Lawyers were brought in by both the trust and the individual trustee involved.

A Chinese naval flotilla led by a powerful destroyer has been on a 12-day circumnavigation of Japan's main islands in a display of military power as tensions simmer over Taiwan and as Japan prepares to host G7 leaders next week.

Japan's Defence Ministry on Thursday released a map showing the Type 055 guided missile destroyer Lhasa, one of the People's Liberation Army Navy's most powerful warships, leading a four-ship flotilla that also included a smaller destroyer, a frigate and a supply ship on the clockwise circumnavigation.

The Japanese map shows the voyage began April 30 in the Tsushima Strait between South Korea and Japan, progressed through the Tsugaru Strait at the northern tip of Hokkaido on May 5 and 6 and then was in the Izu island chain south of Tokyo on Thursday.

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In a story published after the Japanese Defence Ministry release Thursday, China's state-run Global Times linked the flotilla's journey to "Japan's recent provocative remarks" about Taiwan, the democratically ruled island over which the Chinese Communist Party claims sovereignty despite never having ruled it.

"While the voyage is likely a routine PLA Navy far sea exercise that does not violate any international law or target any third party, it could be seen as a strong message to Japan," the Global Times report said, citing Chinese experts.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in an interview with Nikkei Asia on Wednesday that "the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait is critical not just for our country, but for the whole international community."

And Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Wednesday said Tokyo had sent a message of protest to Beijing over comments by China's ambassador that Japan would be "dragged into the fire" if Tokyo linked Taiwan to its own security.

In an exclusive interview with CNN on Wednesday, Hayashi said Japan is in talks to open a NATO liaison office – the first of its kind in Asia – saying Russia's invasion of Ukraine had repercussions far beyond Europe's borders that had forced Tokyo to rethink regional security.

"We are already in discussions, but no details (have been) finalised yet," Hayashi said.

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Tensions rise before G7 summit

The Chinese circumnavigation also comes as leaders of the Group of Seven prepare to meet in Japan beginning May 19.

Chinese naval flotillas have performed circumnavigations of Japan in the past – most notably when a Chinese-Russian flotilla of 10 ships did so in October 2021 – and analysts say more can be expected as the PLA Navy more frequently flexes its muscles outside China's nearby waters.

But the timing and route of this exercise linked with the media reports raises concerns, the analysts say.

"What is most troubling is that by linking the PLAN surface action group's route selection to Kishida's comments on Taiwan, China's state media is seeking to make it into a show of force," said John Bradford, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratman School of International Studies in Singapore.

"Delivering these sorts of threats further undermines confidence and drives up regional tensions," he added.

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James Brown, professor of political science at Temple University in Japan, said the timing of the Chinese naval activity before the G7 summit in Hiroshima is important.

"While much of the focus in Hiroshima will be on Ukraine, the Japanese hosts will seek to link the issue to security in East Asia," Brown said.

"Prime Minister Kishida is likely to reiterate his message that 'Ukraine today could be East Asia tomorrow'. By 'East Asia,' he means the prospect of China attacking Taiwan," Brown said.

"The Chinese show of force is intended to deter Japan from deepening security cooperation with the United States and other Western partners. It is likely to achieve the opposite," he said.

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Nearly every video on TikTok that features vaping portrays it in a positive light, an alarming study has found.

The research from Curtin University in Perth found 97.7 per cent of the videos on TikTok they studied made smoking e-cigarettes look good.

Those videos attracted 98.7 per cent of the total views of the 264 vaping videos studied.

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"The sheer amount of potentially harmful content being fed to young people on TikTok shows self-regulation is failing," study lead researcher Jonine Jancey said.

"These used humour, music, shared vaping tricks and referred to a 'vaping community', supporting the normalisation of these products."

Close to 70 per cent of the vaping posts promoted the vapes for purchase, a violation of TikTok's content policy.

"It seems there are no major consequences for those who do not follow TikTok guidelines and violate content policy," Jancey said. 

"Social media platforms can decide the consequences for breaches of their policies, but they have a clear financial incentive not to punish people who breach their policies."

Co-author Tama Leaver said the fact the videos were made by young people for young people made them particularly effective.

"This is essentially a form of peer-to-peer promotion where young people see their friends or celebrities portraying vaping in a positive way," Professor Leaver said.

"In addition, some vaping content is posted by influencers who may actually be paid by the e-cigarette industry to promote their products, although this is not disclosed and young people watching these videos may not even know they are being advertised to."

The study was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Earlier this month, the federal government announced a pending ban on recreational vaping.

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The importation of non-pharmaceutical vaping products will be prohibited, meaning they will only be able to be purchased with a prescription from pharmacies.

