While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Aug 19, 2025
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump took questions from the media in the Oval Office before meeting in private.
PHOTO: AFP
Trump tells Zelensky US would help with Ukraine’s security in a peace deal
US President Donald Trump said on Aug 18 that the United States would help Europe in providing security for Ukraine as part of any deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, as he and President Volodymyr Zelensky began a hastily arranged White House meeting to discuss a path to peace.
But he also suggested to reporters that he no longer believed reaching a ceasefire was a necessary prerequisite for striking a peace agreement, backing a position staked out by Russian President Vladimir Putin and opposed by Mr Zelensky and most European leaders.
The two leaders took questions from the media in the Oval Office before meeting in private, six months after their last appearance there descended into disaster when Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance upbraided Mr Zelensky in an extraordinary a public dressing-down.
Hamas accepts new Gaza truce plan: Hamas official
AFP
Hamas has accepted a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza without requesting amendments, a source from the group told AFP on Aug 18, after a fresh diplomatic push to end more than 22 months of war.
Mediators Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, have struggled to secure a lasting truce in the conflict, which has triggered a dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
But after receiving a new proposal from meditators, Hamas said it was ready for talks.
Novo Nordisk offers Ozempic at $640 per month to eligible US cash-paying customers
REUTERS
Novo Nordisk said on Aug 18 it was offering its diabetes drug Ozempic for US$499 (S$640.83) per month to eligible cash-paying patients with type 2 diabetes in the US via its own pharmacy, a tie-up with telehealth service GoodRx and other platforms.
US-listed shares of the Danish drugmaker were up 5.3 per cent, while shares of GoodRx rose 34.2 per cent.
Novo and rival Eli Lilly have expanded into direct-to-consumer sales for the highly effective and sought-after medicines, in part due to competition from online telehealth companies and pharmacies that sell cheaper compounded versions.
Hong Kong arrests 2 over suspected water scam
Hong Kong police said on Aug 18 they have arrested two people over a suspected scam involving a water supplier that may have cheated the government in a contract worth nearly US$7 million (S$8.99 million).
A company named Xin Ding Xin won a deal in June to provide 1.88 million bottles of water which would go into dispensers in some government offices – the first time such a contract went to a Chinese brand, according to local media.
But police said the firm was found to have relied on false documents during the tender process, claiming to source its water from another mainland Chinese supplier when in fact they had no business ties.
US FTC sues ticket reseller for evading Taylor Swift’s Eras tour ticket limits
AFP
The US Federal Trade Commission sued ticket reseller Key Investment Group for evading purchasing limits to buy up thousands of tickets to live events including Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and resell them at a markup, according to a complaint filed in Maryland federal court on Aug 18.
The Baltimore, Maryland-based company, which operates ticket resale sites including TotalTickets.com, used thousands of Ticketmaster accounts, including fake or purchased accounts, the FTC said.
Ticketmaster faced intense criticism after its botched 2022 sale of tickets to Swift’s much-hyped New Eras Tour, when billions of requests from Swift fans, bots and ticket resellers overwhelmed its website and the company canceled a planned ticket sale to the general public.
