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Matt Gaetz Goes Off on Ethics Report in Emotional Tweetstorm: 'Giving Funds to Someone You're Dating Is Now Prostitution?!?'BOSTON , Dec. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The China Fund, Inc. (NYSE: CHN) (the "Fund") announced today that the Fund's annual stockholder meeting (the "Meeting") will be scheduled for Thursday, March 13, 2025 , via a virtual forum at 11:00 a.m. ET . Stockholders of record as of January 15, 2025 will be entitled to notice of, and to attend and vote at, the Meeting. The notice for the Meeting will be mailed to shareholders on or about February 10, 2025 . The Fund is a closed-end management investment company with the objective of seeking long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities (i) of companies for which the principal securities trading market is in the People's Republic of China (" China "), or (ii) of companies for which the principal securities trading market is outside of China , or constituting direct equity investments in companies organized outside of China , that in both cases derive at least 50% of their revenues from goods and services sold or produced, or have at least 50% of their assets, in China . While the Fund is permitted to invest in direct equity investments of companies organized in China , it presently holds no such investments. Shares of the Fund are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CHN". The Fund's investment manager is Matthews International Capital Management, LLC. For further information regarding the Fund and the Fund's holdings, please call (888)-CHN-CALL (246-2255) or visit the Fund's website at www.chinafundinc.com . View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-china-fund-inc-announces-date-of-annual-meeting-of-stockholders-302331705.html SOURCE The China Fund, Inc.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Blue Origin continued to prep for the maiden flight of its massive New Glenn rocket as it went vertical on the launch pad Thursday ahead of an upcoming hot fire test needed before a launch attempt that is targeting before the end of the year. “Up we go! The steel launch table that New Glenn sits on weighs 1.7 million pounds (roughly 726 metric tons), including the clamps that connect to the vehicle’s aft ring,” the company posted on social media after the rocket was lifted into a vertical position at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 36. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
Nursing home worker convicted of sexual exploitationWill Israel resume aggression on Lebanon after truce expires?
It got ugly after Michigan’s win over Ohio State. Average of 9 LIVE Regular Season games per week plus the best of the NBA Playoffs, including every game of the NBA Conference Finals & NBA Finals LIVE on ESPN, available via Kayo New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. Moments after the Wolverines’ 13-10 win, the two teams got into a brawl near midfield after Michigan players tried to plant their flag on Ohio State’s logo on Sunday (all times AEDT). Multiple players could be seen going at it as security, police and team staff tried to separate them. Michigan edge rusher Derrick Moore was in the middle of melee, holding his team’s flag and trying to plant it on the Buckeyes’ famed logo. And Ohio State linebacker Jack Sawyer, who had an interception in the game, ripped the Michigan flag away from the Wolverine players before tensions finally calmed down. “I don’t know all the details of it, but I know these guys are looking to put a flag on our field and our guys weren’t not gonna let that happen,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said after the game. “I’ll find out exactly what happened, but this is our field. We certainly were embarrassed of the fact that we lost the game, but there’s some prideful guys on this team that weren’t just gonna let that happen.” Police used pepper spray, according to multiple reports, with members of both teams getting hit. Several Michigan players were shown on the Fox broadcast rubbing their eyes in obvious discomfort. “For such a great game, you hate to see stuff like that after the game,” Michigan running back Kalel Mullings said. “That’s just bad for the sport, bad for college football. But at the end of the day, some people gotta learn how to lose. “You can’t be fighting and stuff just because you lost a game. All that fighting, we had 60 minutes, we had four quarters to do all that fighting. And now people want to talk and fight, that’s wrong. It’s just bad for the game. Classless, in my opinion. People gotta better.” Saturday’s game marked Michigan’s fourth-straight in the famed rivalry, though they entered this edition unranked and as massive underdogs with Ohio State ranked No. 2 in the country. Michigan now sits at 7-5, while Ohio State is 10-2. As the fracas finally began to settle down, Michigan defensive lineman Mason Graham could be heard shouting “Ohio State p—y’s in the Buckeyes’ direction.” Michigan edge rusher Chibi Anwunah was escorted away by security after being pepper sprayed. Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore also waved goodbye to Ohio State fans in the final seconds of the game. “Unnecessary gesture by the Wolverines,” Fox play-by-play man Gus Johnson said of the postgame incident. “They won the game, no need to be disrespectful.” Wolverines quarterback David Warren threw for just 62 yards and two interceptions, but Mullings rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown and Michigan’s defense stifled the Buckeyes offense throughout the game. Ohio State quarterback Will Howard struggled, throwing for 175 yards, one touchdowns and two interceptions. Buckeyes kicker Jeyden Fielding also missed two short field goals, while Michigan kicker Dominic Zvada drilled both his attempts. -This story was originally published in The New York Post and reproduced with permission.
