Sydney Harbour water turns bright green due to ‘bucket-full’ of dye
Water in the Sydney Harbour in New South Wales, Australia, turned a bright green colour due to the spillage of a non-toxic fluorescent dye, authorities said.
Residents near the Careening Cove at Milson Park, Kirribilli, where one of the official homes of prime minister Anthony Albanese is located, were shocked to see the water turn green on Wednesday afternoon.
Locals reported a “large spill of fluorescent green material” to the authorities at about 3pm (local time), prompting the Fire and Rescue NSW to investigate the sudden colour change of the water.
Later, tests conducted by authorities found the substance to be a non-toxic and odorless chemical used by plumbers to dye water to find leaks.
“We can’t say for sure but that’s what we think it is,” superintendent Adam Dewberry said, reffering to a chemical called fluorescein. “It’s a common product that does get used to dye water and it’s very effective,” he told reporters.
The dye had come out of a storm drain in Kirribilli but the exact area where it entered the harbour remains a mystery as there were several access points to the stormwater systems.
“The main thing is we’ve identified it’s non-toxic,” Mr Dewberry said, adding there have been no reports of marine damage or fish deaths. “… there’s no staining on any of the boats that are in the bay there, or around the wharves or the shoreline,” he added.
A local described the water as resembling “green cordial” and the “radioactive stuff you see in superhero movies”, 9News reported.
Authorities flushed the drainage system which was clear of the green water by 6.40pm (local time).
Locals had also spotted a green colour in a stormwater drain at Anderson Park before the hue was spotted at a bigger part of the bay, according to reports.
The chemical which turned part of the bay green is used as a flow tracer to determine leaks, said Stuart Khan, a water expert and a professor of environmental engineering at the University of Sydney. “That’s its normal use. Clearly in this case it’s been misused … It’s a massive amount. It’s probably a whole bucket full of fluorescein dye,” he told The Guardian.
Sydney is forecast to receive about 10mm of rain next week, which authorities hope would dissipate the discolouration.
Japan sends warship through Taiwan Strait for first time in history
Japan has sent a warship through the Taiwan Strait for the first time in its history in an attempt to send a message to China, media reports said.
Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force warship Sazanami made the passage through the strait from the East China Sea on Wednesday morning, the Yomiuri newspaper reported citing multiple government sources, as Tokyo stepped up deterrence against Beijing’s territorial claims.
The SDF destroyer spent more than 10 hours sailing southward to complete the passage along with naval ships from Australia and New Zealand. The three countries’ navies were on their way to participate in planned multilateral drills in the disputed South China Sea beginning Thursday.
Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on the transit but expressed concern about China’s increased military activity in the region.
“We have a strong sense of crisis that airspace violations have occurred one after another over a short period of time,” he told a regular press conference. “We will continue to monitor the situation with strong interest.”
China is expected to respond to it in the regular press briefing on Thursday.
The Global Times, a state media outlet, said: “The PLA followed and monitored them throughout the process and the situation was under control.”
China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its territory, has in the past reacted sharply to similar transits through these waters, perceiving them as challenges to its sovereignty.
This latest passage is expected to further inflame tensions with Beijing, especially in light of recent territorial disputes between China and Tokyo.
Last week, Japan lodged a protest with China over a new route taken by the People Liberation Army Navy’s aircraft carrier Liaoning and two destroyers on their way to the Pacific Ocean. It said a Chinese aircraft carrier entered the waters for the first time, sailing between Japan’s westernmost island of Yonaguni and nearby Iriomote.
Tensions also ratcheted up last month after Chinese military aircraft entered its airspace for the first time, the Japanese defence ministry said.
Recently, Germany also became one of the latest countries to sail through the Taiwan Strait for the first time in 22 years. The transit on 13 September irked Beijing which accused Berlin of increasing security risks but it said it operated in accordance with international standards.
The US Navy and its allies such as the UK and Australia regularly transit through the strait to reinforce “freedom of navigation”.
Also, the leaders of the “Quad” grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the US last week expanded joint security steps in Asia’s waters due to shared concerns about China
Taiwan provides update on investigation into Lebanon exploding pagers
Four people have been questioned as witnesses in the investigation into a Taiwanese company linked to pagers that detonated in Lebanon last week, prosecutors said.
At least 39 people, including children, were killed and 3,000 injured after hundreds of pagers and walkie talkies exploded across Lebanon in what is widely suspected to have been an Israeli attack.
