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ABC News
14-07-2025
- ABC News
Carolina Wilga releases statement after being found alive in WA's outback
Carolina Wilga, the backpacker who was found alive in WA's unforgiving outback, says a car crash and head injury led her to becoming confused and lost for 11 nights. In her first public comments since being found on Friday afternoon, the 26-year-old thanked all the people who helped search for her. Ms Wilga, a German national, is recovering in a Perth hospital after her ordeal, during which she was exposed to freezing temperatures alone in WA's outback. She was found walking along on an unsealed access road by farmer Tania Henley on Friday afternoon in a chance encounter. Ms Wilga had walked barefoot across a huge distance in harsh terrain after abandoning her van when it became bogged deep in the Karroun Hill Nature Reserve, straying far off any established track. On Monday afternoon, Carolina wrote: First and foremost, I want to express a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart – a thank you that truly comes from the depth of my soul! For all the incredible supports during the search for me. Previously, I didn't know where my place was in a culture on the other side of the world to my own, but now, I feel a part of it. I am deeply impressed by the courage, helpfulness, and warmth that has been shown to me here. Western Australia has taught me what it really means to be part of a true community. Here, humanity, solidarity, and care for one another are what truly matter – and in the end, that's what counts most. I am certain that I survived only thanks to this incredible outpouring of support. The thought of all the people who believed in me, searched for me, and kept hoping for me gave me the strength to carry on during my darkest moments. For this, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Especially to the police investigators, searchers, the German Consulate, the medical staff and the wonderful nurses who took care of me with so much compassion. My deepest thanks also go to every single person who simply thought of me – and of course, to my rescuer and angel, Tania! Some people might wonder why I even left my car, even though I had water, food, and clothing there. The answer is: I lost control of the car and rolled down a slope. In the crash, I hit my head significantly. As a result of the accident, I left my car in a state of confusion and got lost. I am simply beyond grateful to have survived. Thank you Australia – you are amazing.
ABC News
11-07-2025
- ABC News
German backpacker Carolina Wilga's 'remarkable' survival in hostile outback terrain
The day her banged-up, broken-down Mitsubishi van was discovered wedged in the embankment of a rocky outcrop, Carolina Wilga had just spent the night alone in sub-zero temperatures. There was evidence she tried hard to get her bogged vehicle out of the spot — but when a search and rescue plane spotted the car on Thursday, Carolina was nowhere to be found. At that point, it had been 11 days since anybody had seen the 26-year-old German national alive. She was far from the bustling coastal metropolis of Fremantle where a friend said she set off from on June 28. She drove herself to the north-eastern extremity of Western Australia's rich agricultural lands, to the small grain-growing community of Beacon. It was there at the local general store that she was last seen on June 29. Ms Wilga made the unlikely decision to take the van she recently purchased and plunge even further into the depths of the great beyond, into a sparse and environmentally hostile nature reserve. "A serious piece of bush," is how one local described it. Nobody knew what she was doing out there, where she was trying to go and why. It's a part of the world that historically not many people have dared to go, not even those who live on its fringes. "It's a wonderful nature reserve and is full of rich and diverse flora and fauna," Wheatbelt-based Police Inspector Martin Glynn said. "There are certainly other local places very much part of the tourist trail … but certainly this one wouldn't be one that people would visit normally, no." And for good reason. There are few obvious campsites in the expansive Karroun Hill Nature Reserve. There's barely a track. Ms Wilga's van was found half a kilometre as the crow flies from what would be even considered a worn path. Her disappearance triggered a huge search effort that progressively ramped up as the number of days since she was last seen ticked over. Long-term Beacon resident Marilyn Dunne said her community rallied around the effort to find Ms Wilga. "Everybody is talking about it, everybody is worried about it," she said. "Everyone has got their own ideas about it and, of course, if they were asked to help, they would go in a moment." Ms Dunne, who owns a station that borders the Karroun Hill Nature Reserve, said she had noticed it become more popular with visitors. "More and more it's being advertised on tourist bureaus and on brochures and it's being recommended on maps, so I think we're going to need to make more warning signs for people," she said. Tim Collins, director of Upstream Aviation, has been involved in aerial searches, mostly of water, but said the terrain where Carolina's car was found presented significant difficulties. "It's hard to see somebody unless you're in a very open space," he said. "If you've got any kind of bush or any kind of trees, or are sheltered under a tree, it's very hard to find somebody." Those on the ground and in the air searching for Ms Wilga never lost hope of finding her, even on the 12th day. "You're always so hopeful with these missing-person situations," Inspector Glynn said. Despite the odds, Carolina Wilga survived. The news of her being found alive broke after 5pm, local time, on Friday. Save for being ravaged by mosquitoes, she was not seriously hurt. Though the mental anguish she likely experienced was significant. "She's been through an incredible journey of trauma," Inspector Glynn said. A member of the public miraculously found Ms Wilga walking on a trail along the edge of the bush reserve, many kilometres from where she left her car. The fact she was walking at all was a miracle, and the world caught their first glimpse of her as she walked up the stairs to a waiting plane at the local airfield. She will now be checked over at a hospital back in Perth. Carolina Wilga is now safe and well, no doubt with a remarkable story to tell.
