While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Feb 21, 2025
Source: The Straits Times World News
Ukraine offering fast, constructive accord with US
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb 20 that Ukraine was ready to work quickly and tirelessly to produce a strong and useful agreement on investments and security with the United States.
Mr Zelensky said on media site X that he had a “good discussion” with General Keith Kellogg, the US envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
The meeting took place a day after Mr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump exchanged barbs as US-Russian talks got under way on ending the three-year-old war pitting Kyiv against Moscow. Ukraine was not invited to the talks.
“We must and can ensure that peace is strong and lasting—so that Russia can never return with war,” Mr Zelensky wrote.
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Israeli police search for suspects after bus explosions
Israeli police were searching for suspects on Feb 20 after explosions on several buses near Tel Aviv, with no casualties, authorities said.
Israeli media reported there had been explosions on three empty buses in parking lots in Bat Yam, a suburb close to Tel Aviv, while bombs were discovered and disabled on two other buses.
A spokesperson for the Israeli police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the explosions.
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Pope’s condition ‘slightly improving’ in hospital
The Vatican reported another slight improvement in Pope Francis’ condition on Feb 20, as the 88-year-old spent his seventh day in hospital being treated for double pneumonia.
The Argentine pontiff was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb 14 with bronchitis, but it later developed into pneumonia in both lungs, sparking widespread alarm.
“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father are slightly improving,” the Vatican said, in its regular early evening update on Feb 20.
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Britain lines up new ambassador to rebuild China ties
Britain has lined up a Mandarin-speaking diplomat whose father was a governor of Hong Kong as the next ambassador to China, according to three sources, and he is expected to take up one of the most challenging roles in British diplomacy later this year.
Mr Peter Wilson, who worked briefly as principal private secretary to former prime minister Boris Johnson and has served as the British ambassador to the Netherlands and Brazil, is expected to replace the current ambassador, Ms Caroline Wilson, in the next few months, according to two of the sources.
The new appointment comes at a time when Britain’s Labour government continues to step up its diplomatic engagement with China after years of tensions under successive Conservative governments over human rights, Hong Kong, and restrictions on investment over security concerns.
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Restraining order for man ‘fixated’ on Emma Raducanu
A man who showed “fixated behaviour” towards British tennis player Emma Raducanu at a tournament in Dubai has been detained and given a restraining order, police said on Feb 20.
A clearly upset Raducanu, 22, approached the umpire’s chair after losing the first two games in her second-round defeat to Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic on Feb 18.
Raducanu briefly took refuge behind the umpire’s chair and alerted officials to the man’s presence before he was led away.
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The original article: belongs to The Straits Times World News .