Israeli president Isaac Herzog appeared to deny his country’s involvement in the attack. He told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “First of all, I reject out of hand any connection to this, or that source of operation.”
How or when the electronic devices were weaponised and remotely detonated remains under investigation, which has led prosecutors in Taiwan to look at the roles of companies at home as well as in Bulgaria, Norway and Romania.
Manufacturing labels on the exploded pagers indicated they were made by Gold Apollo, but the Taiwanese company denied making them. “The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,” company president Hsu Ching-Kuang said.
He added that Gold Apollo had licensed BAC Consulting, a company in Hungary to which the devices were subsequently traced, to use its brand.
But University College London (UCL) graduate Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, the CEO of BAC Consultancy, said she was just a link in the supply chain and did not make the pagers.
Mr Hsu said his company had no knowledge of the pagers being rigged to explode.
Although the Taiwanese government also claimed that the pagers were not made on the island, prosecutors in Taipei opened an investigation into Gold Apollo.
A spokesperson for the Shilin District Prosecutors Office said a current and a former employee of the company have since been questioned as witnesses. “We are processing this case expeditiously and seeking resolution as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said
They declined to name the people questioned or confirm whether any more employees would be interrogated.
“The two helped clarify the case and the whole case is under intensive investigation.”
Mr Hsu and Teresa Wu, the sole employee of a company called Apollo Systems, were questioned last week, the spokesperson said.
The investigators reportedly also conducted searches at four locations linked to the company.
A Lebanese security source claimed that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Gold Apollo a few months earlier. The group had reportedly asked members in February to stop using mobile phones, warning they could be tracked by Israeli intelligence.
Israeli operatives allegedly “manufactured” the pagers and had them sent to Lebanon as a “part of an elaborate ruse” instead of just tampering with the devices at some stage, The New York Times claimed in a report.
Four dead and flights cancelled as Mumbai gets flooding red alert
At least four people died and dozens of flights and trains were cancelled after heavy rainfall flooded the streets of Mumbai, prompting a red alert.
Some parts of India’s financial hub of 21 million people received over 250mm of rain, nearly five times London’s monthly rainfall,in just six hours on Wednesday. It was the highest single-day rainfall in September since 2020, according to the Indian Meteorological Department.
At least four people died in rain-related incidents. A woman drowned in an open drain and two labourers were killed by lightning in Kalyan area. Another woman reportedly drowned near a waterfall in Khopoli town, about 80km from Mumbai city.
Operations at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj international airport were severely affected, with at least 36 flights cancelled, causing delays and disruptions for thousands of travellers.
Airlines like SpiceJet, IndiGo and Vistara said they were diverting several flights due to the adverse weather.
The local train services, which serve over 7 million people daily, were heavily affected, particularly between Kurla and Thane, where waterlogging stranded passengers.
A large crowd of passengers was seen gathered at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal Station, the city’s largest train station, amid confusion caused by cancellations and delays. The terminal is a vital traffic hub connecting local trains to the intercity and interstate rail network.
A red alert remained in place for Mumbai and neighbouring districts, with authorities asking residents to stay indoors and avoid non-essential travel.
Roads across the city, including in Andheri, Chembur and Vikhroli, were inundated. Schools and colleges were closed as a precautionary measure.
The weather department has forecast more heavy rainfall in the coming days in Mumbai as well as the nearby cities of Pune, Thane and Palghar.
Heavy rainfall often grinds Mumabi to a halt as the coastal city’s drainage system struggles to cope with the sheer volume of water. Mumbai is one of the rainiest urban areas in the world receiving 2,200mm of rain on average between June to September, three times London’s annual rainfall.
Several areas of the city are also at or below sea level, making it vulnerable to high tides, particularly during the monsoon season.
Natural defences like the mangroves once help absorb excess water, but these crucial ecosystems have been under increasing pressure due to the relentless expansion of urban development. As structures encroach on these areas, the risk of flooding during heavy rains grows, putting millions of residents at risk.
Influencer called out for flaunting wealth in ‘guess the bill’ video
A Filipino influencer is being called out for her alleged disregard of the wealth disparity in the country after she posted a video of a dinner with friends where they spent ₱133,000 (£1,777).
In a now-deleted TikTok video, Emmanuelle “Emman” Atienza is seen with friends, including Filipino singer Rhaila Tomakin and reigning Miss World Philippines Krishnah Gravidez, at a high-end Japanese restaurant where they decide to play a “guess the bill” game: each of them takes a guess as to the total amount on their bill and whoever has the closest estimate is meant to pay.