Israel's attorney general has ordered police to open an investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife on suspicion of harassing political opponents and a witness in the Israeli leader's corruption trial. The Israeli Justice Ministry made the announcement in a terse message late Thursday, saying the investigation would focus on the findings of a recent report by the "Uvda" investigative program into Sara Netanyahu. Sign up for breaking news alerts from CTV News, right at your fingertips The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App The program uncovered a trove of WhatsApp messages in which Mrs. Netanyahu appears to instruct a former aide to organize protests against political opponents and to intimidate Hadas Klein, a key witness in the trial. The announcement did not mention Mrs. Netanyahu by name, and the Justice Ministry declined further comment. But in a video released earlier Thursday, Netanyahu listed what he said were the many kind and charitable acts by his wife and blasted the Uvda report as "lies." "My opponents on the left and in the media found a new-old target. They mercilessly attack my wife, Sara," he said. He called the program "false propaganda, nasty propaganda that brings up lies from the darkness." It was the latest in a long line of legal troubles for the Netanyahus -- highlighted by the prime minister's ongoing corruption trial. The pair have also had a rocky relationship with the Israeli media. Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of cases alleging he exchanged favors with powerful media moguls and wealthy associates. Netanyahu denies the charges and says he is the victim of a "witch hunt" by overzealous prosecutors, police and the media. The report obtained correspondence between Sara Netanyahu and Hanni Bleiweiss, a former aide to the prime minister who died of cancer last year. The messages indicated that Sara Netanyahu encouraged police to crack down violently on anti-government protesters and ordered Bleiweiss to organize protests against her husband's critics. She also told Bleiweiss to get activists in Netanyahu's Likud party to publish attacks on Klein. Klein is an aide to billionaire Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan and has testified in the corruption case about her role in delivering tens of thousands of dollars worth of champagne, cigars and gifts to Netanyahu for her boss. According to the report, Sara Netanyahu mistreated Bleiweiss, prompting her to share the messages with a reporter shortly before her death. Sara Netanyahu has been accused of abusive behaviour toward her personal staff before. This, together with accusations of excessive spending and using public money for her own extravagant personal tastes, has earned her an image as being out of touch with everyday Israelis. In 2019, she was fined for misusing state funds. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees police and has repeatedly said Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara should be fired over a series of grievances against her, said the latest announcement was another reason for her to be dismissed. "Someone who politically persecutes government ministers and their families cannot continue to serve as the attorney general," he said. And Justice Minister Yariv Levin, another Netanyahu ally and critic of Baharav Miara, accused her of focusing on "television gossip." "Selective enforcement is a crime!" he said in a statement. ------ AP correspondents Eleanor H. Reich in New York and Isaac Scharf in Jerusalem contributed reporting.
