dispute in 2020, Australia lost its biggest wine export market by value. And unlike Europe, it offers farmers no financial aid to help them destroy vines and excess wine.

Persons: “, ”, James Cremasco, Griffith, TWE.AX, Carlyle Group’s, Andrew Calabria, Cremasco, Jeremy Cass, Tim Mableson, Bill Calabria, Andrew’s, There’ll Organizations: CNN, Accolade, Wine, Riverina Winegrape Growers, Growers, KPMG Locations: Australia, China, Griffith, Calabria, Riverina, Wine Australia, Western Australia, Chile, France, United States, Bordeaux, Europe, Tasmania, Yarra, Victoria

☆ Australia: Mass coral bleaching event underway at Great Barrier Reef
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

This is the seventh mass bleaching event to hit the vast, ecologically important but fragile site and the fifth in only eight years. Covering nearly 133,000 square miles (345,000 square kilometers), the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef, home to more than 1,500 species of fish and 411 species of hard corals. Severe mass bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef had previously been observed in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022. Sunrise over the Great Barrier Reef at Lady Elliot island on October 10, 2019. Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket/Getty Images/FileBy continuing on the current pathway, “we risk losing the Great Barrier Reef and the $6 billion sustainable tourism industry,” said Schindler.

Persons: CNN —, El Niño, ”, Tanya Plibersek, Anthony Albanese, Dr, Lissa Schindler, Lady Elliot, Jonas Gratzer, Schindler, “, David Ritter, Derek Manzello Organizations: CNN, Park Authority, Australian Institute of Marine Science, El, Australian Marine Conservation Society, Australian, Australia, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Labor, Oceanic, NOAA, Reuters, Reef Watch Locations: Australia, Lady, Southern, Pacific

☆ Sam Kerr: Australian soccer star pleads not guilty to ‘racially aggravated offense’ in London
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Thomas Schlachter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Sam Kerr, Chelsea FC star and Australia women’s captain, pleaded not guilty to a “racially aggravated offense” of a police officer, British authorities said Monday. The 30-year-old striker was charged following an incident involving an officer on January 30 last year in Twickenham, a suburb of southwest London. Kerr was charged “via postal charge requisition on 21 January with a racially aggravated offense under Section 4A Public Order Act 1986,” the Met Police added. CNN has reached out to Chelsea FC, who declined to comment. Last year, she led the Australia women’s team in making national history by becoming the first team – men’s or women’s – to reach a soccer World Cup semifinal.

Persons: Sam Kerr, Kerr, ”, – Organizations: CNN, Chelsea FC, Australia women’s, Metropolitan Police, Met Police, Thames, Crown Prosecution Service, Wimbledon, Court, Football Australia, “, ” Football Australia, Chelsea, League, Super League, AFC, Uzbekistan Locations: Twickenham, London, Kingston, United Kingdom, Perth

☆ Why Australia keeps an arm’s length from South China Sea tensions, even as it draws closer with the Philippines
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —When Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. addressed the Australian Parliament last week there was no mistaking the fighting talk. The Philippines accused China's coast guard of setting up the barrier at the mouth of the disputed fishing ground. That meeting will also be attended by several other nations with territorial disagreements with China – including Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. Collin Koh, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said Australia was unlikely to back any tough language at the summit pertaining to the South China Sea or any other hot-button issue. As Bisley put it, “We don’t like what China does, but we’re not going to put ourselves in harm’s way.”

Persons: Ferdinand Marcos Jr, ”, Marcos, Rodrigo Duterte, –, Thomas Shoal, David, China’s, Marcos ’, China –, Scott Morrison, Collin Koh, Penny Wong annouced, Anthony Albanese, Albanese, Lukas Coch, Susannah Patton, it’s, ” Patton, China’s aggressions, Wang Wenbin, Nick Bisley, Bisley, we’re Organizations: CNN, Maxar, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, China, Rajaratnam, of International Studies, Australia, Australian, Partners, Reuters, South China, Southeast Asia, Lowy Institute, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, La Trobe University Locations: Philippines, China, South China, Manila, China’s, Philippine, Scarborough, Scarborough Shoal, Hague, United States, Canberra, Australia, Melbourne, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Beijing, Singapore, South, Penny Wong annouced Canberra, Southeast Asia, Japan, India