The Sun
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Vile plot to blackmail TV comedy megastar revealed after man is arrested for sick phone threats
A MAN has been arrested on suspicion of blackmailing one of Britain's best-loved comedians, The Sun can reveal today. The suspect, 35, attempted to extort money from the entertainer by threatening to publicise vile and defamatory claims against him, it is said. 1 He is alleged to have bombarded the star, who is middle-aged, with menacing phone calls and text messages over several months. Police were alerted by the victim — and the suspect, said to be a German national who works in the arts, was arrested at his East London home. Electronic devices were seized during a search of the premises and are being examined by officers. The suspect has been bailed until September pending inquiries. Meanwhile, the entertainer — who cannot be named for legal reasons — is being provided with support by police and has provided a full statement, a source said. They went on: 'He is said to have received messages and calls from a blackmailer who was threatening to publicly smear him with false accusations. 'These accusations were disgusting in nature and totally false — and they have caused the victim considerable distress.' The star is said to be known to the suspect after meeting several years ago, but the men do not have close friendship. Described as 'a bolt from the blue', the blackmail demands are said to have been left the famous victim 'shocked'. Scotland Yard confirmed the suspect's arrest. A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: 'On Friday, June 27, a 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of harassment, blackmail and malicious communications. 'He was taken into custody and later bailed to return pending further inquiries. 'He is next due back on a date in mid-September. 'The arrest follows allegations reported to police on June 26. The investigation is ongoing.'
The Independent
16-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Selling Greek Cypriot property in the breakaway north of split Cyprus? You could end up in court
Cyprus won't stop launching legal proceedings against realtors and developers who illegally make money off Greek Cypriot properties in the breakaway north of the ethnically divided island nation, with four such cases currently being adjudicated, an official said Friday. A Ukrainian man, a German national and two Israelis — among them real estate developer Simon Aykut — are being tried on a variety of charges including illegally advertising the sale of Greek Cypriot property, illegal possession and use of such property and conspiracy. All four defendants remain in custody. The properties are in areas along Cyprus' northern and eastern coastlines near the towns of Kyrenia and Famagusta in villages such as Akanthou and Ayios Amvrosios (Tatlisu and Esentepe in Turkish respectively) that are popular with foreign buyers because of their idyllic surroundings. Property rights are a deeply contentious issue in Cyprus, which was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded in the wake of an Athens junta-backed coup aiming at uniting the island with Greece. Some 160,000 Greek Cypriots subsequently fled the north where Turkish Cypriots declared independence that only Turkey recognizes. Around 45,000 Turkish Cypriots living in the south, where the internationally recognized government is seated, moved to the north. Property has been a core issue over decades of failed, United Nations mediated peace talks. The EU's top court as well as the European Court of Human Rights have affirmed the Greek Cypriots' rights to property ownership in the north. But the ECHR has also backed the establishment of a Turkish Cypriot property commission to which Greek Cypriots can apply to either be compensated for their property or reclaim it. But a recent boom in construction of luxury villas and apartments in the north has prompted Cypriot legal authorities to take a more assertive stance toward realtors and developers to discourage what they say is the large-scale 'illegal usurpation' of Greek Cypriot land. 'It's not just a few homes being built on Greek Cypriot property, we're now seeing entire complexes being constructed,' a lawyer with knowledge of the pending cases told The Associated Press. 'And the ongoing legal action has clearly had an effect on foreigners who are now more reluctant to get involved.' The lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity because they can't discuss the matter publicly. Last week, a Cypriot court sentenced two Hungarian women to 30 month and 15 month jail sentences respectively for advertising the sale of Greek Cypriot property in the north online. 'The exploitation of property that belongs to displaced Cypriots for financial gain is, from any perspective, unacceptable and condemnable,' the court said in its decision. The court also suggested that such exploitation could risk harming future peace talks by adversely complicating the property issue. The island's Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said this week that although the executive branch doesn't interfere in the work of the judiciary, the prosecutions are ultimately a message to all those involved in the sale of Greek Cypriot properties in the north that 'what they're doing is an illegal act and are prosecuted for it.' 'The right to property is an individual matter and the owner of the property is the one who should decide what to do with it, nothing more,' he said. But the court cases have sparked a furor among Turkish Cypriot leaders who view it as a hostile attempt to undercut their community's economic development. Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar called the prosecutions a 'terrorist act' against Turkish Cypriots in defiance of international law, aiming to 'weaken them legally and politically' on top of harming their economic prospects. He also warned that the court actions 'won't go unanswered.'
Washington Post
16-05-2025
- Washington Post
Selling Greek Cypriot property in the breakaway north of split Cyprus? You could end up in court
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus won't stop launching legal proceedings against realtors and developers who illegally make money off Greek Cypriot properties in the breakaway north of the ethnically divided island nation, with four such cases currently being adjudicated, an official said Friday. A Ukrainian man, a German national and two Israelis — among them real estate developer Simon Aykut — are being tried on a variety of charges including illegally advertising the sale of Greek Cypriot property, illegal possession and use of such property and conspiracy. All four defendants remain in custody.
