While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 10
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Mr Zelensky (left) posted a photo of his stop in Cape Verde, en route to Argentina.
PHOTO: X/VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY
Ukraine’s Zelensky says he’s travelling to Argentina
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec 9 that he was travelling to Argentina.
Mr Zelensky, who announced his trip on the Telegram messaging app and who is on his first visit to Latin America, will be attending the inauguration on Dec 10 of Argentine President Javier Milei.
The Ukrainian president said he had met the prime minister of the West African country of Cape Verde on his way to Argentina.
Ukrainian media speculated this week that Mr Milei’s inauguration could serve as a backdrop for a meeting between Mr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to resolve differences over Ukraine’s bid for European Union membership.
Venezuela says will hold ‘high-level’ talks with Guyana
REUTERS
Venezuela said on Dec 9 it would hold a “high-level meeting” with Guyana to discuss their growing dispute over the oil-rich region of Essequibo, amid mounting international warnings against escalating the row.
The Venezuelan government said President Nicolas Maduro had agreed to the meeting during phone conversations with Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
Mr Lula’s office said he had proposed CELAC contact both sides about setting up talks, and that he had also warned Mr Maduro against any “unilateral measures” that would worsen the crisis.
France detains 80 men in largest child sex crime swoop
REUTERS
Around 80 men, including a local councillor and two schoolteachers, were detained this week in France’s most far-reaching swoop on suspected child sex abusers, police sources said.
Police made arrests in 53 of France’s 101 departments, Commissioner Quentin Bevan told AFP on Dec 9.
The “unprecedented” swoop focused on professions where adults were in regular contact with children, the commissioner explained. That enabled them to detain, among others, two teachers, several sports coaches, and a monitor in a centre for disabled children.
Climate protesters turn Venice’s Grand Canal green
REUTERS
Italian environmentalists used a dye to turn Venice’s Grand Canal green on Dec 9, in protest at what they said was a lack of progress at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.
The protesters from the Extinction Rebellion group, dangling from the Rialto Bridge over the canal with the aid of climbing ropes, also displayed a banner that read: “COP28: While the government talks, we are hanging by a thread.”
Small stretches of rivers and canals in Italian cities, from the Po in Turin in the north to Rome’s Tiber in the south, were also turned green in similar protests.
Man United embarrassed by Bournemouth, Liverpool go top
AFP
Manchester United’s shambolic season took another turn for the worse in a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, as Liverpool went top of the Premier League on Dec 9.
Jurgen Klopp admitted Liverpool were fortunate to win 2-1 at 10-man Crystal Palace, after Jordan Ayew’s harsh red card changed the game late on.
Liverpool’s victory in the day’s early kick-off gave them a one-point lead over second placed Arsenal, who blew the chance to regain top spot later as they crashed to a 1-0 defeat at surging Aston Villa.