Elsa Pataky is ready to overwhelm you with cuteness. Earlier today, she shared an important update on social media, sharing the news of a new addition to her family. Elsa Pataky and her children are ready for Christmas - and the tree is up! Elsa Pataky’s daughter shows off her engineering chops with latest project Pataky shared various photos on her Instagram, showing the world the latest addition to her family: a gorgeous German Shepherd. While she didn't reveal the name of the dog, she shared various photos of it, showing some of what it's been up to ever since they picked it up. Photos show the dog cuddling with Pataky and her daughter India, with one photo showing the dog and India sharing the same bed. Another image shows Pataky and the dog adorably looking at the camera. "Our new member of the family, a beautiful German Shepherd," wrote Pataky in the post's caption. "We are completely in love!" Pataky's home is filled with adorable pets Pataky, her husband Chris Hemsworth , and their kids India, Tristan, and Sasha are all animal lovers. The family often shares images and videos of their animals, including their horses, which Pataky and India pursue as a sport, their birds, iguanas, and more. In a recent Instagram story, Pataky shared a look at her mornings. The video showed off two adorable parrots ganging up on her brown Dachshund. As Pataky recorded the action, she couldn't help but giggle as her dog jumped back every time the birds approached it. In the background, you can hear other dogs barking and animals making sounds, showing that the family lives in touch with nature. Over the years, the family has adopted all manner of pets, including reptiles, pigs, rabbits, chickens, and more. Pataky and Hemsworth have raised their kids in Australia, with both of them loving the fact they're so immersed in nature. "I grew up in such a different environment than my kids are experiencing, but I was always passionate about wildlife, and nature in general," said Pataky to the website Beauticate. "Since I was little, my thing was to be totally surrounded by animals, like a crazy person. I loved horses, and I always wanted to have a farm with animals. I do have my own horses now, and it’s just amazing. I’m trying to give my kids the gift of enjoying life outside."Romanian politicians have voted in favour of a new pro-European coalition government led by incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. The move could usher in an end to a protracted political crisis in the European Union country following the annulment of a presidential election by a top court. Parliament approved the new administration in a 240-143 vote in Romania’s 466-seat legislature. The new coalition is made up of the leftist Social Democratic Party (PSD) the centre-right National Liberal Party (PNL), the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party and national minorities. It caps a month-long period of turmoil in which far-right nationalists made significant gains in a parliamentary election on December 1 a week after a first-round presidential race saw the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu emerge as the front-runner. “It will not be an easy mandate for the future government,” Mr Ciolacu, whose PSD party topped the polls in the parliamentary election, said in a statement. “We are aware that we are in the midst of a deep political crisis,” he said. “It is also a crisis of trust, and this coalition aims to regain the trust of citizens, the trust of the people.” Romania’s 16 ministerial positions will be shared among the parties, which will hold a slim majority in the legislature. It is widely seen as a tactical partnership to shut out far-right nationalists whose voices found fertile ground amid high living costs and a sluggish economy. Mr Ciolacu, who came third in the first-round presidential ballot despite polls indicating he would win the most votes, has served as prime minister since June 2023. After parliament’s approval, President Klaus Iohannis swore in the new government and warned the new Cabinet that it is entering a “difficult new period” in which “for many Romanians, there are major concerns”. Romania was plunged into turmoil after Mr Georgescu’s surprise success in the presidential race, after allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference emerged. Days before the December 8 run-off, the Constitutional Court made the unprecedented move to annul the presidential race. “We go through complicated times, but I think we all learned from mistakes of the past,” Mr Ciolacu said. “I hope that together with my colleagues in the coalition, we’ll find the best solutions to get past the challenges we have in front of us.” Mr Ciolacu said that the new government would aim to quickly organise the rerun of the presidential election in which the new coalition has agreed to put forward an agreed common pro-European candidate. Cristian Andrei, a political consultant based in Bucharest, said that the new government made up of the same political parties will likely embrace “soft populist” rhetoric such as economic patriotism, anti-austerity, and a peace solution in neighbouring Ukraine to counter the rise of far-right populism. “This will be a way to answer the concerns of many Romanians who voted for populists... but will not solve the fundamental problem of trust,” he said. “The only decisive factor now will be who and how convincing the pro-European candidates will be against this popular revolt.” George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, which came second in the parliamentary election, said that all politicians from his party on Monday would vote against the Ciolacu government. In 2021, the PSD and the PNL also formed an unlikely but increasingly strained coalition together with UDMR, which exited the Cabinet last year after a power-sharing dispute. We do not moderate comments, but we expect readers to adhere to certain rules in the interests of open and accountable debate. Last Updated: Are you sure you want to delete this comment?By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution’s suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea “absurd.” Related Articles National Politics | Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time National Politics | Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies National Politics | A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden’s clemency list National Politics | Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ on official trip to Luxembourg National Politics | Veteran Daniel Penny, acquitted in NYC subway chokehold, will join Trump’s suite at football game The Manhattan district attorney’s office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to “pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a blistering 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump’s lawyers filed paperwork earlier this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won’t include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn’t sentenced and his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined comment. It’s unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump’s request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution’s suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution’s suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the “ongoing threat” that he’ll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. “To be clear, President Trump will never deviate from the public interest in response to these thuggish tactics,” the defense lawyers wrote. “However, the threat itself is unconstitutional.” The prosecution’s suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they argued. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump has tabbed for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution’s novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump had died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to “fabricate” a solution “based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump” who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September “and a hypothetical dead defendant.” Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what’s already a unique case. “This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding,” prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn’t “precipitously discard” the “meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers.” Prosecutors acknowledged that “presidential immunity requires accommodation” during Trump’s impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury’s verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution . Other world leaders don’t enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza . Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records . Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. In their filing Friday, Trump’s lawyers citing a social media post in which Sen. John Fetterman used profane language to criticize Trump’s hush money prosecution. The Pennsylvania Democrat suggested that Trump deserved a pardon, comparing his case to that of President Joe Biden’s pardoned son Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “Weaponizing the judiciary for blatant, partisan gain diminishes the collective faith in our institutions and sows further division,” Fetterman wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. Trump’s hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases , which pertained to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in all. Trump had been scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November. But following Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president’s sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Merchan also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. A dismissal would erase Trump’s conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison sentence. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.
