Global Pulse

分类： society

  • Miracle moment missing dog rescued from 13-story ledge in Dee Why after being trapped for days

    Miracle moment missing dog rescued from 13-story ledge in Dee Why after being trapped for days

    In a breathtaking, camera-captured rescue that left onlookers cheering, a team of firefighters pulled a missing jack russell terrier to safety after the small pet spent two days trapped on a narrow 13th-storey ledge of a coastal Sydney high-rise.

    The dog, named Elbie, went missing from her home on Anzac Day, leaving her owners distraught and launching a frantic search across the Dee Why neighborhood on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. For 48 hours, Elbie’s whereabouts remained a mystery – until a drone operator scanning the exterior of the 40-meter-tall Meriton Apartments spotted the frightened dog perched on the narrow ledge, tucked behind an external building screen.

    Emergency services were quickly dispatched to the scene, and a crowd of local onlookers gathered on the ground below to watch the high-stakes operation unfold. Video footage of the rescue shows a trained firefighter abseil down the side of the residential building to reach Elbie’s precarious position. Working carefully around the narrow ledge 40 meters above ground, the rescuer spent roughly 20 minutes extracting the trapped dog from behind the screen before passing her safely through an open apartment window to waiting crew members inside the building.

    As Elbie was pulled into the building unharmed, cheers of jubilation erupted from the crowd gathered below. Elbie’s owner, who had spent two days searching for the missing pet, spoke to local media after the rescue, expressing overwhelming relief at the outcome. “I was over the moon, you know, I thought I didn’t know how I was going to see her again,” the owner told 9News. “So very happy.”

    Initial investigations into how Elbie ended up on the ledge suggest the adventurous dog climbed over a row of rooftop flower pots before wandering onto the narrow exterior ledge, where she became stuck for two days until the drone discovery that saved her life.

  • Learners and P-platers face tough new rules with major driving licence overhaul

    Learners and P-platers face tough new rules with major driving licence overhaul

    Western Australia is implementing sweeping, life-saving changes to its graduated driver licensing system, introducing far stricter regulations for both learner drivers and provisional (P-plate) drivers in a bid to cut road fatalities and serious injuries. The reforms, which come after over a year of public engagement and advocacy following a high-profile teen road death, represent one of the most significant overhauls of the state’s road safety rules in recent decades.

  • ‘Lie-down napping’ helps pupils get forty winks

    ‘Lie-down napping’ helps pupils get forty winks

    Across China, a quiet but transformative shift is underway in K-12 education: replacing the long-standing tradition of hunching over classroom desks for midday naps with comfortable, lie-down rest, enabled by a newly implemented national standard for student furniture.

    The national technical standard for purpose-built napping desks and chairs, issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Standardization Administration in September 2025, officially went into effect this February. Developed with children’s physical growth and developmental needs at its core, the regulation sets clear, unified requirements for critical product specifications including seat height, recline angle, under-desk clearance, and material durability, addressing a gap that previously left the growing market for napping furniture with inconsistent quality and safety standards.

    Well before the new standard was introduced, national policymakers had already prioritized improving student sleep health. Back in 2021, the Ministry of Education released a guidance on strengthening student sleep management, which outlined age-appropriate recommended sleep durations and encouraged schools with sufficient resources to secure adequate midday break time for rest. In 2023, the State Council followed with a policy supporting schools to expand classroom and recreational spaces to create usable napping conditions. That same year, Zhang Qiongli, a national legislator and high school teacher from Hubei province, tabled a proposal to upgrade K-12 students’ lunch break arrangements, which quickly garnered broad public and official support. Today, nearly 40,000 primary and secondary students in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Zhang’s home region, already have access to lie-down napping during lunch breaks. “I also hope that in the future, all primary and secondary school students across the country can achieve lying lunch breaks,” Zhang shared in an interview.

    Since the national standard took effect, rollout has accelerated across multiple regions. In Wuhu, Anhui province, 468 sets of the new lie-down napping furniture have been included in the city government’s 2026 key livelihood projects, with many local schools already rolling out the equipment to help students say goodbye to the discomfort of hunched-over desk napping.
    The innovative furniture is designed for dual use: during regular class hours, it functions as a standard student desk and chair. When lunch break rolls around, a few simple adjustments extend the seat and tilt the backrest, transforming it into a comfortable mini recliner that eliminates the neck and shoulder strain that comes from napping while bent forward.

