Posted on: April 10, 2024, 07:31h.  Last updated on: April 10, 2024, 07:32h. A notorious casino money launderer who died in a hail of bullets in a Japanese restaurant in Richmond, Metro Vancouver, was not the intended target, according to prosecutors. Jian Jun Zhu, left, was shot dead at a Vancouver-area sushi restaurant in September 2020, but his dining companion Paul Jin, right, was the intended target, according to prosecutors. (Image: Pechanga.net) Jian Jun Zhu was the operator of Silver International, an underground bank with links to drug cartels that washed hundreds of millions o ..read more

Australia’s Alexei Popyrin scores a stunning 45-year first at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Monaco. Monte Carlo, Monaco, 10 April 2024 | Leigh Rogers Alexei Popyrin has scored one of the biggest wins of his career at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo. The 24-year-old Australian upset world No.6 and defending champion Andrey Rublev 6-4 6-4 in second-round action at the clay-court event. “(I’m) happy to beat a guy who was in form, confident and the defending champ. It was an awesome match,” Popyrin said. This effort sees Popyrin become the first Australian in 45 years to sco ..read more

Posted on: April 10, 2024, 06:22h.  Last updated on: April 10, 2024, 06:24h. Two women got into a fight early Sunday at an Oregon gaming property. Afterward, they left the casino and their pickup truck crashed into a nearby building. Chinook Winds Casino Resort, pictured above. Two casino visitors later were in a truck that crashed into a building. (Image: Chinook Winds) The two had been drinking at the Chinook Winds Casino Resort.  At one point, they got into a struggle, but they left the casino in the same truck. About a mile from the gaming property, the truck was driven into th ..read more

Sam Stosur cites a strong camaraderie within Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup team as key to helping navigate her new role as she prepares to name who will face Mexico. Brisbane, 10 April 2024 | Dan Imhoff Sam Stosur can draw on the experience of having her peer, and friend, shift from Billie Jean King Cup teammate to guiding the ship after Alicia Molik’s step up to the captain’s role 11 years ago. Following Molik’s retirement as team boss last year and former world No.4 Stosur’s decision to hang up her racquets on tour, the shoe is now firmly on the other foot. Stosur navigates the switch ..read more

The nation’s top junior girls have joined the Australian Billie Jean King Cup team in Brisbane this week for a four-day training camp. Brisbane, Australia, 10 April 2024 | Leigh Rogers Six of the nation’s most promising junior girls have joined the Australian Billie Jean King Cup team in Brisbane this week. The three highest-ranked juniors in the 2009 birth year, as well as the three girls who represented Australia in the 14-and-under ITF World Junior Tennis competition in Malaysia last month, have been invited to attend a four-day training camp. Jessica Moore, a former Billie Jean Ki ..read more

The spearhead of Australia’s 2022 final run, Storm Hunter steers her team’s campaign against Mexico in her first home tie at Brisbane. Brisbane, 10 April 2024 | Dan Imhoff Banners with Storm Hunter’s image emblazoned front and centre surround the Queensland Tennis Centre ahead of Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier tie against Mexico. It is a sight the Rockhampton-born and raised 29-year-old never imagined. A decade ago, the then promising teenager was part of the team, cheering on courtside as her compatriots fell to Germany in the semifinals on Pat Rafter Arena. Injuries and subse ..read more

Posted on: April 9, 2024, 11:39h.  Last updated on: April 9, 2024, 11:39h. Former Oakland A’s slugger Reggie Jackson says he’s “embarrassed for baseball” by the Oakland Athletics’ planned relocation to Las Vegas. Reggie Jackson carries his 1973 World Series trophy during a pregame ceremony honoring the 50th anniversary of the 1973 World Series team at the Oakland Coliseum in 2023. (Image: Sports Illustrated) The five-time World Series winner and two-time World Series MVP shared his distaste with his former team on the New York Post’s “The Show” podcast this week. John Fisher. (Image: Sp ..read more

Luke Saville is proud to see his wife, Daria Saville, soar back into the world’s top 100 in singles only nine months after returning from knee surgery. Brisbane, Australia, 10 April 2024 | Leigh Rogers Luke Saville recently rose to his highest singles ranking in more than seven years, but the 30-year-old is happily celebrating the efforts of his wife instead. Daria Saville, also 30, returned to the world’s top 100 in the WTA Tour singles rankings this week and in the process, became the top-ranked Australian woman for the first time in six years. “I’m very proud,” Luke told tennis.com.au ..read more

Posted on: April 9, 2024, 06:39h.  Last updated on: April 9, 2024, 06:39h. Fugitive former Wirecard COO Jan Marsalek was a Russian spymaster who coordinated espionage operations across Europe, according to allegations by British intelligence that have just recently come to light. Jan Marsalek, pictured in Red Square, Moscow, prior to his 2020 escape to Russia days after Wirecard’s collapse. He is currently one of the world’s most wanted men. (Image: Daily Mirror) Marsalek, who fled to Russia on a false passport in the wake of Wirecard’s epic 2020 collapse, worked closely with Austrian i ..read more

Posted on: April 9, 2024, 05:46h.  Last updated on: April 9, 2024, 05:46h. When our daughter was 3, I gave her the most unfathomably special gift I could think of, something I dreamed of having at her age but knew I never could … the memory of having seen the greatest band of all time perform live. The author’s daughter waves hi to his wife during one of her earliest visits to “The Beatles Hotel.” The closure of “The Beatles LOVE” on July 7, announced earlier today, reminded me of a fantasy I once cultivated for her that the Beatles were still all alive, together, and young. It wasn’t d ..read more