DECEMBER 3-6 _ Women’s volleyball, NCAA Division III Championship, Bloomington, Ill. 5 or 6 _ College football, Mountain West Championship, at TBD. 5-7 _ Auto racing, F1, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi, UAE. 5-7 _ Men’s college soccer, NCAA Division III Championship, Salem, Va. 5-7 _ Men’s water polo, NCAA Championship game, Stanford, Calif. 5-8 _ Women’s college soccer, NCAA Division I Championship, Kansas City, Mo. 6 _ College football, Big Ten Championship, Indianapolis. 6 _ College football, Southeastern Championship, at TBD. 6-8 _ Women’s college soccer, NCAA Division III Championship, Las Vegas. 7 _ Major League Baseball, Hall of Fame and Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee vote announced, Orlando, Fla. 7-10 _ Major League Baseball, Winter meetings, TBD. 11 _ Major League Baseball, Rule 5 Draft, Orland, Fla. 11-13 _ Women’s volleyball, NCAA Division II Championship, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 11-15 _ Men’s and women’s college soccer, NCAA Division II Championship, Matthews, N.C. 12-14 _ Women’s golf, LPGA Tour, The Grant Thornton Invitational, Naples, Fla. 12-15 _ Men’s college soccer, NCAA Division I Championship, Cary, N.C. 14 _ Running, Honolulu Marathon. 15 _ Major League Baseball, International signing period closes, 5 p.m. EST. 18-20 _ Women’s volleyball, NCAA Division I Championship, Kansas City, Mo. 21-Jan. 18 _ Men’s soccer, African Cup of Nations, Morocco. TBD _ College football, CFP Playoffs, First Round, at TBD. TBD _ College football, CFP Playoffs, Quarterfinals. TBD _ College football, Heisman Trophy Ceremony, New York. TBD _ College football, NAIA Championship game, at TBD. TBD _ College football, NCAA Division II Championship, at TBD. TBD _ College football, NCAA Division III Championship, at TBD. TBD _ Major League Baseball Draft Lottery, Orlando, Fla. TBD _ Men’s college soccer, NAIA Championship. TBD _ Men’s soccer, 2026 World Cup draw. TBD _ Men’s soccer, MLS Cup. TBD _ Men’s tennis, ATP Tour, Next Gen ATP Finals, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. TBD _ Pro basketball, NBA G League regular season begins. TBD _ Women’s college soccer, NAIA Championship.
Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Just as you can never be sure how a sporting contest will finish, so you never quite know where you might end up as a sports reporter. Here’s one place: a walled-off patch of incongruously green lawn at the top of the Khyber Pass, the barren landscape falling away in all directions, eating cucumber sandwiches with the uniformed commandant of the Khyber Rifles in their barracks. In 1994, I did that. It was in a break between Test matches. Neither our minibus driver, nor our armed guard with a Kalashnikov on his lap said anything on the way up. But at the top, they shared a couple of big fat joints, which made the return journey terrifying. It was at dusk, down a sinuous mountain road, unlit, unmarked and with no guard rails, but any number of overladen and equally unlit trucks, looming out of the gloom like prehistoric creatures. Greg Baum, pictured in 2005, has been a sports writer for more than four decades. Credit: Sebastian Costanzo Our protectors thought it all uproariously funny, but the AAP reporter sitting behind the rear axle, unsighted and swaying wildly, failed to see the humour. “We’re all going to die,” he shrieked. Fortunately, we survived and in due course, he became a senior backroom boy at the AFL. Our hosts treated us on our return to Peshawar by taking us shopping – in a gun bazaar. Finally, back at our hotel, we hastily retired to a room behind a smoky glass door that did not officially exist: a bar. Dangers lurk everywhere. If not in the lawless North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, then in the stranglehold of Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin in a bar in Johannesburg late one night in 2011. Though Australia had won, I wasn’t sure if his hug was meant playfully or murderously. I don’t think he was either. There had been friction. Then there was a small-hours shout with David Boon in a bar off London’s Regent Street. You might think that was as perilous a place as any other I’ve been. But he’d made a big Lord’s hundred and Australia had won handsomely and all was well in the world, or only a little unwell when I woke up later that morning. In Mick Malthouse’s sight line after a loss, beware. In Merv Hughes’ sight line after a win, beware. I also survived a ball from Michael Holding, the West Indian who was not known as Whispering Death for nothing. OK, it was a tennis ball on a beach in Antigua, where Holding had come across a ragtag group of Australian journos, and asked for a bowl, and delivered it with