(LONDON) — An Australian man has quite literally struck gold.
He discovered a rare gold nugget worth about 240,000 Australian dollars, or about $160,000, while scanning Victoria’s “Golden Triangle” with his metal detector.
The man, who did not wish to be named, was scanning the area between Ballart, Bendigo and St. Arnaud, which was popular during Victoria’s famous gold rush in the 1850s, when his Minelab Equinox 800 metal detector started to beep.
It was there that he unearthed a 4.6 kg rock, which contained 2.6 kg of gold.
Inquisitive about the rock’s worth, the man put it in his backpack to took it to Darren and Leanne Kamp at Lucky Strike Gold in Geelong, a city nearby, for appraisal.
Lucky Strike Gold told ABC News that in 43 years of working in the industry evaluating and prospecting gold, they have never encountered a gold nugget of this size.
“We are in a unique position to see lots of gold nuggets come through the door to be sold or shown off by prospectors,” Leanne Kamp told ABC News. “Darren, himself, has found gold nuggets weighing 24 oz, 16 oz, 10 oz, 8 oz, 6 oz, but nothing as big as this!”
She added, “The gold specimen was originally very dirty so the prospector broke it into two, thinking that there may be a solid nugget inside. However, it turned out that it was riddled with gold from the outside in.”
The prospector had thought the piece might be worth about 10,000 Australian dollars, but “when he placed it into Darren’s hand, it was immediately apparent due to its significant weight that it was worth more like 100,000,” Leanne said.
“Just on gold price alone, the valuation came in at 240,000 Australian dollars, however nuggets like these fetch a premium price because of their rarity,” she said.
Victoria’s “Golden Triangle” is known for producing some of the largest and purest gold nuggets in the world. It was there that the “Hand of Faith” — the biggest known golden nugget — was discovered in 1980, weighing 876 ozs. That nugget currently resides in Las Vegas’ Golden Nugget Casino.
Equipped with a more expensive detector, the man who found the $160,000 nugget said he’s going back to see if he can strike gold again.
(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken has officially determined that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is being “wrongfully detained” by Russia, a designation that will allow the U.S. government to more aggressively advocate for his freedom.
“Journalism is not a crime. We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth,” the State Department said in a statement announcing the development on Monday. “The U.S. government will provide all appropriate support to Mr. Gershkovich and his family. We call for the Russian Federation to immediately release Mr. Gershkovich.”
Gershkovich, a 31-year-old American citizen who has worked in Moscow for more than half a decade, was arrested late last month on espionage charges. He has pleaded not guilty, and both the Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have repeatedly declared the allegations are baseless.
Blinken has already held a rare call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to advocate for Gershkovich’s release. The secretary said last week that he had “no doubt” that the reporter was being unjustly held by Russia, but that the department was still working through the bureaucratic process required to classify the case a wrongful detention — an undertaking that can take months or even years to complete.
Officials say the speed at which the department moved to classify Gershkovich as wrongfully detained is unprecedented.
Gershkovich’s case will now be transferred to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs — a section within the State Department often referred to as the U.S. government’s top hostage negotiator. The designation also frees up additional government resources and grants the department additional authorities to push for his freedom.
But so far, American diplomats stationed in Russia have been unable to even see Gershkovich behind bars, a standard practice that allows foreign governments to communicate with nationals jailed abroad.
During a press briefing on Monday, the State Department said Moscow was violating international law and agreements between the U.S. and Russia by continuing to block officials from seeing Gershkovich.
“We have stressed the need for the Russian government to provide this access as soon as possible,” Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the department, said during a press briefing.”
Gershkovich is now the second American considered to be wrongfully detained by Russia. Paul Whelan, an American citizen who Moscow also accused of espionage, has been imprisoned since 2018.
(LONDON and ROME) — About 1,200 migrants on two different boats were rescued in the Mediterranean on Monday, the Italian Coast Guard said.
