While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, April 17, 2025
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China is to convene an informal UN Security Council meeting next week to accuse the US of bullying countries by weaponising tariffs.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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China to blast ‘bullying’ US at UN over tariffs
China will next week convene an informal United Nations Security Council meeting to accuse the US of bullying and “casting a shadow over the global efforts for peace and development” by weaponising tariffs.
The move comes as Beijing pursues a hardline stance in an escalating trade war with Washington triggered by US President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs on items imported from China.
“All countries, particularly developing nations, are victims of unilateralism and bullying practices,” read the concept note for the informal UN meeting on “the impact of unilateralism and bullying practices on international relations.”
The note, inviting all 193 UN member states to attend the April 23 meeting, specifically criticises the US for imposing tariffs.
Israel says 30 per cent of Gaza turned into a buffer zone
REUTERS
Israel announced on April 16 that it had converted 30 per cent of Gaza’s territory into a buffer zone as it pressed its unrelenting military offensive, vowing to maintain its blockade on humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged territory.
Israel resumed air and ground attacks across the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas that had largely halted hostilities, with rescuers on April 16 saying at least 11 were killed in strikes across the Palestinian territory.
The UN said an estimated 500,000 Palestinians have been displaced since the end of the Gaza ceasefire, triggering what it described as one of the most severe humanitarian crises the territory has faced in more than 18 months of war.
El Salvador blocks US senator from visiting deported man
REUTERS
Democratic US Senator Chris Van Hollen said on April 16 authorities in El Salvador had denied him access to Mr Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man mistakenly deported and being held in a notorious prison in the country.
Mr Van Hollen arrived in the Central American nation on the morning of April 16 saying he would seek to meet with senior Salvadoran officials to secure Mr Abrego Garcia’s release.
But Mr Van Hollen told reporters that El Salvador’s Vice-President, Mr Felix Ulloa, had told the senator he could not authorise a visit or a call with Mr Abrego Garcia.
Meta to start using Europeans’ data for AI training from May 27
REUTERS
Meta will start using public posts and comments by its European users to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) models from May 27, unless users opt out of the data-mining project.
Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and Threads, said earlier this week that it would develop its AI models with European users’ public content and conversations with the Meta AI chatbot.
That means anything from Instagram photo captions to Facebook comments could soon be fair game for Meta AI, though private conversations via its WhatsApp messaging service will be excluded.
Tiktok bans user behind Gisele Pelicot ‘starter kit’ meme
AFP
TikTok has banished a user who posted a “starter kit” meme targeting Ms Gisele Pelicot, a French feminist icon who survived nearly a decade of rapes by dozens of men, the popular video app said on April 16.
Social networks have been awash with “starter pack” or “starter kit” memes made up of several photos that usually describe an experience.
TikTok deleted the user’s account on April 15 and the content is now inaccessible, a representative of the social network said.
