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.
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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