One of those boats, a migrant vessel adrift in the Mediterranean with about 400 people on board was in “huge danger” amid high waves on Monday, Sea-Watch International, a nongovernmental rescue operation said.
Italian Coast Guard ships had been dispatched in a rescue operation, the organization said. Another vessel with about 800 people on board also was safely evacuated about 120 miles off the southern coast of Sicily on Monday, according to ANSA, an Italian news agency.
The adrift vessel had departed from Tobruk, Libya, with migrants heading to Europe, according to Alarm Phone, a migrant-aid group.
Around 2,000 people had been rescued by the Italian Coast Guard over the weekend since Friday, the coast guard said. With the combined rescues Monday, the total number of rescues is up to more than 3,000 people since Friday.
“The people on board are in panic and ask for immediate rescue,” Alarm Phone said on Twitter.
The vessel had been taking on water on Sunday as it drifted between Greece and Malta in high seas, both organizations said. Sea-Watch said it came across the vessel “in distress” on Sunday after the captain had apparently abandoned ship.
“Two merchant ships that are ordered not to rescue, instead one was asked by Malta to only supply the boat with fuel,” Sea-Watch said.
Alarm Phone said several people had jumped into the water when they saw nearby merchant ships. The ship that had supplied fuel didn’t rescue any of the passengers, Sea-Watch said.
“A woman reported the seriousness of the conditions on board. The captain left & there is nobody who can steer the boat,” Alarm Phone said. “Several people require medical attention, incl. a child, a pregnant woman & a person with a physical disability.”
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
(ROME) — A migrant boat adrift in the Mediterranean with about 400 people on board was in “huge danger” amid high waves on Monday, Sea-Watch International, a non-governmental rescue operation said.
Italian Coast Guard ships had been dispatched in a rescue operation, the organization said. Another vessel with about 800 people on board was also being rescued about 120 miles off the southern coast of Sicily on Monday, according to ANSA, an Italian news agency.
The adrift vessel had departed from Tobruk, Libya, with migrants heading to Europe, according to Alarm Phone, a migrant-aid group.
“The people on board are in panic and ask for immediate rescue,” Alarm Phone said on Twitter.
The vessel had been taking on water on Sunday as it drifted between Greece and Malta in high seas, both organizations said. Sea-Watch said it came across the vessel “in distress” on Sunday after the captain had apparently abandoned ship.
“Two merchant ships that are ordered not to rescue, instead one was asked by Malta to only supply the boat with fuel,” Sea-Watch said.
Alarm Phone said several people had jumped into the water when they saw nearby merchant ships. The ship that had supplied fuel didn’t rescue any of the passengers, Sea-Watch said.
“A woman reported the seriousness of the conditions on board. The captain left & there is nobody who can steer the boat,” Alarm Phone said. “Several people require medical attention, incl. a child, a pregnant woman & a person with a physical disability.”
(LONDON) — The prince and princess of Wales stepped out in their Sunday best alongside their three children during a church outing at Windsor Castle to celebrate Easter.
In their first Easter outing as the prince and princess of Wales, Prince William and Kate Middleton brought Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and 4-year-old Prince Louis to this year’s Easter services.
The family of five color-coordinated in royal blue outfits, matching with King Charles and Queen Camilla for the celebration, which is the same color of choice for the recently released portrait of the king and queen consort ahead of coronation ceremonies next month.
Princess Kate wore a blue coat dress, a matching blue pillbox hat and a rare bold shade of red nail polish.
Princess Charlotte was dressed in a floral dress with blue tights, while Prince George matched his father Prince William in matching navy suits and ties.
Prince Louis donned powder blue shorts, typical wear for young boys in Britain, as well as navy knee socks and a blazer with a blue tie.
The family affair comes a month before the grand coronation of King Charles III on May 6. Invitations for the ceremony were recently released. It was also announced that Prince George, the second in line to the throne, will be included in the historic event as a page for the king.
