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.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
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