☆ Why More American Weapons Will Soon Be Made Outside America
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Damien Cave | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On the grassy plains of Australia’s vast interior, an industrial evolution in the American war machine is gathering momentum. In munitions factories with room to grow, Australia is on the verge of producing heaps of artillery shells and thousands of guided missiles in partnership with American companies. Made to Pentagon specifications, the weapons will be no different from those built in the United States, and only some of what rolls off the line will stay in Australia. The rest are intended to help replenish U.S. stockpiles or be sold to American partners in an era of grinding ground wars and threats from major powers. It is all part of an Australian push to essentially become the 51st state for defense production, an ambitious vision that is now taking shape with a giant yellow mixer for explosives and a lightning-protected workshop for assembling missiles known as GMLRS — or “gimmlers.”

Persons: ” Organizations: Pentagon Locations: Australia, United States

☆ Australia’s Great Barrier Reef suffers ‘extensive’ coral bleaching, as scientists fear seventh mass bleaching event
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The southern Great Barrier Reef is suffering from extensive coral bleaching due to heat stress, the reef’s managers said Wednesday, raising fears that a seventh mass bleaching event could be unfolding across the vast, ecologically important site. Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket/Getty ImagesThe Great Barrier Reef’s managers plan to extend aerial and in-water surveys across the entire reef over the coming weeks. Hotter ocean temperatures caused severe mass bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef in 2016, 2017 and 2020. Last year, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided not to add the Great Barrier Reef to its list of sites “in danger,” despite scientific evidence suggesting the risk of another mass bleaching event. Greenpeace’s Ritter said that following the decision, “the Australian government promised to do everything it can to protect the Great Barrier Reef.

Persons: Mark Read, Elliot, Jonas Gratzer, ”, Neal Cantin, Maya Srinivasan, ” Srinivasan, ” David Ritter, “, ” Ove Hoegh, Greenpeace’s Ritter Organizations: CNN, Park Authority, Australian Institute of Marine Science, El, James Cook University, Marine Park Authority, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Foundation, Oceanic, UNESCO World Heritage Committee, Labor Locations: Keppel, Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, Cairns, Florida, Caribbean

☆ Australia bushfires: Victoria orders 30,000 people to evacuate due to ‘catastrophic’ fire risk
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | Morayo Ogunbayo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hot, dry and windy conditions have created “extreme to catastrophic fire dangers” in parts of Victoria and South Australia, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology. Around 30,000 people had been ordered to evacuate parts of Victoria before midday Wednesday, when authorities warned it would be too late to leave. Bushfires in Victoria, Australia have been burning since February 22, 2024. AAP Image/David Crosling/ReutersSix homes have already been destroyed and authorities fear windy and dry conditions may fan the flames close to high-density residential areas. More than 100 state forests have been closed, the Forest Fire Management of Victoria said on social platform X.

Persons: Jason Heffernan, we’re, David Crosling, Victoria Organizations: CNN — Firefighters, Meteorology, Fire Authority, CFA, Melbourne, ” Firefighters, Fire Management Locations: Australia, Victoria, South Australia, Casterdon, Hamilton, Kanagulk, ”, Bayindeen, Melbourne, Wimmera

☆ Project Sunrise: Aircraft delays push back launch date for Qantas’ record-breaking flights
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Karla Cripps | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Travelers who were hoping to experience Qantas’ long-awaited, record-breaking ‘Project Sunrise’ flights next year will have to be a bit more patient. Project Sunrise: Australian airline Qantas is gearing up to launch its ultra long-haul "Project Sunrise" flights between Australia and New York City and London. Qantas Business Suites: For the first time, Qantas will add a sliding door to its business class seats for added privacy. The layout includes six first class seats in a 1-1-1 configuration, 52 business class seats in 1-2-1, 40 premium economy seats in 2-4-2 and 140 economy seats in 3-3-3. Business class suites will be 42 inches wide with 25-inch-wide chairs that can be reclined into a two-meter bed.