(TAIPEI, Taiwan) — China says it has started three days of combat readiness patrol exercises around Taiwan starting on April 8, just a day after Taiwan President Tsai returned home following her meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Chinese state media released a video which mentions some of the assets used in the exercises, including PLA army’s rockets — likely the new PHL-16 truck-mounted self-propelled multiple rocket launcher — the Navy’s destroyer escort, a missile boat, the Air Force’s J-series, fighter bombers, electronic warfare aircraft and aerial tankers.
China says this has all been “quickly amassed and moved to the designated drill zones in preparation for combat deployment. The drills aim to examine, under the support of joint combat forces, the military’s capabilities of gaining air & sea superiority/controls as well as information warfare strength. The mission forces will simultaneously organize combat patrols encircling Taiwan and closing in on the island so as to impose/increase island-wide military intimidation.”
The drills, named “United Sharp Sword,” include air and seaborne operations. China’s Eastern Theater Command said these exercises are intended as a serious warning to the “collusion between Taiwan separatist forces and external forces and it is the necessary actions that need to be taken to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Taiwan’s defense ministry said it has detected 42 fighter jets in the airspace around Taiwan as of Saturday morning, with 29 of them entering Taiwan’s southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone or having crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. In total, eight warships have also been detected, according to officials.
Taiwan released a video saying, “China’s Eastern Theater Command announced combat ready patrols & drills on the excuse of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s US transits – a move that seriously jeopardizes the region’s peace, stability and security. Taiwan’s military has utilized joint surveillance measures to keep a tab on the situation nearby. [Taiwan] won’t escalate tensions, neither trigger disputes. We will respond with calmness and reasons and take it seriously to safeguard our national sovereignty and national security.”
Meanwhile, live-fire drills will also be held in Fujian — located just across the strait from Taiwan — over the next several days.
The military exercises are expected to run for a shorter period of time compared to the seven-day drills staged last August following former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit.
(TEHRAN, Iran) — Seven months after the beginning of the “Women Life Freedom” movement in Iran, a tangible impact is being felt across the country as many women are still refusing to wear their hijab in public and they continue to share their stories on social media.
“This is life. This is womanhood. I will never forget the epic feeling I had the day I went out with my friend and saw how we, women, have conquered the city with our bodies, with our hair in the wind,” Ava, a Tehran-based musician in her mid-20’s, told ABC News on condition of anonymity so she could speak freely about the movement.
“I feel that our mere presence on the streets is an act of resistance. Practicing everyday life as we want is a part of our revolution,” she added.
Meanwhile, hardliner supporters of the Islamic Republic regime have been gearing up for severe pushbacks against the resistance movement.
In an address to Iran’s top officials on Tuesday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, leader of the Islamic Republic, said that removing the hijab is a “plot” designed by “the enemy” and is “haram based on Sharia and also politically” as he urged authorities to develop plans for the “issue.”
The recent protests began last fall following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who was taken into custody by the morality police after she was arrested for not properly wearing a hijab. At least 22,000 people were arrested across the country in the ensuing protests and Iran Human Rights reported that at least 537 people were killed by the regime since the beginning of the protests.
The leader’s speech came after some videos of the regime’s conservative supporters went viral as hardline supporters made it clear that if officials do not demonstrate an ability to fight back against the liberation movement that they would “take spontaneous action.” In the past decade, such threats have led to incidents like acid attacks against women who have not fully adhered to compulsory hijab rules.
“The order given by his excellency is clear,” Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a speaker for the Iranian parliament, said one day after the leader’s speech as he promising hardline supporters that any bills or plans about hijab would be prioritized.
A plan of action has been presented by parliamentarian Hosein Jalali, according to a report by the semi-official Jamaran News Agency on March 26. In a press conference, he stated that women not abiding by the compulsory hijab rule could be fined up to $60,000 and other punishments like the cancellation of driver’s licenses and passports could occur as well.
Questions of enforcement of these proposals, however, have not resonated much so far among many Iranians.