    In northwest China’s Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, roughly 2,000 sets of the new napping-friendly desks and chairs entered service at local K-12 schools this spring. In the southern technology hub of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, more than 400 primary and secondary schools have already completed midday napping program upgrades, with the city planning to roll out the national standard-compliant furniture to an additional 200 schools in the 2026 spring semester.

    For parents, the change is widely welcomed. Lu Xiao, a primary school parent based in Dalian, Liaoning province, noted that a quality midday nap helps students recharge their energy and boost afternoon learning efficiency. “I hope students in my son’s school can use the adjustable backrests and extendable seats as soon as possible,” she said.
    Most Chinese K-12 schools already schedule approximately two hours for lunch and midday break daily, creating a natural window for structured rest.
    Despite this progress and widespread policy and public support, full nationwide promotion of universal lie-down napping still faces notable practical barriers. As of early 2026, only a relatively small share of schools across the country have rolled out the upgraded furniture, with challenges including limited classroom space, tight education budgets, and complex daily management of the adjusted napping routines remaining to be addressed.

  • French teen who licked vending machine straw faces jail in Singapore

    French teen who licked vending machine straw faces jail in Singapore

    A reckless public stunt pulled by an 18-year-old French exchange student has sparked public outrage and legal consequences in Singapore, after a video of him tampering with a public vending machine went viral across social media platforms.

    Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, who currently pursues studies at the Singapore campus of Essec Business School, is facing two formal charges: mischief and public nuisance, following the incident that unfolded on March 12 at a local shopping mall. According to local media reports, Maximilien filmed himself licking a reusable straw from an iJooz orange juice vending machine before placing it back into the machine’s dispenser. He then shared the clip as an Instagram Story with the provocative caption “city is not safe”, before the footage was picked up and shared widely across local community pages and mainstream news outlets.

    Public reaction to the stunt was overwhelmingly negative, with many members of the Singaporean public expressing disgust and concern over the unhygienic act, particularly in a public shared space. In response to the incident, iJooz, the vending machine operator, took immediate precautionary measures: the company filed a formal police report, activated full sanitation protocols for all its on-site machines, and made the decision to replace all 500 straws held in the affected dispenser to eliminate any public health risk.

    If Maximilien is found guilty on both of the charges brought against him, he faces severe legal penalties under Singaporean law: a maximum cumulative prison sentence of over two years, plus fines amounting to thousands of Singapore dollars. Local media reports confirm that Maximilien’s parents have traveled to Singapore to support their son, and a representative from his university has agreed to act as his bailor. Essec Business School’s Singapore branch has also confirmed it is conducting an internal investigation into the incident, alongside the official court proceedings. Maximilien’s case is scheduled for its next court hearing on May 22.

  • Attorney-General urged to probe death of international student Bikram Lama who died sleeping rough in Sydney CBD

    Attorney-General urged to probe death of international student Bikram Lama who died sleeping rough in Sydney CBD

    A devastating incident involving the death of a 32-year-old Nepali international student in central Sydney has reignited urgent demands for systemic policy changes and independent scrutiny of gaps in Australia’s social safety net for non-residents.

    Bikram Lama, who had traveled to Australia to pursue a computer science degree, was found dead six days after his death in dense shrubbery near St James Station, a high-traffic area adjacent to Sydney’s Hyde Park, in December 2023. Shocking estimates indicate that as many as 100,000 commuters and pedestrians passed his undiscovered body every single day before local station staff made the grim discovery.

    After falling into severe financial hardship, Lama was locked out of critical state and federal support services solely because he did not hold Australian permanent residency, according to reporting from The Guardian. His death has drawn renewed attention to a hidden vulnerable population in Sydney: unhoused non-residents who are excluded from mainstream crisis assistance. Data from the City of Sydney underscores the growing scale of the issue: a 2023 count recorded 346 people sleeping rough in the Sydney central business district, a 24% jump from the previous year, with non-Australian residents accounting for 18% of that total.