Persons: ” Christian Scherer, – Organizations: CNN — Travelers, Qantas, Airbus, Sydney, Reuters, CNN, Sunrise, Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Boeing, Australian, Qantas Qantas, Singapore Airlines ’, JFK Locations: Australia, New York, London, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Sri Lanka, New York City, Singapore Airlines ’ Singapore, JFK

☆ Opinion: A Sydney ‘copshop’ with a dark history. And the gay community reclaiming it
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Opinion Gary Nunn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Police arrest a protester during a gay rights demonstration, which would become known as the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, June 1978. A permanent place to learn and healThere’s never been a more crucial time to record and display the stories and history of my LGBTQI community. LGBTQ+ activists demonstrate in what would evolve into the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, 1978. Many arrested gay men were sent to Cooma — the world’s only known jail for gay men — also in New South Wales. My gay community finally gets to tell their own history in a venue that imprisoned and beat us for simply being ourselves.

Persons: Gary Nunn, Read, Gary Nunn Qtopia, Sydney’s, Anthony Albanese, “ ‘, ”, Darlo copshop, Steve Warren, Peter Murphy, Murphy, Qtopia, They’ve, videographers, There’s, —, David Polson, wasn’t, “, Cooma, David hasn’t, He’s Organizations: Sydney CNN, Darlinghurst Police, “ ‘ 78ers, ‘ 78ers, 78ers, Police, Sydney Gay, Mardi Gras, Sydney Morning Herald, Fairfax Media, Getty, Warren, Mardi, South Wales, Gay, NSW police, Goliath Locations: Sydney, Australia, Darlinghurst, San Francisco, London, South, Qtopia, New South Wales, Uganda, Malaysia, Guyana, Dominica, Nigeria, Pakistan

☆ Opinion: The biggest potential danger from the Hur report is one no one’s talking about
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Opinion Gary Ross | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Over the past year, we’ve seen an alarming wave of current or former senior government officials who reportedly failed to properly safeguard classified information. The clearest threat is that our adversaries can more easily gain access to classified material and the sensitive information it contains. This increases the likelihood that an adversary would succeed in accessing any classified documents stored at these locations. Our adversaries are not the only ones observing how well we safeguard sensitive information. Finally, US intelligence community employees, bound by the same oath to safeguard classified information, may come to question the seriousness of their obligation.

Persons: Gary Ross, Ross, we’ve, Donald Trump’s Mar, Joe Biden, Mike Pence, Pence, Trump, Robert Hur’s, Biden, ” Organizations: Texas, Bush School ,, Department of Defense, Office, National Intelligence and Department of Homeland Security, Bush, CNN, Biden, Justice Department, Trump, of Justice, US, US Justice Department, Lago Club . US Department of Justice, CIA, Intelligence Service Locations: Bush School , Washington, DC, United States, Delaware

☆ Christopher Saunders: Former Australian bishop charged with historical sex offenses
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Brisbane, Australia CNN —A senior Australian Catholic clergyman has been charged with historical sex offenses allegedly committed while he was serving as the bishop of Broome, a remote diocese in Western Australia. Emeritus Bishop Christopher Saunders was arrested on Wednesday at his home in Broome, where he became bishop in 1996, according to CNN affiliate Seven News. Saunders is the highest-ranking Australian Catholic official charged with historical sex abuse charges since Cardinal George Pell faced court over historical assaults allegedly committed in the late 1990s. Of the survivors who reported being abused in a religious institution, 61.4% said the abuse occurred in a Catholic organization. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse reported that 7% of Australian Catholic priests had been accused of abusing children.