“I do not listen to what they say. Politics and religion must serve life, otherwise they are doomed to fail. That old fear many people used to has been diminishing. We are getting prepared to move on,” Ava said. “Even in smaller cities, the ‘woman, life, freedom’ movement has been accepted in different levels.”
While the “ultimate demand and goal” of Zahra, 47-year-old housewife from a conservative neighborhood of Isfahan is to topple the regime, she told ABC News that people appreciate achievements of protestors’ “big sacrifices.”
“My old mother has decided not to wear chador [the long black veil] anymore. She now believes by not wearing it that she can normalize her grandchildren and her nieces’ decision to remove the hijab altogether,” Zahra said.
“We know there is still a long way to get to economic and social freedom and well-being. But my super religious mother wants to support our daughters in their decision of how to dress. And It is a big change so far,” she added.
(WASHINGTON) — Leaked classified documents about the U.S. effort to assist Ukraine’s military were posted on the internet much sooner than this week according to an ABC News review of internet posts that indicates the documents, as well as additional documents, were posted on the internet in early March shortly after they were produced. The earlier timeline for the posting of the top secret documents on the internet so soon after being issued only deepens concerns about the operational security risks raised by the leak.
The Pentagon announced on Thursday that it was reviewing the apparent leak of U.S. military documents about the war in Ukraine dated to March 1 that provided information on Ukrainian troop and casualty numbers, Ukrainian training schedules and the timing of U.S. weapons deliveries, among other things. The documents posted on the internet do not appear to include any military planning for the long-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive that is expected later this spring.
“We are aware of the reports of social media posts, and the Department is reviewing the matter” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement provided to ABC News.
A U.S. official told ABC News that the U.S. government is working to have the documents brought down by social media platforms.
But as of Friday photographs of the documents were still being posted on various social media platforms.
However, it appears that the documents have been posted on the internet much sooner than this week as ABC News has obtained information that indicates that those documents, and some additional documents, were posted on the internet in early March.
A U.S. official discounted the intelligence value of the documents posted on the web telling ABC News that “the assessment is that the documents are of limited intelligence value and appear to have been altered from the original documents.”
The official described them as “a snapshot in time from five weeks ago and the disposition of forces is no longer relevant to the battlefield.”
Each of the documents posted on social media platforms appears to be photographs of folded printouts of individual PowerPoint slides produced by the U.S. military that contain details of the battlefield situation in Ukraine on March 1.
Some of them also contain information about the readiness rates of Ukrainian units, particularly of nine Ukrainian military brigades being supplied by the United States and NATO allies.
And in at least one instance, the documents appear to have been altered to reflect Russian fatality estimates that are significantly lower than the 200,000 killed and wounded that have been publicly stated by U.S. officials.
That alteration has led to speculation among national security analysts that Russia may be behind the dissemination of the leak.
“As many of these were pictures of documents, it appears that it was a deliberate leak done by someone that wished to damage the Ukraine, U.S., and NATO efforts,” said Mick Mulroy, an ABC News contributor and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.
“Russia’s obvious manipulation of some facts has made it more difficult to determine what is real and what is not,” said Mulroy. “Something that may help somewhat limit the damage overall ironically.”
Mulroy speculates that a leak investigation has already started that “it will be very thorough in finding out how this happened and who was responsible. That individual (or individuals) needs to be held accountable.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior Ukrainian official, said in a statement that the leak contained a “very large amount of fictitious information” that appeared to be “standard elements of operational games by Russian intelligence and nothing more.
“Russia has no doubt that the United States or NATO are directly or indirectly involved in the conflict,” Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said about the leaked documents on Friday.
The Pentagon says it is reviewing the apparent leak, but if a formal investigation is launched, it would presumably include a look at officials who would have access to the documents.
Asked to comment on the postings about the documents being posted on an earlier date a Pentagon spokesman referred back to its earlier statement.
Investigators in previous leak investigations have been known to use polygraph tests to help determine the truthfulness of people being interviewed for the investigation.
