BERLIN (AP) — Berlin’s newest panda twins have celebrated their first birthday with frozen vegetable treats and a candle made out of bamboo shoots.

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The two female cubs were born at the Berlin Zoo on Aug. 22 last year, and each was given both a Chinese and a German name. Meng Hao and Meng Tian are better known as Leni and Lotti, tributes to Berlin native Marlene Dietrich and the German capital’s Charlottenburg district.

On Friday, the cubs played around and with a large red wooden figure 1. They were given what the zoo called “ice marbles” made of beetroot and carrot juice.

The young pandas, who weighed under 7 ounces at birth, now weigh in at about 46 pounds each. Their keepers are already noticing character differences: the zoo says Lotti is the more daring of the duo, while Leni is often more laidback.

The cubs are the second pair of giant pandas born in Germany.

The first were their elder brothers Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan, who became far better known by the German names Pit and Paule. The cubs were born in August 2019 and were a star attraction in Berlin until they were flown to China in late 2023 — a trip that was contractually agreed from the start but delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

All are the offspring of mother Meng Meng and father Jiao Qing, who arrived in Berlin in 2017.

By ROD McGUIRK

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A trainee surgeon was released from custody on bail Friday after he was accused of secretly video recording hundreds of medical colleagues in the restrooms of Australian hospitals.

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Ryan Cho, 28, will likely face around 500 charges relating to 4,500 intimate videos he secretly recorded with phones mainly in the staff restrooms of three Melbourne hospitals since 2021, police alleged in documents cited in the Victoria state Supreme Court.

Justice James Elliott ruled that the junior doctor be released on the condition he live with his parents, who moved from Singapore to Melbourne in anticipation of their son’s month in prison ending. His parents were required to post a 50,000 Australian dollar ($32,000) surety.

The parents of trainee surgeon Ryan Cho, arrive at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (Con Chronis/AAP Image via AP)

The prosecutor argued that Cho had no meaningful ties to Australia after being suspended from his job and the charges against him could be an inducement to flee. While Cho became an Australian permanent resident in April, he would face deportation if he was convicted and sentenced to 12 months or longer in prison, Hammill said.

The judge noted Cho had surrendered his Singapore passport and had no criminal connections to help him leave Australia.

Cho ignored reporters’ questions as he left the court building wearing sunglasses over his prescription glasses and a surgical face mask.

Police allege Cho recorded intimate images of at least 460 women. The judge noted there was no allegation Cho had disseminated those images.

Cho was arrested in July after a phone was found recording from inside a mesh bag hanging in an Austin Hospital restroom. Police allege he also recorded in restrooms in the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Trainee surgeon, Ryan Cho is escorted into the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (Con Chronis/AAP Image via AP)

His lawyer Julian McMahon rejected prosecutors’ fears that if released, Cho could interfere with witnesses. There were likely to be hundreds of witnesses alleging similar offenses, McMahon said.

“There’s a sense here that if my client were to engage in the criminal offense of interfering with witnesses that it wouldn’t affect the outcome of the case,” McMahon said.

Cho was initially charged with six offenses but another 127 charges were added Thursday, including intentionally recording intimate images without permission.

McMahon said it was too early to tell if the allegations would go to trial. Cho hasn’t entered pleas.

Cho came to Australia as a student in 2017 and studied medicine at Melbourne’s Monash University.

By WILSON MCMAKIN

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A major cybercrime crackdown coordinated by Interpol has led to the arrest of 1,209 suspects across Africa and the recovery of nearly $97.4 million, the organization announced Friday.

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Dubbed Operation Serengeti 2.0, the operation took place between June and August. It brought together investigators from 18 African countries and the United Kingdom to fight harmful cybercrimes including inheritance scams, ransomware and business email compromise.

Altogether, the scams targeted nearly 88,000 victims, the international police organization said in a statement.

From cryptocurrency mining to online scams

Interpol said that authorities in Angola dismantled 25 cryptocurrency mining centers where 60 Chinese nationals had been mining cryptocurrency. The operation resulted in the confiscation of equipment worth over $37 million; the government now plans to use the equipment to support power distribution in vulnerable areas.