    Independent Member of Parliament Alex Greenwich has formally written to the New South Wales Attorney-General calling for a full coronial inquest into Lama’s death. The request aims to uncover whether systemic policy failures directly contributed to the preventable tragedy. A spokesperson for the NSW Attorney-General’s Department confirmed that the state coroner is currently awaiting a full evidence brief from New South Wales Police, and will assess whether to proceed with an inquest through standard legal processes once the documentation is submitted.

    St Vincent’s Hospital, which operates a leading homelessness health service in Sydney, has joined the growing chorus demanding urgent cross-government reform. Erin Longbottom, manager of St Vincent’s homelessness health unit, explained that non-residents in crisis are barred from accessing Medicare-funded medical care, state-run emergency shelter, and most other government support programs, leaving them dependent on under-resourced charities for basic food and essential supplies. “Bikram’s senseless tragic death lays bare gaping holes in the support system for non-residents experiencing crisis,” Longbottom said in an interview with news.com.au. “We are calling on both state and federal governments to overhaul the current framework to give vulnerable non-residents access to life-saving support when they need it most.”

  • McDonald’s wins appeal to build 24/7 restaurant on Melbourne’s ‘coolest street’

    McDonald’s wins appeal to build 24/7 restaurant on Melbourne’s ‘coolest street’

    One of the most talked-about planning battles in Melbourne has come to a close, with global fast food giant McDonald’s securing legal approval to build a round-the-clock restaurant on High Street, Northcote — the strip recently named the “coolest street in the world” by Time Out magazine in 2024. The victory comes after the company appealed a rejection from local governing body Darebin City Council, which had blocked the project over widespread community concerns.

    The council originally refused McDonald’s planning permit for the 319-325 High Street site, arguing that a large-scale fast food outlet would permanently reshape the aesthetic, atmosphere and unique community identity of the already popular precinct. Beyond character concerns, local leaders also flagged a suite of potential harms: increased traffic congestion along the busy strip, negative spillover effects on nearby residential property values, and unaddressed environmental impacts from the 24/7 operation.

    Community opposition ran far deeper than council objections. A public petition launched to block the development gathered more than 11,300 signatures from residents and visitors who argued High Street’s beloved local charm and community-focused culture would be overshadowed by the global chain’s new outlet. Compounding concerns, two existing McDonald’s locations already operate within a 3.5-kilometer radius of the proposed site, leading many to question the need for an additional outlet.

    But in a final ruling that settled the dispute, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) sided with McDonald’s. Tribunal member Michael Deidun clarified that VCAT lacks the authority to reject a development application based solely on the identity of the occupying business. “This Tribunal does not have the power to review the corporate approach of McDonalds, its work practices and ethics, the type of food it produces, its impact on human health, or whether it fits the ‘cool’ vibes of its context,” Deidun said in his ruling.

    In a statement following the decision, a McDonald’s spokesperson welcomed the outcome, noting that the appeal had been “fairly and rightly assessed on its merits.” The proposed outlet will be operated by a local franchisee, the company confirmed, with projected economic benefits for the Northcote area. According to the chain, the construction phase alone will create roughly 100 local jobs, and once the restaurant opens later this year, it will add another 100 full-time, part-time and casual positions for local residents. Beyond employment, the spokesperson added that the franchise will contribute to the local community through skills training opportunities and partnerships with local community groups.

    “We look forward to joining Northcote and playing an active role in the local community when the restaurant opens later this year,” the spokesperson said. Darebin City Council has not yet issued a formal statement following the ruling, with requests for comment still outstanding as of the latest update.

  • Missing 5-year-old Australian girl believed to be abducted, say police

    Missing 5-year-old Australian girl believed to be abducted, say police

    A tense multi-team search operation is unfolding in Australia’s remote Northern Territory Outback after a 5-year-old girl was taken from her family home, triggering an urgent manhunt for a recently released prison inmate with a history of violent offenses.

    The child, named publicly as Sharon by local law enforcement, was last seen shortly before midnight on Saturday, when her family finished putting her to bed at their residence in Old Timers, an Aboriginal town camp on the outskirts of Alice Springs. By the time family members checked on her hours later, she was gone, and authorities now say they believe she was abducted rather than wandering off into the harsh, unforgiving Outback terrain.

