Daily News Roundup

A farm worker accused of sparking the strawberry needle saga faces a maximum 10 years in prison if she is found guilty of contamination of goods.

Key points:

The 50-year-old has been charged with seven counts of contaminating goods
The charges are understood to relate to one of the original cases
Strawberry growers say the impact of the contamination scare “crippled” the industry

My Ut Trinh, 50, was arrested in Brisbane on Sunday, two months after Queensland Police fronted the media to warn about punnets being contaminated with needles.

Police have charged Ms Trinh with seven counts of contamination of goods, an offence that normally carries a three-year maximum penalty.

However police allege there is a circumstance of “aggravation”, meaning the maximum jail term is increased to 10 years.

The ABC understands the charge is linked to one of the original cases involving the company Berry Licious.

Ms Trinh, a farm supervisor, is due to face the Brisbane Magistrates Court this morning.

Superintendent Jon Wacker, from the Queensland Police Drug and Serious Crime Group, said the investigation “was far from over”.

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Champion bodyboarder Noah Symmans says he went into “Mick Fanning” mode when a shark clamped onto his leg off a West Australian beach, and he started kicking it as hard as he could.

Key points:

Bodyboarder kicked shark in the face to escape
Noah Symmans hopes to make a full recovery after surgery
Locals call for action to prevent further shark attacks

The 20-year-old from Albany, who won the national men’s bodyboarding title in 2015, had been in the water at the surf spot known as the “Wedge” off Pyramids Beach, near Mandurah, south of Perth, for a couple of hours on Sunday.

He had seen a big school of salmon when he and his friend Patrick Franklyn first went in, and moved closer to shore, but then paddled back out when they saw a few dolphins.

“I always think it’s safe when there’s dolphins around, so I was pretty chilled,” he told the ABC from his hospital bed in Royal Perth Hospital.

“And then about a couple of hours in we were just chatting in the line-up, and just felt something grab my leg and kinda pull me down, and I just went into attack mode, I guess, and got my other foot and booted it.

“I think it was in the face, and then kind of released.

“We just gunned it for the rocks and yeah, got out of there.”

He did not see the shark at all, and still does not know what type it was.

But he remembered how three-times world surfing champion Fanning had started hitting at a shark which knocked him off his board at the Jeffreys Bay competition in South Africa in 2015.

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This week world leaders will descend on Papua New Guinea for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, an event that has become controversial before it has even started.

Key points:

15,000 people to descend on one of the world’s least liveable cities
Government blasted for buying 40 Maseratis for APEC delegates
Australia and China splash cash and jockey for influence in the region

You might remember APEC from pictures of world leaders in colourful shirts, or even for the infamousprank by The Chasers War on Everything when Sydney hosted the annual event.

But the APEC summit is a big deal for the Asia Pacific region, and is an important opportunity for Australia to forge new foreign policy and strengthen bonds with our close neighbours and international trade giants like the United States and China.

To help you get a grasp of what APEC is all about and what’s gone on behind the scenes, here is a breakdown of this year’s conference by the numbers.

APEC is made up of 21 countries including Australia, together accounting for 2.7 billion people — more than a third of the world’s population.

Who is going?

It will be Scott Morrison’s first APEC summit as Prime Minister
China’s President Xi Jinping will be one of the key players at the event
The leaders of Taiwan and Hong Kong will also be in Port Moresby
Canada’s Justin Trudeau, South Korea’sMoon Jae-in and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern will also be there
Donald Trump won’t be making the trip, sending Vice-President Mike Pence on behalf of the US
Likewise, Vladimir Putin will be absent, sending Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in his stead

Started in 1989 as part of a push by prime minister Bob Hawke to encourage a strong regional economy around the Pacific Rim, most of the APEC members are from our neighbouring region with the addition of Russia, United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru.

It is an important economic group for Australia, with more than 70 per cent of our trade conducted with other APEC countries, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

Marked by dry economic discussion and high-profile side meetings, the annual leaders summit boasts a busy schedule — with 180 official meetings and heaps of other events over the course of the summit.

Leaders from around the world, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Chinese President Xi Jinping and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern will be attending the summit.

While last year’s summit in Vietnam was largely overshadowed by the sideline talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, both leaders will be absent this year.

This daily news roundup is curated with stories form ABC News.