Persons: Australia CNN —, Bishop Christopher Saunders, Saunders, Timothy Costelloe, ” Costelloe, ”, Costelloe, Cardinal George Pell, Pell Organizations: Australia CNN, Australian Catholic, CNN, Seven News . Police, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Catholic Bishops Conference, WA, Police, Australian, Australia’s, Catholic, Royal Commission Locations: Brisbane, Australia, Broome, Western Australia, Rome

☆ Opinion: The Hur report points to a huge danger that one no one’s talking about
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Opinion Gary Ross | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Persons: Gary Ross, Ross, we’ve, Donald Trump’s Mar, Joe Biden, Mike Pence, Pence, Trump, Robert Hur’s, Biden, Hur, ” Organizations: Texas, Bush School ,, Department of Defense, Office, National Intelligence and Department of Homeland Security, Bush, CNN, Biden, Justice Department, Trump, of Justice, US, US Justice Department, Lago Club . US Department of Justice, CIA, Intelligence Service Locations: Bush School , Washington, DC, United States, Delaware

☆ Prabowo Subianto: Once banned from the US, this fiery ex-army general is poised to lead Indonesia
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

“The most important objective of democracy is giving people the leaders and representatives they want,” Prabowo told reporters from his pool. Antara Foto/Galih Pradipta/ReutersMany are excited about a Prabowo presidency, like this hardcore supporter who has clearly taken his support to the extreme. Bagus Saragih/AFP/Getty ImagesMore recently, Prabowo has presented himself as a loyal Jokowi ally, serving as his defense minister for the past five years. Experts say Prabowo, known for his fiery speeches, military background and combative past will make for a very different kind of president. Indonesia has long been one of Australia’s most important bilateral relationships and experts say that will not change with Prabowo in charge.

Persons: Prabowo Subianto, ” Prabowo, Prabowo, Indonesia’s, Partai Probawo, Gibran, “ Prabowo, ”, Zachary Abuza, Abuza, “, Antara, Pradipta, Saragih, Widodo, Barack Obama, Tom Pepinsky, Rodrigo Duterte, Javier Milei, Trump, ” “, Dita Alangkara, Jokowi, Jacqui Baker, Laura Schwartz, Schwartz, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Adek Berry, Chong Ja Ian, Suharto, –, Dan Slater, Prabowo “, ” Slater, Chaideer Mahyuddin, Chong, Juni Kriswanto, Usman Hamid, Papuans, Veronica Koman, ” Koman Organizations: CNN, National War College, Getty, Southeast Asia, Cornell University, “, Center, Research, Senior Southeast, National University of Singapore, Center for Emerging Democracies, University of Michigan, Muda Airforce, Amnesty International Locations: Jakarta, United States, South Jakarta, Washington ,, AFP, Indonesia, Singapore, Ukraine, Russia, China, Australia, Asian, Perth, Asia, Beijing, Washington, “ Washington, Sultan, Muda, Aceh, West Papua, South China, Tentara Nasional Indonesia, Southeast Asia, “, Papua, Amnesty International Indonesia, restive, Indonesian, East Timor

☆ An Olympic Equestrian Rode a Horse in a ‘Mankini.’ Australia Loves Him.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When the Australian equestrian and three-time Olympic medalist Shane Rose mounted his horse for a costumed competition wearing only a G-string bikini, or “mankini,” he thought it was all in good — albeit somewhat uncomfortable — fun. Mr. Rose, 50, wasn’t expecting to receive a call from Australia’s governing equestrian body notifying him that he was under investigation and temporarily barred from competing. But he did, and for a few days after the competition on Feb. 11, he feared that the episode might derail his preparations for the Paris Olympics. On Monday, the body, Equestrian Australia, said it had cleared Mr. Rose of wrongdoing at the event. A few supporters even wore mankinis of their own in solidarity.

Persons: Shane Rose, ”, Rose, wasn’t Organizations: Paris Locations: Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian prime minister to get engaged while in office, revealing Thursday that his partner accepted his marriage proposal on Valentine's Day. The first-term prime minister said he had planned both the date and place of the proposal and even helped design Haydon’s diamond ring. Albanese wants Australia to become a republic with an Australian head of state. “I’ll be there, throwing roses out in front of you, prime minister. Albanese is only the second prime minister to live with a common law partner at the Lodge.

