分类： society

One of Australia’s busiest regional air travel hubs was thrown into chaos on Thursday, when two unexpected everyday items sparked a full-scale bomb alert that suspended domestic flight operations for nearly half a day. Avalon Airport, the second-busiest air gateway in the state of Victoria located 31 miles southwest of central Melbourne, was placed under partial lockdown after security screening staff flagged a suspicious piece of checked baggage just before 6 a.m. local time, which equals 8 p.m. GMT on the previous day. Emergency protocols were immediately activated, with local law enforcement and bomb disposal units dispatched to the scene to investigate the potential threat. International flight schedules remained unaffected throughout the incident, but all domestic operations were paused as a precaution, leading to widespread cancellations and delays for thousands of passengers. After a thorough examination by the bomb squad, the suspicious package was found to contain nothing more dangerous than a laser hair removal device and an insulated hot chocolate container, a far cry from the explosive device authorities had prepared for. The owner of the baggage, a Melbourne resident, was taken into custody for questioning immediately after the discovery, but was eventually released without any criminal charges, Victoria Police confirmed. According to Acting Inspector Nick Uebergang of Victoria Police, the uncooperative behavior of the baggage owner extended the duration of the security lockdown. “The person who had the bag wasn’t too cooperative with us to start off with, which made things a little bit difficult. They probably could have averted things and we could have got out of here a little bit quicker,” Uebergang told reporters. Full operations at the airport resumed approximately four hours after the initial alert was raised. In a statement following the incident, an Avalon Airport spokesperson emphasized that the rapid, by-the-book response to the potential threat highlighted the effectiveness of the facility’s security protocols. “This response demonstrates the vigilance of the screening and security processes, and precautionary measures were taken immediately to ensure the safety of passengers, staff and the broader community,” the spokesperson said. Many passengers caught up in the sudden lockdown shared their chaotic experiences with local media outlets. One traveler who arrived at the airport around 7 a.m. told ABC Radio Melbourne, “We arrived at the airport around 7am and they had just put up the closure. No one sort of knew what was going on. We knew something was fairly significant because there were a lot of police cars and other sort of cars going into the airport.” Manjeet Singh, who was scheduled to board a flight to Brisbane, said he was directed to wait in the airport carpark with no basic amenities provided during the lockdown. “There’s no arrangements, no bathroom, no toilet, no beverages, no nothing,” he told local newspaper The Age. As Victoria’s second busiest aviation hub, Avalon Airport is a key base for budget airline Jetstar, a Qantas subsidiary that operates both domestic and international services from the facility. By the time the airport reopened, two domestic services – one incoming flight from Sydney and one outgoing flight to Sydney – had already been cancelled, with multiple other domestic routes facing lengthy delays. No injuries or actual security threats were reported during the incident.

A 36-year-old man facing multiple charges connected to a string of groping and threats targeting women in central Melbourne has been publicly identified during a court hearing. Rashed Ateem appeared before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday, where he answered to two counts of sexual assault and two additional counts of assaulting police officers.

The alleged incidents date back to the afternoon of March 3, when authorities say Ateem carried out a series of unprovoked attacks on multiple women in Melbourne’s Central Business District. Police received emergency triple-0 calls around 5:30 p.m. that day reporting a man randomly assaulting passersby near the iconic Flinders Street steps, with some of the attacks described as sexually motivated.

Officers quickly located the suspect on Bourke Street and took him into custody. But the arrest did not proceed smoothly: police allege Ateem spat at responding officers and physically assaulted them during the apprehension. The violence left a senior police constable with injuries serious enough to require transport to a local hospital for medical treatment.

During Thursday’s initial hearing, Ateem’s legal team requested an adjournment of the case. Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge granted the request, scheduling the next court appearance for June 1. As Ateem exited the court building following the hearing, he was photographed smiling toward assembled media outlets.

The string of random alleged attacks in one of Melbourne’s busiest tourist and commercial hubs has raised ongoing community concerns about public safety in the city’s central district, with police continuing to urge any potential additional victims to come forward to assist with the investigation.

A small regional town in Western Australia’s Mid West region is currently in the grips of an unprecedented mouse plague that has upended daily life for every resident and business owner, leaving them locked in a relentless daily battle against the invasive rodents.

Morawa Shire President Karen Chappel described the ongoing crisis as nothing short of horrifying, noting that communities have grown exhausted from the constant cycle of containment and cleanup. “Every single day, we are picking up carcasses, setting traps, laying bait, and cleaning up the mess the mice leave behind,” Chappel explained in an interview. “You finish clearing the bodies from your home or shop, dispose of them, and get ready to do the exact same thing the next morning. On top of that, there is the constant, cloying stench of mice—both living rodents and decaying carcasses—that never goes away.”

