MOSCOW – Australia has charged two Russian-born Australian citizens with preparing for an espionage offense, after allegedly obtaining military information that they planned to hand to Russian authorities. The married couple had been in Australia for more than 10 years and were arrested Thursday at their home in Everton Park, a northern suburb of Brisbane, according to the Australian Federal Police, AFP, and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, ASIO

The Russian-born woman, 40, was an army private working as an information systems technician with the Australian Defence Force, ADF, for several years, the agencies said in a joint news conference on Friday. She became an Australian citizen in 2016, and her Russian-born husband, 62, a self-employed laborer, obtained Australian citizenship in 2020, they added.

The AFP will allege the individuals worked together to access Australian Defence Force material that related to Australia’s national security interests,” said AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw. No significant compromise,” had been identified and no other individuals appeared to be involved, Kershaw added, though he said the investigation was in its early stages. The couple appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday and were remanded in custody to next appear in court on September 20.

Australian Federal Police will allege the woman went to Russia, without notifying Australian authorities while she was on long-term leave from the ADF last year. We allege that while she was in Russia, she instructed her husband, who remained in Australia, on how to log into her official work account from their Brisbane home,” Kershaw said. “We allege her husband would access requested material and would send [it] to his wife in Russia. We allege they sought that information with the intention of providing it to Russian authorities. ”Kershaw said a key focus of the investigation is whether that information was handed over to Russian authorities. If it was, the charge could be upgraded to espionage.

The investigation will include how the woman obtained security clearance to access sensitive ADF material, and how she was able to bypass systems to apparently travel undetected to Russia. The charge of preparing for an espionage offense carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. An upgraded charge carries a maximum term of 25 years in prison to life. ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said the arrests demonstrated the strength of Australia’s national security culture, not its deficiency. The espionage threat is real. Multiple countries are seeking to steal Australia’s secrets. We cannot be naive and we cannot be complacent,” he said.                                  (CNN) …[+]

TOKYO – A beachgoer who was swept 80 kilometers 50 miles out to sea in a floating ring, has been rescued off Japan’s east coast some 36 hours after she went missing, authorities said.

The Chinese woman, aged in her 20s, was saved by two tanker crew members, who dived into the water to rescue her as she drifted off a peninsula south of Tokyo on Wednesday morning, the Japan Coast Guard told CNN. She had been spotted earlier by a cargo ship crew, which radioed the tanker for help, the coast guard added. The coast guard flew the woman by helicopter to the city of Yokohama, where she was taken to the hospital for assessment following her overnight ordeal.

She is dehydrated, but her consciousness is clear and she is not in a life-threatening condition. There is no need for hospitalization,” the coast guard said. The coast guard launched a search for the woman after she went missing from a beach in Shimoda city, Shizuoka prefecture, at about 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported.

About 30 minutes after entering the water, the woman realized she was drifting and was unable to return to the beach, she told officials, according to NHK. Authorities said the woman was likely swept away by currents and moderately strong winds, NHK reported.

Japan, a nation of more than 6,000 islands, is home to some of Asia’s most beautiful beaches,  and they are especially popular with tourists looking to cool off during the sizzling summer months. In 2019, more than 500 people were rescued in the country following accidents at the beach, according to the Japan Coast Guard’s most recent statistics.                                                 (CNN) …[+]

MEXICO CITY –  Heavy rains associated with Hurricane Beryl and the earlier Tropical Storm Alberto, have led at least 200 crocodiles to enter urban areas in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, across from Texas, state and federal authorities said this week.

So far authorities say, they have captured and relocated around 200 of the big reptiles, since Alberto pelted the region with rain in June. Beryl brushed the same area before making landfall in south Texas, earlier this week.  Authorities said the heavy rains raised water levels in coastal lagoons, leading the animals to crawl into cities like Tampico and the nearby cities of Ciudad Madero and Altamira, where at least 165 crocodiles have been captured and relocated.

The head of Tamaulipas state environment department, Karina Lizeth Saldívar, said in a statement that “the recent rains have increased the water levels in the lagoon systems, which had led to an increase in the sightings of crocodiles.” The federal Attorney General’s Office for Environmental Protection said about 40 more crocodiles had been captured in the area in June, and were relocated to appropriate habitat outside populated areas.

The problem may continue, the office said, noting that “as the water levels go down in places like streets and drainage canals that were flooded, crocodiles will turn up and sightings will certainly increase.” The problem came to light this week, when social media users posted videos of several crocodiles tied up in urban areas. That “caused an uproar in social media,” the department said. Crocodiles are a protected species in Mexico. Attacks by them in Mexico are rare but have occurred.       (CNN) …[+]