Persons: — Anthony Albanese, Jodie Haydon, Albanese, ” Albanese, Australia's, “ We’ll, Haydon, “ It’s, ” Haydon, Peter Dutton, King Charles III, Dutton, ” Dutton, “, Julia Gillard Locations: MELBOURNE, Australia, Italian, British, Australian, Indonesia

☆ Fires Are the Sum of Our Choices
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In early February, the deadliest South American wildfires in a century swept through Valparaiso, Chile, killing more than a hundred people. In the United States, mercifully little land burned — only 2.6 million acres, which was less than half the recent average. But in Canada, fires ate through more than twice as much forest as the country’s previous modern record, the total burn scar large enough that more than half the world’s countries could fit inside. In Greece, one fire forced the country’s largest-ever evacuation, and another became the largest fire in the history of the European Union. And in the United States, especially, you increasingly hear a somewhat contrarian explanation that emphasizes fire suppression rather than warming.

Persons: “, Stephen Pyne, Daniel Swain Organizations: European Union, Sydney Locations: Valparaiso, Chile, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii’s, United States, Canada, Greece, Australia, McMurray , Alberta, Hawaii, Boulder County, Colo

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s House of Representatives has ramped up pressure on the United States and Britain to end the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange by passing a motion calling for the Australian citizen to be allowed to return to his home country. Independent lawmaker Andrew Wilkie moved the motion on Wednesday one week ahead of Britain’s High Court of Justice hearing Assange’s appeal against extradition to the United States on espionage charges. Leaders of both the government and the opposition have publicly stated that the United States’ pursuit of the 52-year-old had dragged on for too long. Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton on Thursday welcomed the lawmakers' vote, adding that his notorious sibling could potentially be extradited to the United States next week. Senior opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan said the motion did not reflect his party’s wish that the prosecution progress more quickly.

Persons: Julian Assange, Andrew Wilkie, Anthony Albanese, Assange, Gabriel Shipton, he’ll, ” Shipton, Wilkie, Albanese, Australia’s, Joe Biden, State Anthony Blinken, Dan Tehan, ” Tehan, Tehan, Chelsea Manning, Manning, Barack Obama Organizations: —, Independent, Australian, Ecuadorian Embassy, House, U.S, State, WikiLeaks, Army, Manning’s Locations: MELBOURNE, Australia, United States, Britain, Britain’s, Ecuadorian, London, Sweden

☆ Herculaneum scrolls: Philosopher’s words emerge from ancient artifacts
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

And now, researchers investigating artifacts from the neighboring city of Herculaneum are using new technology to peek beneath Vesuvius’ blanket of ash and mud to uncover more of history’s best kept secrets. The wonderOne of the Herculaneum scrolls undergoes analysis using lasers. EduceLab/University of KentuckyArtificial intelligence has revealed the first nearly complete passages to be decoded from the charred, brittle Herculaneum scrolls. Mimas could change the way scientists understand ocean worlds across our solar system, which may harbor life beyond Earth. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

Persons: Julius Caesar’s, papyrologists, Philodemus, ”, Roger Macfarlane, Drake, Nima Sarikhani, Joshua Newton, Frédéric, IMCCE Mimas, —, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, University of Kentucky, Brigham Young University, Wildlife, Perth Zoo, Curtin University’s School, Molecular, Life Sciences, “, PACE, CNN Space, Science Locations: Herculaneum, South America, Antarctica, British, Western, London

☆ Phillip Mehrtens: Militants squabble over fate of New Zealand pilot on anniversary of his kidnapping
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Angus Watson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Militant rebels in Indonesia’s restive West Papua are urging their most feared comrade to release a New Zealand pilot held hostage for a year. Mehrtens’ captors initially threatened to kill him unless New Zealand agreed to pressure Indonesia into allowing West Papua to secede from Indonesia, a seemingly impossible demand. West Papua separatist fighters release images of their hostage soon after his capture in February 2023. West Papua National Liberation ArmyFailed rescue effortsGrainy proof of life videos sent by the rebels between February and November 2023 show Mehrtens growing thinner and more unkempt. “The Indonesian response is dictated by the Indonesian military and their view is that they will hunt down this group, kill the leaders and release Mehrtens,” Kingsbury said.

