NEW ZEALAND
Population jumps 2.8%
The nation posted its biggest calendar-year jump in population since the end of World War II due to record immigration. The estimated population increased 2.8 percent last year to 5,305,600 people, Statistics New Zealand said yesterday. That is the fastest pace in modern records dating back to 1992, and the most since 1946 according to the previous, discontinued data series. Foreign workers flooded into the country to fill labor shortages after it reopened its border in 2022 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 145,100 gain last year reflected net immigration of 126,000 and occurred despite a natural increase of just 19,200 — the lowest for a calendar year since the modern data series began.
VENEZUELA
Maduro furious at Milei
President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday lashed out at Argentine President Javier Milei three days after the US completed the seizure of a Venezuelan plane held in Buenos Aires since June 2022. “They stole our plane... Milei the bandit stole the plane from Venezuela,” Maduro said in a televised statement. “He acts crazy or he is crazy or both at the same time.” The Boeing 747 cargo plane owned by Venezuelan company Emtrasur has been held in Argentina since landing there in 2022 from Mexico with a shipment of auto parts. The 19-member crew was composed of Venezuelans and Iranians — one of whom the US suspected had links to the Al Quds Force, a group of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that it classifies as a terrorist organization. All the crew were initially detained, but later freed. Caracas and Tehran protested US attempts to seize the plane, but an Argentine judge last month ordered it surrendered to the US.
HONG KONG
Seven arrested over fraud
Seven people suspected of being involved in a US$1.8 billion money-laundering case have been arrested, customs authorities said yesterday. The seven, all Hong Kong residents, comprised five men and two women aged 23-74, one of who is believed to be the mastermind of the scheme, they said. Authorities seized HK$165 million (US$21.1 million) in assets, including five properties and three commercial units, as part of the operation. Yeung Yuk-man from the customs department said the agency contacted a number of law enforcement authorities in the region to share its intelligence, including India. The scheme allegedly involved online scams in India and the sale of electronics, rare gems including diamonds, among other goods, authorities said. It allegedly used shell companies and multiple bank accounts to launder money, with one account receiving more than 50 deposits in one day. The seven have been released on bail.
UNITED STATES
Teen arrested in shooting
A 16-year-old boy was arrested on Thursday in connection with a deadly shooting at a New York City subway station during rush hour on Tuesday, the US Marshals Service said. He was being held while awaiting charges. The teen is one of three suspected shooters wanted for the shooting which authorities said stemmed from a dispute between two rival gangs who boarded the same train at different stations. The first shots were fired as the train pulled into an elevated Bronx station shortly before 5pm and continued on the crowded platform as passengers fled. A 35-year-old man identified as Obed Beltran-Sanchez died after being shot in the chest. Five other people were wounded, aged 14 to 71.
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
CARGO PLANE VECTOR: Officials said they believe that attacks involving incendiary devices on planes was the work of Russia’s military intelligence agency the GRU Western security officials suspect Russian intelligence was behind a plot to put incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes headed to North America, including one that caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another that ignited in a warehouse in England. Poland last month said that it had arrested four people suspected to be linked to a foreign intelligence operation that carried out sabotage and was searching for two others. Lithuania’s prosecutor general Nida Grunskiene on Tuesday said that there were an unspecified number of people detained in several countries, offering no elaboration. The events come as Western officials say
Hundreds of thousands of Guyana citizens living at home and abroad would receive a payout of about US$478 each after the country announced it was distributing its “mind-boggling” oil wealth. The grant of 100,000 Guyanese dollars would be available to any citizen of the South American country aged 18 and older with a valid passport or identification card. Guyanese citizens who normally live abroad would be eligible, but must be in Guyana to collect the payment. The payout was originally planned as a 200,000 Guyanese dollar grant for each household in the country, but was reframed after concerns that some citizens, including
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
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