Vlad Karkov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The Taliban banned Afghan women from working at the United Nations in Afghanistan this week, adding another restriction to the long list the Taliban has imposed on Afghan women since retaking power in August 2021.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said any ban on Afghan women working for the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, would be “unacceptable and frankly inconceivable,” in a statement after the Taliban order was issued.
“This is the latest in a disturbing trend undermining the ability of aid organizations to reach those most in need. It goes without saying, but unfortunately, it does need saying, that female staff are essential for the United Nations to deliver life-saving assistance,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement Tuesday.
The U.N. provides lifesaving assistance to the Afghanistan population, which has become even more necessary since the Taliban regained power in 2021. Several international aid organizations that had been operating in the country left after the Taliban took power and stopped providing assistance as a result of the new government.
“Such orders, as we saw today, violate the fundamental rights of women and infringe upon the principle of non-discrimination. Female staff members are essential to ensure the continuation of the U.N. operations on the ground in Afghanistan,” Dujarric said Tuesday.
The order comes after the Taliban imposed a series of other restrictions on Afghan women over the past year. In 2022, the Taliban restricted women and girls’ access to education. The Taliban also restricted Afghan women’s ability to work for international aid organizations in December 2022, but, until this week, that did not apply to women working for the .U.N mission.
Before this week’s decree, the Taliban attempted to intimidate women working for the U.N. by accusing them of breaking dress code by not wearing hijabs. The Taliban also tried to intimidate Afghan women working for different U.N. offices across the country by contacting them directly to threaten them or passing the message to family members asking them to stop working.
Several Afghan women working for the U.N. have already experienced restrictions on their movements, including harassment, intimidation and detention.
The additional restriction further isolates Afghan women and poses a problem for the Taliban, which relies on support from the U.N. Many women’s rights activists believe the Taliban is using the ban on Afghan women as a tool to get more leverage from the international community.
“They are certainly trying to remove women from every aspect of society, either its simple presence in the society or working environment,” activist Mariam Maroof Arvin told ABC News. “Taliban also use these restrictions as a tool to gain more from international community in terms of aid and to push them to accept their demands.”
The Taliban has not faced severe consequences for the restrictions they’ve placed on Afghan women over the past year. Western countries like the U.S. and international organizations like the U.N. have condemned the actions by the Taliban, but little action has been taken beyond that.
“I hope this time the organizations defending women rights and international community as a whole won’t give up to Taliban’s demand and stand firm against them. That will be the only way out of these evil demands. I hope everyone come together in protecting women rights,” Arvin said.
(NEW YORK) — The United States will face an uphill battle in any efforts it takes to free detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich — who has been imprisoned in Russia for over a week — because of the seriousness of the espionage charges against him and the fact that Moscow shows no sign of backing down, experts told ABC News..
Despite the fact that senior members of the Biden administration have repeatedly said the charges against Gershkovich — are unequivocally false, Russia views the allegations as more serious than other cases in which they’ve made prisoner swaps.
While the relationship between the U.S. and Russia has plummeted to a near all-time low in recent years, hostage diplomacy has been a rare area of cooperation between the powers. In 2022, the administration was able to secure the release of two Americans from Russia via prisoner swaps—WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was jailed for nearly 10 months after being detained on drug charges, and Trevor Reed, who was imprisoned for almost three years for allegedly assaulting a police officer.
In a statement released Thursday, Moscow’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Gershkovich was “detained red-handed while trying to obtain classified information, using his journalistic status as a cover for illegal actions qualified as espionage” and attempts by the U.S. to pressure Russian authorities to release him were “futile and meaningless.”
Interfax, a Russian news agency, reported on Friday that Russian investigators had formally charged Gershkovich with espionage, and that his lawyers filed for an appeal, which is scheduled to be heard in a Moscow court in mid-April.
Gershkovich’s lawyers and the Wall Street Journal have also denied the accusations against the reporter.