The bill is eventually revealed to be ₱133,423.99, with Gravidez’s estimate coming the closest. The clip ends with what appears to be Gravidez handing over her card to pay for the meal.
The video has received significant backlash on social media, with people criticising its “tone deafness” and the extravagant spending, equivalent to a semester’s tuition. Many also called out the prices of the items on the bill: 11 bottles of Summit water cost ₱2,749.95 (£36.74) and nine Coke Zeros cost ₱2,249.96 (£30.06).
The daily minimum wage in Metro Manila is ₱645 (£8.62).
The poverty incidence in the Philippines was at 15 per cent in 2023, with some 17.54 million people living in poverty, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Atienza, 18, comes from a prominent family in the Philippines. Her father is TV personality Kim Atienza, who also served as councillor of a Manila district for three terms, and her grandfather is Lito Atienza, who was the mayor of Manila for three consecutive terms from 1998 to 2007.
Atienza addressed the backlash in a video on TikTok claiming that the dinner was part of a friend’s birthday celebrations and her agency paid for the meal. She insisted though that she should be allowed to spend her money however she liked.
“I find it so stupid that I even have to address this but it has gotten to a point where I feel like I need to. One, the video was a joke,” she said. “I thought it was obvious because we were laughing and the bill was an outrageously high number. But apparently, it’s believable that I can pay that much for dinner.”
“We didn’t pay for that. We were celebrating my friend’s birthday, and her agency treated us to dinner. On top of that, even if I had paid that much, even if we did have that much money, it’s our choice and our freedom to do what we want with money that we earned.”
Speaking about a media report that suggested rich people like her should “redistribute their wealth to those most in need of it”, Atienza said: “Hypothetically if you won the lottery and received, let’s say, 1 million pesos, would you give all that money to everyone around you? No. You’d pay your bills, maybe enjoy a nice dinner, buy some nice clothes, and possibly donate some to charity. You wouldn’t give every single peso to others.”
“I, a singular teenage girl, am not responsible for the wealth disparity in the Philippines—contrary to current popular belief. I find it so stupid that people are picking and choosing what to be activists for.”
Addressing comments that asked her to “check her privilege”, Atienza said: “I have been so honest about the privileges I’ve been given, and the privilege that I have in my life. I’m also very open about the fact that I’m a nepo baby. I’m not ignorant, nor do I deny the privilege I’ve been given.
“If you are gonna hate on me ‘for being rich’, you need to do the same to everyone. Because guess what? Your favourite celebrities, not just in the Philippines but worldwide, make more, have more and spend more than I ever have. And on top of that, I doubt any of them are redistributing their wealth.”
Gravidez posted a message on her Instagram claiming the video was meant to be “satire”. She soon followed up with another message apologising for the video: “I realised that I need to be more careful next time of involving myself in these types of content. I should have been more sensitive of what is happening around us. I feel bad that this issue blew up and I might have disappointed some of you. I’m really sorry po.”
North Korea has enough uranium to build a ‘double-digit’ number of bombs, Seoul’s spy agency says
North Korea has likely enriched enough uranium to build a “double-digit” number of bombs and is making progress in its efforts to develop more powerful and accurate missiles targeting rival South Korea, Seoul’s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday.
The closed-door parliamentary briefing by the National Intelligence Service came after North Korea offered a rare glimpse into a secretive facility to produce weapons-grade uranium earlier this month as leader Kim Jong Un reiterated his goal to “exponentially” increase his stock of nuclear weapons.
The South Korean agency assessed that Kim’s disclosure of the facility was likely a statement of defiance toward Washington ahead of the U.S. presidential election and meant to domestically showcase his military accomplishments amid deepening economic struggles, according to Lee Seong-kweun, one of the lawmakers who attended the briefing.
When asked about North Korea’s bomb fuel capacity, the agency said North Korea likely has about 70 kilograms (154 pounds) of plutonium and an unspecified but considerable amount of weapons-grade uranium that would be enough to build “at least a double-digit number” of weapons, Lee said.
While North Korean state media did not disclose the location of the uranium enrichment facility that Kim visited on Sept. 13, the South Korean agency said it was likely to be a site in Kangson, near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, said Park Sun-won, another lawmaker who attended the briefing.
Along with the North’s main nuclear complex in the town of Yongbyon, the Kangson plant is one of two known sites in North Korea that has been linked to uranium enrichment activities. Some analysts say North Korea likely has other hidden sites for enriching uranium.