Single-use disposable vapes will be banned, the volume and concentration of nicotine concentrations and volumes and both flavours and packaging will be required to be plain, the latter with warning labels.

"These are supposed to be pharmaceutical products so they will have to present that way, no more bubble gum flavours, pink unicorns or vapes disguised as highlighter pens for kids to hide in their pencil cases," Health Minister Mark Butler said when announcing the ban.

"Over the past 12 months, Victoria's poisons hotline has taken 50 calls about children under the age of four ingesting vapes. Under the age of four.

"Vapes contain more than 200 chemicals that do not belong in the lungs."

The federal government will work with states and territories to close down the sale of vapes in convenience stores and other retail settings.

But it will still be legal to buy a vape with a prescription from your chemist to help smokers quit for good and Butler said the government will make it easier for doctors to prescribe them.

READ MORE: Deadly chemicals found in some vape liquids prompts warning

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A man has been killed in a shark attack off a beach in South Australia, police believe.

The 46-year-old man went missing when he was surfing at Walkers Rock Beach on the Eyre Peninsula, west of Adelaide at 10:10am.

"A man is believed to have died following a shark attack at Walkers Rocks Beach this morning," police said on Saturday afternoon.

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The man's body has not yet been found, although police, SES officers and community members are still searching the area.

Police had been called to Walkers Rocks Beach, seven kilometres north of Elliston, at about 10.10am after reports the man had been bitten by a shark.

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No one else was injured, South Australian Police told 9news.com.au.

Elliston is an isolated coastal town about 600km west of Adelaide with a population of less than 400.

The area is well-known for its high numbers of sharks off the coast.

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A tropical cyclone is strengthening in the Bay of Bengal and is on course to hit western Myanmar and Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, where around one million people live in flimsy shelters in what many consider to be the world's largest refugee camp.

Cyclone Mocha is the first to form in the Bay this year and is expected to strengthen further before making landfall on Sunday, likely in western Myanmar's Rakhine state, near the border with Bangladesh.

According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre, Mocha strengthened Friday into the equivalent of a category 1 Atlantic hurricane and is moving north at 11 kilometres per hour.

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The storm's winds could peak at 220km/h just before making landfall on Sunday morning, the agency said.

India's Meteorological Department said on Friday that Mocha had intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm and warned fishermen and trawlers against sailing far into the Bay over the coming days.

The agency forecast a storm surge of up to 2.5 metres was likely to inundate low-lying coastal areas in the path of the cyclone at the time of landfall.

In Bangladesh, that includes Cox's Bazar, home to members of the stateless Rohingya community who fled persecution in nearby Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017.

Many live in bamboo and tarpaulin shelters perched on hilly slopes that are vulnerable to strong winds, rain, and landslides.

There are also concerns for hundreds of Rohingya refugees housed on an isolated and flood-prone island facility in the Bay of Bengal, called Bhasan Char.

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Ahead of Mocha's expected landfall, aid agencies are ramping up their emergency preparedness and response with local and refugee communities.

The UN refugee agency in Bangladesh said in a tweet that "emergency preparations in the camps and on Bhasan Char are underway" in coordination with the government and local aid agencies.

"In preparation of cyclones, hundreds of Rohingya refugee volunteers have been trained on identifying risks, informing their communities, evacuating people when needed and responding after disaster strikes," the UNHCR said in a tweet.

In neighbouring Myanmar, residents in coastal areas of Rakhine state and Ayeyarwady region have started to evacuate their homes and seek shelter ahead of the cyclone's expected landfall, according to local independent media Myanmar Now.

The ruling Myanmar junta has issued cyclone warnings and claimed to be taking precautionary measures such as readying disaster management committees to respond to a potential disaster, according to state media Global New Light of Myanmar.

The UN humanitarian office (UNOCHA) said in a situation report there are "grave concerns" about the storm's impact on vulnerable and displaced communities.

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"Of particular worry is the situation facing 232,100 people who are displaced across Rakhine.

"Many of the IDP camps and sites in Rakhine are located in low-lying coastal areas susceptible to storm surge," UNOCHA said.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre said widespread flooding, landslides and high wind gusts are expected around the area of landfall and across Myanmar's interior.

The last named tropical cyclone to make landfall in Myanmar was Maarutha in April 2017.

Though Maarutha was the equivalent of a tropical storm at landfall, with maximum winds of 92km/h, it brought heavy rains and damaged nearly 100 homes.

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In October 2010, Tropical Cyclone Giri was the last storm to make landfall with hurricane-force winds.

It made landfall as a high-end Category 4 equivalent storm with maximum winds of 250km/h.