    Acting Northern Territory Police Commander Mark Grieve confirmed to reporters on Monday that investigators are urgently seeking to question 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis, a man who had been staying at the camp before disappearing around the exact same time Sharon went missing. Grieve noted that Lewis had previously served prison time for domestic and family violence offenses, and he remains one of the only people present at the camp the night of the disappearance who has not contacted authorities or been located by searching teams.

    Dozens of resources have been deployed to comb the vast, remote bush and desert lands surrounding the camp, which is designated by the Australian government as temporary accommodation for First Nations people traveling to or staying in Alice Springs. Specialized police units including canine search teams, drone operators, and a helicopter are all assisting in the search, alongside civilian volunteers who have stepped up to help the community locate the young child.

    Describing the case as every parent’s worst nightmare, Grieve made a public appeal for any member of the public with information about either Sharon’s whereabouts or Lewis’s current location to contact police immediately. “Obviously it’s a terrible situation to have such a young child go missing,” Grieve told reporters. “We’re over 24 hours now so it’d certainly be my worst nightmare as a parent.”

    Authorities have also released a detailed description of what Sharon was wearing when she was last seen to help any potential witnesses identify her: a dark blue T-shirt with white trim around the neck and sleeves, paired with black boxer-style underwear. As the search enters its second full day, investigators and community members remain focused on one core goal: bringing the missing girl home safely to her family. “We want to find Sharon healthy and we want to get her back to her family,” Grieve said.

  • Sickness, cold killed nearly 30 sloths at a Florida import warehouse in 2024 and 2025

    Sickness, cold killed nearly 30 sloths at a Florida import warehouse in 2024 and 2025

    A disturbing new report from Florida’s state wildlife regulators has uncovered the deaths of nearly three dozen sloths over a 14-month period at a central Florida animal import facility, caused by inadequate temperature control and substandard living conditions that violated basic wildlife care standards.

    The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s August 2025 inspection report details the first mass mortality event that unfolded in December 2024, when 21 three-fingered sloths imported from the South American nation of Guyana arrived at Sanctuary World Imports, an Orlando-based licensed animal import facility. At the time, unexpected cold snaps pushed indoor temperatures at the facility down to between 40 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit, a range far too cold for the temperature-sensitive tropical animals.

    Unlike most mammal species, sloths lack the ability to effectively self-regulate their internal body temperature, according to guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The agency notes that sloths require consistent environmental temperatures between 68 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit to maintain healthy bodily function. Temperatures below this range trigger a life-threatening state of hypothermia, commonly referred to as cold stunning in aquatic and tropical species.

    Peter Bandre, the individual listed as the facility’s licensed operator in state documents, acknowledged the lethal conditions to inspectors. He admitted that the warehouse facility where the sloths were housed was not prepared to receive the shipment: it had no running water, no active electrical service, and no insulation to retain heat. Even so, Bandre told regulators that canceling the import shipment was not an option once the animals were en route. The facility purchased portable space heaters to warm the space, but the units overwhelmed the building’s outdated electrical system, tripping a circuit breaker that cut off power and left the sloths without any source of heat for at least one full night. All 21 sloths subsequently died from cold-related hypothermia.

    The fatal incident was not an isolated failure, inspection records show. Just two months later, in February 2025, the facility accepted a second shipment of 10 sloths sourced from Peru. Two of the animals were already dead upon arrival at the facility. The remaining eight, visibly underweight and malnourished to the point of emaciation, succumbed to untreated chronic poor health in the weeks following their arrival, bringing the total death toll to 29 sloths over 14 months. State records also note that the facility had already cycled through two prior veterinary consultants, and Bandre told inspectors he was in the process of hiring a third to address the facility’s ongoing animal health issues.

    The Associated Press attempted to reach both Bandre and Sanctuary World Imports for comment multiple times following the release of the inspection report, but has not received a response.

    In follow-up inspections conducted in March 2026, state regulators documented significant changes to the facility’s operations and ownership. Benjamin Agresta, president of the original Sanctuary World organization, told inspectors that the business had been renamed Sloth World Inc., and that Bandre was no longer associated with the company in any capacity. The AP also attempted to contact Agresta and Sloth World Inc. for comment, and has not received a response as of publication.