Kim’s visit to the uranium enrichment site was followed by a North Korean missile test days later, as the country continues to flaunt its weapons capabilities in the face of deepening confrontations with Washington and Seoul.
North Korean state media said the test launches on Sept. 18 involved two types of new missiles — one designed to deliver “super-large” conventional warheads and the other a “strategic” cruise missile, a term that implies it was developed for nuclear strikes.
North Korean state media reports on the tests suggested that North Korea was improving the capabilities of the weapons, which are designed for delivering precision strikes on South Korean targets, the lawmakers paraphrased the South Korean spy agency as saying.
Some analysts speculate that North Korea could attempt to dial up pressure on Washington by conducting a nuclear test ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
But the South Korean spy agency assessed that North Korea could wait on a nuclear test until after the election since there are other steps it may want to try first, such as test-firing a long-range missile targeting the U.S. mainland or launching a military reconnaissance satellite, Lee said.
India chooses quirky comedy over Cannes winner for its Oscars pick
The industry body that chooses India’s Oscar entry each year is under fire for picking a Hindi-language comedy-drama over the country’s first Cannes Grand Prix winner.
The Film Federation of India (FFI) announced on Monday that Kiran Rao-directed Laapataa Ladies (Lost Ladies) had been selected as India’s official entry to the international feature category at the forthcoming 2025 Academy Awards.
The film follows the “misadventures of two young brides who get lost from the same train”.
“From mistaken identities to laugh-out-loud escapades, the ensuing chaos guarantees laughter galore and heartwarming moments,” according to its official synopsis on IMDb. The film stars Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Chhaya Kadam, and Ravi Kishan in lead roles.
Laapataa Ladies was chosen from among a list of 29 shortlisted films, which included two frontrunners – the National Award-winner Malayalam-language thriller Aattam and the Payal Kapadia-directed All We Imagine as Light, which was hailed for becoming the first Indian film to win the prestigious Grand Prix at Cannes.
The 13-member selection committee said in a statement announcing their selection: “Indian women are a strange mixture of submission and dominance. Well-defined, powerful characters in one world, Laapataa Ladies (Hindi) captures this diversity perfectly, though in a semi-idyllic world and in a tongue-in-cheek way.
“It shows you that women can happily desire to be homemakers as well as rebel and be entrepreneurially inclined. A story that can simultaneously be seen as one that needs change, and one that can bring about change. Laapataa Ladies is a film that can engage, entertain and make sense not just to women in India but universally as well.”
However, reactions to the announcement were pointedly divided. While many lauded the FFI’s choice, more expressed their disappointment over All We Imagine as Light being overlooked. The critically acclaimed film premiered at the Cannes, was then nominated for best film at the Sydney Film Festival, and was also screened at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
All We Imagine as Light, with dialogue in several Indian languages including Hindi, Marathi and Malayalam, follows nurse Prabha and her roommate Anu as they navigate life in Mumbai city, and stars Indian actors Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, and Hridhu Haroon.
“This film is about friendship, about three very different women. Oftentimes, women are pitted against each other. This is the way our society is designed and it is really unfortunate. But for me friendship is a very important relationship because it can lead to greater solidarity, inclusivity and empathy,” Kapadia said, accepting the award in Cannes in May.
Several people pointed out that films that win big at Cannes often go on to dominate the awards circuit. In fact, 17 Grand Prix winners have gone on to earn 35 Oscar nominations, and seven films have won 10 awards. Last year’s Grand Prix winner, Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, was nominated in the best film, best director, best adapted screenplay categories, and won awards for best sound and the best international feature film.
While Laapataa Ladies also opened to critical acclaim at TIFF in 2023, had a successful run at the Indian box office, and is now available for streaming on Netflix, there has been more conversation around Payal Kapadia and her debut feature.
Not only was it the first film from India in three decades to compete at Cannes in the main competition, Kapadia herself is an source of interest within the film fraternity.
Kapadia studied at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), the country’s premier institution for filmmaking aspirants. But she was disqualified from receiving grants and denied access to the scholarships for leading and participating in a students’ strike in 2015 against the proposed appointment of actor-turned-politician Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the institute.
Kapadia’s films have also performed very well on the festival circuit; her short film Afternoon Clouds was the only Indian film to compete at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017 and her documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing premiered at the Cannes in 2021, where it won the L’Œil d’or award for best documentary, and also won the Amplify Voices Award at the 2021 TIFF.
