While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 10, 2025
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meeting in Rome, Italy, on Dec 9.
PHOTO: EPA
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Ukraine’s Zelensky says ‘ready’ for elections
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec 9 he was ready to hold new elections in Ukraine if security could be guaranteed by Kyiv’s partners, and that he expected to send to Washington within a day revised proposals on ending the nearly four-year war with Russia.
US President Donald Trump is pressuring Kyiv to accept a deal formulated by Washington, the initial version of which was criticised by Ukraine’s allies as overly favourable to Moscow.
Mr Trump, in an interview with Politico published on Dec 9, accused Kyiv of “using war” to avoid fresh polls - even though martial law imposed after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion forbids elections.
“I am ready for the elections,” Zelensky told journalists, during a virtual media briefing. He said he was asking Ukrainian lawmakers to prepare “proposals regarding the possibility of amending the legislative foundations and the law on elections during martial law”.
Australia’s social media ban for children under 16 takes effect
PHOTO: REUTERS
Australia at midnight on Dec 10 became the first country in the world to ban social media for children under 16, blocking them from platforms including TikTok, Alphabet’s YouTube, and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook.
Ten of the biggest platforms were ordered to block children or be fined up to A$49.5 million (S$42.6 million) under a new law, which was criticised by major technology companies and free speech campaigners, but praised by parents and child advocates.
The ban is being closely watched by other countries considering similar age-based measures as concerns mount over the effects of social media on children’s health and safety.
Amy Winehouse’s father sues singer’s friends
PHOTO: AFP
The father of late British singer Amy Winehouse on Dec 9 defended his UK lawsuit against two of her friends after they sold some of her clothes at auction for around £730,000 (S$1.2 million).
Mr Mitch Winehouse told the High Court in London that Ms Naomi Parry, the star’s former stylist, and her friend, Ms Catriona Gourlay, did not have the right to sell dozens of items in auctions between November 2021 and May 2023.
Lawyer Henry Legge, acting for Mr Winehouse, told the court on Dec 8, the first day of the trial, that the two women sold 150 objects which had belonged to Amy Winehouse, including dresses which she wore on her last tour in June 2011.
SEA Games 2025: Sombre but smiling opening show
The return of the region’s largest multi-sport event, the SEA Games, is typically a cause for celebration in South-east Asia, though for Thailand, the Land of Smiles has not been smiling of late.
The hosts of the 33rd edition of the Games have been hit by a series of issues and incidents – floods in the south, the death of the Queen Mother Sirikit and ongoing border conflicts with Cambodia.
While the mood in the Rajamangala National Stadium was sombre on Dec 9, spectators filled two-thirds of the 51,000-seater venue – with one stand closed for the aquatics show – to catch the two-hour opening ceremony, which started with a video tribute to the late Queen Mother.
Acting legend Judi Dench says sight loss ‘a crusher’
PHOTO: SONY PICTURES
Oscar-winner and James Bond star Judi Dench has said sight loss due to macular degeneration means she can no longer see faces clearly, calling the condition a “crusher” as she marked her 91st birthday on Dec 9.
The veteran star of stage and screen, whose role as “M” in eight Bond films shot her to global fame, has suffered from the degenerative eye condition for over a decade.
In 2024, she disclosed it had reached the point where she had effectively been forced to retire.