    Inspectors noted during the March 2026 check that the facility where the 2024 mass mortality event occurred has since been upgraded with independent, dedicated heating and air conditioning systems that maintain a constant 82 degrees Fahrenheit, well within the optimal temperature range for sloth care. Regulators also reported observing no signs of neglect or health issues among the sloths currently held at the updated facility.

  • Smoking dispute resolved amicably in Shenzhen

    Smoking dispute resolved amicably in Shenzhen

    A public dispute that sparked widespread online discussion over enforcement of China’s strict anti-smoking regulations has been resolved amicably between the two involved parties, an official joint investigation confirmed Saturday. The confrontation unfolded Friday evening at a non-smoking designated bus stop in Guangming District, Shenzhen, a southern Chinese metropolis known for enforcing the toughest tobacco control rules in the country.

    The clash erupted between 29-year-old Wang and 33-year-old Chen around dusk, after an attempt by one party to intervene in Chen’s smoking at the restricted public space escalated into mutual conflict. According to the investigation’s official account, Wang first poured her juice onto Chen’s cigarette-holding right hand and discarded her plastic cup onto the nearby road. In retaliation, Chen picked up the discarded cup and threw it back toward Wang. Bystanders contacted local law enforcement, who responded promptly to the incident.

    The confrontation quickly went viral on Chinese social media, spurring intense public debate across multiple key issues. Online commentators questioned whether Chen should face formal penalties for violating smoking bans, whether Wang’s counteraction was excessive relative to the initial offense, and whether law enforcement had overstepped procedural boundaries after Wang shared details of the police processing on her personal social media accounts.

    To address widespread public concern and clarify the facts of the case, local authorities assembled a joint investigation team drawing representatives from Guangming District’s health authority, public security bureau, transport department, and subdistrict office. Investigators confirmed that both parties initially demanded legal action be taken against the other, so officers transported them to a formal case handling center to complete the investigation process. In compliance with standard operational protocols, law enforcement conducted mandatory personal safety checks, with a female staff member completing Wang’s screening in a private, enclosed space to protect her privacy.

    Responding to public questions regarding the application of local smoking rules, the investigation’s official statement confirmed that Chen had violated Shenzhen’s longstanding smoking control regulations, which strictly ban smoking in all public spaces including covered and open bus stops. The local transport enforcement department has formally issued a correction order to Chen and imposed an administrative fine for the violation, bringing the public interest case to a close while upholding the city’s strict tobacco control framework.

  • Southern China braces for heavy rainfall

    Southern China braces for heavy rainfall

    A fresh, widespread round of intense rainfall is poised to impact large swathes of southern China over the coming three days, the National Meteorological Center has confirmed in its latest official forecast. The inclement weather system will begin unfolding on Sunday, starting with rain bands developing over the Sichuan Basin and Guizhou before shifting steadily eastward. Over the course of the event, the precipitation is projected to reach more than 10 provincial-level regions across southern China, including major affected areas such as Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, Zhejiang and Guangdong.

    Most of the impacted regions are forecast to see moderate to heavy rainfall, with the peak intensity of the event expected to fall between Monday and Tuesday, according to the center’s meteorologists. On the opening day of the event Sunday, heavy downpours are predicted to hit northeastern parts of the Sichuan Basin, central and southern Chongqing, northern Guizhou, and northeastern Yunnan, with total accumulated precipitation expected to range between 50 and 70 millimeters in these zones.

    In preparation for the prolonged heavy rain, national authorities have issued multiple warnings and public advisories to reduce risk of harm and damage. The general public has been urged to implement proactive precautions against secondary disasters triggered by heavy and sustained rainfall, adjust travel plans accordingly, and avoid areas with road waterlogging. Officials also emphasized that residents should stay tuned for the latest official weather updates, and remain aware of the hazards associated with severe convective weather, including sudden strong winds and hail.

    On Saturday, two national government bodies — the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the China Meteorological Administration — issued a joint warning highlighting elevated risk of farmland waterlogging across multiple affected regions. From Sunday through Wednesday, high risk of waterlogging that can damage crops and infrastructure is forecast for the Sichuan Basin, southeastern Hubei, and most parts of Hunan and Jiangxi.

    Local governments in high-risk zones have been instructed to step up preparedness measures, including proactive management of water storage levels in reservoirs and rural ponds, and intensified pre-emptive drainage operations in agricultural fields to mitigate the impact of potential waterlogging.