All We Imagine as Light in particular too has found itself distributors in the US, UK, France, and after a long wait, India, and is set to become one of the most theatrically distributed Indian indies of all time. The film, an international co-production involving companies from France, India, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Italy, also made it to the French Oscar shortlist and lost to Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez, which also premiered at the Cannes and won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress prize for its ensemble cast of Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldana and Adriana Paz.
Indian film critic Baradwaj Rangan said in a post on X: “Submitting a film for the Oscars is not just about the film being good but also whether the producers have the funds/desire/know-how/contacts to mount the hugely expensive Oscar campaign.”
He isn’t wrong. Indian producer Guneet Monga, who served as producer on Period. End of Sentence and The Elephant Whisperers, which won the Oscars in their categories in 2019 and 2023 respectively, broke down for The Indian Express what went into an Oscar campaign.
“To begin with, an Oscar campaign is intense, especially for people from other parts of the world. You have to put yourself out there, network, push your film. At the surface of it, you are hosting a screening, putting the word out there, hoping for more and more voters to watch your film.
“As you go deeper into it, there are many events that happen … Mostly it is a lot of press activity and have the press there cover us, have a larger conversation so we can garner more attention of the voters.”
“But at the centre of it, are your US distributors. They arrange all of this … Like, if you have a film doing the rounds of festivals for months and it is known it helps. But to enter last minute and then organise press is a very last-minute effort. So many films break out at Sundance, which happens in January, and then goes all the way to get a nomination in October. That’s why there is a role that film festivals play in discovery.”
Laapataa Ladies is produced by Jio Studios, owned by one of Asia’s richest people, billionaire Mukesh Ambani. Another producer is Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao’s husband and star of Lagaan, one of the three Indian films that managed to score an Oscar nomination. It is possible that the jury felt that Laapataa Ladies had both the creative and more pragmatic aspects of an Oscar covered, with Jio Studios providing the financial support and Aamir Khan providing the much-needed experience and know-how, having done this once already with Lagaan in 2002.
However, All We Imagine as Light is being distributed in the US by Janus Films, which also distributed the 2021 Japanese drama Drive My Car. Drive My Car won three awards including best screenplay at the Cannes that year, best foreign language film at the Golden Globe Awards, and most importantly, was nominated for four Oscars, including best picture, and, won in the best international feature film. One could, as several on social media have, reasonably argue that Janus Films has both the funds and knowledge to mount a successful Oscars campaign.
After the backlash against the film’s selection, FFI President Ravi Kottakara clarified why the jury felt Laapataa Ladies was selected instead of All We Imagine as Light to ET Times.
“In the jury, everyone has to decide the film. The jury liked Laapataa Ladies, and felt that All We Imagine As Light is like a foreign film and not like Indian cinema.
“When they saw Laapataa Ladies, it represented the plight of the Indian woman. In the film, the women had to wear the goonghat, and because of that, all the misunderstandings occur. They felt that this is something that happens only in India.
“All We Imagine As Light is also a great film. The problem is, we had six or seven great films. It was a big fight among all these selections. It took three to four hours. They were all films on women…What it comes to say is that India is making great films. A lot of countries are doing great content and the selection becomes harder for these people. That is what’s most important.”
Banned dog breed in India saves children by killing King Cobra
A pit bull has become an internet hero in India after saving children from a venomous snake.
A video of the dog attacking a King Cobra in northern Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi area has gone viral on social media with users praising the pet, Jenny, for its bravery.
India prohibited the import, sale and breeding of pit bulls in March this year.
The cobra slithered into the garden of the children’s house while they were playing on Tuesday. Hearing them scream for help, the dog reportedly broke free from its leash and charged at the reptile, biting and repeatedly slamming it to the ground. The dog didn’t let go until the snake lay dead.
In the viral video the pit bull can be seen gripping the King Cobra tightly in its jaws, fiercely shaking its head to overpower the snake. The struggle lasted about five minutes.
“If Jenny hadn’t killed the snake, a tragedy could have occurred. She saved lives and earned our gratitude,” the dog’s owner, Punjab Singh, told NDTV.
This was not the first time Jenny had killed a snake, he added. “Our house is near fields and snakes are spotted during the rainy season. So far, Jenny has killed 8 to 10 snakes.”
The Indian government earlier this year announced that it would ban the import, sale and breeding of at least 23 dog breeds, including pit bulls, designating them as “dangerous”, after several cases of dog attacks across the country.
Mr Singh, who has kept Jenny since long before the ban, does not favour such a ban. “I believe we should show love to animals. People often say negative things about pit bull, but mine has never harmed anyone,” he said.