TRANSCRIPT
- The five remaining members of the Bali Nine return to Australia
- Four Australians receive support after a suspected alcohol poisoning incident in Fiji
- The Sydney Kings deliver a 93-81 NBL win over the Brisbane Bullets
The five remaining members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling ring have returned to Australia.
Australian citizens Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, and Michael Czugaj have arrived back in the country from Indonesia.
Known as the Bali Nine, the group received various punishments from life in prison to a death sentence following their attempt to smuggle heroin into the country.
Indonesia's decision to allow the men to return home comes after discussions between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto during the APEC conference in Peru last month.
Mr Albanese says 19 years in prison is long enough for the five men.
"The five men committed serious offences. Australia shares Indonesia’s concern about the serious problem illicit drugs represents. The Government will continue to cooperate with Indonesia to counter narcotics trafficking and transnational crime. These Australians served more than 19 years in prison in Indonesia. It was time for them to come home."
**
Two Australian families are receiving consular assistance, following a suspected alcohol poisoning incident in Fiji.
Local media say the victims were taken to hospital on Saturday night with nausea, vomiting, and neurological symptoms.
They're reportedly aged between 18 and 56 - and it's not yet known what the group consumed to cause the medical episodes.
Fiji Police have confirmed they're investigating the incident along with local health inspectors.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed the assistance, but says it can't provide further comment due to privacy obligations.
**
South Korea has moved to reassure its allies and calm financial markets a day after President Yoon Suk-yeol was impeached and suspended from his duties over a martial law attempt.
Acting president Han Duck-soo has reportedly spoken with United States President Joe Biden in an attempt to stabilise the Asian nation's leadership.
The main opposition party has announced it won't seek to impeach Mr Han for his involvement in Yoon's December 3rd martial law decision.
**
Education Minister Jason Clare has joined a chorus of voices in condemning a series of Islamophobic messages graffitied on walls in Sydney's western suburbs.
The graffiti was found on a street in Chester Hill over the weekend with New South Wales police launching an investigation into the potential hate crime.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says such vandalism aimed towards particular groups is corrosive to the fabric of the state.
Minister Clare all forms of racism must be condemned.
"This is just disgusting. We need to condemn this and all forms of racism right across the country. We're the best country in the world and one of the reasons for that is because we're made of people from all around the world, all different religions living here in harmony. And this is just the absolute opposite of that. My community is suffering at the moment, they're hurting because of the war in the Middle East and the last thing that we need is this sort of disgusting Islamophobia."
**
Australia's two new giant pandas have arrived in Adelaide.
Xing Qiu and Yi Lan made the 15-hour journey from Sichuan province with plenty of bamboo snacks.
They'll now make a new home at Adelaide Zoo in the same bamboo forest enclosure once occupied by the last panda duo Wang Wang and Fu Ni.
Panda enthusiast Shelby Baker says it's a big moment for the country.
"I think it's a historical moment because they're going to be here for at least 10 years and we're not just going to come here to see them once, we're going to come here every week to see them, to be company with them, becasue it's not easy to be living overseas, but for the pandas they've got all of our love and care and I want all the pandas to feel that as well."
The pandas will spend the next few weeks in quarantine before members of the public can see them in mid-January.
**
And in basketball,
Coach Brian Goorjian is starting to see the Sydney Kings deliver on their much-discussed potential after a 93-81 NBL win over the Brisbane Bullets.
The Kings entered the season with high expectations to match their star-studded roster, only to initially struggle in Goorjian's first season back as coach.
But superstar duo Jaylen Adams and Xavier Cooks forged their most fruitful combination of the season on Sunday as the Kings silenced the visitors in a game-defining 27-8 fourth quarter.
Ex-NBA guard Adams produced his season-high 32 points at Sydney Olympic Park, capping the afternoon with a buzzer-beating three-pointer, his fourth triple of the game.
Goorjian says the way the team won was impressive.
"The whole thing that we're trying to do with a new playing group, a new coaching staff, a new ownership -I call that culture. When they talk about building culture it's standards and living by those standards. And tonight, holding them to 8 points - a team like that, a juggernaut. The importance of this tonight - and the way they were rolling, I thought was a really good sign."
