Leah Stewart, an Australian mother and teacher who lost an arm after a shark attack at Sydney’s Coogee Beach, has been reading messages from supporters around the world during sleepless nights as she continues her long recovery, her family said.

“We’ve been sharing some of the beautiful messages we’ve received with Leah and she’s loved them, finding inspiration from the care and love you’ve all shared,” her brother, Joshua Stewart, wrote in a GoFundMe update on Sunday.

“Leah has had some challenging days but has found real strength from your kindness and support,” he added.

Leah Stewart has struggled with sleep in her recovery and has leaned on the wave of support from family, friends and strangers.

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“Since the incident Leah has had difficulty sleeping, and on those nights she’s been reading back through your messages, not only from her family and community in Australia and her whānau in New Zealand, but also from people all across the world,” he wrote, using the Maori word for family. “They’ve given her real comfort and strength.”

Stewart, mother to a 1-year-old daughter and passionate teacher, was attacked June 13 while on a morning swim close to shore and within the flags at Coogee Beach, according to her family. She suffered life-threatening injuries, including multiple bites across her arms and legs, lacerations, fractures and extreme blood loss.

She was placed on life support, put under a medically induced coma and underwent multiple surgeries in the days after the attack. Her treatment required the amputation of one arm, and the family said more surgeries were scheduled as doctors worked to save her life and stabilize her condition.

Stewart, who woke up from her 10-day coma after doctors reduced her sedation, told her mother and partner, Fernando, “I love you.” Her brother said at the time that her first thoughts were with her young daughter, August.

SHARK ATTACK SURVIVOR WAKES FROM 10-DAY COMA AND SHARES FIRST WORDS WITH FAMILY AT HER HOSPITAL BEDSIDE

“Leah has a long road ahead,” Joshua Stewart wrote after she briefly woke, calling the moment a hopeful first step in her recovery.

Joshua Stewart said the family wanted to apologize for delays in responding to supporters, explaining they have had issues with the GoFundMe messaging system.

“Leah is beyond overwhelmed at the amazing support she has received and that her story has resonated with so many people,” he wrote. “Thank you!”

The fundraiser was launched to help Stewart, her partner and their young daughter through what her family described as a heartbreaking situation. The money will support her recovery, prosthetics, rehabilitation, ongoing care and the major adjustments she will need as she works toward returning to life as a mother.

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Her family also thanked the lifesavers, first responders, helicopter crew and medical team at St. Vincent’s Hospital who helped care for Stewart after the attack.

“As a family we are shocked and devastated that this could happen to our beloved partner, daughter and mother who is so full of life and energy,” Joshua Stewart wrote.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Tirana on Saturday, protesting for the 35th consecutive day against plans to build a tourist resort linked to the Trump family.

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It is thought to have been the largest demonstration since the protests began in late May against the construction of a luxury hotel connected to Ivanka Trump, daughter of US President Donald Trump, and her husband Jared Kushner, who advises and negotiates on behalf of the president, in the protected area of Zvërnec, in southwestern Albania.

What started as an environmental protest has now turned into a major anti‑government revolution. Protesters accuse the government of corruption and are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, who approved the Kushner-Trump project.

“What began as the ‘pink flamingo revolution’ has turned into widespread public discontent,” protester Alketa Ademi told the French news agency AFP. “The lack of transparency, the arrogance – enough! The prime minister has to go,” she added.

Many protesters carried giant pink flamingos as they marched towards the country’s parliament building on the main boulevard of the Albanian capital Tirana.

One group was carrying a large concrete cake, a double reference both to Prime Minister Edi Rama’s birthday – who turned 62 on Saturday – and to plans to pour concrete over protected ecosystems.

Protesters also set up a bust of Edi Rama and then toppled it with the help of a rope, in an action reminiscent of the iconic overthrow in 1991 of the statue of communist dictator Enver Hoxha, which marked the end of his rule.

‘Albania is not for sale’

On Saturday evening, a large group of protesters broke away from the main march and headed towards the police station where 19 detained protesters are being held after their arrest during Thursday’s march near the parliament building.

Demonstrators smashed the windows of the police precinct, and were met with a violent response from security forces who reportedly deployed tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds.

“Release the kids,” the protesters shouted.

Some carried banners reading “Albania is not for sale” and “Repeal the law on protected areas”, referring to the legislation that enabled the government to fast‑track procedures for building tourist resorts.

The violent incidents contrast with the generally peaceful nature of the gatherings that have been held since the start of the movement, drawing thousands of citizens from all over the country.

Last week, large groups of demonstrators gathered outside the parliament, trying to block lawmakers from accessing the building.

Hundreds of protesters broke through the police-installed security cordon, and officers pushed them back, sparking clashes and leading to dozens of arrests.

Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse those crowds as well, according to eyewitnesses, while some protesters threw eggs, stones and other objects at the security forces.

Officials later announced that 15 police officers were injured and 25 protesters were detained in those clashes.

The Albanian Helsinki Committee (AHC), a human rights organisation, expressed on Saturday “its concern at the escalation of the situation”.

“Individual acts of violence cannot justify the disproportionate use of force,” it said, condemning the use of tear gas without warning, batons and beatings by law enforcement officers against protesters and calling for a swift, independent investigation.

The movement has been dubbed the ‘Pink Flamingo Revolution’, a reference to the migratory birds that pass through the protected area where the tourist complex is planned.

Protesters argue that the luxury hotel complex, whose cost is estimated at $4.6 billion (€4.02 billion) and which is to be built in a protected area on the Adriatic Sea, threatens the fragile ecosystem of the neighbouring lagoon.

Investors, for their part, aim to turn the uninhabited island of Sazan, a former military base from the communist era, into a high‑end tourist destination. The project has been strongly opposed since it was first announced back in 2024.

The latest wave of protests erupted after barbed‑wire fencing and excavators appeared on nearby beaches in late May, indicating to the public that their concerns are being overlooked and that the development will proceed against their will.

Despite recently obtaining his Polish citizenship, “A Real Pain” director Jesse Eisenberg is not thinking about leaving the U.S. anytime soon. Speaking at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where he is the recipient of this year’s President’s Award, the actor-turned-director said he feels a “responsibility” to stay in New York City as his home country grapples with Trump’s presidency. 

“I am a very lucky American,” he said. “I have a nice life. My wife is a teacher, and she teaches a lot of students who are not as lucky as we are. I think we feel, if anything, a responsibility to stay in New York and help those who are struggling through a tougher period in American history. No, I’m not going to leave because I don’t like the politics of America. That seems a little silly, because my life is very good.”

Eisenberg’s next directorial effort is the musical comedy “The Debut,” starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti and scheduled to come out in the U.S. on Dec. 3, courtesy of A24. The first official trailer for the film came out last week, just a day after it was announced that the American film company had struck an AI research partnership with Google that will see the independent studio work with Google’s DeepMind unit to develop new AI-powered technologies for filmmakers. Many disappointed film fans rushed to social media posts of the trailer to express their disappointment with the partnership and their refutal of AI interference in filmmaking — particularly artist-focused, independent filmmaking.

Asked by Variety how he felt about the unfortunate timing and if it might have affected him in any way, Eisenberg said he did not dwell on it as “it doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“A24 could not have been better about making our movie analog,” he continued. “The movie takes place in the 1990s, with two stars who have been working forever and who are just brilliant in the movie. We shot on film, which is very rare, so the movie felt like a movie from the 90s, which was my era growing up and starting to watch independent movies. Our movie could not have been more analog.”

The director emphasized how A24 “said yes” to all his requests, from Moore and Giamatti to shooting on film and setting the story in the 90s. “Our movie is the opposite of AI,” he added. “It really doesn’t affect our movie at all. A24 is a really smart studio. All I could say is that my interactions with them over the last five years have been the most artist-friendly. I’ve never worked with a studio so closely, where every decision they make is about what would make the thing better. I’m sure they’re worried about economics, but never to me. It feels like winning the lottery to work at a company like that, where the only thing they seem to care about — and the only thing they ask from you — is to make the best possible version of your movie.”

Enquired by Variety as to whether it was different heading into “The Debut” after having an Oscar-winning, critically acclaimed directorial project in “A Real Pain” versus directing a film after the poor critical reception and lukewarm box office of his directorial debut, “When You Finished Saving the World,” Eisenberg said he “felt more comfortable directing” this time around. 

“I didn’t feel like there was any opposition,” he went on. “With my second movie, ‘A Real Pain,’ I did feel a little bit like I had to prove myself even further. I noticed this thing [that] when actors are making their first films, there’s this feeling that this person might be a genius. If that movie doesn’t work, you’re starting way below genius because now you’re an actor who can’t direct. When I was doing ‘A Real Pain,’ I was like: Now I’m an actor who lost money for a studio. That was worse than starting out. The last movie I did feel a little more comfortable.”

The “Zombieland” star also noted that circumstances — and, to a certain extent, the stakes — are slightly different for him as a writer-director. “Because I write scripts, it allows me to be the first person to get the job as a director. I feel if I write a good enough script, I can always direct it. For directors who don’t write, it’s tougher. If their movie doesn’t work, they’re not going to be the screenwriter’s first choice.”

Eisenberg might be preparing to launch “The Debut,” but the next big project in his life is something entirely different: he and his family are headed to Ukraine to conduct charitable work. “My wife teaches in New York City public schools. She teaches art and she’s really wonderful with kids. We found a program called The Campfire Project through Jessica Hecht, a wonderful American actress, and she offered us the opportunity to go work with kids in a camp. My wife is going to teach, my kid is going to play with the kids, and I’m going to be the videographer on my phone.”

“Our lives are so lucky,” he said earnestly. “If we ever find an opportunity to help, of course we take it. We’re not saving any lives, but it’s nice to be able to go and help.”

On Saturday, during a lengthy in-conversation event at the festival, Eisenberg spoke about not reprising his role as Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming sequel to “The Social Network,” “The Social Reckoning.” “At the time, the movie seemed like such a strange thing to me because no one really knew who he was,” he said. “He was interviewed on ‘60 Minutes,’ which is our big news show, but otherwise he wasn’t in the public a lot. I thought of it like an interesting character. And then he’s become famous and now I don’t want to do the movie […] I don’t want to be associated with him anymore because I don’t really like the comparison.”

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival runs July 3-11.