“The legal avenue is one of several avenues we are working to advocate for Evan’s release. We continue to work with the White House, State Department and relevant U.S. government officials to secure Evan’s release,” the Wall Street Journal’s editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said in a letter to her newsroom on Tuesday.
But John Woodward, a former CIA officer and international relations professor at Boston University, predicts there’s a long road ahead for Gershkovich.
“I would not want to be Evan at the moment,” he said.
He suggested that if a prisoner swap were to be arranged, Russian President Vladimir Putin would want a “spy for a spy,” referencing Russia’s deep loyalty “to individuals who have committed espionage on their behalf.”
But that requirement is likely to complicate any deal with the U.S., as illustrated by the so-far futile efforts to free Paul Whelan, an American arrested in 2018 while visiting Moscow. He was convicted on espionage charges, which the U.S. vehemently denies, and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison colony.
Whelan was left out of the prisoner exchange that freed Griner. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that the U.S. had put forth a new proposal to free Whelan months ago, but so far Russia has not publicly shown any interest in accepting.
While the details of Blinken’s offer are unknown, Sergey Cherkasov, a Russian national accused by the Department of Justice of operating as an illegal agent for the country’s intelligence service, could be more enticing to Moscow according to experts.
Danielle Gilbert, a foreign policy fellow at Dartmouth College who specializes in hostage diplomacy, said the timing of Gershkovich’s arrest—just days after Cherkasov was charged by the U.S. in late March–is very “suspicious,” and that the reporter’s arrest could have been a retaliatory act by Moscow.
The Russian government has denied that Cherkasov is a spy, and he has not yet appeared in court to address the allegations made by American investigators.
However, the Department of Justice claimed in a statement that the evidence in the case shows that Cherkasov spent years illegally gathering information about American entities and passing it along to his handlers in Russia’s intelligence community, undermining U.S. national security.
Cherkasov is currently incarcerated in Brazil on fraud charges. The Brazilian and the U.S. legal systems, as well as a possible extradition, could slow any movement, according to sources familiar with standard practices related to prisoner exchanges.
Gilbert said Russia has also expressed interest in a deal that would secure the release of Russian citizen Vadim Krasikov, a convicted assassin serving a life sentence in Germany since 2019.
“It is not unheard of for other countries to get involved,” she said.
However, drawing a third country in to such an exchange could establish a dangerous precedent for the U.S., according to administration officials, who have also expressed doubt over Russia’s interest in Krasikov is genuine or another negotiating tactic.
Beyond the spying allegations and lack of trade options, Woodward said he believes Gershkovich’s prior reporting on Putin could work against him, delaying negotiations.
Woodward believes that Gershkovich’s “strong Russian background, linguistically and culturally” alongside his “hard-hitting reporting” on Russia definitely factored into the arrest.
“There’s a strong retaliatory aspect to this,” Woodward said. “I’m sure [Gershkovich] developed some good information and leads.”
So far, administration officials have declined to speculate on what exactly prompted Russian authorities to arrest Gershkovich, saying it is too soon to make an assessment.
Efforts to free Gershkovich are still in a nascent phase. The Biden administration has not yet formally classified the reporter as wrongfully detained, a designation that would transfer his case to the Office of the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs—effectively, the U.S.’ chief hostage negotiator.
“In Evan’s case, we are working through the determination on wrongful detention, and there’s a process to do that, and it is something that we are working through very deliberately but expeditiously as well,” Blinken said during a press briefing on Wednesday. “And I’ll let that process play out. In my own mind, there’s no doubt that he’s being wrongfully detained by Russia.”
National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby did not say whether the U.S. would consider a prisoner swap for Gershkovich on Thursday.
“We’re doing what we can to keep his employer and family informed. Our focus is squarely on that right now,” he said.
American diplomats in Moscow are also still working to gain access to Gershkovich, but have made little progress despite interventions from the Blinken and the U.S. ambassador to Moscow on his behalf, a senior State Department official told ABC News.
ABC’s Cindy Smith, Ellie Kaufman, and Tanya Stukalova contributed to this report.
