In Sydney, children playing in a suburban park discovered the body of a naked boy inside a suitcase floating in a duck pond on Wednesday.
The group of 10 children pulled the dark, tartan-patterned case ashore and reported their gruesome discovery after opening it.
There is widespread outrage at the brutality directed toward the unidentified child, who police say does not match the description of anyone on missing-persons lists.
"Put simply, it's one of the most monstrous acts imaginable," say New South Wale’s State Premier Morris Iemma.
China: Working minor crackdown
The Ministry of Education said on Thursday that education officials have joined forces with employment authorities to investigate reports of agencies and individuals luring minors to work.
Education authorities across the country will join officials with law enforcement powers in labor departments, and commerce and industry administrations to intensify supervision and management to halt the illegal employment of minors.
China: Eagle hunters hunted by police
Police in Gaoyi County in Hebei Province, are searching for two people suspected of trading State-protected wild eagles.
Police were making a routine check at a crossroads last Friday and pulled up the driver and owner of a minibus, who said they were transporting pigeons.
But when the cops checked the minibus they found 41 eagles in iron cages. When they called forestry experts to help them free the captive birds, however, the two men fled the scene.
China: National Theater Reports revenues
China's futuristic National Grand Theater reported earnings of 3.5 million yuan (or 437,500 US dollars) during its test show period from September 25 to October 13.
The revenue came from 23 performances of seven operas, dramas and ballets including China's classic ballet, The Red Detachment of Women, the drama Teahouse, the ballet Swan Lake and the opera Sister Jiang, according to the Beijing Times newspaper.
These test performances were not open to the general public, but to migrant workers and residents relocated to make way for construction of the egg-shaped theater.
Thailand: Pigs can fly
Well not quite - but they can jump through rings of fire and twirl on pedestals, at a zoo in Thailand.
Five pink and black piglets are the unlikely new stars of the performance at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi, Out billing tigers and crocodiles in the Chinese year of the pig.
The poor thing also dance, pick up tennis balls and zig-zag through poles.
Since the show began five months ago not a loin of pork has been charred.
（英語點津 Linda 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from Auckland, New Zealand. Marc has an eclectic career in the media/arts, most recently working as a radio journalist for NewstalkZB, New Zealand’s leading news radio network, as a feature writer for Travel Inc, New Nutrition Business (UK) and contributor for Mana Magazine and the Sunday Star Times. Marc is also a passionate arts educator and is involved in various media/theatre projects in his native New Zealand and Singapore where he is currently based. Marc joins the China Daily with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries
