"Family and Rights Groups Demand Release of Australian Journalist Detained in China for 1000 Days"

Friends and family of Australian TV anchor Cheng Lei have renewed calls for her release from detention in China, 1,000 days after she was taken into custody on espionage charges. Cheng, a former business anchor for China’s state broadcaster CGTN and mother of two, is accused of illegally supplying state secrets overseas, a charge that carries a possible sentence of between five years to life in prison. Australian authorities have previously expressed concern about her detention amid suggestions from analysts that strained ties between Canberra and Beijing may have provided impetus for the opaque case against her.