Heath Ledger's family arrived back in Australia yesterday and started the final leg of the late star's long journey home following his premature death last month in New York.
The actor's father, Kim Ledger, and other relatives touched down in the family's home city of Perth yesterday afternoon. The group, accompanied by security guards and at least one police officer, came off the plane and were ushered immediately into an elevator.
Local media reported that Kim Ledger, the actor's mother Sally Ledger Bell, sister Kate and several other people were driven in cars across the tarmac and out of the airport. There was no immediate indication that the actor's remains were aboard the flight.
Ledger died in his New York City apartment on Jan. 22. He was 28. Authorities suspect a drug overdose, but the cause of his death is still pending the outcome of toxicology tests. Police said several prescription drugs were found in the apartment where the actor's body was found.
Details of funeral arrangements for the late co-star of Brokeback Mountain have not been announced, and the mother of his two-year-old daughter Matilda, actress Michelle Williams, has requested privacy for those in mourning.
The family will reportedly hold a private ceremony for the actor and then either bury his remains or have them cremated and interred in a family plot in Perth, where his two grandparents lie.
As Ledger's hometown prepared for the arrival of his remains, residents of the idyllic and isolated city expressed sadness at his sudden death -- and outrage at rumors that he was a drug user.
"If a person dies, let him go in peace. All this rubbish they bring up about drugs and everything else, I think it's a lot of rubbish," said Margaret Byrne, 58, a catering supervisor at Royal Perth Hospital.
Another Perth resident, Ian Bennett, said he was indifferent about Ledger's death and believed allegations of his drug use.
"It's part of the scene," the food services attendant at Royal Perth Hospital said.
"It's probably the biggest news we've had in Perth in a long time," said Shannon Harvey, film critic at the Sunday Times.
"He's probably the highest-profile star who's ever come out of Perth and probably our greatest success story," Harvey said.
Harvey said Ledger returned to Perth to promote some of his earlier movies, but he tried to keep a low profile when visiting his family.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
RSS