Persons: Eganius Koyega, Phillip Mehrtens, Mehrtens ’, Mehrtens, Koyega, ” Koyega, ” TPNPB, Terryanus Satto, aren’t, hasn’t, Damien Kingsbury, ”, Winston Peters, Christmas Phillip, ” Peters, ” Kingsbury, “, Cammi Webb, Gannon, ’ ”, Webb, ” Webb, TPNB, Andreas Harsono, Prabowo Subianto, “ Prabowo, ” Harsono Organizations: CNN — Militant, New, Koyega, West Papuan National Liberation Army, Free Papua Movement, West Papua National Liberation Army, Indonesian Army, New Zealand, New Zealand Foreign Affairs, New Zealand Government, CNN, Australia’s University of Wollongong, Indonesian, Human Rights Watch, Rights, West Locations: Indonesia’s restive West Papua, Zealand, Nduga, New Zealand, Indonesia, West Papua, Indonesian, Papuan, West, New, Australia, Jakarta, “, ” West Papua, Papua

☆ China is pumping money into stocks and markets are loving it
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The Shanghai Composite, mainland China’s benchmark index for large state-owned companies and blue-chip stocks, ended up 3.2% on Tuesday, ending a six-day losing streak. By Monday, about $6.1 trillion in market value had been wiped from the Chinese and Hong Kong stock markets since their recent peaks in February 2021. Central Huijin Investment, the equity arm of state-owned China Investment Corp, announced Tuesday that it had recently expanded its holdings of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on mainland stock markets. The intensified efforts came after Chinese markets resumed their slide on Monday, when more than 1,800 stocks fell by more than 10% in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Tuesday’s rally in China was in contrast to other markets in the region.

Persons: “, Australia’s, Evergrande, Anna Cooban Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Alibaba, Huijin Investment, China Investment Corp, China Securities Regulatory Commission, Central Huijin Investment, Embassy, Nikkei, Kospi Locations: China, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Europe, Beijing, United States

☆ Can a DNA analysis help improve your fitness?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Melanie Radzicki Mcmanus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Increasingly, people are interested in pursuing how their genes may be affecting their health, nutrition, fitness potential and risk of injury. The global market for these direct-to-consumer genetic tests is projected to soar in the next several years, skyrocketing from $1.9 billion in 2023 to $8.8 billion by 2030, according to a market analysis report by Grand View Research. Still, some are intriguedDespite these issues, many remain intrigued by DNA fitness tests. Balance Gym recently partnered with FitnessGenes, a UK-based company that sells genetic tests, to help its clients achieve better results from their workouts. Time, and further scientific advances, may shed more light on whether DNA fitness tests are, or can be, useful.

Persons: they’re, there’s, Timothy Caulfield, “ I’ve, ” Caulfield, Caulfield, “, Eva, Dylan MacKay, ” MacKay, ”, Devin Maier, Maier, ” Maier, MacKay, Melanie Radzicki McManus Organizations: CNN’s, CNN, Grand View Research, Indian, Australia’s National Rugby League, University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, FitnessGenes Locations: Europe, Orthopaedics, Uzbekistan, China, Edmonton, Winnipeg , Canada, Washington ,, —

Last week, Chinese stocks capped their worst week in five years. On Friday, Big Tech stocks once again carried Wall Street to a record, even though the majority of stocks fell due to renewed worries about risks of a hot economy. The Big Tech stocks, which are two of Wall Street’s most influential, also vaulted the Nasdaq composite up by 1.7%. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has less of an emphasis on tech, rose by a more modest 0.3% to 38.654.42. They’re both members of a small group of Big Tech stocks known as the “Magnificent Seven” responsible for the majority of Wall Street’s run to a record.

Persons: Donald Trump, Hang Seng, Australia’s, it’s, Stocks, Jerome Powell, They’re Organizations: China Securities Regulatory Commission, Nikkei, Big Tech, Meta, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Charter Communications, New York Mercantile Exchange, Brent, U.S Locations: HONG KONG, Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, U.S, China, Hong, Asia

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