a mercifully gentle roll of his arm, but still ... West Indies great Michael Holding. Credit: Getty As life-threatening experiences go, these pale beside the pickles many of my long-term reporter colleagues in other fields have found themselves in. Apart from anything else, none were life-threatening. My upper threshold is merely hair-raising. There was the time on the back of a motorcycle, clinging to the rider as he swerved through the dusty streets of Gwalior, trying to get me to a post office to plug the modem of my newfangled four-line display computer terminal into a phone before the dying battery carked it. I filed half a story, which was probably plenty enough. It was not unusual at that time to file from laptops by jury-rigging connections between incompatible plugs. Once in Mumbai, my last resort was to hold two bare wires together between thumb and forefinger, close my eyes, pray and press “send”. It worked – and was not the first or last time a story slipped through my hands. The Age’s sports writers Peter Ker, Paul Daffey, Caroline Wilson, Greg Baum and Sebastian Costanzo at the AFL Football Awards in 2003. Credit: Vince Caligiuri The wild frontiers are not all far-flung. In 1990, I found myself on a bus with Collingwood’s newly crowned premiership players, travelling from the Southern Cross Hotel to Victoria Park through backstreets because the main roads were choked with euphoric fans, who mobbed the bus, causing it to rock. Staring through the windows at the sea of supporters stretching off into the dark, coach Leigh Matthews self-mockingly repeated his finals-long mantra: “We’re not talking premierships.” Then he added, sotto voce: “We’re accumulating them.” Another time at Waverley Park, a team manager invited me to step outside to settle some differences. His nickname was Middy, short for Midnight. As it happened, I preferred daylight and quickly put it between him and me. The enmity did not outlive the night. Sports reporting does take you to the damnedest places. At Junction Oval many moons ago, I listened as a podgy young leg-spinner, not yet capped by Victoria, canvassed opinions about what he should do with an offer to move to NSW. My two bobs’ worth was that he should do as his heart told him. As it happened, Shane Warne stayed in Victoria, and the rest, you well know. About that time, it fell to me to inform a young NSW cricketer that he had been picked to debut for Australia. Long before mobile phones and the internet, the team was phoned through to my newspaper office and I tracked the NSW Sheffield Shield team down to a restaurant in Flinders Lane. They had been well-beaten by Victoria that day.I was able to lighten the sombre mood, but only after one missed heartbeat. “Are you sure it’s the right Taylor?” the manager asked. Two years previously, when Mark Taylor had been widely expected to be picked, his little-known state teammate Peter Taylor was instead, prompting a Fleet Street newspaper to manufacture a quote from chairman of selectors, Laurie Sawle, admitting to a “clerical error”. Now, though, my notes confirmed that there was no ambiguity, and Mark was on his way to his illustrious career. As you might imagine, nearly all the most improbable places a reporter might find himself are in Asia. There was the night in Sri Lanka when I was in a taxi with some administrators who compared notes about a new concern: match-fixing. One, realising he had spoken carelessly, warned me not to repeat what I’d heard. It corresponded with something I’d heard the previous night from an Indian journalist and punter who’d been cautioned not to waste his money on a certain match. Overhearing this, a Pakistani cricketer nodded mutely. A skeleton was starting to tumble out of a cupboard. But far from home and without internet or mobile phones, I could not add flesh to the bones at that time. In due course, the Herald ’s arch newshound Phil Wilkins did. It was a story that ran for 10 years. The best seat in the house comes in a range. For the spellbinding Freeman night at the Sydney Olympics, my media seat was directly aligned with the finishing line, maybe 15 rows back. I spent three hours in a poolside deckchair alongside Steve Waugh in Bangalore as he contributed generously and thoughtfully to an anatomical dissection of one Test innings; it became a Good Weekend cover. Steven Bradbury’s iconic moment at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Credit: Stephen Munday A hunch led me rinkside at Salt Lake City in 2002 when skater Stephen Bradbury became, as an American commentator put it, a spectator at a safe distance to his freak gold medal. That story was like his skates; it ran and ran. Where else? There was ringside at Festival Hall, looking down