In Zambia, the operation dismantled an online investment scheme that defrauded more than 65,000 victims of an estimated $300 million through a fraudulent high-return cryptocurrency scam.

“The scammers lured victims into investing in cryptocurrency through extensive advertising campaigns promising high-yield returns. Victims were then instructed to download multiple apps to participate,” Interpol said. It said that 15 people had been arrested and that authorities seized evidence including domains, mobile numbers and bank accounts.

In locating the scam center in Zambia, authorities also disrupted a suspected human trafficking network, Interpol said.

Interpol also said it dismantled a transnational inheritance scam in the Ivory Coast which had originated in Germany. Victims of that scam were tricked into paying fees to claim fake inheritances, causing $1.6 million in losses.

“Despite being one of the oldest-running internet frauds, inheritance scams continue to generate significant funds for criminal organizations,” it said.

Interpol’s role

Interpol, which has 196 member countries and celebrated its centennial last year, is the world’s largest international police network to combat international crime. Headquartered in Lyons, France, it works to help national police forces communicate with each other and track suspects and criminals in areas like counterterrorism, financial crime, child pornography, cybercrime and organized crime.

In recent years it has grappled with new challenges including a growing caseload of cybercrime and child sex abuse, and increasing divisions among its member countries.

Last year in the first Operation Serengeti, Interpol arrested over 1,000 people in operations that had targeted 35,000 victims.

A special primary election on Tuesday will determine the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee for the state Senate seat left vacant by the resignation of Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Wodbury, who was convicted on felony burglary charges in July.

Vying for the DFL nod in Senate District 47 are two sitting state representatives: Rep. Ethan Cha, DFL-Woodbury, and Amanda Hemmingsen Jaeger, DFL-Woodbury. Hemmingsen Jaeger won the District 47 DFL endorsement at the Aug. 12 convention.

Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger (Courtesy of the candidate)

The winner of the primary will face Republican Dwight Dorau in a Nov. 4 special election. District 47 includes the city of Woodbury in Washington County and the southern part of the city of Maplewood in Ramsey County.

The special election’s outcome could change the balance of power in the Minnesota Senate, where the DFL has a one-seat majority.

Woodbury has favored DFLers in recent elections, though many expect Republicans to invest in the race as victory would flip control of the Senate. Democrats have controlled the chamber since the 2022 election.

Rep. Ethan Cha. (Courtesy of the Minnesota House of Representatives)

The circumstances leading to the vacancy — Mitchell’s criminal conviction and unwillingness to resign even as she was stripped of committee assignments and DFL caucus involvement — could prove a potent message for Republicans, former lawmakers from the area have said.

Still, it would be a steep climb for the GOP as the east metro suburbs have become bluer.

Mitchell, a DFLer, won election to the Senate with nearly 59% of the vote in 2022. Hemmingsen-Jaeger won House District 47A, which falls in the Senate district, with more than 60% of the vote in 2024 and 2022.

Dorau, a retired Air Force commander, ran against Cha in the 2024 election for House District 47B and lost by nearly 9 percentage points.

Both DFL candidates’ House districts fall within the Senate district. Each are in their second terms in office, Hemmingsen-Jaeger won reelection last year with 61% of the vote and Cha with 54%.

Senate District 29 election

Mitchell’s former district isn’t the only pending special election for state Senate. Republican Sen. Bruce Anderson of Buffalo died unexpectedly in July, leaving a vacancy in the District 29 seat.

On Tuesday, primary voters will pick one of three candidates for the GOP nomination: Rachel Davis, Michael Holmstrom Jr. and Bradley Kurtz.

The winner will face sole DFL candidate Louis McNutt in a Nov. 4 special election for Senate District 29, which includes most of Wright County, and parts of Meeker and Hennepin counties.

District 29 heavily favors Republicans and is not seen by political observers as an especially competitive race.

Record year for special elections

The special primaries come amid a record year for special elections in the Minnesota Legislature. Gov. Tim Walz has called six total.

Vacancies due to deaths, criminal cases and a candidate residency dispute have led to the unusual number of off-year elections.

Absentee voting started on Aug. 18. Polling places are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

More information on polling places can be found on the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website: pollfinder.sos.mn.gov.

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