The infestation poses severe public health risks, prompting local leaders to urge residents to maintain strict hygiene protocols that echo the precautions many adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re telling people to wash their hands constantly, carry hand sanitiser, and stay vigilant, because these rodents carry a host of dangerous diseases,” Chappel said. She went on to detail just how pervasive the infestation has become: mice have been found nesting in beds, over a dozen rodents poured out of a resident’s oven when opened, they chew through books, gnaw at vehicle wiring, and build nests inside household appliances from washing machines to air conditioners. Beyond the filth, residents face costly damage, forced to repair or replace destroyed appliances and personal property that the mice have ruined. “The psychological weight of this crisis on our community is enormous,” Chappel added.

This outbreak is not an isolated event. Last month, agricultural scientists issued an urgent warning that the growing mouse plague could destroy up to $1 billion worth of grain crops across Western Australia if swift action was not taken. Surveys of cropping regions across the Mid West, Wheatbelt, and Goldfields-Esperance have found up to 4,000 mouse burrows per hectare, with some paddocks hosting as many as 8,000 individual mice per hectare. As rodents have exhausted food sources in agricultural areas, they have migrated into nearby regional towns, turning a rural agricultural crisis into an urban public health emergency. In response, the Western Australian Department of Health has issued an official public health alert for Morawa and surrounding communities, advising residents on how to safely handle dead mice and secure their homes to protect their families.

Steve Henry, a research officer with Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, visited the affected region in March and confirmed the outbreak has worsened dramatically in the months since. “The footage farmers are sending me now is identical to what we saw during the 2021 mouse plague in New South Wales—this is a severe, devastating outbreak by any measure,” Henry said. The 2021 NSW outbreak caused an estimated $660 million in direct economic damage, a figure that does not account for the profound psychological harm inflicted on affected communities. Unlike natural disasters such as drought or heatwaves, where people can find shelter inside their homes, a mouse plague invades every corner of daily life. “These mice get into your food cupboards, your clothing, your linen, they run across your bed while you are sleeping,” Henry explained. “There is no escape from them inside your own home.”

In a major policy shift to address the crisis, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority this week approved an application from Grain Producers Australia to allow the use of a stronger, more concentrated mouse bait. The new formulation uses the same active toxin as existing bait, but delivers a lethal dose in every individual grain, which researchers expect will improve kill rates. Still, Henry cautioned that the stronger bait is not a permanent solution to the crisis. “It’s extremely difficult to wipe out an outbreak of this size with bait alone, just because there are so many mice spread across such a huge area,” he said. “The 50-gram formulation is more effective than the 25-gram version we had before, but when there is so much alternative food available for mice across the landscape, it won’t solve the problem entirely. It will, however, reduce localised damage to crops and residential areas.”

Jamie Appleton, who operates the Morawa Roadhouse, explained that the current mouse population explosion was fueled by ideal breeding conditions: this year has produced one of the best grain harvests on record, giving the mice an abundant food supply and mild weather that has allowed their numbers to grow unchecked. Like many local business owners, Appleton now spends an extra hour every day deep cleaning his store to remove mouse waste and carcasses. Though he has spent hundreds of dollars on bait and has kept most of his stock protected, he says the entire community is at breaking point. “People are just over this,” he said. “I’m lucky enough that I can afford to replace damaged items, but a lot of people in this town can’t. This constant stress is unbearable. Imagine coming home to find your pantry food is all ruined, your bedding is destroyed, and you have young kids to care for. This is an intrusion no one should have to deal with.” Local residents are now pinning their hopes on a cold snap, which they hope will kill off much of the mouse population and bring a much-needed end to the crisis.

An unusual new internet sensation has captured the attention of millions in Bangladesh: a 700-kilogram albino buffalo, nicknamed “Donald Trump” for his striking golden-blond mane that echoes the former U.S. president’s iconic hairstyle, has become an overnight social media star — even as he is scheduled to be sacrificed for the upcoming Eid al-Adha holiday.

The rare buffalo lives on a family farm owned by 38-year-old Zia Uddin Mridha in Narayanganj, a small district just outside Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. Mridha told reporters it was his younger brother who gave the buffalo its distinctive name, pointing to the animal’s thick, flowing blond coat that sits neatly between his large curved horns, bearing an uncanny resemblance to Trump’s signature hairstyle.

Since going viral on social media at the start of May, the four-year-old buffalo has drawn a nonstop stream of curious visitors, from local onlookers and social media fans to groups of excited children, all eager to catch a glimpse and snap a photo with the rare animal. Mridha said the constant attention has been overwhelming: the stress of large daily crowds has caused the buffalo to lose weight, forcing the farm to impose limited visiting hours. Still, the starstruck public continues to gather outside the farm gates, many traveling hours by boat or road to see the viral celebrity. One visitor, 30-year-old businessman Faisal Ahmed, traveled with five relatives to see the buffalo, noting his 10-year-old nephew took an hour-long boat trip just to get a look. “Truly, the features are similar between the buffalo and President Donald Trump,” Ahmed told Agence France-Presse.

