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Bianca Jones Photo: Facebook The owner of a backpacker hostel where two young Australians were staying before they fell violently ill from methanol poisoning has been detained by police for questioning in Laos. The death toll from the suspected mass methanol poisoning event now stands at five, including 19-year-old Melbourne woman Bianca Jones. A 28-year-old British woman, two Danish women and an American man have also died. A New Zealander is believed to have also been affected. Jones's friend Holly Bowles remains on life support in a Thai hospital. The ABC has now confirmed that the owner of the Nana Backpacker Hostel where the Australians were staying and where they started their night with free drinks has been detained for questioning by police in Laos. The hostel had earlier told t...

By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Wisconsin man Ryan Borgwardt is accused of faking his own death and fleeing to Eastern Europe. Photo: Supplied / Green Lake County Sheriff's Department Ryan Borgwardt, a Wisconsin kayaker accused of faking his own drowning and fleeing the country, is alive somewhere in Eastern Europe and has been talking to investigators, officials said. But it is still unclear whether he will ever return home to his wife and three children. ' "Great news: we know that he's alive and well," Green Lake County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Matthew L. Vande Kolk said Thursday. "The bad news is, we do not know where, exactly, Ryan is and he has not yet decided to return home." The 44-year-old was reported missing on 12 August after failing to return home from a fishing trip on Gre...

By Sarah N. Lynch and Daniel Trotta, Reuters US President-elect Donald Trump tapped Pam Bondi, a staunch ally who helped defend the ex-leader against impeachment and joined lawyers who sought to overturn President Joe Biden's election, as US attorney general nominee. Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP US President-elect Donald Trump said on he would nominate former Florida Attorney General and loyalist Pam Bondi to be US Attorney General, moving swiftly to replace his former nominee Matt Gaetz after the embattled former congressman withdrew from consideration. Gaetz was the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe into allegations of having sex with an underage 17-year-old girl and illicit drug use. He has denied wrongdoing. Bondi, 59, was the top law enforcement officer of the country's thir...

By Sonia Nair, ABC Entertainment The chemistry between Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo — on and off screen — is a beautiful thing to watch. Photo: Supplied / Universal Review - You needn't be a fan of Wicked to be clued into the discourse surrounding the long-awaited movie that's been several years in the making - waylaid first by Covid, then by the SAG strike. You may have heard through the rumour mill about the relationship that has since blossomed between Ariana Grande (who plays Glinda) and Ethan Slater (who plays Boq) while they were allegedly still married to their respective partners. Your feed might be inundated with press tour footage of Grande and her co-star Cynthia Erivo (who plays Elphaba aka The Wicked Witch of the West) crying on one another in every interview. Whateve...