CHINA
Marriage registrations drop
The government, which has been releasing a slew of measures to bolster the nation’s sagging population levels, recorded a drop in marriage registrations for the first nine months of this year, official data released on Friday by the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed. For the first three quarters of the year, 4.747 million couples were registered nationwide, a year-on-year decrease of 943,000, a Reuters calculation of the data showed. Last year, 5.690 million marriage registrations were recorded for the first nine months, an increase from 2022. Growing economic uncertainty and rising living costs across the country have forced many young couples to delay marriage, a troubling sign for lawmakers who have been pushing policies to boost a shrinking population.
COLOMBIA
No species deal at COP16
The world’s biggest nature conservation conference closed in Cali on Saturday with no agreement on a plan to ramp up funding for species protection. With other successes under its belt, the 16th UN Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity was suspended by its president, Susana Muhamad, as negotiations ran almost 12 hours longer than planned and delegates started leaving to catch flights. The exodus left the summit without a quorum for decisionmaking, but convention spokesman David Ainsworth said it would resume later to consider outstanding issues. “We will continue working because this crisis is too big and we cannot stop,” Muhamad said, after declaring the Cali event closed.
EGYPT
Tomb unearthed in Luxor
Archeologists from Egypt and the US unearthed an ancient tomb with 11 sealed burials near the famed city of Luxor, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement on Friday. The tomb, which dates back to the Middle Kingdom (1938 BC to 1630 BC), was found in the South Asasif necropolis, next to the Temple of Hatshepsut on the Nile’s West Bank in Luxor. The joint Egyptian-US mission excavating the necropolis found coffins for men, women and children, suggesting that it was a family tomb used for generations during the 12th Dynasty and the beginning of the 13th Dynasty, Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary-General Mohamed Ismail Khaled said, Items such as jewelry were found intact, including a finely crafted necklace with 30 amethyst beads and two cylindrical agate beads framing a hippo-head amulet, the statement said.
MEXICO
Leader of saint cult killed
A local leader of folk saint cult “La Santa Muerte” was gunned down at an altar to the skeletal figure late on Friday, authorities said. Two other people were killed and eight injured in the attack in the city of Leon in Guanajuato state, they added. The saint is often worshipped by convicts, drug addicts and criminals, along with other people who feel excluded or are experiencing difficulties in life. The saint, who is not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, is usually depicted as a female skeleton, and is supposed to protect her followers from death. That did not work for “La Madrina Chayo,” a woman considered a leader of the cult in Guanajuato. Prosecutors did not give her real name, in keeping with law, but the nickname “La Madrina Chayo” was used by a faith healer also known as “Chayito.” She, another woman and a boy were shot dead as they prepared the annual Santa Muerte celebration.
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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