Giri caused over 150 fatalities and roughly 70 per cent of the city of Kyaukphyu, in Rakhine state, was destroyed.

According to the United Nations, roughly 15,000 homes were destroyed in the state during the storm.

The worst natural disaster to hit Myanmar was Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, killing 140,000 people, severely affecting 2.4 million and leaving 800,000 displaced, aid agencies said.

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While many Australians look to cut back on their power usage, new parents Chloe and PJ O'Meara aren't holding back.

Between washing clothes for their newborn Patrick, heating bottles and powering baby monitors, they're constantly using electricity.

Despite all this, they haven't noticed a jump in their power bills because they're saving elsewhere.

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"Obviously we've got one extra person which uses up a little bit more electricity for things," Chloe said. 

"We were pleasantly surprised at our energy bill."

The young family has moved into an efficient home in Spring Farm, south-west of Sydney, which has an energy rating of 8.4 stars and is so insulated it requires far less heating or cooling than your average Australian home.

"We were looking at what would be our family home, and this is the perfect one," PJ said.

"The cost of living is just astronomical at the moment," said Ms O'Meara.

"We know we've made a saving."

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The home is a new energy-efficient model developed by housing giant AVJennings.

"It's trying to make our homes more sustainable and energy efficient for the future," said AVJennings CEO Phil Kearns.

"The prefab nature of these homes, we can get to lock-up in about three days… so the construction is very very simple, but what's in the walls is quite complex."

The key to its energy efficiency is a new densely insulated material, called Pro9, which is used for the walls.

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The developer said this, combined with double-glazed windows, could cut the electricity needed for heating and cooling by 77 per cent.

"This home holds temperature so well," said Ms O'Meara. 

"Over summer we used the air con a bit, I was heavily pregnant… half an hour and the house is cool for the rest of the day."

It will be crucial for new homes to reach higher energy-efficiency standards in October this year, when it becomes compulsory for all new houses and apartments constructed in Australia to achieve an energy rating of seven out of 10 stars.

But most established homes fall short.

"On a scale of one to 10, where 10 is the best and six is the minimum, the average is probably around two or three," energy efficiency consultant Richard Keech said.

In some European countries, home energy ratings have been around for more than 40 years.

"I think Australia is catching up … our environment is quite unique and what works well in Europe may not necessarily work well here," Kearns said.

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A woman died and a young girl has survived in a two car crash in Queensland's Wide Bay region yesterday afternoon.

The crash occurred on the Bruce Highway when an orange MG wagon and a Ford Ranger towing a caravan collided in Chatsworth near Gympie around 3.45pm.

Queensland Police said the 41-year-old driver of the MG from Tiana died at the scene.

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A seven-year-old girl who was a passenger in the MG had minor injuries and was taken to Gympie Hospital.

"The driver of the Ranger, a 76-year-old Valdora man, was taken to Gympie Hospital with minor injuries," Queensland Police said in a statement.

"A single passenger, a 72-year-old Valdora woman, was transported to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a serious condition with chest injuries."

Anyone with footage of the incident is asked to come forward.

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There are several islands around the world where ordinary people are outright banned from visiting.

Police are hunting a man who dragged a driver along the ground of a Perthpetrol station while stealing his car.

The car thief jumped into the unlocked and running 1996 Toyota Camry while the owner went inside a Carlisle petrol station for a cup of noodles on Wednesday night.

When the car's owner rushed out to stop the man, he was dragged along the forecourt for 10 metres after getting stuck in the door as the thief reversed.

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"It's a very serious crime that's been committed and the actions of the offender are quite brazen so we are taking this extremely seriously," Detective Constable Shannon Parker said.

The 30-year-old man suffered injuries to his face and arms and was taken to hospital for treatment following the incident.

He has since been released.

Police said the car was last seen heading west on Orrong Road and appealed for help to find it.

They warned drivers to keep their car locked at service stations.

"Always secure your belongings, under no circumstances leave your keys in your vehicle or your vehicle running," Parker said.

"Even if you're popping into the service station for just a minute or two."

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A woman has been rescued after falling off a mountain's lookout in Queensland.

Paul became trapped on an embankment near Cameron Falls after falling 40 metres from a lookout at Mount Tamborine, just after 2pm today.

Rescue crews worked for several hours to free the 24-year-old woman, using ropes to bring her back up the cliff.

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It's believed that she was walking through Mount Tamborine with a group of friends before she fell.

Paul was assessed by medical staff at the scene and was taken to hospital for further treatment.

She is reportedly suffering from neck and shoulder pain, but her condition is still unknown. 

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