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.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
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