at my notebook and finding blood spatters on it. Oh, the glamour. There was the achingly poignant moment in the Bulldogs’ rooms in 2016 as blubbering old men declared they never thought they’d live to see the day – and that was just the preliminary final. The grand final was something again. There was the bus with a police escort at 3am in Colombo in 1996, where I stared silently at the floodlit site of a massive bomb the previous week that had spooked Australia into bypassing their World Cup match there. The bus was carrying the Solidarity XI, a hastily gathered troupe of Indians and Pakistanis who went to play a symbolic match there in lieu. Colombo’s Central Bank, which was destroyed in a 1996 suicide bombing. Credit: AP There was the cockpit of a Trans Australia Airlines plane flown by a cricket contact for a landing in Hobart. Qantas’s Presidents Lounge once, but I can’t tell you where or with whom. There was a desk in a temporarily converted library in Cape Town in 2000 as the King inquiry laid bare the money-grubbing duplicity of South African captain Hanse Cronje and a barrister dismissed Cronje’s upstanding Christian alibi as “theological ventriloquism”. Judge Edwin King barred electronic media from the inquiry, so the world came to learn about each explosive revelation only as quickly as we could tap them into our rudimentary laptops. There was The Lodge. I always knew I’d get there. It was for a PM’s XI reception, but I wasn’t the first or last to make it there without winning the popular vote. Greg Baum interviewing Richmond legend Matthew Richardson in 2013. Credit: Penny Stephens Sportswriters dwell on courage, but generally don’t have to practise it – other than in the form of a question you don’t want to ask, but must. I saw courage of a different order in Pakistan in 1994. During a Test match in Rawalpindi, ABC commentator Peter Walsh’s father died back in Australia. Walshie thought to go home, but after a conversation with his mother decided to stay. This was Australia’s last-ever tour behind closed doors. There was no live broadcast and the internet, as we know it, was still in the future. Fans in Australia could follow proceedings only through the scribblings of four print journos and the ABC’s hourly crosses to Walshie. He was a mess, but at the top of the hour would dry his eyes, swallow hard, clamp on his headphones and deliver an update in an unwavering voice, then after switching off the mic dissolve into tears again. He was heroic. The grand Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan. Credit: AP Early morning a couple of days later, I found myself in yet another unlikely place, with Walshie and others in the long, cool shadows of Islamabad’s impressive Faisal Mosque. None of us were especially religious, but the place emanated peace. In 2011 in Cape Town, death came closer still. Infamously, Australia had been bowled out for 47 and lost the Test match in three days. On the fourth evening, The Australian ’s Peter Lalor and I were dining on the waterfront when I received a call from the ABC’s Jim Maxwell. There’d been an accident, he said. Peter Roebuck. Come. Only slowly did I realise that Maxwell did not mean that Roebuck was badly injured. He’d gone over a fifth-floor balcony and was dead . This is not the place to revisit all the circumstances , nor to again try to psychoanalyse the complex writer and broadcaster who was also a friend. For a couple of hours, Maxwell, Lalor, Geoff Lawson, Drew Morphett and I sat in the foyer of their hotel near the Newlands ground, trying to make sense of the senseless. The hotel manager dug up some beers, but we hardly touched them. In the very small hours, I caught a taxi back to my hotel and tried to sleep, but was conscious of the time difference and knew all hell would be breaking loose in Australia. In the pre-dawn dullness of my tiny hotel room, I wrote an obit to run on the front page. The next few days were a blur. I was offered the chance to come home, but did not. In a way that’s hard to explain, it made more sense to stay . Lalor, bless him, did the honours at the morgue. A walk up Table Mountain was arduous but cathartic, maybe like that mosque in Islamabad. Jim Maxwell displayed courage, too, paying affectionate tribute to Roebuck in an unfaltering voice at the start of the broadcast of the next Test in Johannesburg a couple of days later. To fill the special comments void, some of us pressmen were drafted in. It was the middle of the night in Australia – who would be listening anyway? Someone was, and on social media bemoaned my mumbling inadequacy beside the great Roebuck. He was right, of course. That was the tragedy. It still is. Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter .