NEW ZEALAND
Luxon backs Chinese cash
National Party leader Christopher Luxon yesterday said that he would “absolutely” accept money from China to fund new roads if his party wins October’s general election. Asked if he would turn to Beijing to fund a massive road infrastructure project worth NZ$24 billion (US$14.6 billion), Luxon told public broadcaster TVNZ: “Yeah, absolutely.” He added: “New Zealand is a country the same size [area] as Great Britain and Japan [separately], we have 5 million people in it,” he said. “A strong and resilient roading network will be absolutely critical to our future.” Asked if China would want something in return, such as being able to send its own workers to build the projects, Luxon replied: “That’s not going to happen,” and added: “That’s quite a xenophobic response and a pretty simplistic response.”
COLOMBIA
President’s son confesses
Nicolas Petro, son of President Gustavo Petro, on Thursday told prosecutors that money from a drug cartel filtered into the campaign of his father last year, a confession aimed at mitigating his own exposure to money-laundering charges. Nicolas Petro “received large sums of money from Mr Samuel Santander Lopesierra, known as The Marlboro Man,” prosecutor Mario Burgos said during a hearing. “Some of the money was used by Mr Nicolas Fernando Petro himself ... and the other part went into the 2022 presidential campaign,” Burgos said. Nicolas Petro was arrested on Saturday and denied the charges in a hearing on Wednesday, but changed his tune a day later when he announced his aim “to initiate a process of collaboration.” He said: “I will refer to new facts and situations that will help justice.” Local media reports said the younger Petro learned of new evidence held by prosecutors, and that Burgos offered to reduce his potential time in prison by half if he collaborated.
DENMARK
Border controls tightened
Police are tightening border controls following recent burnings of the Koran that have affected the security situation, the Ministry of Justice said on Thursday, following a similar decision by Sweden earlier in the week. Protesters in the two nations have burned and damaged in other ways several copies of the Koran in the past few months. “Authorities have today concluded that it is necessary at this time to increase the focus on who is entering Denmark, in order to respond to the specific and current threats,” the ministry said in a statement. Tighter border controls would initially be in place until Thursday next week, it said. “The recent Koran burnings have, as the security police have said, affected the current security situation,” Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard said in the statement.
THAILAND
Crash kills eight
Eight people were killed when a freight train struck a pickup truck crossing the tracks in an eastern province yesterday, authorities said. The crash at 2:20am also injured four people in the Muang District of Chachoengsao Province, State Railway of Thailand said. The 54-year-old driver, Wichai Yulek, told authorities he saw the approaching train and heard a warning horn. He slowed, but passengers in the vehicle urged him to keep going. When he realized the truck was headed for a collision, he could not stop in time, the railway agency said. The deceased include an 18 year old, two people in their 20s and five people over 55, while the injured victims included four men in their 20s, the railway said.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
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