To keep the buffalo comfortable amid the warm South Asian spring weather, farm workers bathe him up to four times a day, brushing his blond mane with a pink brush to keep his signature combover neat. Mridha emphasizes that any similarities between the buffalo and the former American president end at the hair.

Livestock department officials confirm pure albino buffalo are extremely rare: their distinctive pale white-pink coat and light hair come from a genetic condition that prevents the production of melanin, the pigment that gives animals their typical dark skin and fur coloring.

Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority South Asian nation of 170 million people, is gearing up for Eid al-Adha, the Islamic Feast of the Sacrifice, which is celebrated later this month. The holiday commemorates the Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son to obey God, and tradition calls for religious Muslim families to sacrifice a livestock animal, sharing a portion of the meat with poor communities. This year, an estimated 12 million livestock including goats, sheep, cows and buffalo are expected to be slaughtered across the country, providing one of the few annual opportunities for low-income Bangladeshi families to eat meat.

“Donald Trump” is not the only named buffalo on Mridha’s farm: other bulls have playful nicknames matching their personalities or looks, from Tufan (meaning “storm” in Bengali) for an aggressive bull, to Fat Boy for the largest animal and Sweet Boy for the gentle member of the herd. Another golden-haired bull was named after Brazilian football star Neymar, thanks to his dyed-style bleached blond cut.

Mridha, who has cared for the viral albino buffalo for more than a year, says he has grown attached to the animal, who currently munches fodder calmly in his pen. Despite the animal’s newfound national fame, Mridha says he will honor the tradition of Eid al-Adha. “I am going to miss Donald Trump, but that is the core spirit of Eid al-Adha — making a sacrifice,” he said.

In the aftermath of the devastating December 14 mass shooting at Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead, two shocking new criminal cases have unfolded in Australia, drawing widespread public attention. The first case centers on a 35-year-old working photographer who was present at the fatal Hanukkah event targeted by two gunmen. New South Wales Police allege that the man stole professional camera equipment belonging to Peter Meagher, one of the attack’s victims who was a retired police officer and working photojournalist at the time of the shooting. Meagher was killed in the gunfire, and the accused is said to have pawned the stolen gear just days after the attack. Authorities carried out a raid on the suspect’s western Sydney home on Wednesday, where they recovered the stolen camera along with additional items including handcuffs and multiple personal electronic devices. The 35-year-old was taken into custody and formally charged, before being granted strict conditional bail. He is scheduled to make his next court appearance next month. The case is a disturbing development in the wake of the tragedy, which has already shaken Australian communities. In a separate, equally startling case connected to the Bondi Beach attack, two brothers of Ahmed Al Ahmed — the Syrian-Australian shop owner widely hailed as a hero for his actions during the shooting — have been hit with criminal charges over alleged threats and extortion. During the attack, Ahmed rushed to stop one of the gunmen, identified as Sajid Akram, tackling him to the ground and successfully wresting a firearm away from the attacker. For his brave actions, Ahmed was shot multiple times, and he has since undergone multiple reconstructive surgeries on his wounded arm. His courageous intervention earned national acclaim, and a public fundraiser was launched to support his recovery that ultimately raised more than AU$2.5 million, equal to roughly $1.8 million USD or £1.2 million GBP. Following the attack, Ahmed’s two brothers, Hozifa al Ahmed and Sameh al Ahmed, relocated to Australia from overseas and moved into his home, according to court documents filed by prosecutors. Tensions between the siblings eventually deteriorated, prompting Ahmed to move out and relocate to a separate property. Earlier this month, Ahmed lodged an official police report, claiming his brothers had threatened him to force him to hand over a share of the public donation funds. Court documents outline detailed threatening phone calls the brothers are alleged to have made on May 7. During his call, Hozifa reportedly told Ahmed: “I will put your head under my boot, break your other arm, and smash your face. We will only leave if you give us $100,000 each.” Shortly after the first call, Sameh contacted Ahmed with an identical demand, stating: “If you want peace of mind and to be safe, you will give us $100,000 each.” The two brothers appeared in court this Wednesday to face charges of using a carriage service to harass and offend. Both have entered not guilty pleas, and their next court date is scheduled for July. Interim apprehended domestic violence orders have been issued against the pair, requiring them to stay away from Ahmed at all times. In the days after the attack, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese personally visited Ahmed in hospital to recognize his bravery and offer the government’s support. Both cases are now working their way through the New South Wales court system, as the community continues to grapple with the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting in Australia in recent years.