AUSTRALIA
New visas for Hong Kongers
The government yesterday said it is to introduce two permanent residence visas for Hong Kongers who have been living in the nation. About 9,000 Hong Kongers on temporary visas would be eligible to apply for the permanent visas starting in March next year, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Alex Hawke said in a statement. Canberra has been critical of Beijing imposing a National Security Law in Hong Kong and changing its electoral system. It says those moves undermine rights and the high degree of autonomy that China had guaranteed until 2047. In the 18 months to July last year, about 6,000 Hong Kongers have been granted permanent visas, and 9,250 applications were filed, immigration records show. “These new visas will provide a pathway for temporary graduates and temporary skilled workers from Hong Kong currently in Australia on extended visas, and will build on the already close family connections and economic ties with Hong Kong that have existed for many years,” Hawke said.
SINGAPORE
Rapper Subhas Nair charged
A controversial Singaporean rapper of Indian descent who has accused authorities of racism might face jail after being charged yesterday with sowing divisions between the city-state’s different ethnic and religious groups. Outspoken rapper Subhas Nair faced four counts when he appeared in court over offenses that allegedly occurred between 2019 and this year. According to charge sheets, the 29-year-old made comments on social media appearing to suggest a Chinese man involved in the death of an Indian received lenient treatment from authorities because of his ethnicity. He allegedly posted further remarks on Instagram suggesting Chinese Christians are treated more leniently than Muslims over hate speech. He was also charged over a 2019 rap video that criticized a local Chinese actor who darkened his skin to portray an Indian in an advert. Police had already issued a warning over the video to Nair and his sister Preetipls, a well-known local comedian, who rapped alongside him. Nair appeared in court with his sister and was wearing a T-shirt bearing a picture of a Malaysian man convicted of drug trafficking in the nation, who is set to be executed soon.
UNITED STATES
Psaki has COVID-19
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Sunday said she has contracted COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms. Psaki, 42, said she was last in contact with President Joe Biden on Tuesday last week, when she met him in the White House, where they were more than 1.8m apart and wearing masks. Biden, who is tested frequently, last tested negative on Saturday, the White House said.
? CAMBODIA
Nation hits vaccination goal
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday declared his country reopen and ready for a new way of life, having surpassed its COVID-19 vaccination target and recorded one of Asia’s highest inoculation rates. The nation has vaccinated nearly 86 percent of its more than 16 million people, with 2 million given booster shots already and 300,000 school children aged five set to be inoculated yesterday alone. The ratio is similar to that of Singapore. “From now on, the full reopening of the country in all areas and living with COVID-19 in a new way of life starts from today,” he said. “I won’t be in a crab cave anymore,” he said. The nation has recorded more than 118,522 COVID-19 cases and 2,788 deaths overall, the vast majority this year.
Crowds in Bangladesh are flocking to snap photographs with an unlikely social media star — an albino buffalo with flowing blond hair nicknamed “Donald Trump” that is due to be sacrificed within days. Owner Zia Uddin Mridha, 38, said his brother named the 700kg bull over its flowing helmet of hair resembling the signature look of the US president. “My younger brother picked this name because of the buffalo’s extraordinary hair,” he said at his farm in Narayanganj, just outside the capital, Dhaka. Mridha said that a constant stream of curious visitors — social media fans, onlookers and children — have come throughout
It began as a satirical online project. Now millions of young people in India are flocking to it as an outlet for their frustration. A parody political party called the Cockroach Janta Party, with the insect as its symbol, has exploded across India’s social media by turning absurdist humor into protest. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, joblessness and political dysfunction have flooded social media sites, where millions of users are embracing the cockroach — known for its ability to survive harsh conditions — as a tongue-in-cheek symbol of endurance. The online movement’s rise has been unusually rapid. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)
BIGGER ROLE: Beijing has said it maintains an impartial stance on the war in Ukraine, but by training Russian troops, China is far more involved than previously known China’s armed forces secretly trained about 200 Russian military personnel in China late last year, and some have since returned to fight in Ukraine, according to three European intelligence agencies and documents seen by Reuters. While China and Russia have held a number of joint military exercises since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Beijing has repeatedly said that it is neutral in the conflict and presents itself as a peace mediator. The covert training sessions, which predominantly focused on the use of drones, were outlined in a dual-language Russian-Chinese agreement signed by senior Russian and Chinese officers in Beijing on
HOTTER: While Indians are accustomed to summer heat, climate change has caused northwestern India to warm faster than other parts of the country, an academic said Roads and markets have emptied during afternoons and some farmers have switched to nighttime work to avoid scorching temperatures as a heat wave grips large parts of India. The India Meteorological Department forecast maximum temperatures for yesterday of about 45°C in the capital, New Delhi, where authorities have opened temporary “cooling zones” to help people cope. The weather department warned that conditions would likely persist across several northern regions in the coming days, with temperatures staying well above seasonal averages. Authorities urged people to stay indoors during the hottest hours and take precautions against heat-related illnesses. India declares a heat wave whenever maximum temperatures
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